So where we're at in the story of Jesus, Jesus is talking to a crowd of people.
And as we said last Sunday, according to Jesus, they seem more interested in the signs he is doing,
like the feeding of the 5,000, than in the realities that the sign points to.
The signs point to a great and wonderful reality that Jesus has been sent into the world by God the Father
and that he is the Son of God, the Messiah, the glorious Son of Man that the prophets foretold.
The signs that Jesus is doing, things like the feeding of the 5,000 and healings,
they give evidence that he really can give eternal life to those who believe in him.
But the crowd seems more interested in seeing a spectacular show.
They seem more interested in being wowed.
We're entertained.
And so Jesus told them, we heard last week, not to seek after food that doesn't last,
but instead to seek after the food that lasts forever and gives them eternal life.
He tells them that he will give them this food, this lasting food.
But what they must first do in order to receive this gift is believe in him.
Let's remember what the crowd last said to Jesus.
John 6, verse 28.
They asked him,
What must we do to do the works God requires?
And Jesus answered,
The work of God or the work that God requires is this,
to believe in the one he has sent.
You want to know what God wants you to do?
He wants you to believe in the one he has sent,
which of course is Jesus.
Let's continue on with the conversation in verse 30.
So they asked him,
What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?
What will you do?
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness.
As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.
So the people of the crowd are asking Jesus to do yet another sign.
Let's remember for a second that the people asking this question
are the very same people who were there on the other side of the lake,
some of them,
and had ate the loaves that Jesus made
and had their fill at the feeding of the 5,000.
So this is kind of surprising.
Like you guys saw a spectacular miracle,
a sign that Jesus did.
I mean, that wasn't insignificant.
He made bread and fish multiply from just a boy's lunch,
enough to feed over 5,000 people out in the middle of nowhere.
And you ate as much as you wanted.
And now you're asking for a sign?
A reason to believe?
At this point, it's becoming obvious that the people do not really believe in Jesus.
Their question kind of gives that away.
Give us a sign.
Prove it.
Prove that what you're saying is true.
Prove it.
by bringing this up.
But do you remember how that story went?
Back in Exodus, we read that the Israelites were slaves in Egypt,
and they were terribly treated.
And God set them free,
and he led them out of Egypt through Moses.
Within days of crossing the Red Sea on dry land,
the people began to grumble and complain and accuse Moses
and even the Lord himself
of bringing them all the way out here into the wilderness
so that they would die of starvation.
And God, in his mercy,
and because he made a promise,
in his grace, he gave them food to eat.
Out in the middle of nowhere, he gave them bread from heaven.
Manna appeared on the ground in the morning,
and God fed the Israelites, the whole nation,
with this manna for 40 years while they wandered.
That in itself is truly amazing.
I mean, can you imagine that?
An entire nation of people,
men, women, and children,
kept alive for 40 years,
out in the middle of nowhere
as they move here and there
by a bread-like substance
that appears on the ground
six days a week.
But why does the crowd bring this up?
It was a truly miraculous thing,
but are they telling Jesus
that this is the kind of miracle
that they expect him to do
before they will believe him?
Or perhaps are they saying
that feeding 5,000 people one meal,
well, that's nothing compared to
feeding a whole nation for 40 years.
Let's see that.
Are they suggesting that the bread that Jesus made
was somehow inferior, earthly bread,
compared to this bread from heaven
that God gave the Israelites long ago?
Are they making a comparison
between Moses and Jesus?
Like, we know that Moses was sent from God
because look at the amazing sign,
the miracle of bread from heaven
that God did to prove it.
Whatever the crowd is thinking,
to be honest, I'm not exactly sure,
Jesus makes it crystal clear
that it wasn't Moses
who gave the Israelites the bread from heaven.
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.
Whether the people were mistaken
or perhaps it just had too much focus on Moses,
Jesus sets them straight.
He makes it clear.
Moses didn't do that great work.
of providing for the people
with bread from heaven.
It's God who deserves the credit.
In fact, Jesus is even more specific than that.
He says,
it was my Father.
Again, he uses that language.
The Lord,
the one who did that great miracle
in the wilderness long ago,
is my Father.
He says,
it's my Father.
It's my Father.
And Jesus goes on to say even more.
He doesn't say a lot of words
in this statement,
but there's so much said here.
Notice the shift in time.
He says that it's not Moses
who has given you the bread from heaven,
but my Father.
My Father,
my Father,
back in the past,
was the one who gave you the bread from heaven,
the manna.
But he also shifts things to the present.
It is my Father who gives.
Present tense,
right now.
My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven.
That word true says a lot.
It says that the bread that the Israelites had
back in the wilderness
was not the fullest way
that God has chosen to provide for his people.
There's a greater bread from heaven.
A true bread from heaven.
If you were here last Sunday,
you'll remember Jesus has already been talking
in terms of food that spoils.
And food that lasts.
And we should keep that in mind here.
Do you remember how things worked with the manna
back in the Old Testament story?
How long did the manna last for?
One day.
Not very long.
Some people tried to keep it overnight.
And they found that in the morning
it was full of maggots and it smelled.
Except on Saturdays
when God miraculously made it last
for an extra day
so they didn't have to go out
and do work on the Sabbath.
It's like Jesus is saying
that bread that they received in the wilderness
it was bread from heaven.
It was bread provided by God,
my Father.
But now,
just as he gave you that perishable bread long ago,
he is now giving you the true bread
from heaven.
Bread which never spoils
and lasts forever.
He goes on in verse 33,
for the bread of God
is the bread that comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.
There is a special bread of God.
A true bread which comes down from heaven
and Jesus says,
gives life to the world.
And so the crowd says this,
Sir,
they said,
always give us this bread.
They outright ask Jesus
to give them the bread.
But even as they do it,
it seems that they don't really understand
what Jesus is talking about.
They seem to get that Jesus is talking about
better bread than they ate
on the other side of the lake.
They even seem to get that
Jesus is talking about
better bread than the Israelites had
the manna long ago in the wilderness.
So, of course,
whatever this bread is,
it sounds good.
We want it.
Give us this bread.
But it seems as though
they're still thinking of literal bread.
Actual bread.
Notice the word always.
Always give us this bread.
If there's better bread,
which comes from heaven,
then give us this bread
from now on.
Always.
We want to receive this bread
from you,
not just once,
but again and again,
repeatedly.
From now on.
And I'm not sure exactly
what some of them were thinking,
but, you know,
almost the sense we get,
maybe,
is that they're asking Jesus
to make the feeding
of the 5,000
a daily thing,
but with this true
and better bread
and not with that ordinary stuff
that we had yesterday
on the other side of the lake.
Finally,
Jesus looks them in the eye
and he makes it crystal clear.
No.
You misunderstand.
I am the bread of life.
Whoever comes to me
will never hunger
and whoever believes in me
will never thirst.
I,
myself,
am the bread
of life.
The bread I'm talking about
is not like the manna
in the wilderness.
It's not like the loaves
that I made yesterday
across the lake.
It's not the kind of bread
that you eat
and then get hungry
and then you eat some more
and then you get hungry again
and then you have to eat
some more of.
I, myself,
am the bread of life.
Death, says Jesus.
And whoever comes to me
will never hunger.
And whoever believes in me
will never thirst.
In the original language,
there's a,
Jesus,
you can't see it in English.
Will never thirst,
ever.
Just going to throw that in.
Permanent.
I'm the one.
I am the true provision
of God from heaven
and have come down
from heaven
so that,
in a sense,
you might not perish
in the wilderness
as you deserve to,
but so that you might live,
so that you might receive
life,
not just for a few more days
like you get
when you had the bread
I made yesterday,
but so that you might
receive life forever.
a permanent end
to your hunger,
never hunger again
and to your thirst.
This is not a promise
to meet the needs
of our stomach
and to keep us
so well fed
that we never feel
our stomachs growl again.
This is a promise
to meet the deepest needs
of our soul
and to provide us
with eternal life
and forgiveness
instead of the death
and punishment
we deserve
for the sins
we've committed
against God.
So what do we do
to eat this bread
that God has provided?
The bread is a person.
You can't eat a person
or you shouldn't.
What do we need to do
to receive
this good gift of God?
Jesus drops the metaphor
for a moment
and he just says
very plainly
what we need to do
to receive him
as our bread of life.
He says
whoever comes to me
will never go hungry
and whoever believes in me
will never be thirsty.
It's nothing new.
It's nothing spectacular.
It's very simple.
Come to me
he says.
Believe in me.
You want God's
special provision
from heaven
like they had
back in the wilderness
long ago?
I'm here.
Come to me.
Believe the words
that I'm saying
and you'll see
that what your soul
truly needs
will be provided for
forever.
Jesus has much more
to say to the crowd
but we're going to look
at what he continues
to say next Sunday.
For this morning
we simply want to focus
on these precious
words of Jesus.
I am the bread of life.
In a few minutes
we're going to partake
together of the
Lord's table
and as we move
towards this table
this thing that Jesus
said
I am the bread of life
it gives special meaning
to what we're about
to do.
It's no coincidence
that Jesus chose
on the night of his
betrayal
to break bread
and hand it out.
he said that night
to his disciples
this is my body
given for you
take and eat.
In a similar manner
he took a cup
and he said
this is my blood
of the covenant
which is poured out
for many
for the forgiveness
of sins.
the meal
was deeply
symbolic.
The bread
and the cup
represented how
the very next day
Jesus would give
himself
as a sacrifice
for the life
of the world.
His body
would come to hang
on that Roman cross
and his blood
would be poured out
from the scourging
and from the nails.
and all of this
a gift of love
to save us
from death
from everlasting
punishment
that we all deserve
because of our many
sins against
God.
And so eating
from this table
as we're going to do
in a few minutes
here is no small
thing.
Eating from it
is deeply
symbolic.
Eating that bread
means that we receive
the sacrifice
of Jesus.
It means that we
believe that he
is our
bread of life.
The one God
has provided
so that we might
have life
and not die.
It means that we
believe he died
on the cross
for us.
In the same way
drinking from the
cup means that
that we
we take
the forgiveness
of God
which his blood
secured.
We take it
unto ourselves.
We receive it.
It's a very
outward
and tangible
thing we do
with the bread
and the cup
in our hands
and yet when we
eat and drink it
it represents
something that
we have done
on the inside.
That we have
come to Jesus
and that we
really do
believe
in him.
That he is
that special
provision of God
that we need
for life.
So in just a
couple of minutes
we're going to
serve the bread
and the cup
and if you
have come to
Jesus
and if you
believe in him
I want to
invite you to
join and
partake
with us
as we celebrate
our bread of life.
broken for us.
I just want to
give a couple
words of
instruction.
In just a minute
we're going to
have a few
minutes in
which we can
quietly reflect
and pray.
There will be
some soft music
playing in the
background.
It's a chance
for you to
confess your sins
to God
quietly.
It's a chance
for you to
talk to him
about the one
that he has
provided for you.
and when the
music is
finished
Charles is
going to
come
and
serve us
the bread.
When he
comes with
the bread
please hold
your hands
open like
this
if you wish
to participate
and he's
going to
drop it
into your
hands.
Next he'll
serve the
cup
and when he
comes with
the cup
you'll notice
that the
cups have
been spaced
apart in
the tray
and just
ask that you
take care to
touch only
the cup
that you
are taking.
Once we've
all received
the bread
and the cup
just ask that
you would hold
on to both
of those
until everyone
has been
served
and then
I'm going to
lead us in a
prayer of
thanks
and we'll
eat and
drink together
and remember
the death
of our
Lord.
being
the
человек
and
also
having
Thank you.