8/11 Sermon - Jesus is the Bread of Life

Jesus Is the Bread of Life.

1. The bread we think we need.

2. The bread we actually need.

Feeding people is hard work, right? A parent who prepares meals day in and day out for their family knows this. And that’s just a handful of people! At our family reunions in the summer, we split the food up, so each family only has to give a little for everyone to eat. Have you ever fed a lot of people before?

Today we’re talking about bread and food. Let’s start with context. Jesus hadn’t just fed a family or a collection of cousins. He fed over 5,000 people with a handful of loaves of bread.

The people weren’t just happy, they actually went a little crazy. “This man fed 5,000 of us?  We’ll never have to work again!” They pile into boats and chase after Jesus, searching everywhere for him. We’re told elsewhere they wanted to make him their king!

Today, we’ll look at this idea: Jesus is the bread of life. There is bread that we think we need, and then there is bread that we actually need.

1. The bread we think we need

Jesus sees their hearts of this crowd. When they find him, he says, “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. They chased after Jesus for ONE reason: To stuff themselves with food.

I want you to look at that English phrase, “had your fill.” The Greek word is perhaps a little stronger. It means “to eat food like an animal.” When my dog eats her food, she stuffs her face, she attacks her bowl. Jesus says that the motive of their hearts is disgusting. He says, “You don’t want me because of who I am. You want me because you want to stuff your faces.”

But this gives us a little window into our own hearts as well. What is our motive in life? What’s our goal? So often, we want to stuff our faces with things of this world.

Philip Rief, a Sociologist, observe this about American culture: “Everyone in America today is about the amplification of the self.” That’s not other people, it’s me and you! That’s us! All we think about is ourselves, this world, the here and now.

John helps us see how that happens in our hearts specifically in this text in four ways.

1. All we think about is the here and now. Once the crowd realized Jesus was gone, 1000s upon 1000s of people piled into boats and sailed away looking for one man, for Jesus. These people had not one care for eternity. They cared only for about this world. How quickly does that happen to us? Jesus, forgiveness, eternal life fly out of our hearts. All we think about is this world, the here and now.

2. We eat junk food. Jesus said, “Don’t work for food that spoils, but for food that lasts.” That’s so true of this world, isn’t it? Recessions tank the economy, failing health shrivels our bodies, bills eat up our money, nothing in this world lasts or gives peace. But that doesn’t stop us from hungering and chasing after this world, and ignoring Jesus.

3. It’s all about me. When Jesus tells the people of eternal bread, they ask, “What must we do?” What must we do? It was all about their effort and work. And they asked, “What sign can you give us, that we should believe in you? Isn’t that insulting? Jesus had JUST fed 5,000, and still they ask for a sign. They wanted proof that Jesus would make their life easy. It’s easy for us to think this life is all about me. So we focus on the things that we do, or whatever amazes or impresses us. The message of Jesus is not about our work, it’s not outwardly amazing, it’s not about us. So we ignore it.

Let me show you our sin that Jesus points out with a picture. When we drink a cool coke or a beverage on the beach during vacation, we might take a sip and say, “Ah, this is the life.” A cool drink, vacation, a nice beach day. Could it get any better? This is the life.

Jesus says, NO! It’s not. That’s not the life. That’s not what life is about. Sure, that’s a blessing. God gives us so many blessings in life to enjoy, but life is not about the things of this world. It’s about Jesus, about eternal life.

We so easily consume the bread of this world; the bread we think we need. Jesus wants to show us the bread that we actually need.

2. The bread we actually need: Jesus, the Bread of Life.

Jesus tells us about this bread. 27. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give you. 33. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 35. I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

This bread, Jesus himself, is mind-boggling in three big ways.

1. This bread is free. Jesus says that the Son of Man will give us this bread, that this bread comes from God, that whoever comes to Jesus will eat this bread. It’s free! That’s grace. Our eternal life is not by our choice or works or effort. The Bread of life, eternal life, is a gift given by Jesus, paid for by the blood and suffering of Jesus on the cross.

2. This bread is for everyone. It gives life to the world, whoever comes to Jesus eats it. The people thought Moses was so amazing because while he led the millions of Israelites ate for 40 years. But Jesus, the bread of life, is so much more. When Jesus shed his blood on the cross, he died for the sins of the whole entire world, for all people of all time. For you.

3. This bread lasts forever. When we eat the Bread of Life, when we believe in Jesus, when we come to him, we receive eternal life in paradise. We might go hungry, grow weak, lose everything, or even die, but all of that is just… of this world, temporary. The bread of life, Jesus himself, gives us eternal life.

We’ll talk more the next two Sunday about John 6. Next Sunday we’ll talk about what it means to come to Jesus. The third Sunday we’ll talk about how important “eating” Jesus is every day. But for now I want you to walk away with this one thought: nothing in this world can really satisfy, nothing in this world is real food. Jesus alone is the true Bread of Life. Let’s “eat” him every day. Amen.