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“I AM The Bread Of Life!" • 8.4.19
• Calvary Christian Fellowship, Sunday Morning Service
Intro.
- Our previous study began with a
miracle of massive multiplication. Jesus fed a crowd of 5,000 men with only a
few pieces of bread and sardines at His disposal.
- The result was that the people
were filled full, unable to eat any more. More than thankful, they saw an
opportunity to crown a new King!
- Jesus, seeing the danger in a
Kingdom without a Cross, sent His disciples out into a storm, where they rowed
for nearly 8 hours.
- At the peak of their fear and the
end of their strength, Jesus came to then, calmed their hearts with His
presence and then calmed their circumstance by bringing them immediately to
shore.
- It had been a long and exhausting
night for the disciples. The multitude that Jesus fed had not experienced
anything that we have just mentioned.
- While the disciples have grown in
strength, knowledge and revelation of the Lord's true glory, the multitudes
have only grown in their desire for the Lord's "wonder bread!" Let's
pick it up, verse 22.
Text
• John 6:22-25 : "On the following day, when the
people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no
other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that
Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone
away alone—however,
other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the
Lord had given thanks—when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His
disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. And when they found Him on the
other side of the sea, they said to Him, 'Rabbi, when did You come here?'" : This morning began with a lot of
confusion for the multitude. There is a group of people who had come to figure
out where the Lord had gone.
- The boat that the disciples left upon was
there on the other side of the sea. In it's place were other boats from Tiberias,
but Jesus was not there where they expected to find Him.
- Naturally, they also arranged to set across
the sea for the purpose of finding Jesus.
- Most anyone would be flattered with what
commenced from there. We are ecstatic when we hear the news of someone seeking
after the Lord.
- Look at their determination. They had come to
find Him. Look at their zeal. They dropped their morning routine and arranged
passage.
- When they found Him, they asked when He had
arrived. They will never get the answer to this question because Jesus is about
to address their motivation for seeking Him.
- This crowd wasn't necessarily concerned with
His agenda. They were afraid that they had missed the breakfast special! Jesus
begins to speak to that in verse 26.
• John 6:26, 27 : "Jesus answered them and said, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not
because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of
Man will give you, because
God the Father has set His seal on Him.'" : Jesus is not fooled or flattered by the crowd for their feigned
interest in Him.
- They are not concerned with what His actions,
the signs that He has performed, implied. They don't really care to respond to
what the miracles revealed about Him.
- They just wanted more to fill themselves
with! They wanted to eat. They were satisfied with the effect and had not yet
discerned the greatness of the Cause! Look at all they have done.
- They were willing to drop their current
business, traverse the lake, just for the sake of that which had not even
lasted 24 hours! Yes, they had been satisfied, but here they were wanting more.
- They had labored to get there. They had gone
out of their way in hopes of once again, filling their bellies. Can you even
believe it!?
- The King of all Kings, the Creator of the
Universe, the Word of God is in their midst and all they wanted was more of His
bread! It's sad that this is not uncommon!
- How many have followed Jesus for exactly the
same kind of temporal blessing that will fill their latest craving!? What is
wrong with that? Why is that an inferior motive?
- When we follow the Lord for specific results
or blessings, we will always be looking to Him to meet our needs our way! He is
nothing more than our own personal genie!
- Plus, believe it or not, we will never be
truly satisfied in life until we have Him! We can have everything but if we
don't have Him, anything will be nothing to us in short order!
- Jesus, with love and compassion flowing from
His heart for His created beings, urges them not to work for the perishing
food, but to do so for the everlasting food!
- When you and I are confronted with verses
like this, we have to be careful. Does Jesus mean to say that we work for
eternal life? We know that eternal life is a gift.
- What God "gives" can never be
earned, so we conclude that this is a false interpretation. Our Lord is
speaking to focus and energy.
- They need to apply the energy and focus
toward the reception of spiritual goals.
- These people worked hard to get to a place
where their physical bodies would be taken care of. They had done nothing to
position themselves to receive spiritual blessing.
- Jesus warns them not to expend themselves for
the food that will only be destroyed through their digestive system in a few
hours! Put that same energy into receiving that which is eternal!
- Can I ask you to consider that notion? How
much investment have we in temporal goals? Shouldn't their be at least an equal
in terms of eternal goals? It would be wise for us to consider that!
- Jesus had given them their fill of earthly
bread to prove that He had the power and authority to dispense heavenly bread! He
had whet their appetite naturally, so He could satisfy them spiritually!
- He has the ability to give this because the
Father's seal of authenticity is upon Him! In Biblical times, Kings pressed
their unique signet rings into wax, which sealed a given document.
- Whoever had a document with that seal, had
the riches of the person at their disposal! They could buy, sell or trade
against that seal. Jesus, by virtue of His person, has that authority!
- His actions should have been proof enough
that the Father approved of and sent Him to give men everlasting life! Verse 28.
• John 6:28, 29 : "Then they said to Him, 'What shall
we do, that we may work the works of God?' Jesus answered and said to them, 'This
is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.'" : Did they not listen? Jesus has a gift
to give them and the people ask what they can do? What can one 'do" for a
gift?
- This sentence is what is at the heart of
every major religion on Earth and the reason why multitudes will find
themselves eternally separated from God on judgment day!
- This multitude will not be dissuaded. Their
question is undoubtedly connected to their desire for continuous free meals. "What
do we have to do to ensure that we continue to get free food!"
- Yes, they understood that there might be an
obligation or a hoop to jump through, but the desired end of free food was well
worth it!
- Part of their question may even have been to
wonder at how they could be endowed with God's power, in order to provide bread
for themselves!
- "If Jesus doesn't want us to labor for
food that perishes, but does want us to labor for eternal food, how can we
effect that?" If this is true, they are looking to take Jesus out of the
equation!
- Self-empowerment might be a noble human
endeavor, but that is not the way of Christianity. Our power is received and
purposeful. It comes from God and is for God's purpose, not our own!
- These people, surely a representative voice
of the world, want the best of God without having to have Jesus, but that isn't
possible!
- Jesus lays out God's sole requirement for
mankind to receive: Believe in Him whom He sent!
- The way Jesus replies might sound a little
more like this to us: "This and this alone is the work of God."
- There is an emphasis in the language that
makes this the exclusive means of transaction! This is what God requires
specifically.
- That is the one "work" that
precedes any other related activity to God. Trust in Jesus. Look to Jesus.
Believe in Jesus! He is the one that God has sent and our response to Him is
everything!
- Before we examine the next section, remember
who the Lord is talking to. Less than 24 hours earlier, these people had eaten
a heavenly meal that left them unable to eat anything more!
- They had sought Him because of the healings
that He had performed on behalf of the diseased and would have made Him King!
- When they hear what they must do, how do you
think they would respond given their recent and personal experience? Verse 30.
• John 6:30-33 : "Therefore they said to Him, 'What
sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will
You do? Our
fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to
eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not
give 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.'" : This point continues to speak loudly
to me. What you manufacture with, you will have to motivate with! If you lead
with a miracle, you will need a new and better miracle every day!
- Because Jesus has made it clear that belief
in Him is the work of God, these people now ask to see yet another sign so that
they could see it and believe!
- "We just need one more sign from you
Jesus and then, you'll have us!" They go so far as to give Him an example
of what they mean.
- Keep in mind that they have already
identified Him as the Prophet that Moses proclaimed was coming, that was
"like Him." It follows then, that Jesus would do the same things that
Moses did.
- "Moses gave them bread from heaven to
eat!" They wanted Jesus to keep providing food for the next 40 years!
- They are equating what they have just eaten
with the manna that was provided on a daily basis for Israel while they lived
in the wilderness! They even have the scripture to back it up!
- They might be quoting from Exodus 16:4
or Nehemiah 9:15 or Psalm 78:24. Whichever one you read, the
source is simply determined. The issue is in who the "HE" is!
- Did Moses give the people bread from heaven
or did God release the Manna from the sky?
- Each of those passages is clear that it was
God, but the people gave the credit to Moses.
- That served their purpose and propelled their
argument forward. If Moses gave them the bread and Jesus was the new
"Moses," then it would follow that He should continue that ministry.
- But Moses never gave Israel bread. The Father
gave them bread and He was now giving the "True Bread" from heaven!
Think about the connection: As with the manna, so with Christ!
- Both have come from heaven, both are sent to
nourish and both are satisfying provisions! This is where the similarities end.
- Jesus doesn't merely sustain life as the
manna did, but indeed grants, initiates life, not merely to a wandering desert
community, but to the entire world!
- Jesus is God's manna for all nations and
tribes and peoples! Verse 34.
• John 6:34-35 : " Then they said to Him, 'Lord, give us this bread always.' And Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me
shall never thirst.' But I
said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe." : Can you hear their enthusiasm? They are sold! "Lord, that
is what we want from you!" They figured that they were now on the same
page!
- They haven't really heard what Jesus has
said. They aren't understanding. This isn't a bread with physical properties.
It's a metaphor! Jesus looks at them and says, "I am the bread of
life!"
- We think that Jesus offers us a promotion or
a position. We want our "bread!" Jesus is offering us a person. THE
PERSON! He wants to offer Himself, in person!
- He is the provision of God for every human
life! He is our satisfying portion! They were looking for a physical experience
that would repeat itself daily.
- Jesus is telling them that He could give them
the equivalent experience spiritually because of His connection to God the
Father!
- Most of you have heard about the "I
AM" statements in John's gospel. If you are the notetaking kind, this is
the first of seven. Please turn in your Bibles to Exodus 3.
- "I AM" is the designation that God
the Father reserved for Himself! God's Name or His reputation, is tied to
"I AM," "Ego Eimi!"
- God had been recruiting Moses with the desire
to send him back from Midian into Egypt, that he might lead God's people out. Moses
naturally, had one question.
• Exodus 3:13,14 : "Then Moses said to God, 'Indeed, when I come to the children of Israel
and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they say to
me, ‘What is
His name?’ what shall I say to them?' And God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.'
And He said, 'Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to
you.’" : John tells us that
Jesus explains, exegetes what God the Father is. "I AM WHO I AM." Jesus
is saying that He is God, the self-existent, self-sufficient One!
- Jesus shows us that He is man's provision for
life! He is the staple of every family on earth! The one that is coming to Him,
believing upon Him, will never hunger or thirst!
- Incredibly, those that had witnessed the
Lord's miracles and participated in the bounty of His table, still could not
bring themselves to believe that He was who He said He was!
- Why were they not convinced? What would they
need to actually move from unbelief to a state of belief? The Lord explains it
in His own words. Verse 37.
• John 6:37 : "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me,
and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." : The Lord presents a case that angers many, but that makes
incredible sense. Listen to the logic.
- If believing, trusting in Christ were simply
a matter of historical knowledge and intellectual proof, receiving Christ would
be natural to any rational person. Everyone would buy in.
- How could anyone intellectually deny the
historicity of the resurrection, when the men that had the best opportunity and
the most to gain by disproving it, couldn't do so!
- I have watched men receive answers to their
questions, looked on while their objections went up in smoke, and still refuse
to trust in Christ!
- These people that stood before Jesus on this
day were beneficiaries of His work, in that undigested food may have remained
in their stomachs! Why would they not believe?
- Because they could not! They revealed by
their unbelief that they were not members of the group that the Father had
given to Christ.
- "All that the Father gives me."
These are the people throughout history who have trusted in Christ, either
looking forward or backward in faith.
- These are those that God has chosen,
predestined to belong to Christ! Let's let Jesus offend you a bit more! These
alone will come to Him! Wow! Unconditional election and irresistable grace!
- Jesus is already offending Arminians. I
suppose He should also offend the Calvinists! In the very same verse He says,
"and the one that comes to me, I will by no means cast out!"
- God is sovereign in salvation and man is
responsible for His actions! That seems like a contradiction! In our minds, it
is. In the mind of God, it is not! "But I can't reconcile it!"
- Nobody is asking you to! Jesus doesn't
reconcile or explain it. He speaks as if it were a simple statement of fact!
- The more one attempts to reconcile it beyond
this, the greater the heresy they will promote!
- What matters is this: If they come to Him, it
is because God has given them to Him and because they have responded to Him in
faith! That person has no fear of being "cast out!"
- Only those that the Father is delivering to
the Son will come to Him! Who are those that the Father gives to the Son? Those
that come to the Son for life! Jesus will never cast that one out.
- "Cast out" refers to being thrown
or driven out. It can also refer to that which is ejected from the body. The
idea is of a violent and final expuslsion.
- There is nothing in the person that comes to
Jesus that would cause the Lord to remove them from His presence!
- There are no means of the person themselves,
nor the enemy of our souls who will be able to wrest them from Him! That is the
will of the Father! Verse 38.
• John 6:38-40 : "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the
will of Him who sent Me. This is
the will of the Father who sent Me, that of
all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last
day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have
everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.'" : Jesus, the True Bread, has come down
from heaven.
- People have gone up to heaven, but only God
has come down from there! Jesus didn't come here to assert His will but to
perform the will of His Father. What is that will?
- To preserve that which God had given Him!
Notice in verse 39 that Jesus says He will raise "it" up. I'm
convinced that He is speaking there of all the principalities and dominions of
the universe!
- When the Devil tempted Jesus in the
wilderness, he offered the Lord all the Kingdoms of the World if He would take
the shortcut. Jesus didn't and will raise them from the Devil's influence!
- All will be placed under His feet. Every
principality, every power, every throne, every atom present in this universe,
will once again be raised for His pleasure! And what about us?
- Here is the will of God that pertains to
those of us that have believed upon Him: He will give us everlasting life and
will raise us up at the last day!
- Notice that everlasting life precedes
resurrection! That means that we who have believed upon Him have everlasting
life now! Death cannot interrupt or void that gift!
- When the time is right, our bodies will be
raised from the ground and brought to where Christ is forevermore!
Conclusion
- Let's pray!
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