Bread of Life: Life-Giving Bread Man

Scripture: John 6:22-35

Graphic: bread, boats Key Verses: 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Theme: Eternity with God is the real life God intended. Jesus offers the only true life in this world. Life is what you are, do, know, and say in the name of Jesus to the glory of God and His kingdom.
1) Introduction a) Pray! b) As most of you now know, I really like to make breadits almost like a hobby to me. I wish I could have fresh-baked bread every morning c) Actually, up until about the 1960s in some parts of this country, you could get FRESH BAKED BREAD every morning d) According to my very sophisticated internet search about the subject, milk and bread were delivered to your door each morning and you could enjoy your morning coffee and paperthis is like Utopia, right? e) Im curious to know if that happened here in Little Valley? Any bread and milk deliveries? f) I wondered, then, if anyone still did that? So, back to the internetI found an article about a company in Toronto, Canada that was reviving the home delivery of bread. They would take orders over the internet (www.freshbread.ca) by 3pm on one day, and the next morning youd have fresh bread or croissants delivered to your door. g) Cool! Maybe theyd come to Little Valley h) Well, I tried to go to the website to see if I could get more informationand wouldnt you know itOUT OF BUSINESS i) Seems the bread home delivery business in this world is a dead-end venture these days j) What would it take to get bread that lasts? Bread that would give us life? In fact, what would it take for us to be able to answer the question: What is life?
k) Well, the gospel of John gets at the heart of this matter for us in our own lives when he writes, in 6:33, For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. l) Today is a great day because the delivery of bread does not come from the internet or a truck or from your ovenit comes from the life-giving bread man 2) Scripture: John 6:22-35 a) When we last saw our hero Jesus in the gospel of John, chapter 6, he was walking on water and then delivering the disciples safely to the other shore, to which they were rowing their boat. This, youll remember, was preceded by Jesus feeding over 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish, with an abundance left over b) Through all those miracles of Jesus, we clearly know now that the glory of God is revealed, and the grace of God is shed abroad on us and all those who call on Jesus, all those who are in need of rescue c) Lets pick up the narrative in Chapter 6, verse 22 d) Verses 22-24 i) OK, so now its the next morningand the people have been kind of hanging around waiting for Jesus to come backits like the Hollywood paparazzi who wait outside the homes of the rich and infamous in order to get a picture of the next thing they do or write down what they say ii) And this crowd, presumably a lot of the same people that saw Jesus perform the first miracle - who ate the bread and the fish were wondering when Jesus would come down from the mountain and do something else really cool for themmaybe he would feed them againits time for breakfast, right? iii) But in verse 23, they finally realize that Jesus has escaped themhes somehow slipped by them in the dark and hes not heretheir clue is that they saw the disciples leaving without Jesus, and they dont see Jesus anymoremaybe he went north when they werent looking. iv) And there were some boats that came from the southwestern shorefrom Tiberiasto the place that the people were waitingthe place where
Jesus had fed themand so now, they recognized this as an opportunity for them to get into the boats and chase after the disciples to see if Jesus was with them, in fact v) (emphatically) They wanted to see Jesus vi) In verse 24they got into the boats and headed out for Capernaum where the disciples were headed e) Verses 25-27 i) They got to where they thought Jesus wasand they were rightJesus was with the disciples. ii) So they asked him a question the first of three questions that John tells us the crowd asked Jesus. iii) Question: Rabbi (teacher), when did you get here? Not, when did YOU get here? But, WHEN did you get here? Curious questionI would think the more appropriate question would be, HOW did you get here? But theres something subtle in the fact that John tells us they asked, When did you get here? The implication is that, Hey, we have been looking for you all nightwhen did you come here? Were hungry and weve been waiting for you! iv) But Jesus doesnt answer their question. What he does is present them with some pointed criticism, because he can see right through their question v) He knows that they were looking for food, or maybe another miracle or somethinghe knows that they put lots of effort into getting all the way to Capernaum vi) He said, Dont work for food that will spoilwork for food that will last for eternitythat which the Son of Man can give you.that which comes from the heart of Godit has been sealed by God vii) Anything that has the seal on it is something that has been claimed in ownershipif you send a letter and seal it with a wax seal, you are claiming that it is by your hand directly and can be trusted. viii) What Jesus is setting them up to understand is that what he has done and what he will say is by the authority of God the Father, the I AMthe

Holy One of Israel. And what God has to say is not that which perishes, but that which is eternal. ix) This is a clear contrast between what is of the world and what is of the kingdom of God. That which perishes in life (think of those things) is of the world. That which is eternal in life (think of those things) is of the kingdom of God. x) Unfortunately, the crowd and Jesus were using the same words, but had two completely different meanings. They were both talking about work and food and seeing and signsbut they were not talking about the same thing. xi) How many times in our lives are we talking with someone and we are saying the same words, but because of either our intentions or our motivations, we are UNDERSTANDING something completely different than the other personsometimes day and night xii) Jesus is calling them outand is telling them that their motivationstheir intentionsfor wanting to see him, for working THIS HARD to find him, are wrong. xiii) As Christians, a daily check for us in our prayers should be an honest assessment of our motivations. Is this prayer about advancing the kingdom impact in my life and the lives of those around me, or is this something Im seeking after that God is not providing Dont miss the opportunity to be speaking the same words as God in your life and understanding them in the way God wants you to understand them. xiv) And if you find out theyre different from Gods, have the courage and the integrity to do what needs to be done to change your attitudechange your intentionshumble yourself before God and repentand then seek after the heart of God. xv) Thats exactly the opposite of what this crowd was doing
xvi) On to question number two f) Verses 28-29 i) OK Jesus, you tell us we have to work for that which is eternalthat which comes from Godwhat must we do?
ii) I can hear this crowd saying the same things I hear the culture saying about that which is hard to do Whats the minimum I have to do to please God? Whats the minimum I have to do to satisfy this requirement in my life? What am I entitled to if I give a little to the church or to XYZ charity? iii) But, see, Jesus doesnt care about the minimum that we can doyou know why? Because hes already done everything for us! Isnt that awesome? Hes already done way more than we could, sacrificed his whole life for us, and now we come and ask him what the minimum is we can do to get into heaven or to get what hes offering iv) Unfortunately, Jesus answer is harder than anything he could have told to crowd to go and DO. Because he told them that the work of God, the labor in our lives, our task, is to believe in Him. v) I dont know about you, but my engineering mind would much prefer it if Jesus would have given me a list of dos and donts. Id rather know what I can and cant do then to try to wrap my head around the fact that He requires us to do one thingbelieve in Him. Have faith and faith alone as our motivation in life. And every other decision in our lives has to flow from THAT. vi) This gives us a clue that Jesus thinks that life is way more than our dayto-day tasks and more than the breaths we take vii) And we, like the crowd, miss the markand we ask question three

g) Verses 30-33 i) Prove it, God! I need proof or you wont be blessed with my presence in church. Show me a sign, God, or I wont come. And when I lose my patience with that church, maybe Ill go to that other churchor maybe I wont go at all, because this is all about me, God. Harsh, right? ii) This question from the crowd is amazingshow us a sign! iii) Didnt Jesus just feed five thousand people plus with 5 loaves and 2 fish, and didnt you just get your fill with some left over, and you come to him the next morning and say, Show us a sign?
iv) We do this over and over and overGods grace pulls us out of the fire and the next time were in the fire, we wonder why God doesnt ever pull us out of the fire. v) We watch peoples lives being transformed and we wonder if God is ever going to work in the lives of others. vi) Look, log the things that God does in the lives of the people around you and in your own life and then recall those when it seems like God is not present. vii) This crowd is unbelievable in their blindnessbut thats what happens when we think that life is the string of days put together as long as we have breath. We forget what God did yesterday viii) Or we think that what God did yesterday is the only thing that Gods ever going to do and the only way Gods going to do it. ix) This crowd was like, Well, Moses gave us manna from heaven top thatyou think youre all that, Jesus! x) And Jesus says, That manna was from God, first of all, and right now, all of you have the opportunity to receive infinitely more than the simple sustenance that came from that miracle. You have the opportunity to be in relationship with God like never before, because God has done a new thing and the I AM has approved me, and I tell you that there is a way to never be hungry again to have the true bread from heaven directly from God. h) Verses 34 i) Jesus, we want that about which you are talkingwe want that bread. ii) They still didnt get it, because they were thinking that it was something that was going to have to be provided over and over forever and we know that Jesus came once and for all and in verse 35, he finally tells them that i) Verse 35 i) I am the (that, the only, the one) Bread of Life and he who comes to me will never be hungryhe who believes in me will never be thirsty
ii) I AM the Bread of Your Life 3) Conclusion a) What is life but that which is of God? b) Is life a series of days strung together for as long as we have a heartbeat? c) Is life simply work and play and rest until we die? d) Is life based solely on the biology and physiology and psychology and blahblah-blah-ology? e) Here are Jesus three answers: f) #1 dont seek after or work for things that dont last. Basically, dont strive after the things of this world money, fame, material possessions, goods g) #2 Instead of striving after those things, put your trust in Jesus. Strive after the things that are eternal: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, the Word, the Spirit, the Fatherlove Godlove your neighborand h) #3 Jesus tells us that he is the essence of life in this world. i) The implication of that is that Jesus says: i) without me, youre dead ii) without me, life is just striving after nothing that will last iii) without me, life is just a series of days iv) without me, its blah-blah-blah-ology j) Those who have the courage and the fortitude to do the work of God which is radical belief and radical trust - will be the ones for whom life is meaningful and in which God is moving and transforming. k) Its the life that identifies and overcomes sinthe life that has joythe life that knows what real love isthe life that is not self-absorbedits a quietness and a confidencean obedience that leads to a deeper level of trustits an eternal reward and a present blessing

l) The answer to the question thenWhat is life? is life is whatever you are, do, know, feel and say in the name of Jesus to the glory of God. m) And even though bread doesnt get delivered to our doors anymore, God delivered the Bread of Life to your heart once and for all through the lifegiving Bread Man Jesus n) The question of life is answered when you take Him and let Him fill you and nourish you forever into a holy and useful agent for the kingdom of God o) The bread is at your doorit time to live!

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