I am the Bread of Life

Intro

I am series. Jesus in his words

to understand, know and emulate jesus, we need to know who he is.

7 I Am Statements in the book of John as Jesus declares who he is.

Last week Kevin look at I am the Good Shepherd and I am the Gate.

Week before Mark brought us back to exodus with the first I am statement, God declaring I AM. so every other I Am statement by Jesus points back and declares I Am God.

Think about this...

Everything decays.

That brand new home will need repairs.

Those shoes that I searched for and finally found, will eventually wear out.

That fresh fruit spoils.

that brand new word that your generation uses will be old to your kids.

Everything fades, withers, rots, wastes, erodes, decays.

Even life itself

How do we make things last?

how to have something truly sustainable. That lasts.

But even in our greatest efforts nothing is truly sustainable.

something that sustains, is something that continually supports life, that doesn’t wear out.

Humanity is always looking for a solution to this problem.

How do we make it last?

Bring it home for a minute.

We’ve all felt it, how do I make this food last all summer while these kids are out of school.

How do we make this gas last the whole week.

How do we make the money last until we get paid again...

We are very aware of this reality every time we eat.

Have you ever been so hungry you though you would starve!!!

Then you at a huge meal. “Oh man I’m never eating again” (satisfied)

20 min later your in the cabinets looking for a snack. (wore off)

This is where we find a large group of people in John 6.

the day before (beginning of the chapter) jesus was teaching and gathered a large crowd.

Mega-church crowd. 5000 men, plus women and children.

They were in the middle of nowhere and hungry.

he takes food the only little boy who remembered to pack a lunch.

breaks it into pieces and feeds everyone with leftovers. Feeds about 20000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.

Miracle!!! Amazing.

Jesus goes off to pray, the disciples get in a boat and head across the lake to Capernaum.

(show map)

Jesus meets them later, without a boat… walking on the water.

Going to break our text down into 4 parts, and then have a couple of questions as we reflect.

1. The Search

John 6:22-25

“The next day the crowd that had stayed on the far shore saw that the disciples had taken the only boat, and they realized Jesus had not gone with them. Several boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the Lord had blessed the bread and the people had eaten. So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?””

They woke up, look around and didn’t see him. They went looking for Him!

Why were they looking for him?

I mean they just saw miracles, maybe they just wanted to be around Jesus.

No. Actually, because when they woke up the fullness of the night before wore off and they felt that hunger pang again.

This hunger drove them to search.

Maybe he can do it again!!!

maybe this time with a McGriddle...

It was hunger that led them to search.

It is the same for us.

It’s an insatiable hunger, a lack, an emptiness we look to fill or fix.

Almost like a permanent hunger.

So we too search.

Find ways to fix the void, appease the pang of hunger.

another relationship, maybe that will do.

Another attaboy accolade.

Another promotion.

Search for something to actually sustain. To last.

2. The Real Need

They asked, Rabbi when did you get here?, but Jesus didn’t even answer their question.

John 6:26-29

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.””

Jesus wasn’t interested in given them the answer they wanted, but the answer they needed.

they just wanted Jesus because he has ability to make bread. Not even him.

How nice would that be, imagine their world with out much easier it’d be just not have to worry about that!

The hunger you feel isn’t your biggest need you have.

Think of the nicest, most expensive meal you ever had.

You savor every bite. It’s incredible.

But no matter how amazing, soon enough you’ll be hungry again.

CS Lewis

“I cannot find a cup of teach which is big enough or a book that is long enough”

The real need isn’t that in your belly, but the one in your heart.

Most of us spend our whole lives searching and filling surface level needs.

Never actually getting to the soul need.

Too many of us do this our whole lives, even in the church.

Driven and dictated by our latest surface level desires and need.

Jesus is telling them the bread you are after will only fill for a moment, there is something that sustains, lasts, fills, remains.

What’s your bread?!?

You need for acceptance and approval,

Your drive to have more than your parents did,

A constant need to like yourself.

have you even thought about what your life is searching for.

Most of us don’t, we just know the hunger pang of lack.

It’s a soul need.

3. The Reveal

John 6:30

“They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?”

John 6:31-34

“After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.””

John 6:35

“Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

God have the manna, he provided but they still got hungry.

Now God has given me.

I am the bread.

Not I have the bread, can make the bread.

I am.

I Am the sustenance that sustains.

I Am the one who fully satisfies, fills every lack and every crack.

A full life is a life spent in pursuit of Jesus.

Every other sustenance is a poor substitute that won’t last.

1 Corinthians 1:8

“He will keep you strong to the end so that you will be free from all blame on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ returns.”

Col 1:17

“He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.”

It’s the person of jesus. He supply and sustains.

If you don’t understand Jesus, you’ll see him as useful and not precious.

You’ll simple see what he can do for me instead of who he is to me.

As soon as he isn’t useful, you’re done.

he is the bread. it is in him.

John 6:36

“But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me.”

I know we may think, man if Jesus was right here it’d be so easy to believe and trust...

But would it?!?

WE often find what we look for even if the real answer is right in front of us.

4. The Challenge

John 6:41 “Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.””

John 6:43 “But Jesus replied, “Stop complaining about what I said.”

John 6:51-56 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked. So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.”

John 6:60 “Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?””

John 6:66 “At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him.”

No matter what Jesus said, they still couldn’t understand.

all they could think about was eating more bread.

Is this some kind of zomibe thing. or cannabalism??!?

No!

The thing about bread is, it doesn’t do anything for yoru hunger unless you eat.

Eat of Jesus as the bread to simply to believe.

But they rejected Jesus as the bread, they just wanted him to give them bread.

Just fix the hunger pang Jesus. Just fill the superficial needs jesus. That’s all we want.

But Jesus is saying I don’t want you to just receive, I want you to believe.

The challenge you you have to eat.

To internalize the nutrients of the bread, you have to eat it.

Not just smell it.

knowing about the bread isn’t the same as eating.

Not just chew and spit it out.

There is not halfway eating, you either chew and swallow or you don’t.

To internalize the truth of jesus.

To find life that doesn’t fade.

We have to believe.

Thinking about him isn’t the same as believing.

Knowing about him isn’t the same as believing.

his challenge is to fully believe, as you can see most didn’t and won’t.

Believing is staking your life on the fact that he is the only way to live.

it’s putting our confidence in him for our hope and future.

it’s laying down all other means and methods of salvation and sustainability.

I AM, your nourishment, your fulfillment,

The one who sustains your now and eternally.

CONCLUSION

Jesus is the Bread of Life, those who east will never be hungry.

What has your hunger been?

it’s a hard thing, but will you accept or reject?

some of us are hungry right, you feel that pang, wondering how much long i’m gonna talk.

Even wondering if you open that package will anyone.

Let that constant hunger pang remind us all fo the true fulfillment Jesus offers.