Bread and Light

John 6:26–35 CSB

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 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.” “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked. Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.” “What sign, then, are you going to do so we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” 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. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.” “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.

Seeking Jesus for the work

What do the people of Galilee want from Jesus?

Seeking Jesus

They want more food (26-27)

they follow because they got fed not because they understand (they want the blessing)

They want to perform works (28-29)

they think doing something for God is what matters (they want to earn it)

They want a sign (30-33)

they want proof that Jesus is who he says he is (they want certainty)

They want the bread of God (34-35)

so they wont have to work anymore (they want easy)

bread is the most basic of foods. Almost every culture has some form of bread (except Papua New Guinea - “sweet potato of life”)

Jesus is the the staple food in our diet not the add on.

Illustration idea: What are the staple foods in my diet?

Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets

Los Burritos

Nacho Fries at TBell

Spicy Chicken Deluxe at Chick-fil-A

Main point: Jesus is enough. [“you will never be hungry again”.] Until Jesus is enough for you nothing in this world will ever be.

Intro

We’ve spent the last 4 weeks looking at our identity.

We worked through some things that cannot hold our identity and now it’s time to dig into the only thing that actually can hold our identity. and spoiler alert, it’s not a thing, it’s a person, and his name is Jesus.

So we’re going to spend the next 4 Wednesday nights looking at what Jesus has to say about himself.

Food is important. Anybody disagree?

I know some people who are crazy healthy and they’re like, food is fuel. It doesn’t have to taste good, it has to fuel my body so I can run marathons and bike a zillion miles, and do whatever other things healthy people do.

I like food. I like eating food.

I’ve told you guys about one of my favorite places to eat food and that’s Chick-fil-A. And for you guys asking, no, i’m not a Red Member yet. But someday I will join that exclusive club...

Anyways...

I’ve been thinking about some of the other staples in my diet (a staple is a main food, it’s something you eat all the time, it’s something you live on)

When I was in college, a burrito place called Los Burritos y Tapatios was a staple in my diet. We called it Los for short. It was open until 3am, so you know it was the perfect late night food spot. I would get the same thing every-time I went there, which was like once or twice a week. A steak and egg burrito suizo with sour cream and guacamole. It was a staple in my diet.

Nacho Fries at T-Bell. Another staple. My favorite commercial during the superbowl was the Taco Bell commercial announcing the return of Nacho Fries.

Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets. Chance the Rapper is my hero for bringing those things back.

For most of the world, bread is a staple food. There are tons of ways to make bread, tons of different kinds of bread, and almost every culture has some form of bread. It’s one of the most basic foods, it’s been around since ancient times, and it is essential for life. It is the ultimate staple food.

In John’s Gospel, one of the 4 biographies of Jesus found in the bible, John picks up on seven times that Jesus specifically talks about himself. So we’re going to spend the next 4 Wednesday nights looking at what Jesus has to say about himself.

Context:

Jesus feeds 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish. Crazy. A miracle. In fact it’s the only miracle that appears in all four gospels. He then sends the disciples in a boat to the other side of the lake. Then he starts walking across the lake (I’m sure you remember that story). When morning comes, the crowds of people come looking for Jesus, but he’s gone. They’re confused so they go looking for Jesus, and we’re gonna pick up in verse 26 where they find Jesus on the other side of the lake in a city called Capernaum.

Read the Passage []

Food is important. Anybody disagree?

I know some people who are crazy healthy and they’re like, food is fuel. It doesn’t have to taste good, it has to fuel my body so I can run marathons and bike a zillion miles, and do whatever other things healthy people do.

I like food. I like eating food.

I’ve told you guys about one of my favorite places to eat food and that’s Chick-fil-A. And for you guys asking, no, i’m not a Red Member yet. But someday I will join that exclusive club...

Anyways...

I’ve been thinking about some of the other staples in my diet (a staple is a main food, it’s something you eat all the time, it’s something you live on)

When I was in college, a burrito place called Los Burritos y Tapatios was a staple in my diet. We called it Los for short. It was open until 3am, so you know it was the perfect late night food spot. I would get the same thing every-time I went there, which was like once or twice a week. A steak and egg burrito suizo with sour cream and guacamole. It was a staple in my diet.

Nacho Fries at T-Bell. Another staple. My favorite commercial during the superbowl was the Taco Bell commercial announcing the return of Nacho Fries.

Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Nuggets. Chance the Rapper is my hero for bringing those things back.

For most of the world, bread is a staple food. There are tons of ways to make bread, tons of different kinds of bread, and almost every culture has some form of bread. It’s one of the most basic foods, it’s been around since ancient times, and it is essential for life. It is the ultimate staple food.

So it shouldn’t surprise us that Jesus works a miracle involving some bread. 5000 hungry people get fed off of 5 loaves of it. And no, it wasn’t like everyone gets a tiny little piece, it says everyone ate as much as they wanted and they even collected 12 baskets full of bread at the end of the meal.

So now the crowds of people start looking for Jesus again.

I’m gonna give you the main point of this talk right now: Until Jesus is enough for you, nothing ever will be.

Until Jesus is enough for you nothing ever will be.

Food

The crowds come looking for Jesus and they try to play it cool. They’re like “uhhh Rabbi (teacher), when did you get here?”

It’s like a cheesy pickup line a guy might use on a girl. So uhh, you come here often?

It’s so obvious that the guy is just trying to get the girl’s number.

“Jesus, you’re a really great teacher…teach us some more.”

And Jesus sees right through it. He says, “you’re not looking for me because you want more teaching from me - you didn’t even understand the last thing I thought you. You came looking for me because you ate more food yesterday than you’ve eaten in weeks!”

The crowd wanted more bread, the crowd wanted to receive something from Jesus.

But until Jesus is enough for you, nothing ever will be.

Works

Then the crowd of people switch up what they’re asking for.

“Okay the bread thing didn’t work out… how about doing stuff for God? That seems like a good thing. Let’s ask for that! Jesus! What can we do to perform the works of God?”

People who do the works of God are important. They stand on stages, they teach lots of people, they have lots of followers on Instagram, they have influence

“How do we get into that game? That seems like the place to be!”

But Jesus sees through this too.

“God doesn’t need you to do something for him, he doesn’t NEED anything. He’s God. He doesn’t need more influencers, he doesn’t need more convincing arguments.

The real work of God, that all of you can do is believe in the one he sent”

The crowd wanted influence, they wanted social standing, they wanted to be important, they wanted God to look at them and say now there is somebody doing stuff for me...

But until Jesus is enough for you, nothing ever will be.

Signs

So Jesus hinted not-so-subtly that he is the one the people are supposed to believe in. And the crowd is all skeptical.

“Okay Jesus. If you’re this person we’re supposed to believe in, do a miracle right now. Show us something cool so we’ll know that you’re legit.”

And then they get back up on this whole bread thing.

“Moses was important. Moses was from God. And he gave us bread from heaven. What are you gonna give us?”

Jesus is probably thinking, “I literally just gave you all the bread you could eat yesterday! Do you not remember?!”

But what he says is “Moses didn’t give you nothing. God gave you that bread. And the REAL bread from God is the one who God sent from heaven to give life to the world”

The crowd wanted Jesus to prove he was legit. They have already forgotten what God did for them just YESTERDAY. They want signs and wonders and miracles so they can be certain about who Jesus is.

But until Jesus is enough for you, nothing ever will be.

The Bread of Life

So this crowd fo people:

Who think that if they just had more food to eat, if they could just receive something, it would be enough.

This crowd of people:

Who think that if they just had more influence, more followers, more social standing, it would be enough.

This crowd of people:

Who think that if they see some kind of miracle (and can’t even be bothered to remember the miracle they just saw YESTERDAY), if they just see something cool and new, it would be enough.

To this crowd of people Jesus says:

“I am the bread of life. IF you come to me, you wont be hungry ever again. If you believe in me you wont be thirsty ever again.”

He wants to be the staple food in your spiritual diet. Jesus isn’t the whipped cream and the cherry on top. He’s not hot sauce that you add. He’s not candy or cake or ice cream.

He is the bread. He’s the staple. Without him you cannot survive.

He is saying to you and to me that UNTIL I AM ENOUGH FOR YOU, NOTHING EVER WILL BE.

Closing

So as I close out this talk...

Ask yourself:

Am I just looking to get something from Jesus? More bread. More bread. More bread. Jesus give me, give me, give me. If you only had Jesus would that be enough for you?

Am I just looking for social standing, for popularity, for influence? Jesus I want to do big things for YOU so that everybody will know ME. ISn’t that a great deal Jesus? You get what you want, I get what I want… If all you did your whole life was faithfully and obediently follow Jesus, and work a 9-5 job, and get married and raise kids who follow Jesus and nobody ever knew your name or put you on stage, would Jesus still be enough for you?

Am I looking for miracles and new and cool? Jesus what’s next? What trick are you gonna do next? I don’t care what you did yesterday I want you to do something crazy today. If all you had was faith that Jesus is with you, and knows what is best for you, and loves you enough to die for you, if all you had was that, would Jesus still be enough for you?

Jesus is the bread of life. He promises that he is all you need. Until he is enough for you, nothing ever will be. Do you believe him?