A man had just moved into town and stopped at local restaurant for dinner. The waiter did his best to please him but the man complained that he’d only received one piece of bread with his meal, so the waiter promptly brought him four slices. The man said, "That’s good, but not good enough. I love bread!" The customer left a sizable tip and was otherwise a very likeable patron. So, the next night he was given six slices of bread with his supper. He said, "Good! But aren’t you still being a little stingy?" The next night he received a basketful of bread… but he still complained. Finally, the owner had had enough. Being a bit mischievous, he baked one HUGE loaf of bread that was six feet long, three feet wide and it took the manager and two waiters to carry it to the table. Then they just stood back and smiled, waiting for the man’s reaction. The customer looked at the gigantic loaf of bread and said, "So, we’re back to ONE piece again?"
BREAD. (Pause) Every culture on earth loves its bread. Americans alone eat 34 million loaves of bread a day, not to mention rolls, bagels, croissants, pitas, doughnuts and dozens of other kinds of bread that are consumed. And bread is a major staple of food for every nation on earth - from Mexican tortillas to Jewish Matza bread.
Now, just a few facts about bread: A family of 4 can live for 10 years on the bread produced by one acre of wheat in one growing season. In 1941, the US govt passed a law requiring bakeries to add niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and iron to their bread. That’s what you get nowadays… when you buy “enriched bread.” Bread was once so prized that it was used as currency which is why money is sometimes called… "bread." And in 13th century England, bread was a vital source of food for the British and bakeries had total control of the bread supply. In those days, loaves were often sold in baskets of 12. But some bakers would cheat their customers by scrimping on the flour and selling smaller loaves. Eventually King Henry III caught wind of this and instituted a law to punish bakers who cheated people… and these punishments included beatings and jail time. Obviously, this made cheating dangerous, but even honest bakers were concerned they might accidentally make a smaller loaf on occasion. So, just to be safe - and avoid punishment - bakers began selling their customary 12 loaves… and add one extra loaf (13 rather than 12). And that’s where we get the term “BAKER’S DOZEN.”
Back in the days of Jesus, bread was VERY important. Nowadays, if you want to get a loaf of bread you can go down to the grocery store and buy just about any kind of loaf of bread you want. But back in the days of Jesus, it could take the better part of a day to grind the wheat, put enough wood in the fireplace to bake the bread (there were no stoves with temperature settings) and then prepare and cook the bread you’d need for the week. Bread was a very labor-intensive product and took a lot of effort to make.
But then along came Jesus.
Just a couple days prior to our story this morning, we read about a large crowd of people who had gathered to hear Jesus preach. As the day wears on, Jesus notes that the people need to eat and performs the miracle where He fed the 5000 with just 5 small loaves of bread and 2 fish. When it was all over – they collected 12 baskets of leftovers.
And the people were VERY impressed.
But then Jesus just up and disappears and they don’t know where He went. The people began to get anxious and began to hunt for Him. When they did find Him, they wanted more bread but Jesus apparently wasn’t going to give them any more. That so upset the crowd that they tried shaming Him into doing His miracle again. In John 6 we read “they said to (Jesus), "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’” (John 6:30-31). Look, they said – Moses supplied manna for the people every day… and you’ve only done it once. Do another miracle!
In answer Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
Now, that seems like an odd thing to say. The crowd wants more bread, and not only is Jesus not going to give them what they ask for, He turns it into a teaching situation. He says “I am the bread of life!” What does He mean by that?
What caught my attention about this was that Jesus didn’t say “I am the GIVER of bread.” Instead He said “I AM the bread.” And I started to wonder – why did Jesus say it that way. Then it occurred to me that the problem here was that the crowd had only come looking for Jesus because He had given them what they wanted. They wanted the bread (pause) but they didn’t necessarily want Jesus.
ILLUS: I recently watched a video by Tony Evans, and he has an interesting insight on this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XKHJcBy9WC8 thru 1:10 timestamp. Evans tells of how, when he traveled to speaking engagements, he’d buy gifts at the airport shops for his children. But eventually the children became so used to the gifts that they couldn’t wait for him to leave home so he would buy more gifts for them. They wanted the gifts MORE than they wanted him).
I found it interesting that Evans said that his children had gotten to the point where they thought they could do WITHOUT HIM as long as they could get a blessing from HIM. When Jesus said “I am the bread” He was saying they couldn’t get the blessings without Him! I AM THE BREAD. I can give you bread, but you can’t get the bread without me. Essentially without Jesus, you’re not going to get blessings God wants to give you.
In our first service this morning, (one of our members) Steve gave the communion meditation and focused on the first chapter of Ephesians. In that chapter, Paul writes about all the blessings we have received from God because of Jesus. We have the blessings of being children of God and being special to Him, and we have received His Spirit as a guarantee of our salvation. But all those blessings are “spiritual blessings.”
Now, by contrast, we also sang the old Gospel favorite that says we should “Count Your Blessings Name Them One By One.” But when we sing that hymn I tend to think in terms of “physical” blessings. God blessing me with a car, or a home, or a job. Now, there’s nothing wrong with being thankful for physical blessings… but if a dependence those kinds blessings is why we have faith in Jesus, those blessings can become a trap.
You see, there’s been lots of Christians who have stumbled in their faith because they lost those blessings. They lost their car, their house, their job. And because their faith was based on physical blessings… they can end up losing their “faith.” They ended up wanting the blessings more than they wanted Jesus.
The best way to protect ourselves from this trap is to begin realizing… we didn’t deserve those blessings to begin with. I’ve often reflected on the gifts God has given me and thinking “I don’t deserve this.” I don’t deserve to preach in as good a congregation as this is, I don’t deserve the home I live in. I don’t deserve to have the car I have. And I don’t deserve to have the children that I’ve been blessed with. I recognize these are all gifts from God… but I also recognize that I can lose them in a heartbeat, so am thankful for these while God grants me that kindness.
Jesus is the bread of life. With Him we can receive bread and other gifts. But without Him those gifts will mean nothings. Jesus said almost exactly the same thing when He declared "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5) In other words “you are not going to get my blessings without me.” It’s a package deal.
But there are church-goers out there who really don’t believe that. For example, have you ever been to a funeral and hear someone say “if anyone deserves to go to heaven, he did?” Of course you have. Even good Christian folk will sometimes say things like that. Essentially, they’re declaring that the way to get into heaven is be a “nice person.” They’re saying that its possible to do so many righteous deeds that you are guaranteed a place in heaven because you’ve bought your ticket. Even God couldn’t keep you out, because you’ve earned heaven. But that’s not true. None of us have ever been good enough to get into heaven based upon our own “self-righteousness.” The ONLY way we’re going to get to heaven is through Christ. Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. NO-ONE comes to the Father EXCEPT THROUGH ME.” John 14:6
Now, there’s another part of this “Bread Of Life” statement that’s interesting. A little later in 6th chapter– Jesus says this: “I am the BREAD OF LIFE. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am THE LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." The Jews then (said)… "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" John 6:48-52
Eat his flesh? Seriously? That’s what it sounds like… doesn’t it? So, does Jesus actually teach us that we need to engage in… cannabalism? Nooooo!
Now, there are people who actually do teach that. In the Catholic church they teach that when they take of Eucharist (like our Lord’s Supper) the bread turns into the literal flesh of Christ, and that they eat the literal flesh of Jesus at each Mass. The Catholic church teaches that this is what Jesus meant here in John 6. But that’s not true!!!
1st - Jesus isn’t talking about REAL BREAD here. When He said “I am the bread of life” what He meant was – every time you look at a “loaf of bread” REMEMBER that just like you need bread to live… you need me to live too. You need me to survive in this world.
Jesus has said things like at other times in His ministry. When Jesus said “I am the vine” – was He saying He was a literal vine? Nooo. What He was saying was that every time you see a vine with fruit on it you need remember that the fruit depends on the vine for life. REMEMBER that I am your vine… and you depend on me for life.
And when Jesus said “I am the gate” He wasn’t saying He was a literal gate. He was saying – REMEMBER that just like a gate keeps bad things out and allows good things in, so also (if I’m your gate) I’ll keep bad things out, and I let good things in.
So, Jesus wasn’t talk here about a real vine, or a real gate, or – in this case - real bread. In this teaching He was talking about sacrificing His flesh on the cross. Notice what Jesus said here in John 6:49: “the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Bread gives life, and (like physical bread) Jesus’ body on the cross was going to give life.
Thus, every time you pick up a piece of bread at communion that’s what Jesus wants you to remember, and that’s what you should see. His flesh offered for your salvation.
At the Last Supper (which took place BEFORE Jesus was crucified) “… he took BREAD, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19). The bread at that meal wasn’t Jesus’ body because He hadn’t DIED yet!
What He was telling His disciples was – every time that you take communion, and you take of the bread, you need to remember what I did on the cross. When you eat the bread you must REMEBER My sacrifice.
But that bread ISN’T JESUS anymore than a vine is Jesus or a gate is Jesus. The bread is there to REMIND US of what Jesus has done for us.
Jesus said “I am the bread of life”
Max Lucado makes an interesting observation about this. He writes: “Consider how bread is made. Think about the process. Wheat grows in the field, then it is cut down, winnowed, and ground into flour. It passes through the fire of the oven and is then distributed around the world. Only by this process does bread become bread. Each step is essential. Eliminate the plant, and you have no wheat. Eliminate the winnowing and you have no flour. Eliminate the fire and you have no product. Eliminate the distribution and you have no satisfaction. Each step is essential.
“Now, consider Jesus. He grew up – says Isaiah 53:2 - as a ‘small plant before the LORD.’ One of millions of boys on the planet. One of thousands in Israel. One of dozens in Nazareth. He was indistinguishable from the person down the street or child in the next chair. Had you seen him as a youngster, you wouldn't have thought he was the Son of God. You might have thought him polite or courteous or diligent, but God on earth? Not a chance. He was just a boy. One of hundreds. He was seen like a staff of wheat in the wheat field.
“But like wheat, he was cut down. Like chaff he was pounded on and beaten. Isaiah 53:5 says ‘He was wounded for the wrong we did’. And like bread he passed through the fire of God's anger, not because of his sin, but because of ours. Isaiah 53:6 declares ‘The LORD has put on him the punishment for all the evil we have done.’
“Jesus experienced each part of the process of making bread: the growing, the pounding, the firing. And just as each is necessary for regular bread, so also each was also necessary for Christ to become the bread of life.” (“A Gentle Thunder” p. 40ff)
One last thought: In a few weeks we’re going to have our annual Passover Meal, and one of the things we point out is how the Bread is made for the Passover. (We showed a picture of matzah bread on the screen) The bread must be made without leaven – because leaven represented sin, and the bread is made so it is pierced and the bread is made so that there are stripes.
Scripture tells me that Jesus (the Bread of life) was WITHOUT SIN, and that He was PIERCED for our transgressions, and that by His STRIPES we are healed. Every Sunday we gather to celebrate the fact that Jesus is our Bread Of Life. Through the bread of communion, we remember that Jesus gave His body to save us. He died on the cross to give us life. As Paul writes: “whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:26) In the breaking of the bread, you’re telling others Jesus is your bread of life.
CLOSE: I want to close with an observation made by one of Sunday School teachers after I preached the first service. He noted that Exodus 12:39 said “And they baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt, for it was not leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves.”
The Passover bread was without leaven because it had to be made with haste. And as I thought about that I realized, even in that bread we see Jesus. Haste? Why would Jesus (as the bread of life) be something we eat with haste? Two things:
1) Sometimes folks who want to become Christians will tell me they want to be wait and be baptized on Sunday. I discourage that. They might die between then and now. Salvation is too important to put off until another day. Jesus is the bread of life and we must make haste to lay hold of Him.
2) And, now that we’re Christians, each day is precious. Ephesians says “make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil.” You and I will not live forever. Jesus is our bread of life and we must make haste to serve Him and do what we can with the days we’ve been given.
INVITATION
