A Study of the Book of John
“That You May Believe”
Sermon # 20
“Adventures In Missing the Point”
John 6:22-33
In 2003 Tony Campolo and Brian McLaren wrote a book which is a critique of contemporary American Christianity. Although I have not read the book yet I must admit the title “Adventures In Missing The Point” is very compelling. The premise of the book is an examination of how the church in modern America is living out the Christian faith in this new millennium. The question concerns whether we are doing what we’re supposed to be doing or if we still haven’t quite "gotten it"?
Today’s text concerns just such a problem among those who were following Jesus. They saw Him do miracles, they heard Him teach and yet they very much seemed to miss the point.
“On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— (23) however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— (24) when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Caper-naum, seeking Jesus.”
After Jesus had fed the multitude with just five loaves and two fish (6:8-14), the disciples boarded a boat and in obedience to the Lord’s command started arose the lake.
They are a little over half way across the lake when they encountered a terrible storm. Then according to (6:15-21) Jesus came to them in the storm walking across the waters and immediately they arrived at their destination.
The crowd had noticed when the disciples left without Jesus but when the looked for Jesus in the morning they could not find him. They knew that he had not gone with the disciples in the one boat that was available at the time and they were puzzled as to what could have happened to him.
So the crowd got in boats, crossed the sea, following the disciples and there they found Jesus in Capernaum.
Notice with me how the crowd missed the point in four different ways.
First, They Missed The Point By Asking the Wrong Question (v. 25)
“And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You come here?”
It is interesting to note that when the crowd catches up with Jesus they ask him, “When did you get here?” (v. 25) Since John had already indicated that the people were puzzled about what boat Jesus could have used to get there, one would have supposed that they would ask, “How did you get here?” If they had understood how Jesus arrived at that location then they would have understood much more about Him.
But instead of telling them “when” he came he told them “why” they came. Which brings us the second way in which the crowd
missed the point.
Not Only Were They Missing The Point By Asking The Wrong Question But ….
Secondly They Missed The Point By Coming With The Wrong Motive (v. 26)
“Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”
He could read their hearts and He knew why they had come. He knew why they followed Him. They followed Him because they had been fed once and they wanted to be fed again. They followed Him because they wanted something from Him.
There are still people who are only interested in the loaves and the fishes. Christian missionaries in 19th-century India used to describe those who came to the mission stations simply for food as "rice Christians" - so long you give them free rice, they’ll be back. This became a derogatory term for those who accepted Christianity out of hunger rather than genuine conviction.
So how does this play out in modern evangelical America? Many churches have done away with their Sunday evening service, and many churches no longer have a mid week service either. But morning worship attendance is still doing quite well, especially in big churches.
And the people like it. New people are coming in. Things are exciting! We’re getting lively music, neat sound equipment, cool spotlights, quality dramas, need-oriented preaching, and magnificent musicals. Morale is up. Attendance is up. Excitement is up!
But is godliness up? Commitment? Or, do we have bigger and bigger audiences who come to watch the performance, but don’t get serious about real Christian commitment. This growing problem caused Jack Hayford to say of this growing class of church people, ’they come for the show, but refuse to grow.’
One pastor of a fast growing church remarked tongue-in-cheek, “Our people are converted in every way except their mind-set, life-style, and values.” Exactly. If the surveys of church statistician George Barna are correct, even after we have supposedly gotten people ’saved,’ many still act and think about the same as they did before they were saved. Just because they come for the show, does not mean they are willing to grow... or be faithful to their spouse... or tithe.
Like the people who fill some of the mega churches like Joel Olsen’s church in Houston, they are willing to listen as long as what they hear is positive, helpful, and they don’t have to hear anything convicting like talk about sin and repentance or any of that negative or painful stuff. They are a shallow bunch but they are a happy lot. They even like church - (At least for an hour on Sunday morning). They’ll even sign up for classes on CPR or ’How to make your child mind without losing yours.’ But when it comes to committed discipleship, no thanks, they will pass.
If we are not careful we too can be guilty of wanting what Christ gives and not Christ Himself.
Not Only Were They Missing The Point By Coming With The Wrong Motive But….
Third, They Missed The Point By Working To Satisfy the Wrong Needs (vv. 27-29)
“Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” (28) Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” (29) Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”
The New American Standard Version translates verse twenty-seven as “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” Jesus says that they should not keep working for that which is at best temporary. The verb “work” has a continuing force.
There are two kinds of hunger. There is a physical hunger which physical food can at least temporarily satisfy and there is spiritual hunger which food can never satisfy. Jesus is saying that you had better think about that life that never ends and get ready for it.
Paul is thinking along the same lines when he tells Timothy (1 Timothy 4:8) “For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.” Of course neither Paul nor Jesus is saying that one should neglect their worldly obligation, but rather that things must be put in their right order. The spiritual is to take priority over the physical not the other way around. Jesus had commanded in the Sermon on the Mount recorded in Matt 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”
That caused them to ask the question, “What shall we do in order to work the works of God?” (v. 28). The fact that they asked the questions indicates that they had some real spiritual interest in serving God. But unfort-unately, like so many people through the centuries they were firmly convinced that their salvation depended on what they themselves could do. It was their conviction that by living a “good” life it was possible to earn the favor of God. So when the people asked Jesus about doing the works of God they expected him to lay down a list of things to do in order to please God. But this was not what Jesus says at all!
Instead He said, that God’s work was to “believe in him whom He had sent” (v. 29). In other words the only work that God desires from us is faith. Can a man or woman who has been a sinner all their life be saved simply by believing in Christ? The world says that this is too simple. Something more must be necessary – something must be done! Yes, something more must be done. Jesus did it long ago when he died on the Cross, once for all time paying the penalty of sin. The only thing left to do is to accept what he has done, believe in Christ. Salvation is a gift, it is by faith that we accept it! Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, (9) not of works, lest anyone should boast.”
Earlier in John we read in chapter three that men are saved by faith in Christ. In verse fifteen we read, “Whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” Verse sixteen says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Verse eighteen says, “He who believes in Him is not condemned…” Verse thirty-six says, “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life…”
Of course more is implied than a mere intellectual acceptance of the facts.
Not Only Were They Missing The Point By Working To Satisfy the Wrong Needs But…
Fourth, They Missed The Point By Looking For the Wrong Signs (vv. 30-33)
“Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? (31) Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (32) Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
They imply that if only Jesus will produce a satisfactory “sign” they would believe. They had been taught the manna given by God to the children of Israel in the wilderness (Ex. 16:14-15) was the “bread of God.” They had further 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.
They tried to put Jesus in his place in verse thirty-one by saying “Moses fed manna to the children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness, you only produced bread one time!” Their reasoning is that feeding a few thousand one time from a few loaves and fish was nothing when compared to feeding hundreds of thousands in the wilderness on a daily basis for nearly forty years.
Jesus in His reply (vv. 32-33) pointed out the fallacies of their belief by pointing to three critical errors.
•The first thing was He dealt with a misunderstanding of the past by pointing out that it was not Moses that provided the manna but God.
•Then Jesus shifted to the present and told them that God did just give his gifts in the distant past he still gives them now. Jesus is teaching that God is a present reality. God is even now giving them His son as a provision for their new for spiritual bread to meet their daily spiritual need.
•Perhaps most important of all that Jesus told them was that the manna was not really the bread of God it was only the symbol of the bread of God (v. 33). The bread of God was a person, and person who gives life to the world and that person was Jesus!
Today men perpetuate the error of demanding “more” proof. We are literally surrounded by thousands of evidences of the creative hand of God, yet men say, “What proof do we have that there is a God?”
As the Apostle Paul wrote to the believers at Rome the problem has never been a lack of evidence. He wrote in Romans 1:18-21, “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, (21) because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” The problem has never been a lack of evidence, but a refusal to accept the evidence and believe.
Next week we have a special guest but the following week we will take an in-depth look at “Jesus The Bread of Life.”
Conclusion
Are we still missing the point -
•Asking the Wrong Questions
•Coming with the Wrong Motives
•Working to Satisfy the Wrong Needs
•Looking for the Wrong Signs
“Adventures In Missing the Point”
John 6:22-33
First, They Were Asking the Wrong _________
(v. 25)
They asked Jesus “When” Did You Get Here Not “_______” Did You Get Here!
Secondly, They Were Coming With The Wrong _________ (v. 26)
•They sought a “________”
•They asked Jesus to produce _______!
Third, They Were Working To Satisfy the Wrong ___________ (vv. 27-29) (John 3:15-16, 18, 36)
Fourth, They Were Looking For the Wrong ________ (vv. 30-33)
•Moses did not give the manna ______ did!
•The manna was not the “bread of God” it was a _______l of “the bread of God.”
•The bread of God is a person and that person is _________.
