The Bread of Life
John 6:30-40

INTRODUCTION: Good morning church. A quick review of where we are in John 6. On the previous day Jesus performed an amazing miracle, the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels, the feeding of the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, and at least 5,000 men were there.

The next day, these people who were on the east side of Galilee, came back in the morning wanting to be fed, and did not find Jesus there. They cross the Sea of Galilee, find Jesus in the synagogue in Capernaum, and they say basically, hey, we want to eat some more, perform some more signs for us.

Jesus, in verse 26, identified that the reason that they had come was not because they understood who Jesus was, it's not because they understood the meaning of the sign that Jesus is the Savior, that He is the Messiah, come to redeem the world.

They've only come for what Jesus will give them, and that is physical bread. They've come for breakfast and they want it free. It was on the basis of this that Jesus enters into a discussion with them. He told them not to put their effort or their labor into the food that perishes, but to labor for eternal life… labor for that food. He calls on them to believe in verse 29, saying that, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.

What Jesus is calling for them to do, is to recognize that God has accomplished a great work, He has accomplished their salvation, and by necessity they are to then put their faith in the one whom God has sent—Jesus. That is where we pick up the story now, and we'll find that Jesus and this crowd have a lot more to say about these things. John 6:30.

I. Demanding Christ’s Service – Let’s start with John 6:30-31, “So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”” I think we can see what they are doing in this fascinating question and statement to Jesus.

A. What sign do you do so that we may believe you? We need a sign so that we may see for ourselves and know who you are and believe you. I suspect any of us who have read the story would think that what they had seen the day before was a really big sign! Five loaves and two fish, feeding thousands and thousands of people. This makes me think of Bill Engvall’s book, “Here’s Your Sign”.
B. What they are asking for, and what we see in what they're saying, is something more. It is not simply that they did not remember what happened yesterday. Remember what the people have observed in him. In John 6:14 they recognized this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. This is the one that Moses prophesied about. There would be one like him, that would rise and deliver the people.

1. What the people are saying is that Moses gave the people food to eat every day for 40 years. Moses provided manna every day. If Jesus is the new deliverer and savior of the people, then at least He could feed them every day with bread like Moses did.
2. It can even be argued that they would expect something greater than what Moses did since He claims to be the Son of God. If you are the new Moses, then you should at least do this for us. That is the implication behind them saying we want to see a sign. John is showing us their thinking. If you are just like Moses, then every day we can come out here and you will give us food.

C. Jesus' response to this is interesting. John 6:32-33. “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. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.””

1. This is an interesting response because it corrects and contrasts with what they said. They said in verse 31, quoting the scripture, “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
2. Jesus responds to that with a number of statements in this sentence that defy the understanding of these people. He tells them Moses didn't give you bread. Yet, that's not the whole point. You will notice there's a changing of tenses. “… it was not Moses who gave you the bread…”, but then He doesn't say, the father gave you bread. That's was not the point.
3. He says, “but my father, present tense, gives you the true bread from heaven.” The implication is not to say, it wasn't Moses, it was God. The implication is; what you received then wasn't the true bread at all. The father is giving you that bread now.
4. The father gives you the true bread. What Moses gave you wasn't the real bread. That was only for your physical need. The father is offering you the real bread, the true bread that you ought to be looking for. It is the bread that sustains the soul, provides spiritual growth and leads to eternal life.
5. Jesus drives that very carefully and says in verse 33, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” I see another implied contrast here. The manna was not for the world, that manna was for the people of Israel, and was not the true sustenance. The father is going to give you true bread and it will not be only for you as the physical bread in the wilderness was. It will be for the whole world.

D. There is something subtle in what Jesus says, and it seems the audience misses it. Notice in verse 33 that the bread of God “… is he who comes down from heaven…” Jesus speaks about Himself and declares that He gives life to the world. Jesus is offering something far greater and far superior to what was given in the wilderness… Himself. Notice the people completely miss this.

II. I Am The Bread of Life – John 6:34, “They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”” As we read that, we see they don’t get it. We should not be surprised though because throughout this gospel we have seen the spiritual blindness of people that Jesus has encountered.

A. It's almost as if they didn't hear that part. What they heard was the bread of God is what comes down from heaven and gives life. That sounds great! Bread comes down and gives us life! Sir, give us this bread always.

1. John continues to paint these audiences in spiritual blindness, darkened in the heart. We saw this with the Samaritan woman in 4:15. Jesus speaks of the living water, then she says to him, sir, give me this water so that I will not be thirsty or need to come and draw water.
2. Notice the parallel. 4:15, Sir, give me this water. 6:34, Sir, give us this bread. They are simply not understanding what Jesus is offering.
3. There is a consistent theme in this gospel. The people are spiritually blind and so consumed by pursuing their physical desires, wants and needs that they fail to recognize what is being offered to them.
4. The crowd wants this bread every day so that they can be physically fed by doing nothing. Are people like that today? Something for nothing? Something for minimum effort? Certainly. Advertisers know it, politicians know it. - Satan knows it.

B. Jesus is trying to get their minds on a spiritual plane. Stop laboring for the food that perishes. Stop worrying about your physical desires. Stop concerning yourselves with materialistic pursuits. Don't pursue Jesus for what He can give you. Pursue Him for who He is. Labor for the food that leads to eternal life. Here Jesus gets blunt, just as He did with the Samaritan woman, and He gets to the point.

III. Believing – Verse 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.” What a beautiful picture that He's trying to get them to understand.

A. He's trying to help them understand what Jesus offers them. He says, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. I think we can recognize those statements are parallel. He is describing the answers to needs, spiritual needs, and He's offering them true satisfaction of those needs. If you will come to Me not for what I will give you, but for who I am, the bread of life, you will never hunger and thirst again after righteousness.

1. This is the same concept as with the woman at the well in chapter 4. John wants us to think about that concept again. When you come to Jesus, all that your soul, spirit and mind yearn for, require, need, look for, clamor for—will be completely satisfied.
2. He will fill what you truly need so that you won't look everywhere else in the world for it. Jesus says in verse 35, I am the bread of life. He doesn't say, I give the bread. He says, I am the bread. This is the first of seven “I am” statements in this gospel.

B. Jesus is your bread - Jesus is communicating; I am not the giver of bread to satisfy your whims, physical needs and desires, not your genie in the bottle for whatever you need. He has been sent by God from heaven. He parallels the manna. Just as God rained down manna in the wilderness in the days of Moses, now the father has sent His Son to be the bread of life. Those who truly believe and will come to Him understand who He is.

1. The implications of this “I am” statement are far reaching and we must come to Jesus with our eyes open recognizing Him. He is the place where thirst is quenched, and where hunger is filled.
2. We do not come to Him to satisfy all our desires. We've already seen that in the last lesson. It is not, I need this or that and I have these desires and there’s God; He can give me all the happiness and all the joy of life that I want. Fill up my wallet and give me good health and I'll serve you.
3. Think about this, when are you comfortable? When you're not hungry, and you're not thirsty. When you're hungry, or thirsty, you do something about it don’t you? Otherwise, you're uncomfortable. You address those needs, so you are no longer hungry or thirsty.
4. Jesus uses that picture. Until you come to Jesus as the bread of life, as the fountain of living water, you will never be satisfied. You'll always be in discomfort. Seeking something and looking in philosophy, astrology, fortune telling, other people and a myriad of places that never satisfy. You're not going to find what you're looking for because only He can satisfy. Nothing else in life can.

C. We could say we were built to find our satisfaction in God. That's how we were created. We were created to find our satisfaction in God and Satan uses this lack of satisfaction as an opportunity to lead us to try to find that satisfaction elsewhere. You will be happy and have a good life if you will just do this.

1. If you made a lot of money. If you only had more power, if you had a promotion, if you were married, if you had children, if you lived in a different place. All the things that we hear in our ears that we need and would satisfy us. The point is, there is nothing that compares to Jesus. He's the only thing that satisfies.
2. Let me make a silly illustration. Let’s say you feel hungry. Should you go out to the garage and try to eat a tire or go to the refrigerator and eat some food? Obviously, you eat the food. All right, if you want true satisfaction, you go to the only source, Christ. If you go anywhere else, it doesn't make any sense. It won't work. It won't satisfy.

D. That's what He wants them to see. They've come to Him on the physical plane looking for other things to satisfy them. He's telling us that we cannot live for the bread of this world. It's not true bread.

1. Look at Isaiah 55:1-3, “1. Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. 2. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. 3. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”
2. Isaiah poses this in the form of a question. Why would we take these other avenues looking for satisfaction? Why go elsewhere when Christ is the one who satisfies? He is the one that offers the true bread of life for He is the true bread. Why would we labor for that which does not satisfy? It is an amazing concept; what Jesus wants them to understand is that nothing else is really bread but him. The world offers no satisfaction and any satisfaction they claim is a lie. That should be pretty life changing.

E. Deuteronomy 8:2-3, Moses explains about their hunger in the wilderness, “… the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. 3. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

1. Sound familiar? It should. In Matthew 4:4 when Satan tried to use Jesus’ hunger as a weapon it says, “But he answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”” This highlights that there is more to human existence than simply fulfilling basic, material needs. It means we stop seeking peripheral things, no longer focus on the physical, the things that we see with our eyes or think that we need for our flesh. Solomon finally figured that out didn’t he. Ecclesiastes 12.
2. John 6:36 is staggering. “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.” How often does this happen! Jesus says, I'm standing right here in front of you and I'm willing to give you the very life that you need, yet you do not believe even though you've seen me. They see Jesus, but they don't really see Him for who He is.
3. That crowd has witnessed God at work. They've seen the divine revealer right there in their midst, but rather than having their faith aroused and seeking Him because of who He is, all that has been aroused is curiosity, their appetites, desires and political ambitions to make Him king over Judea.
4. There's a world of people who see Jesus that do not see Jesus. There is a world of people that have heard of Jesus, recognize Jesus, sit in pews every Sunday believing that they believe in Jesus, but they do not believe in Jesus because they do not see Him as the bread of life.

IV. Receiving Life – We continue with verses 37-40. “37. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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. 40. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.””

A. That’s a great finale. Here's what we look at today. At John 3:35 we were told – “The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life;…” Now Jesus says in 6:37; “. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” Then in verse 39 He says; “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.”

1. He's driving at a point here to His audience, a very important point. If you belong to the father, if you truly belong to God, then you will come to Jesus. Here you are in the audience of people who have come to Him simply seeking physical bread.
2. Conversely, since you won't come to Jesus, you don't belong to the father because the father has given all to Jesus. Refusing to come to Jesus proves you do not belong to the father. He gives them this warning: these Jews could not claim any allegiance or any life in God because they were not coming to Jesus as the bread of life.

B. We see a great hope given in verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” He goes on to emphasize this point in the next few verses.

1. The son isn't driving anybody away. Those who will come to Him as the bread of life and see Him for who He really is, He does not cast away. He has come to do the father’s will, and it is God’s will that He lose nothing of all that God has given Him but raise it up on the last day.
2. This has been, I submit to you, the primary message of this miracle. This miracle of the loaves and the fish is that Jesus is the bread of life and those who come to Him will not be lost. Remember John records this strange command when He tells His disciples to go gather all the fragments so none may be lost.
3. There is a great confidence for those who have come to Jesus, He will never cast them out. There will not be any concern, nor should anyone fret about their salvation if they understand what this is saying.

C. I think that leads to the final question; who has been given to Jesus? He is very clear, verse 37, All that the Father gives me… refers to all who shall be saved, none being excluded, so long as they truly come to Christ, that is the thrust of the second clause. Significantly, this verse makes no reference to faith like the previous verse; but this does not exclude faith, the verses are supplementary to each other. One must believe and come to Jesus to be saved. Coming to Jesus is equivalent to entering His kingdom; and entering requires one be born of water and of the spirit (John 3:5). Therefore, coming to Jesus means being born again. No subjective experience can be substituted for the new birth. "Coming" is something that one does, not something that he thinks, believes, or feels.
D. Notice that verses 39 and 40 are parallel statements. For example, verse 39, And this is the will of him who sent me… Who sent Jesus? The father.
Verse 40, For this is the will of my Father…
Verse 39, …but raise it up on the last day.
Verse 40, … I will raise him up on the last day

1. These two verses are in concert with one another and verse 40 explains verse 39.
2. What Jesus is describing for them, trying to get them to recognize is… who are truly in the kingdom, who truly belong to Jesus, who will endure to the end? Who are the ones that are going to hear the words of salvation? Who are the ones that will not be cast out?
3. The answer is; those who see Jesus as the bread of life, those who come to Him and do not look for their satisfaction in the world, do not labor for the food that perishes, but labor for the bread that leads to eternal life.

E. We notice this next phrasing in verse 40, …everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him… and that takes us back to John 3:14-15. “as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” You must look to Him in faith. You must fully believe in Him.

1. We wonder, hadn't these people come to him? They've crossed the sea, they have traveled far to come to Jesus. Haven't they come to Him? Jesus' answer is no. John has expressed this before.
2. In chapter 3 Nicodemus has come to Jesus, but he hasn't come to Jesus. These people have come to Jesus, but they have not come to Jesus as the bread of life. They have not come to Him in faith. They do not see him as the way to eternal life. He's just Jesus. What will He do for me? That's what Nicodemus did, that is what the Samaritan woman asked. That's the response of the crowd.

CONCLUSION: As you go through this week, think about the implications of what it means for Jesus to be your bread. What should that look like in our lives if He is truly the bread that will give us eternal life?

What does that mean I will do? What does that change in how I think and how I live? If He is the one who gives all satisfaction, what does that change for me as I go about my day? How does that change my attitude, how I handle trials? How does that change how I deal with difficulties and distress? How does that change how I deal with the people of the world? How does that change my pursuits in life?

Will I pursue God above all else? Will I see life in His words? Jesus says, I'm that life. I'm the bread of life. Find your satisfaction in me.

All that has been offered in the physical realm does not satisfy. It does not give life. God has sent down His son as bread, bread that you can respond to. You can receive life if you will put your faith in Him, if you will look to Him, come to Him, receive Him, believe in Him and put your very life in His hands, believing that He is the son of God. Knowing therefore that He is your everything that nothing else in this life matters. The only thing that matters, the only thing that gives true joy is the pursuit of Jesus with all your heart.

That is the call that Jesus is making to the crowd. It's the call that He made to the Samaritan woman. If you knew who I was, you'd be asking me for that living water and I'd give it to you. It's the same call He gave to Nicodemus. You need to be born again. You need radical transformation. Jesus’ call is still ringing. We invite you to come while we stand and while we sing.

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Reference: Brent Kercheville