The Bread Of Life
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The Way of God Vs. The Way Of The World
The Way of God Vs. The Way Of The World
The world has a way of thinking about salvation/true fulfilment, and it almost always focuses on being good.
So we either try harder and fail or convince ourselves that we are better than we are
by lowering the bar or just surrounding ourselves with “positivity” that affirms our lies
The people are so focused on works that in order to ask Jesus how they can receive eternal life, they ask “what is the work of God” so that they can do it.
Jesus says that HE is the bread of life, and nobody or nothing else. Not a complete memorization of scripture, not your mission trip resume, not your eloquent prayers. The work of God is not to be a monk and detach oneself entirely, it is not a foreign missions trip, it is not even in perfect obedience to God’s law. it is only to believe in Jesus Christ.
There is an element in which people really like it at face value but then grow increasingly uncomfortable as they start to understand what it means.
There are two responses to Jesus’s message:
a disgust that causes you to walk away
an irresistible attraction that makes everything else pale in comparison
Intro to the I Am series:
Jesus is teaching in a way that directs people’s attention to himself. He is helping people to turn away from idols of all kinds, whether secular or religious. The goal of the teaching of Jesus is to show people that he is the center of God’s plan of salvation.
Before his first “I am,” Jesus started teaching and performing miracles, gaining quite the following.
Jesus is speaking to all sorts of people, but in this instance he is speaking specifically to religious people in a place of worship.
CFC: Jesus in himself is completely satisfying and deals with our weaknesses
John 6:35
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.
Intro
Jesus just got done feeding the 5,000 and they came seeking him out in Capernaum and found him in the Synagogue
John6:26
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 began teaching in the Synagogue a sermon about bread that doesn’t perish.
The importance of bread to the audience
The manna in the wilderness, the passover, bread is the symbol of God’s provision for his people.
[Main Point 1] The people reject Christ
[Sub Point 1] Jesus is attractive to almost everyone at first glance
Jesus begins by telling people that God is giving bread that is even better than manna - he is giving bread that will give eternal life.
Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
He even says that the bread is going to be a person - the Son of Man, and this is a message that the people are comfortable with. Even more than comfortable, the people are excited about this message! They know to expect a person as the ultimate provision from God, and they want this bread of life.
They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
And who would say no to free eternal life?
This is the message that people hear from most churches and Christians in america, if anything: “Jesus gives eternal life for free!” which is true! At least, it is a part-truth. People hear this and they come to church expecting to check a box, receive their get out of jail free card and then go back to their worldly lives, but instead they hear that Jesus also asks you to die to yourself and to abandon everything that isn’t of him, and they feel cheated. They hear that we must be willing to die for the sake of his name, and they feel like they walked in to the wrong classroom at school. After learning about who Jesus really is, eternal life doesn’t sound so great to them anymore and they promptly walk out.
maybe that is why there are so many churches and church camps that don’t want to dive into who Jesus is with any depth, but just stay surface level so that nobody has to be offended. Its at this point that many churches will hear “the magic words” (give us this bread always) and then baptize someone, put a tick mark on their numbers and move on to the next one.
There is a problem with that though: a true love for Christ wants to know him as completely as possible. A refusal to truly know him and his teachings as well as possible will leave a person dead, starving for the bread of life while they only play with a Jesus of their own making.
And that is why Jesus is not content to just let them say the magic words and turn them out to the wolves!
[Sub Point 2] While people like the idea of Jesus, many recoil from who he truly is
Once they start to look into what Jesus is really saying, people will not like what they hear for a few different reasons.
some will come to Jesus only because they want the glory for themselves, and someone to help them be the center of the show by making it works-based. “What must WE do” John 6:27-28
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
These people will walk away because Jesus is about the glory of his Father, not our own glory.
ILLUSTRATION: That friend who only wants to be around you for your stuff. Imagine showing up to a friends house and the first thing they ask is “what toys did you bring?” Some people just want Jesus for the things that he can give them “Our fathers ate bread, what do you do?” John 6:30-31
So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
NOTE: Jesus literally fed 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish yesterday, but he didn’t even mention that. Why? Because bread doesn’t save people, Jesus does.
These people will walk away because Jesus wants us to be satisfied with him alone. We will not be saved by the material wealth that Jesus is able to bless us with, so we must not be focused on those things. We must want Jesus, not his stuff.
Some people just want a normal, easy-to-swallow, popular message “this is a hard saying, who can hear it?” John 6:60, 66
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
These people will walk away because Jesus is not normal or popular and will challenge our understanding of things
As you read the Bible I promise you that you are going to be confronted with things that your sense of reason will recoil against. The disciples loved when Jesus fed people with bread, but they were fed up when he preaches that he is the bread of life.
People can all have their reasons why they won’t follow Jesus, but it can all be boiled down to one thing:
FCF: People arent satisfied with Jesus, they want something else.
APPLICATION: Are you in love with Jesus, or are you in love with the idea of Jesus? Do you love the things that he can do for you, or do you love him? Do you love the moral lifestyle, or do you love the perfect Son of God? Do you want to be the center of attention, or do you want to make everything about the glory of God?
[Main Point 2] Jesus himself is the only source of life
[Sub Point 1] Jesus Satisfies all of our needs and shortcomings
Jesus was sent here by the Father as the only way that we might live. Jesus came here as the true and better manna, as the ultimate provision of the Father to His children. While he gave bread to the people in the Exodus, he gave us his own son so that we can live with Him forever!
Jesus’s work is completely satisfying by nature, and for those who are called to him his work deals with all of the sinful reaction that we have to God.
We no longer need to be at the center of attention because we ourselves are focused on Jesus and his atoning work.
When asked what the work of God is, Jesus responds by saying it isn’t really a work at all. John 6:29, 38, 40
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
We no longer care for the physical things that Jesus is able to do because he has provided for our souls (Things not seen, glory that is to come)
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
We no longer care about normal or easy, we just want Jesus as he is. (Where will we go?)
[Main Point 3] Believe in the Lord and receive life
At the end of the day, there are only two responses to the person of Jesus:
a disgust that causes you to walk away
John 6:60,66
When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.
This leads to death
an irresistible attraction that makes everything else pale in comparison
John 6:67-69
So Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
This leads to life John 6:51
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
This links to the last Supper in Luke 22:19
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
What is your reaction to the person of Jesus? If you long for Jesus, partake of his flesh. Go to him, and throw yourself into his embrace. If you don’t know where you stand with him, but you know that you’ve lived a messed up, self-centered life, go to him. If you have rejected his message before but know that you need him now, go to him. Run to Jesus, for
All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.