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:
"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. They were trying to figure out with their own human reason and thought. They were trying to figure it out with their own knowledge, and the Lord said, ?You can?t. The ingredients of the Bread of Life are heavenly.? They need to be understood spiritually.
He says to them in verse 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.? He reminded them of God?s gift of grace. They were trying to figure out salvation on their own. They were trying to put salvation and those things spiritual in a human realm, in an earthly sense, with human reason and knowledge and understanding. It just didn?t work. Jesus reminded them that those who believe believe because the Father draws those people unto Himself. If they didn?t want to believe Jesus and His words, then He quotes the prophets. He says: ?It is written in the Prophets: `They will all be taught by God.’ They knew those words. Jesus says, ?And listen?listen to what the words of God say.? Don?t concentrate so much on the words of men or the feelings of men or what men might think, but listen to what God has to say.
Here?s what God says: Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him, comes to Me. Here Jesus very quickly said this is how He came from heaven. Those who hear the word of God are also listening to the words of Jesus. Those who listen to the words of Jesus and come to the Father, come to Jesus who came from above. He is the Bread of Life. He is God?s gift to the world. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He has seen the Father. Again, when they heard the words of Jesus, remember they were amazed at His authority. They wondered how He could know and teach such things because He was just the son of Joseph and Mary. Yet He knew that because He had seen the Father, because He had come from heaven, He was God?s gift to creation.
Sometimes you and I might forget the simple fact that Jesus is God?s gift to us. He is God?s gift to the world, as the Savior of the world, but for believers such as you, me and any believer in the world, He is a special gift because He provides the forgiveness of sins. When we look at the gifts of God, we realize that sometimes we want different gifts or more gifts or better gifts, but God gives us always, the best gifts that we need. James reminds us. He says: "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows"(JAMES 1:17). So God?s gifts are perfect. They are absolutely what we need. God?s greatest gift to us is Jesus, His Son, our Savior, the Bread of Life who comes down from heaven.
In our text today, we are reminded why that gift is so important. We live our lives in this world with only one basic thing that we were born with and that is sin?our natural condition since the day of our birth. Our natural condition is to seek out what man wants and to forget about God. Our natural condition is to turn against God and never, ever toward God. As we grow in knowledge and the wisdom of faith, we realize that more and more as each day of our life goes by, that our lives are filled with sin?day in, day out, year after year. Then Jesus comes to us and says, ?I?m the Bread of Life.? We rejoice and are thankful because that Bread of Life is God?s gift to us for the forgiveness of sins. We?re told in the book of Ephesians: "In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace" (EPHESIANS 1:7).
Let?s not forget that gift too, the gift of God?s grace. In that one sentence in our text today, Jesus reminds us that believers are believers because the Lord God himself has drawn a sinner to himself. You and I are believers because the Lord has drawn us to Himself. We can?t earn our salvation, we can?t buy our way into heaven, and certainly we can never do enough good things to merit one single second of eternity. In spite of all that, the Lord welcomes us there by the gift of His Son, Jesus, the Bread of Life, our Savior. He says heaven is our home in spite of our sinfulness, in spite of our wickedness and rebellion, in spite of our natural condition, which has us turn away from God instead of towards Him. Paul writes in Titus: "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit"(TITUS 3:5).
Our salvation is God?s gift to us. Our salvation comes through the Bread of Life. As Jesus says, ?I am the Bread of Life.? Jesus is the Bread of Life, and this Bread of Life is made with ingredients of forgiveness and salvation and God?s grace, all God?s gifts. Then we?re told the benefits for you and I, as believers are eternal, that they last forever.
II. Believers? benefits are eternal
Remember the crowd? They were in a quandary. They didn?t know what to do with this Jesus. They didn?t know what to think about this Jesus. He came and spoke to them the truth. They wanted to know who He was and what He was going to do. He says, ?I?m from above. I am the Bread of Life.? They began to grumble and complain. They were so ?stuck? on the past, they didn?t understand the present. For some of them they were going to lose the future, so Jesus explains to them (or He tries to). In our text, He says to them: ?Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.? See, they were hung up on that. Their heritage reminded them about their forefathers. Their forefathers survived forty years of wandering in the wilderness by living on manna. That was the bread of life to them. Manna was the gift of God which came down from heaven, and that?s the only thing they could think of. When Jesus said He was the Bread of Life, they didn?t understand that. They thought of manna. Manna means ?what is it?? It gave them life. But, Jesus said, all those who ate it eventually died. He wanted them to think about that just a little bit. He said to them, ?But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die.? He said to them, ?I am the Bread of Life.? He wanted them, in their thinking, to make that leap of faith, to understand that they were so involved with the manna, the bread of life, that it became so important to them that they couldn?t understand that the Bread of Life was right there before them?this Jesus, this true manna from heaven. He says to them they need to understand that. They need to believe that for the eternal benefits. ?If a man eats of this bread, he will live forever. The Lord was offering eternal life. Then He says, ?This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.? He was looking ahead. Jesus had another year of His ministry before He would be put to death, but He knew that He would be offering His own body and blood as a sacrifice for the world.
In the verses after this, they think, well how can we eat His flesh? He wanted to remind them that this flesh is the Bread of Life. There was still some misunderstanding. All this which was the truth of God?s word, He says: I tell you the truth; he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Jesus was not trying to confuse them, confound them or misdirect them. He simply said to them, ?I am the bread of life.? Now the Father would draw them unto Himself, but for some, they would reject Him.
Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is God?s gift to us. Because of that, you and I, who deserve eternal punishment, a condemnation for our wicked way of life every day on this earth, are instead given eternity. Eternity where one day each of us will sit at the side of Jesus where there is no more mourning, weeping or pain, sorrow or sadness?all because Jesus is the Bread of Life. In Romans we read: "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him"(ROMANS 5:9). The blood of Christ, the body of Christ, saves us from God?s wrath, not God?s wrath here on earth, but God?s wrath in eternity. This means that you and I will enjoy the joys of heaven rather than the punishment of hell all because Jesus is the Bread of Life.
The way of salvation which the theologians call the ?means of grace? is God?s word and sacraments. What a blessed privilege you and I have to celebrate the sacrament of the Lord?s Supper where the Lord reminds us and shows us very vividly that He is the Bread of Life, that He is our Bread of Life. We live in a day and age when the sacraments are dismissed as not being that important. Sadly to say, the Lutheran church and not even all of the Lutheran churches, are the only ones who value God?s sacraments. When He says, ?This is My body? we believe it because Jesus says it. When He says ?This is My blood? we believe it because Jesus says it. There?s more to it than that. When we partake of that body and blood of Christ, we are reminded very vividly by the things that we can see, feel, taste, touch and even smell that this is God?s forgiveness for each one of us. We?re reminded that the communion or the union is together with the believer and his Savior, not just the elements. We?re reminded very vividly also of the union of believers with believers. Paul asks the questions, which of course we know the answers to. He says: "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give thanks a participation in the blood of Christ? And is not the bread that we break a participation in the body of Christ? "(1 CORINTHIANS 10:16). Of course it is!
Sometimes Jesus, whom we consider far off because He sits at the right hand of God, and yet He?s with us in the world all the time, is very close to us in the sacrament of the Lord?s Supper. We are united with Him by faith in those things that are eternal. What more could we want? What more do we need? Of course in our lifetime we still become hungry, and we eat meal after meal after meal, yet we are reminded that the Lord satisfies our deepest hunger. That is the need for the forgiveness of sins. We need that because we sin. The Lord gives it to us because He forgives and our lives are changed. We?re like the psalm writer who says: "I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you"(PSALM 63:4,5). In our first lesson today we heard the Lord say, ?Come and have food and drink without cost.? He?s talking about the Bread of Life; he?s talking about the body and blood of Christ. Because of that, with the Lord on our side, nothing is able to separate us from God?s love.
Jesus is the Bread of Life. It caused concern during the time of Jesus. It still causes concern today for some because they cannot see, they don?t want to believe that Jesus is the very bread of life. They do not want to believe that God has sent His Son from above. They do not want to confess that they are sinful, and thus, they do not receive forgiveness of sins. They reject God?s gift of eternal life.
Jesus is the Bread of Life. If we were like the crowd and tried to sit down and reason this out with our own human understanding and thinking, we might grumble and complain because it just doesn?t make sense. Thankfully, by God?s grace, God?s gift is just that for each one of us?a precious gift; something just like any other gift that we don?t deserve or earn, but is given to us freely and graciously by God Himself.
Isaiah sums it up for us this morning when he puts into perspective what this means?that Jesus is the Bread of Life; what this means?that God has sent from above; what this means?is that the benefits that you and I enjoy are eternal. It is all because of the Bread of Life. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed"(ISAIAH 53:5). Christ does it all for us. Amen.
Pastor Timm O. Meyer
