JCSLK #37 Jesus the Bread of Life / The Senseless Search

 

JCSLK #37 Jesus the Bread of Life / The Senseless Search

Text: John 6:14,

Introduction

There is a famous story told of the Holy Grail. In the story, the Grail is a cup or bowl that was first used at the Last Supper where Jesus and the apostles all drank from the same vessel, just before Jesus was arrested in the Garden, tried and crucified. Also in some stories Joseph of Arimathea then used this vessel to catch Christ's blood at the crucifixion. Afterwards the now Holy Grail was smuggled out of the Holy Land and taken to France, or England, or some other country where it was hidden. The grail is part of the legend of King Aurther and the knights of the round table. Sir Lancelot is sent on a quest to find the Holy Grail. The legend of the Holy Chalice, or the Last Supper cup is that if you are sick or dying and you can drink from it then no matter how dread the disease, you will be healed. In modern times even Indian Jones went looking for the Holy Grail and saved Sean Connery’s life with it. Today the idea of “searching for Holy Grail” means trying to search for something that cannot be found but that people cannot stop searching for.

There are many people today who are searching for their own version of a Holy Grail and their search is just as senseless as was Sir Lancelot’s. People search for the meaning of life, they search for who they are, they search for inner peace or for true happiness.  These things are their Holy Grail but what they are searching for will not be found, because they are looking for the wrong things, in the wrong places.

Long before there was a legend of the Holy Grail, there were people one senseless searches, looking for the wrong thing in the wrong place. That is what John chapter 6 describes.

The Search Begins

John 6, like Mark 5, Luke9 and Matthew 14 contains the account of Jesus feeding the 5000, calming the storm and performing miracles, but John gives us something the other Gospels do not. It gives us the Bread of life discourse, or you might more rightly title it the Bread of Life dialogue. It is John’s record of the vast crowd of Jesus followers and their search for a political Messiah, a King of war who can destroy the Roman Empire, feed all the troops, heal the wounded and even raise the fallen soldiers back to life. They believed they had found the King they seek in Jesus of Nazareth and they determine to make Him King by force, by violence they will march on Jerusalem and drive out the hated Romans.

Wrong Quest – John 6:14, 24

John 6:14 Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain himself alone… 24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus. 25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither.

Stomachs Instead of Souls

The crowd from the feeding lose their political king as soon as they think they found him. Jesus understands what they want to do, so he sends his disciples, who may have been sympathetic to the crowds intentions, he send them across the sea and He goes up to a mountain to pray and spend time with His Father. From there He sees the ship in trouble and goes to his apostles by walking on the water, stilling the storm, rescuing Peter and then moving the ship to shore himself. Four miracles all after the miracle of the loaves and fishes.

The ship lands in Gennesaret, instead of Bethsaida and when the people there see him they bring out their sick, lay them along Jesus’ path so that they can just touch His garments as he passes by and they are healed. After this they once again sail across the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum.

Meanwhile back on the other side of the Sea outside Tiberius, the crowd realizes Jesus is gone and they go looking for Him, they begin a quest to find their missing king. The natural place to look was back in Capernaum where Jesus had used as his headquarter for the past two years or so. Whey they find Him you can hear the surprise, even the hurt in their question, John 6:25 “And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when camest thou hither?”

Why didn’t you tell us where you were going? Why didn’t you take us with you? Rabbi, we are your followers, your disciples, how could you leave us behind like that?”

When we were kids sometimes we would be playing hide and seek and that one kid that was so annoying, so self-absorbed (though we didn’t know what that meant back then) that one kid you felt sorry for but he just wouldn’t go home, wo when they kid overstayed his welcome or wouldn’t quit talking about his or herself, we played a trick called ditch ‘em. The rest of us would whisper, “We’re going to ditch Vernon.” At the signal, “Ditch ‘em” we would all take off in different directions and meet up somewhere else. I only remember this happening a few times and I don’t think it ever happened to me, but it might have. I think this is how those people felt. “Rabbi, why did you ditch us?”

Matthew, Mark, Luke and especially John knew why, and you know why, they were trying to make Jesus fit into their plans and schemes. Jesus to them was only a means to an end, a tool to accomplish what they wanted to do. He was not their Rabbi, their Master and certainly not their Lord.

Immediately the wrong ideas, questions and plans start pouring out of their collective mouths and minds and the dialogue with Jesus begins. John 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled. (They had the wrong motive, satiated stomachs instead of satisfied souls) 27 Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.’ (They had the wrong desire,  physical food instead of everlasting life.) 28 Then said they unto him, ‘What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?’ 29 Jesus answered and said unto them, ‘This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent’. (They had the wrong work, acts of religious rigor instead of total trust in Jesus.) 30 They said therefore unto him, ‘What sign showest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? What dost thou work? 31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert, as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” (The were seeking the wrong sign, manna like Moses instead of the son of God standing before them.)

Physical Instead of Spiritual

Do you recognize these folks? You should because we were them, are them or know them in our family and friends. These have not changed at all. They are still seeking satiation instead of salvation. To them and sometimes to us, my seeking Jesus is because of what I want him to do for me, rather than what I know He wants to do in me.

I want physical bread, physical security, physical happiness and that is the wrong quest for the wrong savior. We and the world keep seeking for the temporal, the perishable, the short shelf life of our own earthly goals and we want Jesus to make it all happen for us. Listen, I can’t make Jesus king in order to get what I want in life, Jesus is King and I must bow before Him and He will order my life.  

Philippians 2:9-11 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Bow now or bow later but Jesus is the King right now and we come to him on His terms not ours.

Now the Bread of Life dialogue really begins. This was probably a walking discourse beginning somewhere in the town but ending in the synagogue.

Wrong Bread – John 5:32

32 Then Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.’ 34 Then said they unto lhim, ‘Lord, evermore give us this bread’. 35 And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger: and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you, that ye also have seen me, and believe not. 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.’ 41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, ‘I am the bread which came down from heaven’.

42 And they said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he saith, “I came down from heaven”?’

Bread for a Day or Bread for Eternity

Jesus immediately begins setting the crowd straight. “My Father, not Moses gave you that bread and now He gives you the true bread which comes down from heaven and give life to the world.”  How does the crowd react to this truth? “Oh yeah, give us that bread forever! No more working or worrying about  a meal just give us a miracle meal everyday like you did yesterday”

Jesus puts it right out there in their face, “I AM the bread of life! Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” When Jesus said almost these same words to the Samaritan woman at the well of Sychar, she took the water of life, but this crowd of King crowners aren’t interested in what Jesus is saying or who Jesus really is.

He adds, “36But I told you that you have seen Me, yet you do not believe.”  Jesus says I am right here in front of you and yet you don’t believe.”

Now are you ready for some theology? These people weren’t and most times we aren’t either but it is important because Jesus is explaining as he did to Nicodemus how salvation take place. With Nicodemus he spoke of the spirit moving, here He will speak of the Father giving.

Jonn 6: 37 All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. 38 For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. 39 And this is the Father’s will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. 40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

Here is the theology we can see in this passage.

 First, the Father gives and the Son receives. This means there is a predetermined plan of God for who will be given to Jesus in salvation. Here we cannot know if this is meant to be individual souls, or certain people like the apostles and disciples, or even the future salvation of the Gentiles and us. What we do know is that God has a sovereign salvation plan and according to that all that the Father give to Jesus will come to Jesus.

Second, the one, the individual must come and whoever comes will never be rejected or cast out. Yes God has a predetermined plan of how and who will be saved and Jesus says that in that plan individuals must come to Him. And if they come to Him in faith, in trust, believing that He is their savior then they will never be cast out, never be lost again, never lose the salvation that is theirs through the plan of God’s grace and the exercise of their faith.

What did Jesus tell them at the beginning of this discourse? “This is the work of God that you believe in the one He has sent.” I can’t know all the intricacies of God’s sovereign plan of salvation, but I can absolutely know, If I come to Jesus, he will save me and never lose me. And that is all the theology I ever need to know. It’s all the theology you ever need to know.

Now Jesus was not trying to teach a deep theological lesson to a crowd of people who are only wanting to get their feed bag on again. What he was trying to get across was the reality of the true bread of heaven. “I Am the bread of heaven.” If you don’t come to me in faith then you are not part of those who God has given.

That’s a lesson I can understand. Come to Jesus and God’s plan of salvation includes you. I can understand it, we can all understand it but these King makers can’t, won’t and don’t understand. So they murmur and Jesus explains it more.

John 6: 43 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, ‘Murmur not among yourselves. 44 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall be all taught of God”. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me, 46 not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. 47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. 48 I am that bread of life. 49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Again, Jesus tells them that God has a plan and, in that plan, just as He told Nicodemus there must be a drawing. John 3:8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

This is part of God’s plan of salvation, the Spirit moves, He blows across our hearts and we are spiritual moved and if we believe we are born again. John 3:14-15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up: 15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

Later in John 12:32-33 Jesus explains, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. 33 -- This he said, signifying what death he should die.”

God’s sovereign plan of salvation is the work of the spirit and the drawing of God through the death of His son and the preaching of the Gospel. This is the drawing that includes “all men” when they hear that Jesus died for them.

Jesus says the same thing here, in John 6:45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall be all taught of God”. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me”

How does anyone come to Jesus? How is anyone drawn to Jesus? How does the Spirit begin to move in our hearts? “Every man that has heard and learned” Every man who had heard God’s Word, read the Bible, hears the Gospel, every man that has through the Bible truly learned of God comes to Jesus!

We can never know all of God’s sovereign plan of salvation, but we can know this, God’s Word tells us that God gave His Son, Jesus Christ, that all who believe on Him will be saved and by Jesus’ own promise He will raise us up! What more do I need to know. Come to Jesus and He will give you eternal life and even when your body dies, He promises He will raise you up!

Those listening to Jesus that day didn’t understand any of what Christ was teaching that day. And to be honest, He wasn’t making it very easy for them, in fact he is going to make it a lot harder. This sermons marks the end of Jesus’ year of popularity and we have to believe Jesus knew exactly what He was doing.

Wrong Decision

John 6: 52 The Jews therefore strove amongst themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ 53 Then Jesus said unto them, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me. 58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.’ 59 These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum. 60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying, who can hear it?’ 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, ‘Doth this offend you? 62 What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. 64 But there are some of you that believe not.’ For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him. 65 And he said, ‘Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father’. 66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

 Eating Flesh Instead of Partaking of Christ

There seem to be three different groups within this crowd that John recognizes. Of course there are the apostles and other true disciples, then in verse 52 we see the Jews, with the definite article. This is probably the Pharisees and scribes mainly but may have also included other Torah scholars and rulers of the common people. In verse 60 we hear from the “disciples” His followers or maybe we should call them hangeroners. These are the ones who decided they wanted to make Jesus King by force, by violence.

The Jews fight among themselves asking How can he say such a thing? He wants us to eat his flesh? Jesus hears this and instead of making it easy, He makes it hard, very hard. “Most truthfully, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you will have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. My flesh is a meal indeed, and my blood is a drink indeed. He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in dwell in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me. This is the true bread of life that came down from heaven. The patriarchs, your fathers, ate manna but they died, but if you eat this bread, my body, then will live forever.”

Then even his so called disciples are shocked. “This is a hard thing to hear. Who can stand to listen to it?” Jesus to them tries to make it more understandable. “Are you offended by this?” The word in the Greek is scandalized and I’m sure that is what they are thinking. He then says, “what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending back into heaven where he was before. Just as he told them 5 times in this dialogue, “I am come down from heaven” This then is not a hard thing to understand. The one who came down from heaven, the bread of heaven is Jesus and he will return to heaven. It’s heaven that we are talking about, it is spiritual things Jesus is talking about.

And that is what He says to these “disciples.”  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. It is the spirit that brings back life, the flesh has no profit. These words that I speak are spiritual and they are life giving.”

They still couldn’t understand and so they left the Son of God, the Savior of the Word, the King of Glory. They simply walked away. This message served the same purpose as the parables, it sorted out the wheat from the chaff, the true disciples from the false followers. Jesus knew it would and that is why He preached it, the way he preached it.

Lord or Leave

This is Jesus on His own terms, Jesus as Lord of life, King of Creation, the Sovereign Son of God. You come and bow before Him or ultimately you walk away.

Some try to make this passage about the Lord’s supper, communion or the “Eucharist.” They claim you must eat the Lord’s supper to continue to be saved, that it actually become the body and blood of Jesus once you eat it. Such a belief of course if blasphemy and guilty of the very thing these people were guilty of, Trying to work for salvation, when Jesus says the only “work” is to believe in Him.

Over and over again Jesus says, “I am come down from Heaven to give my self as the bread of salvation.” We eat and drink the body and blood of Jesus when we believe in Him as our sacrifice for sin. He gave his body and blood upon the cross of Calvary and I can only partake of that sacrifice through faith. Then Jesus body and blood is meat and drink indeed because once I partake of that sacrificial offering, then Jesus dwells in me and I in him, I have right now eternal life and after this body dies, I will be raised up by the power of the promise of the Lord of Life and Light. I can never be cast out, never be lost, never be an orphan in this world again.

Jesus message that day drive thousands away, thousands. The truth of Jesus’ salvation was far more important than the popularity of Jesus’ personality. I’m afraid that much of what we see today in the so called revivals and largest churches around the world is just the opposite. Jesus personality is popular but His truth is neglected and shunned.

There is a lot of wrong in John chapter 6. Wrong searches, wrong ideas, wrong decisions, but the one thing that is right makes up for all the wrongs. In this case one right does make up for all the wrongs. Look at our conclusion in John 6:67

Conclusion:

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, ‘Will ye also go away?’ 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.’

Right Anwer, Right Choice, Right Savior

Jesus asks the apostles, the chosen twelve, the first disciples, “Will you go away also?” He knows the answer but they need to give an answer and Peter sure steps up. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, we have believed, and we have come to know, that you are the Son of living God, the Holy One of God.”

This morning as we close, what is your answer?