I Am The Bread of Life

Dan Osborn

I AM • Sermon • Submitted 6 years ago

John 6:22–59

0 ratings

· 9 views

Jesus doesn't MEET our needs, he IS our need.

Notes

Transcript

Sermon Tone Analysis

Emotion

Language

Social

View more →

Welcome

Well good morning Forest Glen! Good to be with you all this today. If we haven’t met yet, my name is Dan Osborn and I serve as the Pastor here at Park | FG!

LENT DEVO ANC

Today we’re starting a new sermon series called “I Am.” We will spend several weeks in the Gospel of John talking about how we often look for satisfaction and fulfillment in life through a bunch of different things. And yet, Jesus articulates a different version of finding fulfillment. It isn't found in a multiplicity of places—but’s found in Him. He is the one who satisfies the deepest longings of the human heart. And he says so with just two words, "I am."

So we’re starting in John chapter 6. . It’s on page 891 if you have one of the house bibles from underneath your seat. .

This morning we are going to starting in John chapter 6. . It’s on page *** if you have one of the house bibles from underneath your seat. —and we’ll be working our way through most of the chapter this morning.

What is enough? How do you know when you have enough?

Introduction

And while you’re turning there.

Something I learned this week is that it’s hard explaining the difference between a WANTS and and NEEDS to a 2 year old. Have you been there?

I was making a mental list of things Evelyn regularly declare she needs from me—and for the most part, it’s the usual suspects. goldfish…snacks…toys. The other day we were sitting down just playing together; having this sweet daddy-daughter moment and she looked at me and said, “Daddy…I need some privacy.” Privacy? Where on earth did you learn that word?

And at this point—I’ve had it with all the “need, need, need” stuff and so I begin what can only be described as a fools errand…trying to explain to a two year old the different between wants and needs.

I can’t even describe how much she was not trackin’ with me!

But here’s the thing…it’s not just hard with kids…it might be even harder to navigate this when we’re talking about adults. Because we can now justify why things are not just wants, but needs, right?! We can build a whole rationale around it! And we end up saying things like

I need a vacation.

I need a new...

I need a better...

I need more space.

If we think for a moment that kids have a problem—man we gotta listen to ourselves and think about every time WE use the word NEED when what we really mean is something more like WANT.

And I’m bringing this up this morning because ALL OF US have a list of things that we think need—we have the reasons for WHY we need it, why we’ve earned it, and why we deserve it! And yet in the passage we are looking today, if we really understand it, Jesus radically redefines what we need; and he does it in a way that’s going to make some of us feel pretty uncomfortable…in fact what he says in is so uncomfortable that after he says it, many of the people who were following Him, stopped. Because they’re not about what Jesus is about.

And I’m bringing this up this morning because in the passage we’re looking at, Jesus directly addresses this idea of what we need.

[EPAND]

So finish the phrase:

So if you’re not there yet, open with me to ’ll pray and then we’ll get started.

PRAY

What the Crowd WANTS ()

Alright, let’s get started. Let me give us just a little bit of context that will help us make sense of what we’re looking at this morning.

First of all-- up to this point in the Gospel John, Jesus has been attracting a significant following. As He is moving from town to town, people are gathering to listen to him teach and see him do these miracles. Look with me starting at .

John 6:1–2 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

John 6:1–2 ESV

After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

People wanted to be around Jesus. They’d heard all of these rumor about what he can do—they’ve seen sick people be healed by Him.

Feeding the Multitude

And by the time you get to , there is a pretty large group of people who are following him!

But something interesting happens this time. Because when Jesus sees the crowd forming again, he looks to his closest followers, the twelve disciples, and says they should provide some food for the crowd that has gathered there.

John tells us that there are about 5,000 men—not mention the numbers of women and children who would have been with them! So many scholars think there likely would have been upwards of 20,000 people gathered there to see Jesus.

So when He starts talking about feeding them, it’s almost like his disciples think it’s a joke—they don’t really take it seriously that Jesus wants to feed them! And I think you have to read between the lines a bit in the story to see this, but they start ball-parking how much it would cost to go out and buy enough bread, not even to serve lunch but just for something like light refreshments…and it’s a crazy amount of money—not even a real option. And guy, brings up a kid who’s got 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish—but it’s not really anything to write home about let alone begin to feed a crowd of 20,000—it’s his way of saying, ‘this is all we’ve got’!

5 Loaves and 2 fish.

Now, I know a lot of you have heard this story before, it’s one of the more popular stories about Jesus...and I don’t know if you’re like me, but when I think of this story, when ever I hear, 5 Loaves of bread and two fish, I always think of something like this.

Pull out the bread and fish from cooler.

Which, that would be a pretty good lunch for a kid—a little too much gluten maybe for my taste, but that’s a nice spread!

That’s what I think of.

But based on the words John uses in the original language, which is greek, to describe the food—I think we usually get the wrong image in our minds.

It’s actually much more like this!

Pull out the bag of Triscuits and Sardines.

You’ve got to think of it like a Triscuit or some other kind of glorified cracker—and then with the two fish—they are these tiny fish—like little Sardines which were typically used as a side dish.

here’s what we’ve got recognize…this food that Jesus is about to multiply…this is food that was very typical of the poor in that day! It’s not this lavish meal.

Here’s what I want to you to see…this is food that was very typical of the poorer communities in that day! Obviously, it’s not a lot of food to begin with, right? It’s not some lavish meal.

But Jesus takes this lunch, prays for the food, and then begins to pass the crackers around to everyone in the crowd. Now John doesn’t tell us how this happens, but what he does tell us that the food begins to multiply…as they pass the bread—each person taking as much as they need to be full—it multiplies…and the same with the fish; it multiplies. So much so that John tells us everybody ate until they were full there were STILL 12 baskets of food left over!

And something clicks for the crowd. They have just seen Jesus do something incredible right before them! They were hungry and in a matter of moments, Jesus provided exactly what they needed! And it it took no real effort at all for Him to do it!

But for us to really track with what’s about to happen and the conversation that Jesus will have with these folks in the rest of the story, we have to put our selves for a moment in their shoes!

What have the crowds seen?

Remember from v.2 (), the reason they have come to see Jesus in the first place is because they know and have seen him heal people who were sick—in other words, Jesus is doing stuff that NO ONE else has been able to do! They don’t have medicine that can do what Jesus does…they don’t have doctors who can do what Jesus does. They’ve seen people who, without a doubt, were on the verge of death, but when they have an encounter with Jesus—everything changes; they’re healed!

And now, they’ve seen him miraculously provide MORE THAN ENOUGH food like this!

So in their minds, they’ve found the one who can provide for their health AND their hunger, right?! Two of the most basic human needs! If they have Jesus, they don’t need to worry about being sick anymore, because Jesus can fix it! With Him, they don’t need to worry about going hungry because He can take care of it! And who knows what else he can do!

And there is this collective understanding of ‘Just think of the benefits that come with Jesus!

And in v. 15 () Jesus knows what they’re thinking…he’s watching this unfold in front Him so He withdraws because he knows they are about to try and make a power play. They want Him to be their king!

They Want More Signs ()

They Want Jesus to Meet their Needs ()

Jesus and his disciples head to the other side of the lake over night. And the next morning this same crowd is back looking for him—they’ve still got some grand plans for Jesus of what they want him to do for them!

They finally find him in the Synagogue in the city of Capernaum. Here’s a picture of what this synagogue looks like today. You can still go back there today and see where this whole conversation takes place!

Looking For Jesus ()

They are back for round two!

They come up to Jesus and say, “Teacher, when did you get here?” You know, “Jesus, why’d you leave? We’ve been looking for you!”

Jesus Knows What They WANT ()

But Jesus knows what is actually going on with this crowd. Look with me at v. 26 ()

John 6:26 ESV

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Jesus says, “You are not coming to me because you saw the signs, you’re just hungry!”

Now, at first it seems like John’s being a little inconsistent, right? Remember what we looked at in verse v.2 ()…that the very reason this crowd had followed was because of signs that Jesus was doing. But here’s what He’s getting at. While they may have seen Jesus do these miracles…they failed to see what these miracles revealed about who Jesus really is! They failed to see what the signs signified—that it points to fact that Jesus is himself God! Not just some miracle worker who can be forced into political positions!

The crowd has grossly misunderstood who Jesus is and what he’s all about, right? They missed it!

Bread that lead to eternal life

And so Jesus begins the same kind of conversation I had with Evelyn this week, telling them they have confused their WANTS and NEEDS! That while they want physical bread, what they actually need is much more profound.

And they don’t get it!

So they ask for another sign in v. 30 ()! They’re not buying what Jesus is talking about! So they give Jesus a bit of a history lesson…saying, “Jesus, THIS is what we’re talking about…this is what we want you to do for us!” And they begin to tell Jesus the story of the Exodus from the Old Testament. You know the story—Moses leads the Israelites out of Egypt and they are going to the Land that God promised to give them. But to get there, they WANDER through the desert for 40 years!

And while they were out there in the wilderness…God gave them bread each day—they called it Manna. It was enough bread for everyone—and they would talk about the Bread from Heaven that God had given to them.

Believe

What sign do you give us? Just like in Exodus

The real bread is what comes down from Heaven!

And they end up saying, Yes Jesus, we want that same kind of bread! “Give us is bread always!”

But when they say this, they reveal a bit more about their motives than they intend to because it becomes clear that all they’re really after is this bread.

They want Jesus to meet their needs

They have this set of needs and even some expectations and they want Jesus to meet them. You follow me?

But I think we have to dig just a little bit deeper here to see what’s going on with this crowd before we just write them off for missing the point of what Jesus is all about!

See, when you really start to think about what this crowd is asking of Jesus…it’s not crazy. They’ve just seen him multiply bread and the fish—and remember what we talked about—it wasn’t some LAVISH meal that Jesus gave them!

It’s not like He’s handing out these extravagant gifts to the crowds, and so now they’ve just come back and want more free stuff from him!

NO!

Hold up Triscuits and Sardines

It’s this simple meal—basically the minimum of what they would need to get by and survive!

All they want from Jesus is that he would continue to meet their basic needs! “Jesus, we’re HUNGRY…and from the way things are looking, if we’re with you, WE don’t need to worry about food!”

And I think that’s what’s driving this conversation for the Crowd. If they can just get Jesus to meet their needs, then they don’t need to worry about them anymore! It’s a whole approach to Jesus that essentially views him as a cosmic vending machine—if you follow me. They’re real interest is not in Jesus, but in what Jesus can do for them! Do you see what I’m saying?

We want Jesus to meet OUR needs.

Let me ask you this. What is your bread?

And with that, we have to recognize that often times, we take a very similar approach to Jesus…one that looks to Jesus to meet our needs!

And so maybe to think about it from a bit of a different angle this morning, ask yourself this: What’s my bread? That’s what the crowds are after here…whats the equivalent for you? What’s your bread? Because you and I all have our own list of things that, just like the crowd, we think we need, don’t we?

And then, we approach Jesus with our grand plans! And it works the same way…we believe if Jesus would just do A—that if he would me this need right here, then everything else is really going to fall in line for us! B would be so much better if He would just take care of A! That things would finally begin to work out for us…that we wouldn’t have to spend so much time worrying about what’s coming next! And so we frame this in our own minds as getting things we need!

Let’s be honest for a minutes.

Where we live

Many of think the same way around where we live, right? That if we were to move into a house that had just a bit more space for us to grow into—that was better situated for our commute and for the schools, then how much better would things work out of us?

So we conclude we need to move!

Personal: What we HAVE

I’ll be honest, as a pastor, I can fall into this ALL THE TIME! It works like this for me…if we had just a little bit nicer: fill in the blank. Man, that would be the thing that would REALLY bring folks in here and pack the place out! [EXPAND]! If A happens, Jesus, don’t you understand how much better it would be for ALL of us when B happens!

Spouse

If you’re married, you do this with your spouse—and I know that, because I do it! We start thinking of all the things we wish they would just instinctively do, right? That if they were just a bit more attentive to what’s going on in my life…that if they would just stop leaving their stuff in random places in the house…if they would spend a bit more time at home with the kids and not be at work so long…if they would just stop nagging me about the little things…and the list goes on. And then we tell ourselves that IF THESE THINGS CHANGED…man, think of how much better our marriage could be! Then we could have something really meaningful and satisfying.

And that was is really driving this whole thing for us…that we would find something that is actually satisfying…something that actually brings us JOY…something that actually brings contentment for us!

And we bring this stuff and say, ‘Jesus, help me with this.’ Just like the crowds here…we want the Bread!

But here’s the real problem with this approach to Jesus…when we hold him captive to what WE think we need…just like the crowds...we actually fail to see him for what he REALLY is!

But here’s the real problem with this approach to Jesus…when we hold him captive to what WE think we need…when we actually fail to see him for what he REALLY is!

See we’re hoping that getting these things will actually bring us joy and satisfaction, that in a sense, we won’t hunger for anything else anymore! It’s why I can convince myself I need a new iPad—then I’ll really be more productive. Why we need to be chasing after a new job. Why we need a vacation. Why we need x-amount of money. Because if we get these things, then we’ll be satisfied!

If you probe deep enough into our own hearts and minds, what we’ll see is that we really are no different than the crowds here…many times WE come to Jesus and demand that He meet our needs!

And look, I’m not saying that it’s wrong to pray about these things, but what I am saying that we can easily end up believing that Jesus’ purpose is to meet our needs! And when we do that, we don’t often realize that we end up missing the very source of joy, peace, and satisfaction that we’re looking for in this other stuff.

Let me show you what I mean.

Big Idea: Jesus doesn’t meet our needs…He IS our need!

See after the crowd makes this demand that Jesus meet their need and give them the bread, Look at how He responds in .

John 6:35 ESV

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

This is an incredible thing for Jesus to say!

And when you really start to look at the details of this exchange that they have, as the crowd demands bread…Jesus responds with, ‘Don’t you get it? I AM the bread!”

And what He’s trying to get across to this crowd AND TO US, is that His goal…his purpose is not to MEET our needs…but that HE IS OUR NEED!

Let me say that again…because I think we really need a moment to process that…Jesus doesn’t just meet our needs…HE IS OUR NEED!

He looks at the crowd and says, You don’t need the bread, you need ME!

You see, what Jesus is doing in this moment with crowds is giving him a greater vision for WHO he is! That He is not just some vending machine that can do what we want Him to do—or even what we think we may NEED him to do!

No, he is showing the crowds, and US that He is actually God who has shown up in the flesh; who has stepped down into the world that HE created!

And so when we come to Him saying, Jesus I need a

And man, I was struck by this as I was preparing this message…see, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life” because that’s what the crowd came looking for! If they had been looking for him to do anything else, I think he’d say the same kind of this. In fact, you could plug this in for anything that we think we need from Jesus! If he were here today, he would tell us, I AM the HOUSE WITH A YARD IN THE SUBURBS! I AM THE BETTER EDUCATION FOR YOUR KIDS. I AM THE BETTER JOB.

You don’t need THAT, you need ME!

We need to hear Jesus’ words this morning:

You don’t need a new Job…you need Him.

You don’t need a spouse…you need Him!

You don’t need a better spouse…you need Him.

You don’t need a bigger HOUSE…you need Him.

You don’t need a vacation…you need Him.

Jesus doesn’t just meet our needs—HE IS OUR NEED! The satisfaction, peace, joy, any and everything we’re looking for is found perfectly in Him! He is MORE THAN enough. He is what what YOU need!

“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE! Whoever comes to me shall not hunger. Whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” You are not satisfied because I meet your needs, you’re satisfied because I AM your need!

And when we take HIM, the Bread of Life, there is nothing more we lack.

The Gospel

And to truly know this, we need to know the full story of the Gospel! See the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus tells us HOW and WHY He is enough!

And it’s hinted at all throughout this story!

Jesus says multiple times that He is the one who has come down from Heaven…meaning that He is God in the flesh who has stepped down into our world.

And the rest of the Gospel of John shows us how Jesus lived the perfect life that we SHOULD HAVE lived…but because of our failure…our chasing after other things in search of satisfaction...the selfish expectations we placed on Him…our sin…there has been a

And that’s why, as he ends this conversation with the crowd in John chapter 6, he does it in a way that is quite jarring—in a way that should catch us off guard!

Look with me at v. 53 ()

John 6:53–54 ESV

See what Jesus is doing here is speaking of his death! Because ultimately, it’s his His death, that brings US life!

Friends, this is the story of the Gospel! That Jesus, the Bread of Life, gives up His life—so that we could have eternal life!

Jesus is the one who lived the perfect life we should have lived…and yet died the death WE should have died…on a cross in OUR place for OUR sin…our selfish expectations of Him for what we think we need! His body is broken on a cross…his blood is poured out…and the story of the Gospel reminds us that this is done for us!

And yet Jesus, did not stay dead, but rose again with the promise that anyone who believes in HIM and His work on the cross could have eternal life—that we could be perfectly satisfied in Him! That we could finally and fully have joy in Him! That we might have fulfillment in Him! Friends, it is the story of the Gospel that powerfully, wonderfully, and beautifully proclaims that Jesus doesn’t meet our needs, He IS our need!

See we have new life—in HIM. We have new hope—in Him!

Look with me at v. 53 ()

John 6:53–54 ESV

John 6:53–58 ESV

So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

See what Jesus is doing here is speaking of his death! Because ultimately, it’s his His death, that brings US life!

And for this reason, we

Conclusion + Application

So what do we do with any of this?

For starters, some of us need to have a moment of honesty with ourselves…because we’ve actually been treating Jesus much more like a vending machine…and so I want you to ask this question today—whether it’s right now, on the way home—or at the dinner table: Is Jesus my need or a means to get what I need?

Friends, I’ll tell that as long as we keep seeing Jesus as a means to an end…we will continue to search for satisfaction and joy and never really find it!

See, our response to difficult stuff we’re going through will often reveal what we actually believe about Jesus.

The second thing I want us to do this morning is to take Communion together.

Because communion doesn’t just remind us of the Gospel—Communion reminds us that in Christ, we have everything that we need! It’s the proclamation that Jesus is enough for us! And the celebration that the Bread of Life gave up His life that by believing in Him, we could have eternal life!

So this morning, we will be putting this into practice by taking communion together! Let me remind of you that because of what Communion symbolizes—this is a practice for people who

Later on in the New Testament, Paul establishes the practice of communion by saying this, ()

1 Corinthians 11:23–28 CSB

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sin against the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself; in this way let him eat the bread and drink from the cup.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 ESV

For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, “This is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

1 Corinthians 11:23–27 ESV

And let me say this…because of what Communion is—the proclamation that Jesus is everything we need—we believe that this something we should join in on only if we are followers of Jesus. So if you’re here today and not this is not what you believe, we’d ask that you’d not come forward to receive Communion. But that instead, you would use this time to reflect on what the Gospel means for you!

So let me pray, and then you’re invited to come forward when you’re ready.

PRAY

Related Media

Related Sermons