INTRODUCTION
• Can you name me one food that you will find in most if not all countries in the world, a food that no one country can claim exclusive rights to? A food that you will find at the table of both the richest and the poorest people on earth.
• BREAD
• Bread is served everywhere; it has many uses and many forms. Bread is eaten daily, it is not seasonal.
• We live in one of the most diet-conscious societies that has ever existed. Some of the diets you see are a little bizarre like the Sauerkraut diet or the Spam Diet. I am going to come up with one called the “Donut, Hamburger & Ice Cream diet.”
• Then there are some that will probably work like the one that says you can eat as much as you want of any food you don’t like. Or the one I ran across that’s called "The Stress Diet".
• Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, slice whole-wheat toast, 8-oz. skim milk.
• Lunch: 4 oz. lean broiled chicken breast, 1 cup steamed zucchini, 1 Oreo cookie, Herb tea.
• Mid-Afternoon Snack: Rest of the package of Oreo’s, 1 quart of Rocky Road ice cream, 1 jar of hot fudge.
• Supper: 2 loaves garlic bread, large pepperoni and mushroom pizza with double cheese, 2 quarts of Pepsi or Coca Cola, 3 Milky Way Candy Bars, and an entire Sara Lee Pound Cake eaten directly from the refrigerator.
• One of the things that ties all of humanity together is the need for food.
• All of us are deeply aware of our need for food and water, when we get hungry, our body tells us.
• Last week we started talking about the search for satisfaction. This week we will continue a bit on that theme as we look at “Jesus, The Perfect Food.”
• In this section of Jesus’ sermon He gives us one of the first of the seven or so “I AM” statements in the gospel of John. All of the “I am” statements represent the special relationship Jesus has to the spiritual needs of man. In this first on Jesus calls Himself the bread of life.
• We all need food to sustain us. Jesus is going to tell us that He is the spiritual food that we need to sustain us spiritually.
• I have talked about the pursuit of filling the hunger within us with many things. Jesus is going to tell us that He is the perfect food. When we make Jesus our spiritual food, we will not want anything else. Today we are going to look at three reasons Jesus is the perfect food.
SERMON
Jesus is the perfect food because:
I. HE COMES FROM THE FINEST BAKERY! (30-33)
• Jesus had just fed the people the day before at the feeding of the 5,000. Now Jesus is going to start calling for a commitment out of the people in verse 29 and the people want more.
• Read verses 30-33
• In verse 29 Jesus is claiming that He was sent from heaven from the Father.
• Jesus has already performed an impressive catalogue of miracles including healings, raisings, cleansings, and exorcisms, to say nothing about his power over the inanimate—wine, bread, wind, and waves. On the day following the feeding of the 5,000, how can they possibly ask for a sign?!
• Verse 31 offers a key to their logic, here, as well as the two previous times the Jews asked for a sign. They want a sign from heaven, like Moses gave them with the manna. It is as if they said, “We followed you for earthly food because that is what you miraculously provided. But if you want us to follow you for heavenly food (cf. v. 27), then we will need a sign from heaven.” In all three instances, the only sign Jesus promised was that of resurrection.
• Yesterday they were willing to inaugurate Jesus as king because he gave them what they wanted. But today, when Jesus asks for their allegiance, they reject him. They demand of Jesus, “Gimme, Gimme, Gimme If not earthly bread then heavenly bread!” Jesus replied, “It is not I who give, nor was it Moses, but God. He gave manna to your forefathers; but to you he gave me. You ask me to provide heavenly bread but I am that bread!” By rejecting Jesus, they are rejecting the very thing they asked Jesus to provide. (CHRONO Life of Christ. Mark E. Moore, College Press)
• Jesus is telling us HE came from heaven, sent from God. The bread He offers comes from the finest bakery.
• How many of you like cheesecake?
• I love it. I have eaten a lot of it in my life. My mother-in-law makes a killer cheesecake. I have bought the stuff in the boxes, the stuff in the plastic containers at the grocery store.
• I consider myself a coinsurer of cheesecake. Well, one day in Chicago we ate that the Cheesecake Factory. I am here to tell you that you have not experienced life until you eat some of that! (They carry it at Sam’s also)
• The cheesecake they make as far as I am concerned comes from the finest bakery.
• Jesus is telling the crowd He is the perfect spiritual food because He comes from heaven sent by God. What other food can you think of that comes from heaven? Of all the things we do to fill the hunger within us what else comes from heaven?
• The people wanted the manna out of heaven that Moses gave to them. Jesus tells them that Moses did not give them the manna, but that God did (verse 32)!
• You need to feed your spirit with Jesus because He is the best that God has for you!
• If you are going to eat cheesecake, get it from the best bakery. If you are going to feed your soul, feed it with the spiritual food from heaven! What Jesus has to offer us is the TRUE bread of God!
• What makes a great bakery great? They use the best ingredients when they make something.
Jesus is the perfect food because:
II. HE HAS ALL THE VITAMINS AND MINERALS YOU NEED TO FILL YOU (34-36)
• When they hear Jesus tell them about the bread they are missing out on, the crowd says they want some.
• It seems as if the people did not know what Jesus was really offering them and what He was asking them as a result because their mindset was still on the physical food.
• READ VERSES 34-36
• Jesus tells them that He is THE bread of life. When Jesus says this He is making an exclusive claim. He is really saying He is the ONLY bread of life.
• It has been said, “You are what you eat”. This is so true spiritually. What you feed your spirit is what you become.
• I heard of a case of a man who is suing McDonald’s, claiming that McDonalds made him over weight. He claimed that because McDonalds advertised their product as 100% pure beef, it meant it was healthy.
• I wonder who I can sue?
• If you feed your body junk, your body will literally turn to junk. I saw Arnold Swartzanegger on TV the other night. I commented on how I would like to look like that when I am 52. Then I said I do not look like that now.
• As I was eating my mini chocolate chip cookies, my wife said LOVINGLY something to the effect, “I bet Arnold does not eat cookies.” I am not sure what she meant by that one?
• Junk food is bad for us because it does not have what the body needs, then because our body craves the missing vitamins and minerals; we eat more and more, never being satisfied.
• What are we feeding our spirit? Are we cramming it with junk food or are we starving it to death? Either way is bad.
• Jesus has all that we need to be satisfied! In verse 35 Jesus tells us that if we feed ourselves with Him, we will never hunger or never thirst again. Jesus is all that we will need to be satisfied. We will want more Jesus, but we will not need any other food for the spirit.
• Jesus is able to nourish our soul to sustain life. HE will satisfy. He will energize us and we will have a desire to learn more and grow closer to Him.
• There is nothing that is more satisfying than serving Jesus. How would you like to know why you are here, what your mission and purpose for life is?
• In verse 29 we are told that we are to believe in Him whom God sent.
• To the crowd to believe meant to acceptance of Jesus’ competence on the basis of His miracles. To Jesus belief meant commitment to Him not on the basis of miracles, but trust in His person, who He is.
• We are to trust Him because He is the Son of God who was sent from heaven to save us.
• In verse 36 we are told that the people saw but did not believe. They were not willing to let go of themselves and give themselves over to God!
• What about you? What are you waiting for? Are you waiting for a miracle before you will give your life to the Son of God? What is holding you back?
Jesus is the perfect food because:
III. HE IS GOOD FOR EVERYONE! (37-40)
• Have you noticed how the pharmaceutical companies have been advertising a lot of these new medications? They tell you what the new drug can do, then they give you the potential side affects (glowing in the dark, lower intestinal distress, etc). Then they tell you all the people who should not take the drug.
• Jesus is good for EVERYONE. Read verses 37-40
• In verse 37 Jesus says He will not cast out anyone who comes to Him.
• 1 TIMOTHY 2:3-4 “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
• TITUS 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men,
• Jesus says that He came to do the will of God. He will of God for Jesus was that He live a sinless life and then He would be a sacrifice for the sins of mankind. God did this so that through the blood of Jesus we would be able to have eternal life.
• Some people would take this out of context to say that God chooses certain people to be saved and others not to be. This is not the case because of what God’s word says in other verses that straight out tell us that God desires all to be saved. The only thing that is predestine in the plan of salvation and those who accept God’s way of saving man are predestine to be saved.
• With Jesus there are no disclaimers, no small print, and no play words. Jesus is good for EVERYONE. All need Jesus!
• Jesus says in verse 39 that all who follow God’s plan will be raised up on the last day.
• It is the will of God that EVERYONE who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life. This is good for everyone who beholds and believes! Jesus is not a prophet who only speaks God’s message but He is a Son who fulfills His Father’s purpose!
• To behold means to look toward, contemplate. In other words Jesus tells us that we are to examine Him and from that examination it is to lead to belief which means to trust Him fully!
• Jesus is good for all who belong to Him because:
We will have victory over death! 1 Corinthians 15:52-57, HEB 2:14-15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.
We will be raised on the last day! WE will have eternal life with Jesus!
CONCLUSION
What are you feeding your soul? Are you starving it or are you filling it with junk food or are you filling it with Jesus!
Jesus is the perfect food for our spirit.
Jesus was sent by God to give us the opportunity for eternal life. God loved you enough to give you that chance! Are you going to squander it or are you going to come forward and accept the salvation reserved for you in Christ!
I want to encourage each one of you who have said they have given their lives to Jesus. Make sure you are feeding your soul with Jesus.
We just completed our “Faith Comes By Hearing” campaign. I hope that all of you who took the time to listen to the word of God came away refreshed. Find ways to put Jesus in your life. Find ways to hind the word of God in your heart!
