I am the bread of lifePastor John Farley NOTE: Apologies, no audio or video for this service.
“I am the bread of life”
Joh 6:30-35 30 So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so 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 OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'" 32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. 33 "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
As we ended last week, in verse 29, Jesus told the crowd in Capernaum that the work of God was to believe in the One that God has sent – Jesus.
Today, in verses 30 and 31, we get the response from the crowd.
It all comes down to believing in Jesus.
There are no works they can perform to earn this bread that endures to eternal life. Then what are the works that He will perform?
So now they want to know what HE will do for them. They ask for a sign.
Joh 6:30 So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so 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 OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"
Now this is rich! Jesus has performed miracle after miracle in Galilee, curing those who needed healing. Then He feed thousands with the lunch of a poor boy.
Joh 6:2 A large crowd followed Him, because they saw the signs which He was performing on those who were sick.
Not enough. Never enough. More. More. More. It’s like now He needs to show them top-secret security clearance before they will open up their eyes to Him.
Then they belittle him in with a crafty statement. It looks harmless enough, simply stating a historic fact:
Joh 6:31 "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.'"
They even quote scripture – Psalm 78
Psa 78:23-24 23 Yet He commanded the clouds above And opened the doors of heaven; 24 He rained down manna upon them to eat And gave them food from heaven. NASU But they want to put Jesus in His place. Do you think you are greater than Moses, who gave us bread from heaven?
The woman at the well did the same thing, only with Jacob.
Joh 4:12 12 "You are not greater than our father Jacob, are You, who gave us the well, and drank of it himself and his sons and his cattle?"
Once again, Jesus will turn the tables on them, with wisdom of His own.
Joh 6:32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
He’s telling them: first you misquoted scripture. Psalm 78 was talking about My Father, not Moses.
Second, my Father is now offering you a much greater bread than manna. What He calls the “true” bread.
He has already told them to work for the food which endures to eternal life (verse 27). Now He tells them another amazing thing about this true bread out of heaven.
Joh 6:33 "For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
The manna fed a nation. This true bread can give life to the entire world.
The manna spoiled overnight. The true bread from heaven will never spoil.
The manna sustained life. The true bread from heaven GIVES life.
So it’s no wonder that they asked Him to give them this bread.
However….they still don’t get it! They are still thinking about their bellies. He healed the sick. He fed thousands. Maybe this true bread is a superfood that can restore a dying man to life.
But they are blind to the eternal part - and blind to the One speaking to them!
Thus we come to this stunning revelation:
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
The gift and the Giver are one and the same! The giver of the bread IS the bread.
The true bread from heaven is a Person. And He is standing in front of them.
“I AM the bread of life”. Jesus will repeat this two more times during this discourse:
Joh 6:47-51 47 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 "I am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh." NASU This is the first of seven “ I AM” statements of the Lord. Each one reveals something else about who Jesus is.
I am the bread of life. I am the Light of the world. I am the door. I am the good shepherd. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine.
As we will see, they all have something in common.
They all say that Jesus is the source of life itself!
Joh 1:4 4 In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.
Joh 5:26 26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
Joh 11:25-26 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" NASU Joh 14:6 6 Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. NASU
The true bread gives true life. Life indeed! Jesus is the source of eternal life.
It’s everything that man has longed for – and so much more!
Man longs for the fountain of youth. He desires to extend the life he leads now.
Some illustrations:
Kazim Gürbüz is a 95-year-old yogi from Turkey, who says everyone can live to 130. You’ve just got to apply your mind.
Kazim credits his long term health and youthful appearance to keeping nice and bendy through daily yoga, sun salutations, and a special superfood-rich diet.
There are some astonishing plans afoot in the world of medicine. Internet billionaires have targeted death as their next great challenge.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his physician wife Priscilla Chan recently announced a planned donation of billion to “cure all disease” by the end of the 21st Century.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos funded Unity Biotechnology with the goal to “potentially halt, slow, or reverse age-associated diseases, while restoring human health.”
PayPal cofounder and Facebook board member Peter Thiel has invested heavily in enterprises dedicated to physical immortality, such as the SENS Foundation.
And finally, Google cofounder Sergey Brin wants to solve “humanity’s grand challenges”, including aging and death, and funnels money into research that, among other things, aims to merge humans with computers to create immortal superbeings. technology, such as body-repairing nanobots, that will be able to add more than a year of life to your life every year you are alive.
But you see, the natural man is trapped in a wrong understanding of what true life is! They want to live longer in these bodies of corruption.How dumb is that? Live longer so you can work for your bread longer. Live longer in this fallen world.
Yet an unbeliever is dead while he lives. Dead in trespasses and sins.
Joh 8:23-24 23 And He was saying to them, "You are from below, I am from above; you are of this world, I am not of this world. 24 "Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."
A mature believer longs to depart from this corrupt body and be with Christ.
Phi 3:20-21 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.
You see, that’s what eternal life really is.
Joh 17:1-3 17 Jesus spoke these things; and lifting up His eyes to heaven, He said, "Father, the hour has come; glorify Your Son, that the Son may glorify You, 2 even as You gave Him authority over all flesh, that to all whom You have given Him, He may give eternal life. 3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. NASU Jesus is the source of an infinitely greater life.
It can be hard to get your brain around. Eternal life – and the Source of that life.
Not only is it a life that never ends. It is also a life of no more sorrow, no more tears. A life where we know God intimately. Adopted sons and daughters who will live in God’s household forever. It’s water that quenches your thirst forever. It’s being born again from above. It’s the best wine that never runs out. It’s a dead man coming forth from his tomb. It’s bread that satisfies your hunger – forever. And it’s a life given by grace through faith.
Joh 6:35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
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Every teaching He gives, every answer He gives, drives toward one big true thing:
That Jesus is the bread of life, who gives His life for the life of the world. Whoever believes in Him (“eats this bread”) receives eternal life.
This is the message of the gospel of John: that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and believing may have life in His name.
This discourse on the Bread of Life moves on relentlessly From physical bread To heavenly bread To bread for eternal life To Christ as the bread of life To the offering of the flesh of Jesus for the life of the world To the eating of His flesh and the drinking of His blood
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