The Bread of Life

 

[The following is a manuscript of my message delivered at Pilgrim Reformed Church on Sunday morning, the 18th of August, 2024.  A recording of our service should be available on our YouTube streaming channel: 

https://www.youtube.com/@pilgrimreformedchurch1992/streams.]

Family, around this time last month, we looked at the promise Jesus made of giving us the living water that springs up to eternal life.  This came about in a conversation with a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well, a woman who was forced to come to the well in the heat of the day because she was shunned by the other women of the village due to her sinful lifestyle.  Interestingly enough, after her conversation with Jesus and her belief that He is the Christ, she ran back into the village to tell everyone she could all about Him, and many came to believe in Jesus because of her.  A little later on in His ministry, while attending the Feast of the Tabernacles with His disciples, on the last day Jesus stood and shouted to the people, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

Jesus is trying to tell us that His word, God’s word, and obeying His word is as important to our next life as water is to this life, and we know we can’t go long in this life without water.  Well today we will hear Jesus comparing His word to another life-critical element as He calls Himself the living bread, the bread of life, the bread from heaven.

This all began shortly after the feeding of the 5000.  Jesus had left Jerusalem and He and His disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee to an area along the coast near the town of Bethsaida.  A great crowd followed Him on foot along the shore.  After a time of teaching them, the people grew hungry, and Jesus ended up feeding them all, and He did it with only five loaves of barley bread and two small fishes.

Later, after Jesus and His disciples left and went back to Capernaum, the multitude tried to find Him.  They crossed the Sea of Galilee to come to Him again.  He told them they should seek after that which does not perish, by doing the will of God.

Please listen and follow along to the exchange between Jesus and the people  as recorded by the Apostle John in chapter 6 verses 27 through 58 of his Gospel account, and I’ll be reading from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible this morning.  It starts with Jesus saying…

27 "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.”

30 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.”

34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 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. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who hears and has learned from the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47 Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

52 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?”

53 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is true food indeed, and My blood is true drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven — not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

--John 6:27-58 (NKJV)

Let us pray…  Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us the true Bread of life from heaven by sending Your Son Jesus to bring us food that does not perish, but leads to everlasting life.  Sadly though, Father, not everyone will accept Jesus’ words, let alone do as He commands.  And sometimes even we who know and love Him hesitate to carry out the mission He gave us.  We even struggle to love one another as we should.  Forgive us these failures, Father.  Please help us be more obedient to Your and Your Son’s commands.  Give us courage and fortitude.  Help us as we step out into the world, offering aid where we can and witnessing to the non-believers, sharing the Good News and showing Your love.  And please forgive us when we hesitate to witness for You and our Lord Jesus out of fear or anxiety.

Speak to us now, Father, that we might hear Your voice through Your Spirit within us and better understand Your message today.  Thank You for forgiving and forgetting our sin.  Help us share the Good News of everlasting life in our daily walk.  This we pray in the precious name of Your Son, Christ Jesus our Lord.   Amen.

The 4th-century archbishop of Constantinople, Gregory of Nazianzus, wrote of Jesus that, “He began His ministry by being hungry, yet He is the Bread of Life.  Jesus ended His earthly ministry by being thirsty, yet He is the Living Water.  Jesus was weary, yet He is our rest.  Jesus paid tribute, yet He is the King.  Jesus was accused of having a demon, yet He cast out demons.  Jesus wept, yet He wipes away our tears.  Jesus was sold for thirty pieces of silver, yet He redeemed the world.  Jesus was brought as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus died, yet by His death He destroyed the power of death.”

Gregory points out a number of contradictions about Jesus, and I can add a few more.  At one point in His ministry Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.”, and yet He is the Prince of Peace, and later on He promised us a peace not like the world gives, but a true peace within.  Jesus indeed died, but then He lived again, and by His resurrection we receive the promise of new life, too, once our time on earth is finished.  We could come up with more, but all I can say is, thank God for contradictions!

In our scripture reading, the people questioned whether Jesus would show them some sign of His divinity and authority, even though He had just fed so many with so little.  They noted that their ancestors had been given manna in the desert, bread from heaven to eat.

This dates back quite a bit, to early on during the Israelites’ 40 year wandering in the wilderness.  And it came about because the people complained.  Hear how Moses described this time in his Book of the Exodus, chapter 16, verses 1 through 5…

1 And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. 2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”

4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. 5 And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.”

--Exodus 16:1-5 (NKJV)

The people complained to Moses and Aaron, and God heard their complaint.  I guess this is a case where the squeaky wheel gets the grease, for God sent the manna each and every day so that the people could eat.

But there was a catch.  They could only collect as much as they could eat in that day, for any manna kept overnight would spoil.  Except for Friday, when they could collect twice as much and save a day’s portion for the Sabbath, when they should do no work, not even to go out and pick up manna.  This was a test of whether they would obey God’s law or not, and of whether they truly trusted in Him and His word.

We don’t always know when we’re being tested.  It may be in our momentary reaction to something that offends us, or how we respond to someone different.  But God is still testing us with the true Bread from heaven, to see who truly believes in Jesus and follows Him.

If you remember the previous scripture recounting for us the experience of the Samaritan woman at the well with Jesus, you may note some similarities.  We have the obvious, where Jesus told her He is the Living Water compared to here where He says He is the Bread of Life.  But there’s more, for there the woman asked that Jesus give her the living water so she won’t have to go to the well at noon any more.  And here, the people asked Jesus to give them this bread always, for all time, saving them from having to do anything else to eat.

I think the most significant comparison, though, was made by Jesus.  He told the woman that whoever drinks of the Living Water will never thirst again, and He told the people whoever comes to Him, the Bread of Life, will never hunger again.  In both instances, Jesus is relating to the people in a way they could understand, talking about essential elements for sustaining their life, this life on earth.  And then using that example to tell them that He is the essential element for receiving eternal life in heaven.

Then we get to a very interesting part.  We’ve heard Jesus talk of being the Bread and Water of life, the food and liquid necessary to sustain us.  Now He adds His flesh is the bread and His blood the liquid, and that we must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood in order to abide with Him, or else we will have no life in us.

Does this sound familiar?  This echoes the words Jesus will speak while enjoying His last meal on earth with His disciples, the words we speak and hear each time we take the elements of Holy Communion.  The bread is His body broken for us, the cup our covenant with God sealed by His blood.  Eat and drink, in remembrance of Him.

I want to leave you with one last thought.  When we say what we call the Lord’s Prayer, we ask that our Father God give us this day our daily bread.  While this clearly brings up the image of the manna in the desert, it should also remind us of the true bread from heaven, the Bread of Life.

Yes, we need nourishing sustenance each day to maintain our earthly life.  But right after Jesus was baptized by John in the River Jordan, when He was hungry and tempted by Satan to turn the rocks into bread, Jesus responded with scripture when he replied, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”  Along with food, we need the word of God each day.

God’s word is in our Bible.  Let’s make an effort to read our Bible at least a little, every day, to collect the manna from heaven, to partake of the Bread of Life.  In the blessed name of Christ Jesus our Lord, the one true Son of God, the Bread of Life, the Living Water, sent to us from heaven by God that we might have eternal life.  Amen.

Let us pray…  Almighty God, thank You for sending us Your Bread of Life from heaven.  Through Jesus, we can have eternal life.  And thank You for our daily bread in our Holy Bible.  It sustains us in our walk through each day on this earth.  Sometimes, though, dear Father, we don’t take the time to read and study Your word.  We don’t spend time in our Bible or even see or receive a verse of the day.  Please forgive us these times, Father.  And forgive us when we stray from the way You have shown us to live.  Please help us reach out more into the world, serving You by serving others.  Help us be more like Your Son Jesus, being more forgiving and merciful in our dealings with others.  Guide us around any pitfalls in this life and strengthen our spirits to do Your will.  And please help us do a better job of sharing Jesus with others so that they too may be saved by Your mercy and His sacrifice.  

Father, please shield us from Satan as he attacks our faith, trying to make us his own.  Help us be better servants, glorifying You in all we do so that the world can see You in us, through our deeds, in how we live.  And help us remain strong, faithful, and true to You in all things, no matter what the world throws at us or holds out before us.

Please hear us now, Father, as we pause for just a moment to speak to You through Your Spirit within us, promising to be more obedient to Your commands, and seeking Your help to do so…

Lord Jesus, You are the Living Water and the Bread of Life.  Through You and You alone, by Your sacrifice of Your flesh and blood, we have forgiveness of our sin and life eternal in heaven.  Sometimes, Lord, we forget or ignore what You taught us about loving others, about how to love even our enemies.  Please help us be more considerate and caring of others.  Help us as we go about our corner of the world spreading the Gospel message.  Help us share Your love by being more understanding, more merciful, more giving and forgiving of others, offering aid when we can.  Not everyone believes in You, so it is our job to help them see the truth and believe.  Give us the words to say, show us what to do to help bring the lost to You.

Lord Jesus, please shield our minds and our hearts from Satan’s lies and the world’s empty promises.  Guide us around all the devil’s traps and snares.  Help us see though his temptations and all the false teachings.  Help us fend off his attacks.  Please help us be faithful and true to You, putting all our trust in You, all our hope in You.  Heal the hurts that separate and divide us one from another.  Help us keep our focus on the things of heaven and the needs of others rather than on anything this life might offer.  This we pray in Your blessed name, Christ Jesus our Lord and our Savior.  Amen.