If you will, turn to me in your Bibles to John chapter 6, verse 22 through verse 40.
And this morning we're going to look at another one of those I am statements of Jesus Christ.
This past week, Jan and I and our granddaughter Paisley went up to Princeton, New Jersey,
and also Philadelphia.
And Paisley wanted to do something.
So we thought about taking a canoe trip on, I believe it was the Ritten Canal.
We get to the canoe rental place and you have three options.
You can go all day, three hours, one hour.
Paisley wants to go the entire day.
We say, no, we don't have time too expensive, we'll go for one hour.
So we get in the canoe, we are rowing down the canal, and guess what Paisley says after
about 30 minutes?
Can we go back?
Now here's the moral of the story.
Going on a canoe trip is good, but sometimes what we think we want while it may be good
is not really what we want or need.
And we're going to look at a passage today, one of the I am sayings of Jesus, in which
this is not a parent at first, but really that's the underlying issue.
The people who have come to see Jesus think they want something which is very good, but
there's a deeper need which they need to be cognizant of.
Let's see what Scripture says to us this morning beginning at verse 22.
The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that
only one boat had been there and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples.
So they had gone away alone.
And some boats from Tiberius landed near the place where the prophet had eaten the bread
after the Lord had given thanks.
And once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into
the boat and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.
And when they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did
you get here?
And Jesus answered, very truly I tell you, you are looking for me not because you saw
the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the
Son of Man will give you.
For on him, God the Father's place, the seal of approval.
Then they asked him, what must we do to do the works God requires?
Jesus answered, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent.
So they asked him, what sign then will you give that we may see it and believe in you?
What will you do?
Our ancestors ate the man in the wilderness as it is written, he gave them bread from
heaven to eat.
Jesus said to them, very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread
from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Sure they said, always give us this bread, then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty,
but as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
And all those the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me, I will never
drive away.
I have come down from heaven not to do my will, but to do the will of him who sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he had given
me, but raise them up in the last day.
For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall
never have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Let's pray and ask God to bless the reading of his word.
Our God, may we see today that Jesus is the bread of life.
Help us, our God, to desire him because our souls are hungry.
Hear our prayer.
Amen.
I like bread.
All sorts of bread.
There's a restaurant somewhere around here.
They used to have the Throde rolls.
Anybody ever had those?
Oh, those are so good.
With butter on them and everything.
And I really like a dark brown bread with butter on it.
One church that I was preaching in one time had a fresh loaf of brown bread.
I got to tell you that was the tastiest bread for our communion service that I ever had.
I mean, I was almost tempted to ask, are you finished with that one?
I'd like to take it home with me.
Now do you remember this from your younger years?
There used to be a type of bread called Roman meal.
It was a very good bread.
It was supposed to be in atricious tea.
I love that stuff.
I used to eat it in sandwiches.
I used to squeeze it together and make little bread balls and pop those things into my mouth.
Maybe I thought if I ate this bread, I'd be like a Roman soldier.
But it was tasty.
And don't get me started on another type of bread.
Pastries like bear claws and all that.
Oh, those are very good.
Now throughout the history of the world, human beings had to have bread to eat.
Not necessarily to delight their palate, but they had to have it to survive.
And before the days when you could run to publics and pick up frozen food, the staple
of a diet was usually bread.
They may not have had a lot of meat or vegetables, but throughout the world, you could get some
bread.
I want you to think about what Jesus talked about in the Lord's Prayer that we just recited.
Give us this day our daily bread because everyone was partaking of bread.
Everyone once said nature's first fast food, bread.
readily available in most places.
Common food that you ate.
And when you think of the temptations of Jesus Christ, what was one of them?
Turn these stones into bread.
You've got to have it to live, to sustain your life.
Today, I want to look at a passage in which Jesus talks about bread.
And he's saying here, I am the bread of life.
Now that should make us wake up this morning and think of the importance of Jesus Christ
as the bread of God that gives life.
That basic staple that we need both for body and soul.
So let's dive into the passage this morning and let's start out by seeing what is going
on in the big picture of John chapter six.
And it all starts out with a miracle that Jesus Christ performs to meet a very physical
need.
Let's get the picture here.
The people have come to hear Jesus Christ teach a lot of people, five thousand men.
And then there's also going to be the women and children who were there together.
And Jesus is teaching away and he realizes that after a while the people are hungry.
Now there's no McDonald's, no hearties, no checkers, no waffle house to send them off
to.
So what is Jesus and his disciples going to do about this problem?
Jesus tells his disciples you feed them.
And the response from Philip is you want us to feed them?
Do you realize what that would cost?
Why Philip says that's going to cost a half a year's wages for us to pay for all these
people to get some bread and fish.
Where's it all going to come from Jesus?
And in some of the Bible versions in other passages in which this event is dealt with,
it says that Jesus had compassion on the crowd.
He was concerned.
And then they find a boy who's got five loaves of bread and two fish.
Not enough to feed five thousand, but Jesus gives thanks to God and the food keeps on coming.
And there's more than enough.
The whole passage should remind us of the Old Testament where God gave his people in
the Old Testament manna and quail to satisfy their physical needs.
And they had to have food just as his crowd had to have food.
The reason that this miracle story is here is one to show that Jesus is God.
He could do miracles.
But it's also here to show us that he's concerned about human need.
He turns water into wine.
He didn't have to do that, but there was a need to relieve someone of social embarrassment.
There is the feeding of the four thousand where people were hungry.
He meets the need.
There were people who were sick.
He healed their bodies.
What's going on here in the mind of Christ?
What is the mind of God in all of this?
It is that human beings need help with their human needs, and God is not against that.
Now, often in our conservative circles, we've come up with a false dichotomy.
We say, well, the body, that's not really important.
It's the soul that counts.
It's just the soul.
If you have a human need, oh, that's not important at all.
Tell that to Jesus Christ.
Tell it to Jesus.
See, God created us body and soul.
And yes, at death, there is a separation.
But we've got to remember one day when Jesus Christ comes again, it's body and soul back
together again.
Some people have seen the body as a prison house of the soul.
That is not what the Bible says.
And the body has to be taken care of.
And part of the way that God blesses his people is by meeting their bodily needs.
And in this case, one of the big things, you've got to eat.
And Christ understands that.
Christ understands the pains of hunger.
And let's put it this way, in our lives, he has met those needs.
And for many people around the world, he meets that need.
Jesus knows that we need food.
That's the way he created us.
But there is a conflict because of this miracle.
And the conflict comes down to this.
There is more to life than just bodily needs.
Are they important?
Yes.
Does Christ meet those needs?
Yes.
But there is something going on here that these people are leaving out.
You see, the people who had come to Jesus at this point, they only want someone who will
meet physical needs.
Look at verse 15.
What do they want?
If you look at verse 15 of chapter 6, they want to make Jesus king.
They want him to be king because they'll have what they need at a very physical level.
That's what they want.
Let's make him an earthly king.
That way, he will meet our need for food and drink.
And the crowds notice.
They're following him to find Jesus.
They can't find him at first, but they're looking for him and they go across the sea.
Remember what Caesar used to do in Rome when the crowds were getting a little restless?
Give them bread.
Let's have an event at the Colosseum.
Let's fill their stomachs.
They'll keep them happy.
Is that Jesus Christ, though?
Is he the type of king who's just going to give them a little bread so they'll follow
him and make them happy?
No, that's not Jesus.
And look at what Jesus says to them.
Look at what he's saying in verse 26.
Notice how pointed Jesus is.
Very truly, I tell you, you're looking for me not because you saw the signs I performed,
but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Was doing the miracle wrong?
No.
Was filling their stomachs wrong?
No.
But what Jesus is saying is, look, the only reason you're looking for me is because you
want more bread.
That's the reason you want me.
And you look at verse 30.
What else do they want?
They challenge Jesus, so they ask him, what sign will you give that we may see it and
believe you?
What will you do?
Our fathers gave us manna.
Can you do that, Jesus?
And Jesus says, oh yeah, I can do it.
But Moses didn't give you manna.
God the Father gives you manna.
What these people don't realize is that they are missing out on something that is weightier.
And what does Jesus say after they cry out for more bread?
I am the bread of life.
And what Jesus is saying, it's not just your stomachs that need to be filled, it's your
soul.
What happens when you have a big breakfast?
Oh, you're filled for a while.
You're satisfied, aren't you?
But then guess what happens at lunchtime?
You get hungry again.
I think God made us that way to show us something.
That a lot of what we desire in this world, well, it is necessary and good.
It will not ultimately satisfy us.
And these crowds think, well, if we have a king who just gives us physical bread, oh,
everything will be perfect, perfect, perfect, right.
That's dealing with bread.
But what about your lives?
Let's look at some other areas where we want Christ to meet our needs.
And those needs may be good.
If I have the right job, I'll be satisfied.
If I go to the right school, I will be satisfied.
If I have the right friends, I will be satisfied.
If I have the right house in the night neighborhood, I will be satisfied.
Those are good things.
And a lot of times Christ gives us those things.
But they won't ultimately satisfy us.
No more than a loaf of bread will ultimately satisfy you.
And I wonder how many times God in His goodness and grace has given us what we want.
But we realize it's not really what we want.
It's good, but there's something deeper we're missing.
I had to go, I didn't have to go.
I wanted to go to Princeton, to the theological seminary there, to the university.
I wanted to do some study about something.
Now I got to tell you, that's a nice place.
I got to tell you, that place has got some money.
I got to tell you, I wouldn't mind living around there.
Could Ford live around there, but I wouldn't mind it.
Now here's the thing, there's an awful lot of kids who want to go to Princeton University.
Because it's going to give them a leg up in life.
And God has given certain students the ability to get into a place like that.
And I was reading an article, I believe it was in Wall Street Journal or some other magazine,
that talks about these Ivy League kids who go to these great schools.
They have the right connections to make it in the world.
And what do they want to do?
They want to go to Wall Street.
They want to make money.
So, they graduate from their nice, well-manacured schools with all the resources and they go
to New York City and what do they find out?
Yeah, they're getting paid a lot, but they're living in New York City, so they're not keeping
a lot.
They're working extremely long hours with no time to themselves.
They're working in an environment which is dog eat dog and they wind up being very dissatisfied.
In fact, I knew a student who went to Penn.
That is an Ivy League school in Philadelphia.
Went through the Ivy program here.
He graduated from Penn, got a job for Google.
I saw him one time.
I asked him, well, how's it going?
I can't stand it.
I like it.
We think we know what we want, but deep down inside, it's not what we really need.
Is it good?
It's good.
It can be a blessing, but there's a deeper issue here.
And that's the resolution to the problem that has come up here.
You see, Jesus says, you've got to look to me as the bread of life to satisfy your deepest
longings of your soul.
That is why he uses this idea of bread, because he knew back then, and he experienced in his
life, you've got to have bread to satisfy your stomach, but there's more to life.
There's the satisfaction of life with God.
He says, I am the bread of life.
He gives what we need, both for body and soul.
He is the one who gives us the blessings of salvation.
And in verse 37, he points that out when he says this in verse 37.
All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me, I will never
drive away.
For I have come down from heaven to do my, not my will, but to do the will of him who
sent me.
And this is the will of him who sent me that I shall lose none of all those he has given
me, but raised them up in the last day.
Jesus is saying as the bread of life, I am the one who gives you what you really want,
and that is salvation in its fullness.
Now, you say to me, pastor, then I should have some hunger pains of the soul.
You do.
And here's one of those hunger pains of your soul.
It is significance.
You're trying to find significance in this world, and you think if I do this, if I achieve
this, I will have some significance in my life.
If I prove to other people, and that's really what significance comes down to, you've got
to prove yourself to somebody else, then everything will work out.
But it doesn't.
It doesn't.
What's to say, you are very good in your field.
You achieve some notoriety.
It doesn't last.
And you're only as good as your last accomplishment.
Someone else will come along who is a lot better than you.
And let's also be honest, people are fickled on what they like and what they think is an
accomplishment.
Jesus Christ knew that.
He didn't trust himself to other people.
Why didn't he trust himself?
Because he knew they were fickle.
They liked him one day.
They rejected him the next.
But in verse 37, he says, if you believe in me, you don't have to do any of that stuff
anymore.
You don't have to earn anybody's favor.
You have the favor of God.
That's what you really want, the favor of God that lasts forever, that doesn't go away,
that is not based on your latest accomplishment.
That's the hunger-paying of the soul.
We want some significance.
And God gives it to us.
He makes us his adopted children.
And here's another hunger-paying of the soul.
It's called forgiveness.
Events come into your mind from the past.
And you did long ago like a bad dream.
They keep coming into your mind something that you did that was wrong and you can't
get over it.
You don't know what has happened to the people you sinned against.
You can't say you're sorry.
But with Jesus as the bread of life, there's forgiveness.
If he forgave David for his multiple sins, God will most certainly forgive him.
Because Christ died for sinners.
And one of the great hungers of the soul that people have is they want to be forgiven.
They want to know that accepted by God.
The hunger of significance, the hunger for forgiveness.
Jesus says, I am the bread of life who meets that need.
Those are the soul hungers.
And remember what Jesus said when he was being tempted?
What did he say to Satan who said, turn these stones into bread.
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by the word of God.
And that's what we need to keep in mind.
The gifts that God has given you are his grace.
He cares about your body.
But the problem in our day and age is the problem that people back then had.
They're only concerned about their body.
But they need to be concerned as well about their soul.
Because body and soul go together.
And you not only need the bread that fills your stomach, but the bread of life that feeds
your soul.
So this morning as we get ready for our salad Sunday, don't forget to feast on Christ who
said, this is my body which is broken for you.
Let's pray.
Our heavenly Father, we come now before you, asking that you will help us to see Jesus
Christ as the bread of life that we so desperately need.
We are prayer this morning.
And be with us now.
Amen.