A
Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon
# 21
“The Living Bread”
John 6:34-40
Previously in John
chapter six we looked at how many in the crowds who followed Jesus seemed to be experts at
“missing the point.” They had witnessed his miraculous feeding of the 5,000 with
five small loaves and two small fish and all they seemed to be able to do is make a
physical connection. They wanted Jesus to continue to meet their physical need for food.
In fact in (v. 30) they say that
“if” he will provide a suitable “sign”
they will believe that He is the Messiah. This suitable sign in their minds was for Jesus
to once again provide manna from Heaven as they believe Moses did for the Children of
Israel in the wilderness. They
believed this because they had been taught by the Rabbis that the coming Messiah would
again give them manna. Therefore the people were challenging Jesus to produce the bread of
God (the manna) in order to prove His claim to be the Messiah.
Jesus corrected their
thinking (vv. 32-33) by pointing out
errors in their thinking.
First, He dealt with their error in believing
that it was Moses that provided the manna, it was not Moses but God who provided the
Manna.
But perhaps most important of all that
The crowd may not have understood everything
that Jesus was saying, but they understood at least part of it. The bread they wanted did
not come for Moses, it came from God. They also understood that to some extent that He was
talking about something beyond the mere physical. So they said to the Lord in verse
thirty-four, “Lord, give us this bread always.” (35) And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes
to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. (36)
But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. (37)
All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no
means cast out. (38) For I have come down from heaven, not to do
My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (39) This is the
will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but
should raise it up at the last day. (40) And this is the will of
Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting
life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”
First,
Jesus Is The Source of Life
“I am the bread of life” (v. 34)
To understand the impact of what Jesus said,
when he uttered the words “I am the bread of life:”
we must travel back in the Old Testament all the way to the moment when God revealed his
personal name to Moses in Exodus 3:14. There God told Moses to tell His people that “I AM has sent you.” From that time forward the Jews
associated this phrase as a claim of deity. When Jesus declares in John 8:58 that “before Abraham was, I AM” he absolutely shocked his
listeners, for they understood that He was saying, “I
AM God!” At this point His enemies wanted to stone Him for blasphemy, and
understandably so, for either this was true or He was deluded and it was a lie. Seven
times in the Gospel of John Jesus said who He was and each time He deepens our
understanding of His provision for us.
Jesus said,
“I am the bread of life.” (6:35)
“I am the light of the world.”
(8:12,
9:5)
“I am the door.” (10:7, 9)
“I am the good shepherd.”
(10:11, 14)
“I am the resurrection and the
life.” (11:25)
“I am the way, the truth and
the life.” (14:6)
“I am the true vine.” (15:1, 5)
Clearly John has gathered a collection of the
statements of Jesus which plainly show that the Savior of whom he writes is the one and
only God. As the opening “I AM” statement John tells us that Jesus asserts “I AM the Bread of Life.” What a statement! It is no
coincidence that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, which means “the house of bread!”
He is claiming to be that which
one needs in order to have life and continue to live. Christ gives eternal life. He not
only has life in Himself, but He gives life to all those who will come to Him!
Not
Only Is Jesus the Source of Life but…
Second,
Jesus Is The Sustainer of Life
When Jesus spoke of Himself as being the bread
He was using an image that everyone understood. In Jesus’ day bread was more than a
common part of the daily diet, it was “the” stable of the common man’s
diet. If he did not have bread, he did not eat, if he did eat, he died it was that
necessary.
The implication is that Jesus like the
physical loaves of bread, is sufficient of the need of mankind. Jesus is the
all-sufficient Savior.
Not Only Is Jesus The Sustainer of Life But…
Third,
Jesus Is The Satisfaction In Life.
I would not be
surprised to learn that some of the most dissatisfied people in the world live in the
developed countries of the world. The sad truth is that there are people all over the
world who have more than enough to eat and a comfortable place to live yet they are not
satisfied. They are people who are hungry for more than just a full belly and a
comfortable existence. There is a restlessness which says, “There has to be more to life than this.”
The point I want to make is that God does
not want anyone to get the end of their earthly existence to find that it has all been
futility and mistakes. The Lord spoke of His being the bread of life to rescue us from the
emptiness of life without Him.
In verse thirty-five Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in
Me shall never thirst.”
A double negative is used here to emphasis
just how emphatic this statement is, “He who
comes to me shall never ever hunger again.” In fact in addition to the double
negative there is an added adverb so that it would literally be “He who comes to me will never ever at any time
hunger.” Jesus is affirming in the most dramatic way possible the satisfying
nature of the life He brings.
In Isaiah 55:1-3 we read,
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
(2)Why spend money on what is not
bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the
richest of fare.
(3) Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live…..” (NIV)
Obviously
what is being promised here is a satisfaction of our spiritual hunger; the hunger for
meaning; the hunger for peace, the hunger for contentment. It is in the Lord and the Lord
alone that we find lasting satisfaction for our inner desires. All other sources, fail to
satisfy. Wealth can satisfy for a while but it can give us real peace. Fame can satisfy
for a while but can never give a lasting sense of meaning to life. Even success in can
only give momentary contentment.
The alternative to this satisfaction found in
Jesus is given in verse thirty-six where the word “but”
introduces a strong contrast, “But I said to you that you
have seen Me and yet do not believe.”
“But”
those who do not choose to believe, and as a
result have not come to Him, accordingly they have not received the satisfying life he is
offering. Their failure to believe was the critical factor that cut them off from the
blessings he was offering.
But by “believe”
more is meant than just an assent to the truth of what He is saying. One can believe that
Jesus was a real person and that He died on the cross and even believe that He arose from
the grave and still not be saved. To receive what He is offering one must “come” by faith and be born again.
Not only is Jesus
The Satisfaction In life but …
Fourth,
Jesus is the Security of Life Eternal (vv.37-40) He is our guarantee
of our security.
Many doubt the truth of the doctrine of
“security of the believer” or what is some-times called “once saved always
saved.”
I really believe that this is the result of
two things. First, it is the unfortunate result of watching the behavior of some
individuals who erroneously think that this is some kind of license to sin. They believe
because they have walked an aisle or prayed a prayer or joined a church that transaction,
is a guarantee that regardless of what they do, they will always be saved. And while it is
true that they are not saved or lost by any action on their part, if they are saved then
the Bible says “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,
old things have passed away, all things have become new.” (2 Cor. 5:17) That
tells me that if a person is truly saved they are changed, and although they can still
choose to sin, they will never again be happy in it!
Secondly I believe that some people reject
the doctrine of security of the believer because they do not truly understanding what this
means. They doubt security because they believe their security depends on them and what
they can do. Since I could never do anything to save myself in the first place and there
is nothing I can do to keep myself saved, my salvation and my security rest in the hands
of Jesus.
Notice three things about Jesus being our
security for life in eternity.
· All
Who Are Chosen Will Come. (37a)
“All that the Father gives Me
will come to Me...”
Although this verse obviously speaks of the
sovereignty and election of God, that those who are chosen will come. God is not standing
on the sidelines a helpless spectator until we decide we want to believe; and only then
does he come into the process. The truth is that no one can come to Jesus unless the
Father draws him (6:44). From the first to the last our salvation is something that God
brings about. Yes we are called upon to repent and believe but the process begins with
God.
· All
Who Come Will Be Welcome. (37b)
“…and the one who comes
to Me I will by no means cast out.”
There is the assurance that those who come to
Jesus receive only the warmest of welcomes. Again we have an emphatic double negative, “Him who comes to me I will never, ever cast out.”
· All
Who Come Are Safe Forever!
(vv. 38-40) “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the
will of Him who sent Me. (39) This is the will of the Father who
sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up
at the last day. (40) And this is the will of Him who sent Me,
that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I
will raise him up at the last day.”
Not only does Jesus not cast anyone
F.B. Meyer stated it this way, “He stands between us and all assailants, whether they be the
righteous demands of the … law or the dark and malignant powers of hell. Ever …
He is inserting Himself between our enemies and ourselves: covering us …: acting as
our shield and buckler and receiving into His own royal heart the blows meant for our
worthless selves. We cannot be lost, unless we very Judases, who deliberately open our
hearts to admit the prince of hell.” [F.B.
Meyer. “The Life Of Love.” Masters of the Word Series. (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell Co., 1987) p. 118]
Let me close this morning with the one of my
favorite images of how secure the believer is in Jesus. A little later in John’s
gospel (10:28-29) we read, “And I give them eternal
life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. (29) My Father, who has given them
to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”
The imagery is that of the believer is doubly
protected, that those who are given to Lord by the Father are not only enclosed in the
hand of Jesus but also in the grasp of the hand of the Father.
Conclusion