The Bread of Life

Background

This morning we are going to do a bit more digging into the Old Testament looking for the Scarlet Thread that winds its way through the Bible, and this time we are going to look at Jesus as the Bread of Life.

I want to set this up for you again, go back to the Exodus. So before the incident with the water that I preached on last time when Moses struck the rock in Exodus 17, we have the people of Israel complaining that they had no bread to eat.

Exodus 16:1–4 NIV84

1 The whole Israelite community set out from Elim and came to the Desert of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had come out of Egypt. 2 In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 3 The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death.” 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

So this is where we are, before Rephidim in the Wilderness of Sin and the Israelites are complaining to the Lord. A short while ago they were in Egypt as slaves, worked to death and under the yoke of Pharaoh.

They had no riches, no freedom, beaten under the whip of the Egyptian task masters. Let us refresh our memories about what the Bible says about their bondage and their pleas so turn back with me to Exodus Chapter 1.

Exodus 1:8–14 NIV84

8 Then a new king, who did not know about Joseph, came to power in Egypt. 9 “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become much too numerous for us. 10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.” 11 So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh. 12 But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites 13 and worked them ruthlessly. 14 They made their lives bitter with hard labor in brick and mortar and with all kinds of work in the fields; in all their hard labor the Egyptians used them ruthlessly.

Exodus 2:23–25 NIV84

23 During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.

So Israel has cried out to God to deliver them from from the Egyptians because of the bitter bondage.

Now we are in the Wilderness, and have experienced the 10 plagues, and most amazing of all, God passed over the houses with Lambs blood on lintels of the doors, killing every first born of those who didn’t have the blood of the lamb covering them. Then they had the pillar of fire leading them to the Red Sea, then the parting of the Red Sea in which God destroyed the Egyptian army.

Directly before this there another incident with water at a place named Masah where they complained again.

Exodus 15:22–25 NIV84

22 Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. 23 When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) 24 So the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” 25 Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became sweet. There the Lord made a decree and a law for them, and there he tested them.

Diversion: Application

We will dig deeper in a minute, but there is a lesson here and I want to stop for a minute to examine it.

It seems like to the Israelites that they have totally forgotten their former state in Egypt doesn’t it? They think the grass is greener, and are saying to the Lord - your provision isn’t good enough.

They are complaining against God who had done so much for them, and lack the faith that God would complete the work He has started.

Did the Israelites not think that should they perish in the desert, it would make God look weak and unable to fulfill His promises?

Just like us, the wandering Jews thought the grass was greener back in Egypt. The preferred Egyptian bondage because they missed meat.

Was slavery in Egypt and the lashes better than freedom in the wilderness without meat or bread? Of course not, but that is they way we are when we are not content; everything else seems better.

Making bricks under the whip with slave food under a baking Egyptian sun is not exactly one’s dream job or lifestyle. When they left Egypt they left rich.

Exodus 12:35–36 NIV84

35 The Israelites did as Moses instructed and asked the Egyptians for articles of silver and gold and for clothing. 36 The Lord had made the Egyptians favorably disposed toward the people, and they gave them what they asked for; so they plundered the Egyptians.

They now had God who has delivered them, and not just mundanely, but spectacularly to His Glory.

They had posessions where once they had none, freedom when they had none, but all of sudden with no meat or bread they look back to the squalor of their past lives and long for it.

How often do we do that, and look back to the squalor of our past lives and think that it was better and we complain?

So Why is Complaining Bad?

Have you ever thought to yourself?

I need to take control, because maybe God isn’t going to help me unless I help myself?

God needs to do more for me, and moreover, it needs to be done now in my time, because I am feeling lousy about my lot in life?

I can provide better for my family and myself than God can.

God says in Psalms 145,

Psalm 145:15 NIV84

15 The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time.

God is our soveriegn provider in His own time. It is interesting to see the Israelites, their complaining, our worries about this life then in the light of Jesus’ words in Luke 12.

Luke 12:22–34 NIV84

22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? 27 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! 29 And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. 30 For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. 31 But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. 32 “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What Would You Have Done?

Consider the Israelites at this time, while drawing parallels in your own life.

I have my own Israelite story to share, and I will do that in a minute, but let us refocus on Israel and Moses again.

So God sent 10 plagues to force Pharoah to release His children. Parted the Red Sea and destroyed Pharoahs army. God produced pure water from a rock, and yet they grumbled against God.

Me? Well I am a pretty good grumbler and I cannot claim to be better than the Israelites. My story really starts when I got married. I had no idea about the future, I was 22 years old, and scared out of my wits as to how I would make something of this life.

What if I married the wrong girl, would we have children and would I make a big mess with it?

I started off well, and I married in faith, believing in God that He would give the increase in our love together as husband and wife.

I put my faith in God to love Bec and I am so thankful I did. I saw God deliver. I decided to give up a successful career as an accountant to become an agronomist. I was unhappy and grumbling - I was asking for a change, and you know what? God saw me through. I don’t know how I got through it all - starting again and studying 3 years.

Again I fretted when I had finished and had to move.

What about out house?

Can we sell it? how much will we lose?

How do I navigate this when I can’t find a rental in a town I don’t even know?

We worked out to stay afloat it was cheaper to actually buy a house than rent. But boy, buy a second house?

What if I can’t sell it if this job doesn’t work out?

We want to have kids, and we can’t wait any longer because we are getting older. How is that going to work?

What about school?

You get the idea. Well in about 3 -4 months of moving here we fell pregnant with Abigail. Everything was going well until almost 2 years ago when things started to unravel a bit I knew I was being managed out of the business, not because I wasn’t worth it, but because they didn’t see value in agronomy for whatever reason.

As a lot of you know this gave me a lot of anxiety.

I acted in ways that in my opinion, were faithless and showed more trust in my own ability than God’s ability to provide.

I have a stubborn nature that sometimes is good and sometimes bad, but its based on selfreliance. I could have saved myself, and Bec and a lot of other people if I had rested in God’s hands instead of my own.

Everything that I did seemed to make the situation worse, and not better.

For the last 2 years I was in a wilderness of my own. Wandering aimlessly complaint in my heart with little or no faith. It wasn’t until I saw God again working in small little ways to show me that in fact He was in control, that I stopped to think more, with more than a little prompting from Bec.

Letting Jesus take that yoke and me taking his was a far better thing. I had done a lot of talking and the more I thought and prayed about it the more I realised I needed to let go. In the end its His will not mine.

If I am to stay here, its God not me. It was incredibly hard, and in my heart were all sorts of accusations to God, but mainly it was my reliance on my self.

I’d be willing to say that we all have similar experiences like this, where we want to blame God and rely on ourselves or the things we can see do or touch.

So, what would you have done about the Malcontents and the grumblers? I know if I had been looking on myself, knowing what was in the future, I would have gotten impatient.

What God Did

Exodus 16:4 NIV84

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions.

You and I would have bashed the complainers over the head with a thick book, a hard covered one if we could swing it. God showed kindness. We would have acted like dictators. God acted like a caterer.

Exodus 16:11–15 NIV84

11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.’ ” 13 That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat.

God’s way is patient, kind and long suffering. His longsuffering and patience is our salvation.

2 Peter 3:15 NIV84

15 Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.

You know a lot of people believe that in the Old Testament that God is mean? Atheists always point to the Canaanites who lived in the Promised Land were in the wrong place at the wrong time? That’s hardly accurate:

God waited hundreds of years (some of that while Israel was in captivity)

Worshipers of Molech placed their own babies in to the scalding hot arms of an altar in the idolic image of their god to sacrifice them. Cruel, painful and torturous for a small helpless baby.

Practiced many evil rites connected with fertility cults and the occult.

God is never mean, in fact He is exceedingly kind, longsuffering and good to those who put their trust in Him. The murmuring Jews whined about God’s provision, but instead of giving them wrath God gave them bread.

Jesus the Bread of Life

Fast forward now to the time of the New Testament. Jesus is near the sea of Gallilee.

John 6:22–27 NIV84

22 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23 Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

The people saw a miracle worker, a political leader maybe, a prophet possibly, but not the Son of God. They had a free lunch - they only saw what they wanted to see. In fact previously they wanted to make him a king.

This was a paralell to Moses. Moses through God gave them bread from heaven, manna. They saw Jesus like Moses and intended to make Him their leader to once again bring them out from oppression, this time from the Romans.

John 6:15 NIV84

15 Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Jesus drills down into their hearts when he said, and exposed everything. He is trying to show people that He is the bread. The manna they ate in the desert perished, and only satisfied for a short while.

Jesus was saying that He himself is the bread from heaven. The bread that would ultimately be broken on the cross, that we might eat and forever be satisfied.

John 6:26–27 NIV84

26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

The bread we eat now to keep our bodies alive, like our bodies will one day waste away. Seek rather for the bread that never perishes, that does only satisfy in the short term, but seek Him, that if you partake of once, you will forever be satisfied.

Jesus is saying that this life is fleeting, and there is only sureity in the salvation He provides - eternal life with Jesus. The things we chase after, the things that men find of value in this world are but dross.

Philippians 3:8–10 NIV84

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. 10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

Jesus has once again pointed to Himself in the Old Testament - showing us who He is, that this plan was from the beginning. Showing God’s longsuffering with the human race.

We look at the coming Judgment as unfair.

How can God do these things? Look at the Caananites. God was patient with them - waited until their iniquity was full. The iniquity of the human race is getting full and the final judgement has come.

God has given us a way out through Jesus, if you would just turn and see the truth that is in Him. We have had ample time - our lives.

We have history showing us God working down through time. We have had ample warning. Like the Caananites, time is running out.

Luke 21:22–28 NIV84

22 For this is the time of punishment in fulfillment of all that has been written. 23 How dreadful it will be in those days for pregnant women and nursing mothers! There will be great distress in the land and wrath against this people. 24 They will fall by the sword and will be taken as prisoners to all the nations. Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. 25 “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. 26 Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. 27 At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

The Bread of Life is here. Jesus illustrated it when he fed the 5,000. Come, if you are willing and I will feed you. Partake of me and you will never go hungry. I provided in the desert the Mana, and I do it again now and soon forevermore.

Your body might suffer and die, but the bread I have for you will give you eternal life with Him after you die. This life is not the be all and end all. It is a preparation for life with Him.

Lets head back to John 6 again and read:

John 6:26–40 NIV84

26 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”

Talk about amazing grace. Like in the desert when all they did was complain - God saves, and saves so spectacularly.

I wonder sometimes if we are so desensitized to the cross because we are so familiar with the story that we lose perspective and don’t realise how amazing it is.

Have you Eaten This Bread?

Jesus is the Ark of Salvation, the Living Water and the Living Bread. Look at the wonderful salvation He won for us. He did it all, paid it all, won it all.

Out of His love for us. Don’t ever let an atheist ever throw doubt at you again about God’s goodness and kindness. Instead feel absolute sorry for his or her’s lost state, and give them the Gospel.

Psalm 34:8 NIV84

8 Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.