The Food that always lasts

Introduction

A few years ago, in an effort to bring our groceries bills down and find a fun hobby, I started making our bread and butter at home. Well, one of the first things you learn, when you start making homemade bread, is that you can’t rely on it lasting near as long as store bought bread, even if you put it in the fridge. The same was true for the butter as well, which one day I learned in disappointment, as I had made some homemade butter with chopped up garlic in it. One day after coming home, I craved some of that butter I had made 3 weeks before on fresh bread. So, I made the bread, and intended it to be a snack for Emily and I that day. When she got home, I grabbed the butter out of the fridge and to my surprise and disgust, well, let’s just say I learned that the freshness of this homemade butter only lasted for a few days. Now, I had never seen butter spoil before, and I guess it had something to do with my preparation. But, looking back, i’m reminded that no matter how good something is, no matter how high a quality something is, while it is here on earth, it will not last forever. It has its time, then it spoils. All our lives, we chase after these spoiling and degrading things ideas, while right before us in the savior Jesus is the everlasting food, the everlasting provision that our eternal souls are looking for. We chase after potato chips, but what we need is solid food. You need to Feed yourself with the true bread of life. Which is Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Savior, The Son of Man, The God Man.

Prayer

Father God, we thank You for Who You are. A great Big God who sees each and every one of us here and cares deeply about us. We ask this day, as we are continuing in this time of worship to You, reading Your Word and hearing Your Word, that You refine us with it. Mold us, make us, shape us, rearrange us so that we can be more like You, and made more into the image of Christ. Help us be a people who love You and love others so much that we are moved into action by whatever it is You are going to show us about Yourself today and what that means in our lives. Help us do this, because all too often our selfish and sinless flesh war against our will to follow Yours. As we are doing this, and as we are coming into Your Word today, we ask that You take away any distraction that we may have, and make it go as far away as it possibly can, because we want to see and we want to know You better. I ask these things for your glory and in Jesus Christ’s Holy and precious name that I pray, Amen.

Context

In last week’s text, we saw Jesus teach a group of unhappy people. In fact, these people (the jews, particularly their leaders) were so unhappy with what He was saying and who was claiming to be (God the Son, that is equal with God, because He was and is God) that they wanted to end Him. That wanted to end His life. Really when it comes down to it, because He (Jesus God) was challenging that they were really followers and worshipers of God. You see, they had crafted an image of God that they liked for themselves, and chose to worship this over the true God of the universe. And as terrible as this is, and ruthless as they were, it is sin and vice that has reminded through all the generations, including our own. It is a line of thinking that every believer has to come to grips with and correct, likely many times over a devoted life.

In today’s text, we see a different scene. Here we see normal everyday folks, who were on their way to Jerusalem to observe the passover festival. Along the way the encountered Jesus, He taught them, and had compassion on them, and chose to feed them physical food so that they could be sustained for their journey. They received this gladly, but along the way, they missed something about Jesus, in fact they missed the most important thing that He was teaching. That is, while yes God is interested in providing for your needs, He is much more interested in providing what you really need, salvation, true spiritual food for your soal, that you may live forever, instead of just for a little while.

What they need to understand and what we need to understand is that mankind cannot truly feed the hunger pains that all pains come from. You cannot truly sustain yourself from anything the world and everything around you and all your desires can give you. Instead of looking in all the wrong places, we need to Feed yourself with the true bread of life. So, let’s jump in and see what Jesus was talking about here, and From the text, I want you to see and do these actions as you take in food for your spirit that always lasts.

Message

The first action to see and do is to: Be fed by Jesus 1-14

6 After this, Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee (or Tiberias). 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.4 Now the Passover, a Jewish festival, was near. 5 So when Jesus looked up and noticed a huge crowd coming toward him, he asked Philip, “Where will we buy bread so that these people can eat?” 6 He asked this to test him, for he himself knew what he was going to do. 7 Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii[a] worth of bread wouldn’t be enough for each of them to have a little.”8 One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “There’s a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish—but what are they for so many?”10 Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.”There was plenty of grass in that place; so they sat down. The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated—so also with the fish, as much as they wanted.12 When they were full, he told his disciples, “Collect the leftovers so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they collected them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces from the five barley loaves that were left over by those who had eaten.14 When the people saw the sign[b] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”

A crowd was following Jesus as best they could from the shore, a crowd who would have also been around because they were heading to Jerusalem for the passover. Jesus found a spot up on a mountain where they could hear Him teach. Then, Jesus begins to teach an important lesson to both the crowd and His disciples. He asks His disciple Phillip, who was among His disciples, one of the most experienced at following a teacher in hard situations, as He was before a follower of the John the Baptist, so this was one of the group you would expect to have among the strongest and most complete faith, plus He would have been adept at “toughing it out” when the stomach rumbled. When asked, where can we get food for all these people; Phillip responds with an answer that His mind was not totally in tune with what Jesus was laying down. His answer was one that a worldly mind would answer, even with 8 months wages (a whole year's work of agriculture) we couldn’t afford to feed these people even a scrap of food. That is, this is an impossible situation, there is real trouble here. Andrew, found a boys small meal he had packed, but could not see any way this would feed a crowd so large. So, Jesus had everyone lay down in the green of the field, and they were divided up, it was found that there were 5,000 men, meaning their were many people there, maybe even up to 10-15k people in total. Jesus took the meal, and distributed it out, breaking it with endless portions. Every person ate until they were stratified, their bellies were full. From the left overs, Jesus had His disciples pick up the rest, and found that their were 12 baskets (an illusion to Him being able to provide for all the tribes of Israel). The people saw this, and marveled at what Jesus had done, recognizing Him as someone who was sent from God and spoke for Him.

There is a story in the bible, that what happens here reckons back to, they have a lot of similarities. This is what happen with Elijiah, one of God’s prophets, in 1 Kings, 17. Here, God sends His weary prophet to a place of rest and refreshment, He is told go to the river with still some water left in a dry time, and God has Ravens bring him meat and bread during meals times. This continued, God’s feeding him in his rest, until God called the prophet to a place. Here the prophet found a poor widow and her weak and young son. The widow was in despair because she had no food left, only enough barley mill to make small cakes for a final meal for her and her son before they died. All hope was lost. The man of God came to her house, and God gave them a great gift, for after she made food for her guest, she found that her flour jar and oil jar never ran empty, but kept giving and giving. What a provision from the God that sees and cares!

God cared about those people on their way to Jerusalem, for the widow, and for you as well. Remember in The Lord’s Prayer, the line, “Give us this day our daily bread,” a petition to God for sustenance. You, as a child of God, always have the right to ask for that, but notice what’s going on here. There is something much deeper than our bodies that Jesus is pointing to with these miracles and provision. He is charging each of us, to Feed yourself with the true bread of life. He is the Bread of life, the provision that meets all the real and lasting needs of our lives. So then, be fed by Jesus, and not yourself, not your own pride, not your own wants and desires, but be fed by the one who gives you everything you need on this earth, and everything you need for eternity. Put away that sin is keeping you from doing so, and if you find yourself spiritually hungry, then that rumbling tummy is a sign to you, that indeed you have turned to the wrong place, so then get rid of that and come to the providers whose arms and hands are wide open!

The next action to see and do is to: Receive Jesus’ salvation 15-21

15 Therefore, when Jesus realized that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain by himself.16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles,[c] they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid. 20 But he said to them, “It is I.[d] Don’t be afraid.” 21 Then they were willing to take him on board, and at once the boat was at the shore where they were heading.

After feeding the crowd, they wanted to take Him forcefully and make Him their king (though, in all rights He already was), when He realized this, and knowing His mission to go the cross (at this time, He was only about a year away from it) He left and His disciples did as well. Charged to go by boat to Capernaum, a great storm came against them, and they were struggling for their lives. After 3 exhausting hours, Jesus was walking on the sea near them and scared them almost to death, when they realized who who was, they were calmed. He was welcomed into and entered the boat and immediately, they were on the shore. One moment they were in the most dire peril, the next by just Jesus’ presence, they were saved and safe!

When I was a fairly new believer, I watched a sermon by a pastor who gave an illustration on receiving what God had given you. His point was simple and clear, to receive something, you don’t just ask for it, you have to reach out, take it as it is, and accept the responsibility of having it. In this example, the Pastor and His wife were on the video together. The wife wanted a new pair of shoes, and the husband/pastor held out in his hands and was trying to give her a $100 bill. She kept asking and asking, please oh please can I have it, mine all have holes on the bottom and I need a pair that’s going to last a long while. He kept trying and trying to give the bill to her, making it clear, this was for her, but she never reached out her hand to take it. The shoes were hers, by the provision given, but she wasn’t accepting the provision.

You see, she wanted what she wanted, and wouldn’t accept anything else. She wanted the shoes that she wanted, and wouldn’t accept the provision and the responsibility that came along with it. So then, if we like all others are so apt at creating God to be how we want Him to be, doesn’t that in turn mean that knowingly and unknowingly we can make the gift of salvation unlike what it really is in our own heads? Yes, mankind is a selfish and self-seeking creature in the fallen world. So then, instead of satisfying your souls appetite with cheese puffs, Feed yourself with the true bread of life. Receive Jesus’ offer of salvation. Receive it in the way intended, which brings us to our next point,

Another action to see and do is to: Do the work of Faith 22-40

22 The next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side of the sea saw there had been only one boat.[e] They also saw that Jesus had not boarded the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone off alone. 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”26 Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw[f] the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27 Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.” 28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked. 29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”30 “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”[g] 32 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”35 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. 36 But as I told you, you’ve seen me,[h] and yet you do not believe. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39 This is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

The crowds were once again looking for Jesus, and eventually found Him in Capernaum. Confused, they asked Him when He got there. Jesus turns the moment into a teachable one again, and tells them that they were searching for Him, while it wasn’t wrong, their purpose was all wrong for their looking. They were looking for a king that could give them everything needed, they were looking for a figure that would lead their nation to independence. But, look what Jesus says, don’t look for that kind of food, look for the food that lasts eternally, which I will give to you because The Father has ordained it. So then, what do we need to do, what action, what work do we need to do that is right by God!? They asked, Jesus said, this is the work, this action, here me well, you need to believe (you need to have faith) in Me. Well then, the people said, give us a sign, prove it. Do that thing you did again, feed us. Moses Fed us. Jesus tells them, no Moses did not feed your fathers, God fed your fathers and Moses spoke for God to you during that time. The bread I am speaking of, gives life to everyone in the world who takes it. Well then, give it to us always, they said! Jesus said, well, I am the bread of life, anyone who comes to me, their soul will no longer hunger, their soul will no longer thirst. I have come to the world to fulfill The Fathers will, and everyone who believes in what God has done and what I will do we will be saved, they will have eternal life, and know on the last day, their judgement will be good.

So, what then is the work of faith? Doesn’t the Bible say that we are saved by faith and not by works? Yes it does, and in turn it also says that Faith is proved by works. The word work (Do the work of faith) here, means action/decisions/doing. Do the actions, do the decisions, do the things that faith does. What then are examples of this? Let me give you a few, though many exist. Faith moves when your brain and logic says no, but God seems to indicate yes. Just as your heart and brain may tell you to move or stay somewhere, but God makes it clear He has called you on a mission somewhere else. Missionaries, Pastors, and church planters have to make this decision. Faith gives the last of their provision to God even when it doesn’t make earthly sense, like the widow with Elijia and the widow with her last 2 coins given to the temple treasury, for us today, that may look like changing your budget and priorities to tithe or give offerings even though it means having to give up some things you enjoy. Faith means spending that little time extra with a friend in need of company, even though you are already worn out and didn’t really want to be there anyways. Faith often means giving something up that has given you great comfort for a very long time, because now it is time for someone else to be comforted. All of this, and so much more are works of faith, however the first and foremost is that even though you didn’t see it, you accept Jesus’ death on a cross to pay what you owe for your sin debt to God. Faith steps out and says, I can’t do it, and I see that, so instead of trying, I’m going to take what Jesus has given. I am going to feed myself with the true bread of life. So then, do you want what this world has to offer you (junk food that going leave you hungry in just little bit with a bloated and gross feeling) or do you want the filling nutrient rich nourishment that Jesus offers?

Conclusion

Beloved, have you ever been promised a full meal, and then ever just been given old finger foods and a stale bag of chips before? Well, this is what the fallen sin filled world has and what our flesh pulls us towards. Let’s all be aware of this, and instead look to be fed by Jesus, receiving His salvation by doing the work of faith in Him. Amen.