Jesus The Bread Of Life - John 6:22-59
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· 23 viewsJesus is the bread from heaven that gives eternal life to those who believe
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Jesus is the bread from heaven that gives eternal life to those who believe
John 6:27-35
27 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.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” 32 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. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
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.
Hard saying and cravings
Appreciate this morning that you are sitting in a church that is dealing with the hard saying of Jesus.
Deal with text and allow the text to deal with you.
Our GG meets on Fridays here at 6 if theres any questions.
Two twin truth that will keep us from stumbling or grumbling
Embrace the sovereign Authority of Jesus Christ (and call others to do the same)
Take personal responsibility to walk by faith in obedience to Christ (and call others to do the same)
Craving
Ex: What food do you often find yourself craving? Moms chicken or Chocolate delight, maybe Chick-fil -A
Cravings of the flesh versus cravings of the soul
The people had eaten their fill from the loaves and fish
Jesus had withdrew because they wanted to force him to be King
The disciple had went across the Lake and Jesus had miraculously joined them.
John 6:24
24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
Why did the crowd get in boats a cross the Sea? What craving led them to pursue Jesus?
For them: Physical not spiritual cravings - Full bellies but empty heart
How much effort to we put into making sure our physical hunger is satisfied?
We don’t go hungry
How about spiritually?
Has your desire for Christ grown or waned since March?
“Thou hast made us for thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in thee.” Augustine
Jesus is the bread from heaven that gives eternal life to those who believe
The Need - The source -The Response - The Supply
The Need of Eternal Bread John 6:25-34
The Need of Eternal Bread John 6:25-34
The eternal need versus temporal desire John 6:25-27
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 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. 27 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.”
Humanity by nature desires that which perishes (the temporal = bread)
Ex: A free ticket to an unending buffet NOT the source eternal & internal sustenance
By Nature they crave Earthly bread which offers only momentary - visible - satisfaction
Ex: Those we ask to pray God favor on them
Augustine remarks “How seldom Jesus is sought for the sake of Jesus.”
The Lord knows man’s hearts and motives
He reads the secret motives of all who profess and call themselves Christians.
V.27 - The Lord’s loving command: “Stop labouring for that which perishes” Matt 6:33
What am I currently anxious about that in a month I won’t even remember?
Jesus - Stop working
What must WE do? John 6:28
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
Humanity by nature desires to work for their own salvation
The bread of life cannot be merited
Here it is again: believing is seeing.
John 6:29 - Believe in me = God’s work
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
John 4:10 - woman at the well
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”
Ephesians 2:8 - faith is not a meritorious work but a gift we must employ
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,
Rom. 3:28
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
What will you do for me? John 6:30 - Remember the buffet…
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
Humanity, by nature, wants what it wants.
Moses fed us! John 6:31 (possible the Passover and its focus brings this to mind)
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
Ex: 16:14-15
14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat.
They want to see first, and then to believe. But this is inverting God’s order. Faith must come first, and sight will follow.
The image: When Jesus tells the people not to work for food that spoils, he is rebuking their purely materialistic notions of the kingdom (cf. v. 15).
Ex: Cling to a handful of sand.
Israel could only collect enough manna for that day and trust the Lord to provide for them tomorrow - BY FAITH!
My Bread will give life John 6:33
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Give us this bread = V.34
John 4 Woman at the well
Just like at the well Jesus point them to THE SOURCE
The Source of Eternal Bread vv. 35-40
The Source of Eternal Bread vv. 35-40
The Person - John 6:35
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.
The first of 7 “I am” statements - explicit declaration of his own deity - it Is the “I am” that spoke our of the burning bush - I am who I am!
Come to me - “Coming,” is the soul’s movement towards Christ.” J.C. Ryle
When our Lord says “shall never hunger,” and “shall never thirst,” He does not mean that a believer on Christ shall no longer feel any want, or emptiness, or deficiency within him.
The best of believers will often cry, like Sr. Paul, “Oh, wretched man that I am!” (Rom. 7:24.)
The bread satisfies by giving a new nature
Humanity, by nature, desires that which perishes (the temporal = bread)
Humanity, by nature, desires to work for their own salvation
Humanity, by nature, wants what it wants.
Jesus is the source and supply of all that satisfies the soul; Eternal Life
The Believing - John 6:36
36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
Never underestimate the reality and extent of peoples unbelief.
The Giving John 6:37a
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
The first cause of coming is giving (Connect w. V.35)
Give = to Grant/to appoint - as in a Father gives his daughter to wed
The Result of Giving is that all that are given come
“Your unbelief does not move me or surprise me. I foresaw it. Even so, your unbelief will not prevent The Father’s Will from being accomplished.
I see your unbelief with sorrow, but not with anxiety and surprise.
I am prepared for it. I know that you cannot alter God’s purposes: and in accordance with those purposes, a people will come to me, though you do not.”
John 10:27-29
27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
Those who are given come willingly, freely and joyfully because they place their faith in Jesus Christ.
HMMM… I don’t follow this “giving” language
Eph. 1:3-6
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
The Bread is Jesus - The Invitation is to come - the problem is unbelief and first cause of our belief is The Father giving us to the Son.
The keeping John 6:39
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
John 6:37
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
All those who believe were given to Christ by the Father, by an everlasting covenant.
The result of coming is to never be cast away, ever!
Faith in Christ is a sure testimony of our election, and firm promise of our future glorification.
The will of the Father vv. 37-40 - Every verse .... Father
To come from heaven
To gather those who were given him
To work out and accomplish this will of His Father was Christ’s object in coming into the world.
Christ explains fully what was the Father’s will concerning the Son’s mission into the world.
It was that He should receive all and lose none, that any one might come to Him, and that no comer should be lost.
No “comer” is ever rejected and no “comer” is ever lost.
To keep all those who believe
V. 40 - eternal life guarantee a now life and a future resurrected life!
Eternal life was purchased at the cross and guaranteed by the empty tomb.
The Response to the Eternal Bread vv. 41- 52
The Response to the Eternal Bread vv. 41- 52
Here comes the Grumbling - John 6:41-43
41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
Time for the Jewish leaders to break in again and this time they grumble. The word is gogguzo, meaning “to murmur or complain.”
They loved his food and his healing - the hated who he claimed to be
How does Jesus respond to their grumbling unbelief?
I have come but you cannot come - John 6:44
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.
You can not come V. 44
He then added the word “can.”
This word has to do with ability, but since Jesus had already made clear that He was talking about something “no one” is able to do, He was speaking of an inability.
not physically but morally (Not legs but natures are broken -dead -deaf -blind)
You must -
be drawn - v.44 (Connect with “Given” in v. 37 & Granted in v.65)
Drawn = To attract powerfully or lead by force - to haul
We could spend alot of time arguing about the nature of the drawing
The point of this text is the Father’s will is producing what the father desires.
The Same “Will” that gives in v.37 draws in v.44
How? Holy Spirit … Next week
believe - John 6: 47
47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
These are twin truths and forever friends
I will give but you must eat - John 6:48-51
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 one 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. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
They ate but they died; Eat and live!
The two dimension of life in Christ:
Now: Brings spiritual life by bringing us into a life-giving relationship with the eternal God.
Not yet: It brings you back to life after you die to be with him forever. (v.39-40;44,54)
My life for you - V.51b
I am the Bread that give eternal life so I will give the flesh for you so that you might live.
But How? - John 6:52
52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
Back To John 3 - Nic
They stumbled over the Bread of Life!
If we are going to stumble this morning it should not be over how the Father gives the Son a people who must believe and will never be lost
If we are going to stumble it must be over v.51 - I will give my life for you
This is the scandal of the Cross
No one righteous, no one who can say I deserve to stand before God, I deserve a place with the Almighty except One
The Scandal of the Perfect Son of God being tortured and slaughtered so that we might be brought to God.
Isa 53:5-6
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
There has only been one, perfect innocent Man and he he died for us!
The Supply of the Eternal Bread - v.53-60
The Supply of the Eternal Bread - v.53-60
The essential supply: the Cross John 6:53
53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
From clear to symbolic Eating and drinking eating = believing and abiding
We eat by trusting the Savior; we abide by feeding on him on a daily basis.
Eating becomes a metaphor of faith.
The same is true in the spiritual sense: when we receive the Word of God, the living word, we are appropriating Christ and he becomes part of us, the new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)”We might paraphrase Jesus’ words as, “The one who keeps on feeding on me will live because I live within him.”
The essential substitute: Jesus
Jesus himself is the one who gives his flesh: his sacrifice is voluntary (cf. Heb. 9:13–14).
And since it is for the life of the world, his sacrifice is vicarious. It is hard not to think of the Suffering Servant (Is. 52:13–53:12), the more so since Isaiah 54 has just been quoted (Jn. 6:45) and becomes quite central to the thought of John 12.
Isaiah’s ‘Servant’ reaches out to Jews and Gentiles alike (Is. 49:6); the same emphasis is struck here, in that Jesus gives himself for the life of the world (cf. 3:15–17; 4:42).
V. 53 Considering that the Jewish passover was nigh at hand, and that many of our Lord’s hearers were probably on their way to Jerusalem to attend it, it seems highly probable that our Lord desired to direct the minds of those He addressed to Himself as the true passover and sacrifice for sin.
The Essential response: EAT and keep on eating (Abiding)- John 6:55-56
55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.
But eating the spiritual bread of the New Testament, participating in Christ’s death at Calvary, provides eternal life
Augustine - ‘Believe, and you have eaten’
The verb ‘remains’ or ‘abides’ (menō) is important to John, defining not only relationships amongst Father, Son and Holy Spirit (1:32–33; 14:10; 15:10), but between believers and Christ (e.g. 5:38; 8:31; 15:4, 7, 9–10).
John 6:60
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?”
The Need is Eternal
The Source of that Need is Jesus Christ alone
The Response to that Need is to Believe that only Christ can meet that need
The Supply to meet the need was both a bloody Cross and a living relationship that lasts forever
So What?
So What?
Three life-changing encouragements from John 6
We must internalize the gospel
Have I internalized the Bread of Life?
Ex: Busy day and miss lunch.
When you set down to supper what do you do?
Only one way to satisfy hunger
When you eat you internalize the food
Chewing up and spitting out is not eating
Thinking about eating is not eating
Planning to eat is not eating
Knowing facts about food is not eating
Understanding the digestive system and how it works is not eating.
In the same way
Thinking about Jesus is not the same as believing
Knowing facts about Jesus is not the same as believing
Understanding the process of salvation is not the same as believing
Lordship brings a living relationship we are supposed to enjoy not a science project to investigate
Internalizing the gospel is”
Staking your life on that reality our only hope is to trust him
It is placing all your hope/confidence in/on him
Believing means you relinquish all other means of salvation I can’t do it own my own - I will die with him I’m helpless and hopeless without him
We must spend our lives pursuing that which carries ultimate or eternal significance
Last week: Seek to put God’s power on display - Choose the clearest sometimes the risky and radical - counter cultural
This week: stop laboring for that which perishes!
Stop climbing in the bed looking for a love that is only spoiled in the morning.
Can I introduce you to A man who will Love you unconditionally and never let you go.
Any time spent with Lord and any time spent helping other to know the Lord is eternally significant
Rom. Faith by hearing and hearing by the word of God
Next week: Essential work of the Spirit is not our work, our work is call other to respond to the good news of the one who came to die so they might have peace with their God.
We must remember and respond daily to the cross
Will you remember the cross and then so Live a life that reflects is power and sacrificial supply
The Cross: Hard- sacrificial - chosen - powerful - forgiving - covering - redeeming -adopting
Responses to the cross?
Humility - Given by grace - came by grace - live by grace - kept by grace -raised by grace
James 4:13-16 - If the Lord wills
Gratefulness - my great sin - his amazing grace - John Newton
Assurance - Do I have a Me-exalting theology and a Christ-centered theology?
We are about to come to the table and give our offerings to the Lord
Showbread in the Presence - offered to the Lord and yet by the priest before the Lord
This eating with Yahweh by the priest showed the God was at peace and in relationship with his people
in the NC of Jesus Christ all those in Christ are invited to the table and to remember the Peace is not an entitlement.
Peace was purchased by the body and blood of Christ and we have peace because at the Cross Justice was satisfied and grace supplied now and forever
Let us remember the Bread of Life broken for us. Let us remember the blood of Christ shed for us
And Let us bring our offerings to him to show grateful heart for his extravagant sacrifice.
Prayer focus
God’s provision - Giving increased
Jude 1:24-25 To the one who can keep us from falling
24 Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Next week:
Confidence - I share the gospel - no response - I share the gospel, they are engaged and all the sudden their gone. Am I a failure? Only if Christ was.
Next week Only 12 were left