Sermon for 8/8/21 - 16 Minutes "The Bread of Life"

John 6:35, 41-51

This morning I'll be reading John 6:35, 41-51 And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. John 6:35, 41-51 These verses of John are telling about the conversation between Jesus and those that have followed Him across the Sea of Galilee,,, and this happened the day after the feeding of the five thousand.

John 6:35 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. 41–51 41 Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47“I assure you: Anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.” God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ----------------------------------------------------------- Last Sunday we studied the first 12 verses of Psalm 51 which is a prayer written by David after his sin with Bathsheba and the murder of Uriah.

These were of course terrible sins but we saw that David was seen,,, “as a man after God’s own heart”,,, because David knew that his sins were against God,,, he needed forgiveness from God,,, and he turned away from future sins as best he could.

It’s from the written words that David left for us,,, that gives us an example of hope.

We learned that this Psalm was written to help us understand,,, that just because we fall short today,,, it doesn’t mean that we can’t be someone,,, that is referred to later,,, as,,, “a man,,, or woman,,, or child,,, after God’s own heart”!

This morning we will look at the verses where Jesus speaks to the Jews in Capernaum,,, about being the “Bread of Life”.

Let’s look at these verses and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 35 says: 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.

This verse should be a verse that is remembered by all that are Christians today.

This is also a verse that can be used against us by those that aren’t Christians.

If you take just this verse by itself,,, you might be tempted to think that all I need to do is accept Jesus Christ as my Savior,,, and I’ll never need to work again.

If you think about it that way,,, you should always have plenty of food and water,,, since you will never be hungry or thirsty again.

So there would not be any need to work,,, since everything is supplied.

Of course “we” know that Jesus is talking about the sacrifice that He will make by offering His body as a living sacrifice for the sins of the whole world,,, and because of that sacrifice,,, we will live forever in heaven.

Jesus is saying that if anyone comes to Him,,, He will satisfy their spiritual hunger forever.

Those who believe in Him find their thirst forever quenched.

Also notice the “I Am” in this verse,,, and recognize that Jesus is making a claim to equality with God!

It would be foolish for a sinful man to utter these words,,, since it would be impossible for a mortal man to satisfy his own hunger or thirst,,, much less the spiritual appetite of the whole world,,, but,,, Jesus can,,, and,,, still does so today!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 41 and 42 say: 41 Therefore the Jews started complaining about Him because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They were saying, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can He now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

My commentary says,,, the Jews,,, referred to as hostile unbelievers,,, are like the grumbling Israelites in the wilderness after leaving Egypt,,, and says that apparently they weren’t aware of Jesus’ true origin and full nature,,, since they say that He was the son of Joseph,,, which means that they either didn’t know about the virgin birth,,, or,,, they chose,,, to ignore it.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 43 and 44 say: 43 Jesus answered them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Jesus doesn’t spend any time trying to correct them,,, but He does tell them to stop grumbling or complaining,,, and points them to the drawing and teaching ministry of God.

They are not in a position to judge Him.

Without God’s help,,, any assessment of God’s Messenger will be faulty.

No one can come to Jesus or believe on Him without divine help.

People are so wrapped up in the quicksand of sin and unbelief,,, that unless God draws them (cf. v. 65), they are hopeless.

And,,, this drawing of God is not limited to a few.

Jesus said in John 12:32,,, “As for Me, if I am lifted up from the earth I will draw all men to Myself”.

This does not mean that all will be saved,,, but that Jews,,, and Gentiles,,, who haven’t even received the word yet,,, will be saved.

And,,, those who will be saved will also be resurrected (cf. 6:39–40).

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 45 and 46 say: 45 It is written in the Prophets: And they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except the One who is from God. He has seen the Father.

This quote Jesus made from the Old Testament is probably Isaiah 54:13 or Jeremiah 31:34 since they both have similar meanings,,, of course this meaning is seen in other books of the prophets too.

This teaching of God,,, refers to His inner work that changes our mind to accept the truth about Jesus and respond to Him.

This is “all” the work of the Holy Spirit,,, which is trying to convince everyone,,, to accept His word!

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 47 and 48 say: 47“I assure you: Anyone who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life.

These two verses summarize Jesus’ teaching during His discussion.

The words,,, “I assure you: ,,, or “Verily, verily, I say unto you”,,, as it is in the King James,,, are used 4 different times in this chapter,,, and are used by Jesus to show without a doubt,,, that whoever believes in Him has everlasting life.

This is one of many verses in the New Testament that teaches that salvation is not by works,,, not by obeying the law,,, not by church membership,,, not by obeying the Golden Rule,,, but simply by believing in the Lord Jesus Christ.

We don’t do anything other than accept it,,, we must make that choice,,, that’s all.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verses 49 and 50 say: 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that anyone may eat of it and not die.

Here the Lord reminded them that their fathers had eaten the manna in the wilderness and were dead.

In other words,,, manna was for this life only.

It did not have any power to give eternal life to those who ate it.

By the expression, “Your fathers,” the Lord dissociated Himself from fallen humanity and implied His unique deity.

----------------------------------------------------------- Verse 51 says: 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

Jesus is the living bread.

He not only lives in Himself, but is life-giving.

Those who eat this bread … will live forever.

But how can this be?

How can the Lord give eternal life to guilty sinners?

The answer is found at the end of this verse where it says,,, “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.”

Here the Lord Jesus was pointing forward to His death on the cross.

He would give His life as a ransom for sinners.

His body would be broken, and His blood would be poured out as a sacrifice for sins.

He would die as a Substitute.

He would pay the penalty that our sins demanded.

And why would He do this?

He did it for the life of the world.

He would not die just for the Jewish nation, or even just for the elect.

But His death would be of sufficient value for the whole world.

Again,,, this does not mean that the whole world will be saved,,, but,,, that the work of the Lord Jesus at Calvary,,, would be sufficient,,, to save the whole world,,, if,,, all men came to Jesus.

----------------------------------------------------------- So as we prepare to go our separate ways this morning,,, hopefully we can remember these verses,,, and that Jesus is “The Living Bread”.

Jesus tried to explain it to everyone,,, including His disciples,,, before He was put through His agonizing death on the cross,,, all for our sins,,, innocent of sin,,, but dying for our sin!

And when I say all of our sin,,, I don’t just mean those of us here today that are Christians already,,, but our neighbors in our communities and workplaces,,, some that we may not agree with,,, but we are told to love,,, a commandment given by Jesus to show God’s love throughout the world.

And it’s through that love that we show others,,, that God knows,,, that we love Him,,, and truly show others,,, that Jesus is,,, “The Living Bread” and if they accept that “living bread”,,, they can live forever,,, in heaven,,, with Him!

----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- Hymn: 337 - Oakdale Hymn: 337 - Seminary Benediction ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------------------