Jesus Is The Bread Of Life

JESUS IS THE BREAD OF LIFE

JOHN 6: 41-51 ? AUGUST 4, 2002

JOHN 6:41-51

41At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, `I came down from heaven’?"

43"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 45It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth; he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Dearest Fellow-Redeemed and Saints in the Lord:

When we look at nature, when we look at ourselves, we find that there are certain rules that nature follows and mankind follows to a much lesser degree. The basic instinct of nature is for survival. The animals of this world survive by making sure they have offspring, by making sure that they protect themselves and by making sure that they provide for themselves?that they satisfy the desires of hunger whenever it may come. Now you and I are not descended from animals. You and I were created by God as the crowning glory of God?s creation. You and I do not just live by our basic instincts, and yet we know when those basic instincts are not always met, we can become dissatisfied. When we are hungry, we grumble and complain as if we?ve never had a meal before. We?re anxious to satisfy that basic desire.

We look today at our text and hear the words that Jesus has to speak to us. We?re reminded of the fact that He is the Bread of Life. That becomes our basic desire (at least, for the believer)?to be saved forever. The prophet Jeremiah writes and reminds us this morning: "When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O LORD God Almighty"(JEREMIAH 15:16). So today, the Lord pours out for us His word to satisfy our basic desire that our souls hunger and thirst for. In order to be satisfied, we look at what God has to say to us, and we?re reminded of what He told the people then and what He tells us today?that Jesus is the Bread of Life.

Jesus is the Bread of Life

I. God?s ingredients are heavenly

II. Believers? benefits are eternal

I. God?s ingredients are heavenly

Before we get to the words of our text, we will look at the verses before that. The people were wondering who Jesus really was. They wanted to know where He stood and what He was going to teach them. So He told them?He told them that He was God?s very own Son. He told them that He was the Savior of the world. He told them that He was the Bread of Life. Then our text begins.

At this, at all of these facts?that He was God?s Son, that He was the Savior, that He was the Bread of Life?at this, the Jews began to grumble about Him because He said ?I am the Bread that came down from heaven?. The crowd was listening with their ears and not understanding at all with their hearts of faith. It did not make sense that this Jesus, who stood before them, came down from heaven. Their human reason could not understand it or comprehend it. Our text explains: They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?? When they thought of something coming down from heaven, they didn?t think of a person who was born to people that they knew. They didn?t think of Jesus, who was the son of Joseph and Mary, who had lived among them and walked among them and now was teaching them?it didn?t make sense humanly speaking. It didn?t make sense according to their human reason. They came to the only conclusion they could?how could He now say that He came down from heaven? They were questioning themselves, but they were also questioning Jesus. How could Jesus say He came down from heaven? They couldn?t understand it with their human reason. They couldn?t understand it with their basic instinct, which made them sinners and enemies of God and so not willing to listen to what God had to say to them. Jesus warns them against that kind of thinking. He said to them: