I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE
JOHN 6
I am sure you can remember from Sunday school days the story of Moses. When God called Moses to go to the people of Israel in slavery in Egypt Moses asked God who should he say had sent him to them? God’s reply is found in Exodus 3.14” I AM that I AM.” When we turn to John’s gospel we find 7occasions when Jesus applies that phrase ‘I AM’ to himself. On each occasion Jesus further explained it by adding to it. This morning we are going to begin a series of sermons which will take us through each of those ‘I am…’ sayings. Turn with me to John 6 and the first of these sayings.
CONTEXT
Allow me to set the context of the passage we are going to look at this morning. At the beginning of chapter 6 we have the miracle of feeding 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 small fish on the shores of Sea of Galilee. The people had wanted to make Jesus king after this miracle and so he sends his disciples across the lake whilst he withdraws further up the mountain. During the hours of darkness a storm gathers and the disciples are in danger in the boat and Christ comes to them walking on water and we read that immediately he is in the boat they reach their destination. It is now the next day and the crowd who had witnessed the feeding miracle have found him again in Capernaum, the other side of the lake. If you look at the end of the chapter you will see that Christ is in the synagogue.
VERSES 25-29 GIVE US A BREAD.
When we turn to verse 25 following we see the focus of the crowds hearts. They have found Christ and initially they are surprised and curious as to how he had gotten to Capernaum. In verse 26 Christ immediately challenges their hearts and the reason they are seeking him. He points out ‘bread’ (food) is their immediate concern. They have sought him because the day before he had provided a meal for them but Christ’s desire is that their hearts would be moved from the temporal to the eternal, from physical food to spiritual food (v27). Once again we see the materialistic mindset of these people and their spiritual blindness. In verse 28 they ask what is the ‘work they must do’ in order to receive this bread of which Christ speaks. They think they have to earn it. They believe there is something they could do that would merit the giving of this bread. How slow of heart and mind they really are. But before we condemn them we should realise how often we fall into the ‘works’ mindset when it comes to the things of God. Jesus quickly points out that the only work required of them is ‘belief in the one sent by the Father’ (v29). Keep that in your mind as we move through this passage as it will recur again and again.
VERSES 30-33 BREAD FROM HEAVEN.
In verses 30-31 we see how the hearts of the crowd were fixed on the provision of physical food. They speak of the gracious provision of manna by God for the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness for those forty years. You remember the story – the people begin to grumble against Moses that they have no food and God provides manna for them. The manna fell each day and each day they had sufficient for all their needs. If they tried to gather more than they needed, or stored it over night, then it went putrid but the amazing thing was that on the eve of the Sabbath they could gather double and it did not putrefy. Each person, irrespective of age, status or effort, was provided with an omer of manna each day. For 40 years God graciously provided for them in the wilderness. The people cite this provision and mistakenly credit its provision to Moses. They challenge Christ to provide such ‘manna’ for them now. Christ corrects them and states that it was God the Father who had provided the ‘manna’ and who has now provided another ‘bread from heaven’ (verses 32-33). This is the ‘true bread’ from heaven and is distinct from ‘manna’ in that this ‘bread’ ‘gives life to the world.’ A clear echo of John 1 where John speaks of the ‘life of men’ coming into the world – the Incarnation.
VERSES 34 - GIVE US THIS BREAD.
Here is an amazing request. Here is a request which those asking do not realise, do not understand what they are speaking of. Their hearts and minds are still fixed on the temporal and the physical. They fail to comprehend that Christ is speaking of himself. So in verse 35 we have this wonderful statement – READ verse 35.
“I am the Bread of Life…” it seems a simple enough statement and yet to those listening this was shocking. Shocking because Jesus dared to utter the name of God (‘I AM’). Shocking because he applied it to himself. Shocking because he then adds to it by claiming to be ‘the bread of life.’ What did he mean by such statement? In the time of Christ ‘bread’ was fundamental and foundational to daily life. In every village the sound of the millstone grinding would have been heard. For there to be no sound of grinding meant there would be no bread and that would be a sign of disaster for them. Bread was foundational to daily life. Most of them only ever ate bread. Anything else was a luxury. Bread was the staple part of their diet. So Christ claiming to be ‘the bread of life’ was saying that he was fundamental to daily life. You know it is interesting that Christ was born in Bethlehem and the two parts of that name ‘Beth’ ( house) and ‘lehem’ (bread) when put together means ‘House of Bread.’ Christ Jesus ‘the bread of life’ was born in the ‘House of Bread.’ He was saying to these people that he was the sustenance of life and that he was all they needed for life- as can be seen by the second part of verse 35. Physical hunger would return no matter how much bread they ate. Christ claimed that he alone could satisfy the hunger and the thirst of their lives. By speaking both hunger and thirst Christ was moving their minds and hearts from the temporal to the eternal and from the physical to the spiritual. Turn with to verse 53 of this chapter. This verse helps us to understand how we are to partake of this ‘bread of life.’ READ verse 53. This was a shocking statement to the Jews. The Law forbade the drinking of blood and here was Christ insisting that partaking of his flesh and blood was essential to receive this ‘bread of life.’ I want us to be clear here – this is not an explanation of Holy Communion but a shocking illustration of what ‘faith in Christ’ means. To have faith in Christ means to partake in his death. On several occasions in this passage Christ speaks of eating this ‘bread of life.’ He is speaking of the exercising of faith, trust, and belief in him. Let me explain by taking a quick survey of the verses between verse 35 and 53.
VERSES 36-40 SECURITY. We read that when you have partaken of this ‘bread of life’ you have security. Do you see? ‘All’ whom the Father has placed into the hands of the Son will be kept and raised on the last day. Here is eternal security but it only comes by faith in the ‘bread of life.’
VERSES 41-51 DESTINY. The people grumble at Christ claiming to come down from heaven and to be the ‘bread of life.’ He hears their grumbles and answers by revealing that the Father has sent him to bring eternal life/salvation to those who would believe in him by defeating death by his death on the cross. He points out that a generation died in the wilderness despite eating ‘manna’ (bread from heaven) but those who eat ‘the true bread from heaven’(Christ) will not die but have eternal life. Their destiny is not the grave but eternal life. This is the destiny of those who believe in him – the conquest death – to be raised up on the last day. But note verse 51 – in order for this to happen ‘the bread of life’ must be ‘eaten.’ Just as physical bread must be ‘eaten’ and become part of us to bring nourishment to our physical bodies so the ‘bread of life’ (Christ) must be ‘eaten’ (received by faith) and become part of us to impart spiritual nourishment. Please note that the reception of this supernatural gift did not absolve the believer from death (v49) but the reception of this gift alone guarantees eternal life (v51) and the resurrection to new life (v47, 50-51).
VERSES 52-29 IDENTITY. Their identity is in Christ, literally in partaking of his death they are identified with him. As the NT states ‘we are hidden in Christ’ when we repent and put our faith in him. In these verses Jesus uses the language of consumption to speak of faith in Him. Faith is like eating his flesh and drinking his blood – it produces communion with Christ. Clearly in these verses the cross looms large. His body broken, his blood poured out, the conquest of sin and death. In verse 47 everlasting life was connected to believing and in verse 54 it is connected to eating/drinking, therefore both are connected to ‘faith.’
CONCLUSION
Bread was the staple diet of the people of Christ’ day. He had fed 5000 with a schoolboy’s lunch of 5 loaves and 2 fish. The crowd had followed him seeking more food, more bread. Their hearts and minds were focused on the physical and the temporal and Christ wished to move them to the spiritual and the eternal. They ask for bread and he speaks of the ‘bread of life’ and how this ‘bread of life’ came down from heaven to bring eternal life. He claimed to be the ‘bread of life.’ They fail to understand, on one occasion pointing out to him that they know his mother and father (v42) and pouring scorn on his claim to have come from heaven. By speaking of bread from heaven their thoughts move to Moses and the manna provided in the wilderness. That ‘manna’ spoke of god’s gracious provision for all despite the unworthiness of the recipients, who after all had rebelled against God and grumbled at their deliverance. Some things never change in the human heart. By speaking of himself as the ‘bread of life’ Christ was saying that he alone is the ‘true bread from heaven,’ sent by the Father to bring salvation to ‘all who would believe’ irrespective of how unworthy the recipient is. He also I believe is drawing their, and out, attention to the other types of bread in the OT covenant. The Bread of Presence which was placed on the table before the Holy of Holies and spoke of a perpetual offering to God, a pledge of covenant between the Lord and His people. And is not that what Christ does before His Father for us – ever to intercede and plead His blood as the sign of the new covenant between God and His people. There is also the Bread of Offering which celebrated peace between God and his people. Again is that not what Christ is to us – the means of peace with God. Once we were his enemies, once we were far off but now in Christ we have been reconciled to God our Father.
Friends in all of this the key is actually partaking of this ‘bread of life.’ We can only partake of this ‘bread of life’ which brings conquest over death and the resurrection on the last day if we repent of our sins and put our trust in him. Unless we eat and drink of Christ, receive him by faith then we have no part of him. Just as you do not buy ‘bread’ merely to look at but to consume so we are not merely to gaze upon Christ and his sacrifice for us but to ‘consume’ him by faith so that we might know all the benefits of his life, death, resurrection and ascension in our lives. Some who heard Christ that day in the synagogue in Capernaum failed to understand what he was saying – if that is you then come and seek the answers. Some had eyes and hearts fixed on the physical and the temporal and like the generation who ate manna in the wilderness they were destined to die in their sins – if that is you then this morning heed the warning of these words of your need for Christ. Some of those who heard went on after his death and resurrection to eat his flesh and drink his blood by placing their faith in him and they received the ‘bread of life’ who conquered death and will raise them on the last day. Should that not be all of us here this morning? Friends in a few moments we will symbolically break bread and eat, pour wine and drink in remembrance of his death for us. By faith we come to eat his flesh and drink his blood that we might know the ‘bread of life.’ This morning as we do that can I add a word of warning to us all – don’t come this morning if you don’t know Christ the ‘bread of life.’ Don’t come if this morning you have never repented of your sin and put your faith in him – to do so is to heap God’s condemnation on your soul. But come this morning trusting in him for salvation. Maybe this morning you have never put your trust in Christ – well now is the opportunity to do that as we pray and then come to these rails to receive by faith his grace in the symbols of bread and wine. AMEN.
