The Bread of Life

Breadsticks, hamburger buns, rolls, cinnamon rolls, French bread, Italian bread, white bread, wheat bread, whole grain bread, I would even eat glutton-free bread!

Along with pasta and sweets, I LOVE ME SOME BREAD!

Hungry yet?

I am not picky either; there are too many types of bread I would walk away from.

Jesus said that we cannot live by bread alone; I would like to try someday. 😂

Honestly, I do not eat much bread anymore because it causes my breadbasket, as they call it, to grow. 😂

The sermon Jesus delivers to the crowd is one that if you use applause and compliments as the gauge of a successful sermon, this sermon bombs.

Today we continue our series on the signs of Jesus.

This message continues the theme of how these signs show God at work in Jesus for our salvation, and it touches on the crucial answer to this question: "What must we do to be saved?"

The passage's context is found in the first half of this chapter.

At the start of the chapter, multiplying very little food into a huge meal, Jesus feeds over five thousand people (6:10).

This miracle draws the crowds who want to crown Jesus as their king.

As a result, Jesus leaves them behind (v. 15) and walks on water (v. 19).

Today, instead of focusing on that miracle, we are going to look at what Jesus says about it.

Unlike in Cana, or with the official or the man at the pool, here Jesus gives an extended reflection on this sign.

In His sermon, Jesus tells us HE is the bread of life!

We will not cover every verse in the text today, but we will begin with verses 25-35

John 6:25–35 (CSB)

25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26 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.

27 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.”

28 “What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

29 Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”

30 “What sign, then, are you going to do so that we may see and believe you?” they asked. “What are you going to perform?

31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

32 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.

33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34 Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

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.

SERMON

I. Kneading bread that won't satisfy.

VERSES 25-35

This first observation ties into eating the wrong bread.

Today, most of us will go to the store and purchase bread already made for us.

If you don't do that, you may have a bread machine, or what I call a breadbasket expander! 😂

If you have ever made your own bread, kneading the dough takes time and effort.

My dad's family owned an Italian Bakery when I was a kid.

They made the very best bread; they got to the bakery at 4 am and started making dough and kneading the dough.

That manna from heaven was then baked in a wood-fired brick oven!

Oh my, I can still taste it today!

After Jesus fed the 5,000, He sensed the crowd would seek to make Him king, so he left, and in the evening, He walked across the water to Capernaum.

The crowd from the previous day was looking for Jesus, and when they realized He was in Capernaum, they headed over to meet Him.

😂I guess they wanted some breakfast croissants! 😂

When asked how He got there, Jesus did not answer the question; instead, telling the crowd the only reason they were looking for Him was because He filled their bellies!

Look at verse 27 again.

John 6:27 (CSB)

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.”

When you do not eat the right "bread" (food), you will not be filled or be satisfied.

These folks we chasing Jesus because He fed them the previous day, and they were not satisfied they were now hungry again.

Kneading bread takes work; these folks were kneading bread that would not satisfy them.

In life, when we are not focused on the right bread of life, we will not be satisfied.

We will always be looking for satisfaction, and we will not find it.

These people were seeking the wrong bread.

Jesus tells the crowd to quit working for the bread that perishes, that will not satisfy, but rather seek the right food, the food that will fill and last for eternity!

The crowd senses they need to do some more works, and they ask Jesus what those works would be.

Does this sound familiar?

What more can I do to be saved?

Jesus responds by telling them the work of God is that you believe!

I find it almost comical that in verse 30, the people ask Jesus what sign He was going to perform so they can believe He is who He claims to be!

Hey folks, were not over 5,000 of you fed with five loaves and two fish?

How often do we ask God for a sign that he can be trusted?

We easily forget all he has shown us in past experiences and in the Word and demand one more sign.

After literally multiplying a tiny amount of food into a feast for thousands, that still isn't enough for Jesus's hearers.

Sometimes our continual requests for more and more signs are just a delay tactic, so we don't have to entrust ourselves into the hands of God.

Jesus tells the crowds following him: "You have been living your life in service to yourself. Now serve God by believing in me."

But after all of the signs he has already performed, their response is, "What else are you going to do for us so that we believe?"

The folks tell Jesus they want the bread, and He concludes with verse 35.

John 6:35 (CSB)

“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.

Jesus tells them what they need.

What are you seeking in life to satisfy you?

John 6:47–51 (CSB)

47 “Truly I tell you, anyone who believes has eternal life.

48 I am the bread of life.

49 Your ancestors 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.”

II. Kneading bread that won't bring nourishment.

VERSES 36-51

Bread made with the wrong nutritional focus.

Jumping down to verses 47-61, Jesus tells the folks that He is the bread of life, and those who believe will have eternal life and satisfaction!

The people wanted their bellies to be filled.

The people were making their bread with the wrong nutritional focus.

The people worked for bread that would nourish the body, but not the spirit.

Their lives were all about themselves; they looked to be fed physically, Jesus was trying to give them spiritual bread.

The passages we did not cover more or less build in that thought.

God draws people to Himself through the feeding and study of the Word.

What is the focus of your life?

The physical? Are you only tending to the body's physical needs, or are you working on nourishing your spirit?

So many spend their lives kneading (working, seeking) things that does not nourish their spirit!

Jesus is the living bread!

Jesus brings life, eternal life to those who come to Him!

John 6:52 (CSB)

52 At that, the Jews argued among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

III. Kneading bread that is easy to swallow.

VERSES 52-66

Trying to make Jesus agree with our taste buds.

Do you know how Jesus could get a lot of people to sort of follow Him?

He can become Burger King Jesus!

Have Jesus your way!

We all want a Jesus who agrees with our taste buds.

Jesus taught the people something they did not understand and was not easy to swallow.

Wait, it gets worse!

John 6:53–58 (CSB)

53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life in yourselves.

54 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day,

55 because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.

56 The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the manna your ancestors ate—and they died. The one who eats this bread will live forever.”

The people did not understand Jesus was speaking of a total commitment to Him.

We are to believe so fully in Jesus that we have assimilated him into our life. We feast on him in the sense of “man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Matt 4:4)

Beauford H. Bryant and Mark S. Krause, John, The College Press NIV Commentary (Joplin, MO: College Press Pub. Co., 1998), Jn 6:49–51.

Look what happened next!

John 6:60–66 (CSB)

60 Therefore, when many of his disciples heard this, they said, “This teaching is hard. Who can accept it?”

61 Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were grumbling about this, asked them, “Does this offend you?

62 Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?

63 The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

64 But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.)

65 He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.”

66 From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him.

This teaching was not easy to swallow, so many disciples quit following Him.

The people did not get Burger King Jesus, so they left.

John 6:67–69 (CSB)

67 So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?”

68 Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life.

69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”

IV. The bread we truly NEED!

The bread we truly need is Jesus!

This means accepting Jesus as He is, for who He is, and following Him for those reasons.

As Jesus watches people one by one and in groups, walk away from Him, He turns to the 12, His closest followers, and asks them a question.

Are you leaving me also?

The 12 saw the same thing Jesus saw as the multitudes were walking away.

These men heard the same message that drove the multitudes away, yet what would they do?

Peter said, to whom will we go? YOU have the words of eternal life!

These men got the assignment!

The assignment was to accept Jesus for who He is, not for who they wanted Him to be.

They knew they needed to accept His teaching, even when it was hard to swallow.

They understood they were called to fully commit themselves to Him and His Word, even when the world would reject both Him and His message!

CONCLUSION

What are you turning to for nourishment in life?

What is the focus of your life? The physical or the spiritual?

Do we spend as much time feeding and nourishing the spirit as we do the body?

Are we using requests for more signs as a delay tactic to avoid placing our trust in Jesus?