Jesus is the Bread of Life

Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 2 Lesson 5

This week in Sunday school, we look at Jesus’ assertion of Himself as the bread of life. What does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life or that believers must “eat Jesus’ flesh and drink Jesus’ blood?” How does Jesus’ teaching on the subject connect with the miraculous feeding of the 5,000 or the Lord’s Supper? And how does Jesus’ teaching expose those who follow Him for the wrong reasons?

Our main text for the lesson will be John 6:1-15, 22-71.

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all right it’s 9:30 so let us begin good morning welcome to Sunday School we’ve been looking over the last few weeks had Jesus power displayed in his miracles in the New Testament Jesus has demonstrated his power over nature over disease and even over death and though we didn’t get to look at it Jesus also displays his power over demons to cast out whole legions of them with a word though we didn’t really get to look at that in our lessons but all these miracles that are recorded in the Gospels are recorded for a reason and what is that main reason why all these miracles recorded about Christ so we would understand who he is this is not merely showing us an example or showing him to be a nice person this is to demonstrate that he is the Messiah and Son of God he’s displaying divine power and authority and if Jesus is truly the Messiah what must man do in response to that revelation exactly he must repent and believe that’s why these Gospels were written as why these miracles were recorded so that we might believe in Jesus this is the Bible’s central message of salvation Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God and you must believe in order to be saved and to receive eternal life now today we’re going to look at those same core salvation truths but from another angle as we consider food now I’ve always found that it’s very easy to talk to people about food what you know what are your favorite foods what’s it like to eat certain foods where the best restaurants what kind of foods have you made it home lately and it’s easy to talk about food because all of us eat food right I mean does anybody not eat food even if you eat very little we all eat but think with me for a moment why do we eat food we need nourishment in order to what yeah we need it to live we need the strengthening to do work but ultimately we need food so that we can live it’s true sometimes that we do eat simply because we’re taste good but ultimately at a basic level it’s for survival without food we cannot continue to function without food we die we all need food and we all need a fair amount of our and a fair amount of our daily lives is devoted to obtaining preparing and eating food this really has been one of maine’s man’s main tasks since the fall even though man ate before the fall since the fall man must work by the sweat of his brow to obtain food from the ground so that man can continue to eat and live and this is an unending task have you ever eaten such a large and delicious meal that you felt like you would never need to eat again sure many of us have had that happen but what do you notice happens even after that incredibly large meal what happens about five or six hours later you get hungry again no matter what we eat how much we eat we always get hungry again no food can satisfy us once and for all we have to keep working so that we can continue to eat and continue to live but imagine that you met someone who told you that he had a special food that once you ate it you would never need to eat again now you might say but I like tasting different foods well ok maybe you could continue to eat if you wanted but with this special food you would never need to eat again think about how much money you could save and time and how much less work you would need to do if you didn’t have to eat now what if the same person told you that not only will this food make it so that you don’t need to eat but this food will actually give you eternal life who wouldn’t want such an amazing food but we might say that’s impossible no such food exists who could seriously claim to have a food that would make it so that you never hungered again well actually there is someone who offered and still offers this kind of food he is the Lord Jesus now let’s see how he explains this offer in the Gospel of John chapter 6 please open your Bibles to John chapter 6 and we’re going to start investigating we’re gonna be looking at the whole chapter of John today John chapter 6 but let’s orient ourselves to their context and where we are in Jesus ministry before we read this is probably the third year and Jesus three-and-a-half-year ministry and though Jesus is continuing to teach and do miracles and he has some following he’s encountering more and more rejection from his people the Jews in John chapter 5 Jesus was just in Jerusalem for one of the holy feasts and He healed a paralytic man on the Sabbath this healing caused an uproar among the Jews but Jesus confronted the Jews over their unbelief Jesus told the Jews that the reason they refused to believe in him and refused to acknowledge the miracles proving who he is is that they truly do not believe the father or the scriptures and this rebuke would have been quite offensive to the self-righteous Jews so this is what has taken place just before John chapter 6 John 6:1 takes us to a time some some time later it could have been a long time at least several months after the events in John chapter 5 now let’s start our investigation of this chapter by looking first adjust verses 1 to 15 here we see a miracle occur that’s gonna provide an important backdrop for the rest of John 6 so please follow along with me as I start reading John chapter 6 verses 1 to 15 after these things Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee or Tiberias a large crowd followed him because they saw the signs which he was performing on those who were sick then Jesus went up to the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples now the Passover the feast of the Jews was near therefore Jesus lifting up his eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to him said to Philip where are we to buy bread so that these may eat this he was saying to test him for he himself knew what he was intending to do it Philip answered him two hundred Janerio worth of bread is not sufficient for them for everyone to receive a little one of his disciples Andrew simon Peters brother said to him there is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish but what are these for so many people jesus said have the people sit down now there was much grass in the place so the men sat down in number about five thousand Jesus then took the loaves and having given thanks he distributed to those who were seated likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted when they were filled he said to his disciples gather up the leftover fragments so then nothing will be lost so they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who eat eat and therefore when the people saw the sign which he had performed they said this is truly the prophet who is to come into the world so jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him King withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone alright let’s start our analysis of this passage with basic observations this passage describes the only miracle recorded in all four Gospels the other Gospels give us specific information on Jesus location Jesus has gone from the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee to the northeast northeast side to Bethsaida John’s Gospel doe gives us an additional timing detail it says the Passover is near now how how near we don’t know but remember that Jewish men were required to be in Jerusalem for the Passover though we’re pretty far from Jerusalem in this passage we’re on the northeast side of the Sea of Galilee nevertheless we see a large crowd coming to Jesus and verse 2 tells us why because of Jesus signs and his healing miracles now nope Jesus sits with his disciples at the top of a mountain but how many people are with him and the passage says about five thousand men but other Gospels tell us that there are meant but there are women and children here too our reasonable estimate for the total number of people then would be about 20,000 20,000 people coming to see Jesus here Jesus and be with Jesus during this miracle know Jesus’s question about obtaining bread that he gives to Philip why this question again the text tells us text tells us that Jesus was testing Philip and Jesus already knew what he was going to do Philips estimate is that spending 200 denarii would give everyone in the crowd only a little bit of bread how much is a Denarius it’s an average daily wage yeah if you work all day you’ll get a Denarius so 200 in areas that’s almost about 2/3 of the year of wages that’s a lot of money and that’s not even to satisfy everybody let’s just give everybody a little bit to eat that’s Philips estimate Andrew mentions that a boy has 5 loaves or 5 kind of like mini mini lobes little buns 5 loaves and 2 fish and apparently this boy is willing to share I think he just took it from the boy the entry says what are these among so many that is to say what good will having this small amount of food do Jesus though has the crowd sit in the grass it gives thanks for the small amount of food and then it gives food to the disciples to distribute to the crowd and no one would notice how much food is given out there’s enough to satisfy each person as much as that person wanted and there are even leftovers Jesus commands the disciples to gather up the leftovers and they fill 12 baskets the crowd realizes that Jesus has performed a sign what’s another word that we could use for sign here a miracle exactly sign miracle think of those being the same thing but sign emphasizes that this is to demonstrate something about Jesus so they see this sign and note their conclusion this is the Prophet who was to come into the world now prophet might be capitalized in your Bibles where does the Old Testament talk about a special prophet but wish to come that’s right Deuteronomy it’s possible that some of the crown might be thinking of the passage from Isaiah and Malachi talking about Elijah coming but there’s an even earlier prophecy that uses the term prophet itself from Deuteronomy 18:15 where it says Deuteronomy 18:15 Yahweh your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your countrymen you shall listen to him that was Moses speaking he says a prophet like me is going to come and so though there are different understandings about who the Messiah is what exactly he would be in Israel many equated the prophet to be the Messiah some people saw the Prophet as different from the Messiah kind of like two messiahs but certainly there are many who saw the Prophet to be the Messiah and note that when they make this realization this is a prophet what do they want to do they want to make Jesus King and when a forced Jesus to become King but Jesus in response what does he do see welcome their coronation no he withdraws he withdraws by himself alone so with these observations let’s now go to the next step and consider interpretation how did Jesus feed so many people I’m sorry can you say that again that’s right he created food out of nothing by multiplying what was there or just creating more he miraculously provided this food and the crowd realized it was miraculous did they not because they referred to what Jesus did as a sign there’s no natural way that five small loaves and two fish could have satisfied so many people and resulted in so many leftovers this is not an account of people in the crowd sharing their lunches this is a display of divine power from Jesus another question in Philips and Andrews responses to Jesus regarding feeding the people what crucial fact these two disciples forget Jesus says essentially how are we gonna feed all these people and they say there’s no way we could buy enough food what are they forgetting exactly the everyday Jesus was what has he been displaying this whole time he is the Messiah with power and compassion that’s why it says that Jesus tested him do you have faith in me do you remember what I can do and apparently not they don’t demonstrate much faith in Jesus here and they say this looks like an impossible situation another question why did Jesus have the disciples gather the leftovers I heard two different answers but the one I heard yes is correct to make the extent of a miracle clear it’s only after that he gathers up the basket falls that it says the crowd realized that he had performed this sign it made it quite clear that something supernatural has happened you went with these five small loaves and two fish and I have twelve baskets full perhaps he may have used this food later maybe that was a disciples next meal he does say it so that nothing would be wasted but this seems to be the overriding reason is is to show what really happened this was a miracle what does this miracle prove then yes Steve yeah this is the display of Jesus divine power and you can see even the creator aspect of Jesus he’s creating this friend out of well he is you could say maybe multiplying red but there’s no baking there’s no gathering of flour he’s just creating it there and it also is a demonstration of his compassion it’s not particularly highlighted in this passage that we might infer it certainly the other Gospels mentioned that he had compassion on the people when he saw them gathered to him and he wanted them to have some food and all this ultimately it’s not just power and compassionate it’s pointing out as Steve said that Jesus is God he’s Messiah and God and the people recognize this at least some what they recognized that the miracle proved Jesus Messiahship they call him the Prophet they’re ready to make him King but then why does Jesus withdraw from them if Jesus came as the Messiah and he wants to people realize that he’s the Messiah it seems like if people do realize he’s the Messiah sit then why doesn’t he and let them make him King yeah yeah I think both those things are correct clearly there’s something wrong about the reason why or the method how they want to make him King because Jesus will not go along with it they seem to want to make him King for the wrong reasons remember while expectations among the Jews as I said about what the Messiah would be and what you would do difference um what the overriding expectations were that the Messiah would lead Israel into victory against her enemies her political enemies and usher in a kingdom of peace happiness and prosperity now does the Old Testament promise that the Messiah will do these things it does actually it does say that Messiah will come he will destroy Israel’s enemies he will establish the kingdom of justice and righteousness and prosperity far greater prosperity than has ever been known but what does the Old Testament also promise that the Messiah will do that the people are ignoring yes II yeah yeah they did not recognize or accept that the Messiah actually had to suffer and die and even on behalf of his people what else were they neglecting to remember about Messiah or his kingdom say that again hey judges sin is that what you said yes he did he doesn’t come just to save but he also comes to judge he also comes to purify you remember our lessons from Malachi it talks about whoa it’s gonna be fierce when when when God comes when the kingdom comes there’s gonna be a judgement and purification there’s also before the kingdom comes there’s got to be repentance in Israel people need to be changed yes to suffer and die and he also has to atone for the sins of his people we go back to as Isaiah 53 he has to take upon himself their transgressions and by his wound healed his people all these things are not being brought into the mind of the people they want a messiah only of a certain type and this has been Israel’s ongoing mistake they’ve wanted the blessings of God’s kingdom and Messiah without the repentance or the atonement that God requires and this is going to become even clearer as we go through our passage and for this reason Jesus will not accept them wanting to make him King but what does the rest of the passage say well right after verse 15 there’s a little interlude where the disciples cross the Sea of Galilee again this is actually where we hear John’s account of Jesus walking on the water this is they’re actually traveling back to Capernaum on the northwest side of the Sea of Galilee the body looked at this account in a different gospel so we’re not going to go back through it now but do remember this Epis was another display of Jesus power his Messiahship and deity but also further evidence of the lack of faith and the disciples Peter does go out on the water there’s a small amount of faith there but he ultimately doubts Jesus it starts to sink of course everyone was terrified when they thought to you this so the disciples are still lacking in faith still lacking an understanding when Jesus goes to the other side so we’re gonna skip verses 16 to 21 and we’re going to resume the narrative in verse 22 this is the main part of the passage we’re gonna read the whole thing from verse 22 down to verse 71 it’s a long section but pay attention to how what has just happened with a feeding of the twenty thousand to inform what Jesus says next so go down to verse 22 the next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw there was no other small boat there except one and that Jesus had not entered with his disciples into the boat and that his disciples had gone away alone there came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks so when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples and themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus when they found him on the other side of the sea they said to him rabbi when did you get here jesus answered them and said truly truly I say to you you seek me not because you saw signs but because you ate of the loaves and were filled do not work for the food which perishes but for the food which endorsed to internal life which the Son of Man will give to you for on him the Father God has set his seal therefore they said to him what shall we do so that we may work the works of God jesus answered and said to them this is the work of God that you believe in him whom he has sent so they said to him what then do you do for a signs 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 out of heaven to eat Jesus then said to them truly truly I say to you it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven but it is my father who gives you the true bread out of heaven for the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world then they said to him Lord always give us this bread jesus said to them I am the bread of life he who comes to me will not hunger and he who believes in Me will never thirst but I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe all that the father gives me will come to me and the one who comes to me I will certainly not cast out for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me this is the will of him who sent me that all that he has given me I lose nothing but raise it up on the last day for this is the will of my father that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life and I myself will raise him up on the last day therefore the Jews were grumbling about him because he said I am the bread that came down out of heaven they were saying it’s not this Jesus the Son of Joseph whose father and mother we know how does he now say I have come down out of heaven jesus answered and said to them do not grumble among yourselves no one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day it is written in the prophets and they shall all be taught of God everyone who has heard and learned from the father comes to me not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God he has seen the father truly truly I say to you he who believes has eternal life I am the bread of life your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died this is the bread which comes down out of heaven so one may eat of it and not die I am The Living bread that came down out of heaven if anyone eats of this bread he will live forever and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh then the juice began to argue with one another saying how can this man give us his flesh to eat so jesus said to them truly truly I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood you have no life in yourselves Hugh eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink he eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him as the living father sent me and I live because of the father so he who eats me he also will live because of me this is the bread which came down out of heaven not as the fathers ate and died he who eats this bread will live forever these things he said in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum therefore many of his disciples when they heard this said this is a difficult state who can listen to it but jesus conscious that his disciples grumbled at this said to them does this cause you to stumble well then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before it is the spirit who gives life the flesh profits nothing the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life but there are some of you who do not believe for jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe and who it was that would betray him and he was saying for this reason I have said to you that no one can come to me unless it has been granted him from the father as a result of this many of his disciples withdrew and we’re not walking with him anymore so jesus said to the twelve you do not want to go away also do you Simon Peter answered him Lord to whom shall we go you have words of eternal life we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God jesus answered them did I myself not choose you the twelve and yea one of you is a devil now he meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot for he one of the twelve was going to betray him now this is a rich section of Scripture so we could spend several weeks dissecting but with the time we have today let’s just try and observe the main details and main points Jesus is now in the synagogue at Capernaum and the crowd catches up with him for some QA now this is a lot of back and forth here plenty of dialogue crowds asking questions or saying things and Jesus is giving answers now we’re gonna paraphrase this dialogue and make some observations as we go first question how did you get you Jesus Jesus doesn’t actually answer that question rather answer one from Jesus you’re not seeking me because of my miraculous signs but because I fed you and answer to don’t work for food that perishes work for the food that lasts unto eternal life which I the Son of Man will give to you and they have another question question you mentioned work what work should we do so that we can work the works of God answer from Jesus your work is simply to believe that the one god sent which is me question what sign miracle will you do so that we can believe in you our forefathers ate miraculous manna from heaven under the prophet Moses pause for a second here what’s odd about this request from the Jews for a sign so that they can believe in Jesus they just saw one in fact they’ve been seeing it throughout his whole ministry do you want another side didn’t you just see how I multiply bread but what’s the difference between what Jesus just did and what they mentioned about the experience of Israel in the wilderness can you say it again exactly Jesus did a great miracle but there’s only one time Israel in the wilderness and mana every day or you know I’m going we’re looking for that kind of sign but Jesus says to them answer 1 Moses doesn’t give you bread from heaven God my father does and answer to the true bread has already come down to you from heaven and it gives life to the world to this the Jews response sounds great please give us this bread all the time by the way does this situation sound familiar where else did Jesus offer someone special sustenance and the person said please give me that exactly the woman at the well does Samaritan woman which is actually recorded in the Gospel of John go back to John chapter 4 and you would see it you know actually have to go back to it I’ll just read it to you John 4 verses 13 to 15 it says jesus answered her and said to her everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again speaking of the water at the well but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life the woman said to him Sir give me this water so I will not be thirsty nor come all the way here to draw so the crowd says give us this bread we want it and Jesus says to them three different answers here answer one I am the bread of life if you come to me you will not hunger and if you believe in me you will never thirst now note what Jesus says there he’s making a connection between eating and drinking and belief note that connection and so too though he says you have seen me but you still don’t believe in me and answer three nevertheless all that the father gives to me will come to me I came to gather those people and I will never lose them all who look to me and believe in me will have eternal life and I will raise them up on the last day the crowd did not like this answer and they began to grumble question how can he call himself the bread from heaven if we already know his common earthly parents Jesus says in response answer 1 don’t grumble all that the father draws and teaches will come to me answer to he who believes in Me has eternal life answer 3 I am the bread of life superior to the bread the Israelites ate in the wilderness those wait that bread eventually died but if you eat of me you will live forever answer for it the bread which I give for the life the world is my flesh that is my body I give my body for the life of the world in response to this the crowd begins to argue not merely grumble they say how can this man give us his flesh to eat that jesus takes it even further answer 1 you will have no life in yourself unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood hmm why would the phrase drink my blood I have been particularly repulsive to the Jews they were forbidden to eat or drink blood back in the law of Moses they could eat meat but never with the blood actually it goes back to Noah when he comes out from the ark you were never to eat something with the blood with what is blood associated almost always associated in the Bible sacrifice what else life that where that law is instituted about not eating blood it says because there is life in the blood so there’s life sacrifice and what else okay you’re thinking a little bit about atonement but certainly when we talk about blood usually you see blood because what’s just happened someone’s died now there’s a lot of shedding of blood in the Bible there’s a lot of pouring of blood at the sacrifice all those types of things that’s because something died blood is associated with death if you see someone’s blood that is not a good thing it can’t be like oh life no no that’s the sign of death or danger of death but Jesus says you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood and then he says answer to if you eat my flesh and blood you will remain in me you’ll abide in me and I will abide in you and then he says answer 3 whoever eats me will live forever because of me now no who reacts next to Jesus it’s not the crowd it’s not the Jews but it’s actually Jesus disciples those who are his more committed followers even they start grumbling after they hear Jesus make those declarations and they ask a question this is a hard teaching who can accept it Jesus responds to his disciples answer 1 you may think this teaching is hard but how would you react if you saw me ascending back into heaven answer to the flesh doesn’t give life the spirit does and my words are spirit and life answer 3 but some of you don’t believe answer 4 no one can come to me unless God has granted him to do so so you may notice there are certain ideas that keep on getting repeated in this passage we have this continuous declaration that Jesus is the bread of life and you must eat that bread to obtain eternal life you also see that Jesus is the one in whom you must believe in order to have eternal life and also this continuous declaration of all those that the father draws will believe in Jesus but the others do not believe because the father is not drawing them what’s the result of all this dialog well many of Jesus committed followers leave him we’re not really told what the crowd does but we’re told that many of his disciples leave him and so Jesus asks the twelve if they too want to go away the Peter answers for them all and he says Lord to whom shall we go you have words of eternal life we have believed and come to know that you are the Holy One of God you are the Messiah you are the son of God now isn’t that great what loyal disciples willing to stick with Jesus through thick and thin willing to accept even Jesus difficult and unpopular teaching they’ve chosen Jesus and they’re sticking with him what great guys but notice what Jesus says did I not choose you that’s a rhetorical question Jesus is really just saying to them yes you have chosen me but more important for you to understand is that I chose you twelve even though I know one of you is the devil and the passage concludes by making clear what Jesus meant Jesus knew that Judas Iscariot would betray him let’s ask some interpretation questions again now that we’ve made these observations from a strictly outward perspective how effective is Jesus as a preacher and evangelist here certainly not secret sensitive how successful was he from an outward perspective yeah this is terrible this is a terrible evangelistic outing at least from the outside it’s like many people might come to Jesus today people who have their ideas and techniques and they say Jesus how could you mess this up you’ve got the whole crowd following you they love your miracles they’re willing to listen to you but you only manage to you not only manage to drive away the crowds but you even lose many of the disciples you already had talk about a fail Jesus it’s like you were trying to drive people away with what you said and what you taught how could you mess up so badly I’ll despite this exodus of people how could we characterize Jesus attitude toward the people’s rejection yeah Rob yeah it’s remarkable right he seems totally unfazed totally confident and sovereign Jesus is not afraid to tell the people repeatedly the reason you don’t accept what I’m saying is because the Father is not drawing you if you were one to actually listen to God’s truth you would accept my words those who hear God will come to me and stay with me and Jesus sovereignty is emphasized again at the end of the passage he says I chose you twelve disciples even Judas I know one of you is the devil Lucy Jesus is totally confident and even sovereign though the Jews were still seeking Jesus what were they failing to understand or accept about themselves and about Jesus consider some of the things I say in this dialogue what are they what basics of salvation or basics about Jesus are they still not accepting that’s right hey say alright can you say the whole thing again there certainly they don’t go all the way with their understanding of Jesus they may have recognized kind of like the crowd did before oh this is the Prophet this is the Messiah but they’re not willing to accept everything that the Messiah is supposed to be and when Jesus claims to come down from heaven they bristle at that they think he’s just a man how can he say he’s come down from heaven what else are they still failing to understand or accept yeah they’re not willing to acknowledge their own need for a savior they refuse to see themselves as sinful people you’re still trying to work we’re still trying to work for God’s favor what shall we do so that we can work the works of God along with this so they not only see themselves as they don’t see themselves as sinful in need of a savior they still think that they can work for God’s favor they think Jesus is just a man they still think the Messiah’s mission is to fulfill their own desires and bring about their own prosperity ultimately their minds are still on the perishing things of the world and it’s for these same reasons that Jesus would not let them make him King they still won in the Messiah according to their own desires we another question we began to allude to this answer before but by asking for a sign and comparing Jesus to Moses in the wilderness what would that you showing that they expected Jesus to do our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness it’s pretty cool how you multiply this bread but what what do you need to do in order for us to believe in you it’s got to keep on doing it keep giving us bread you gotta outdo Moses or at least do the same thing that he did of course Jesus clarifies for them that wasn’t Moses who did that it was God God is doing something else now now there’s a lot of comparison between physical bread even the man and the wilderness and Jesus as their bread of life what are the differences snippers between physical bread and Jesus has the bread of life exactly physical bread sustains momentarily Jesus sustains forever what else well I’ll repeat your comment when you can see him when you can’t though they did see Jesus he had cumin been made manifest to them so even though they could see physical bread in the sense they could see spiritual bread – what else Rob yeah physical bread can only deal with physical nourishment you say the words of Christ can nourish you in a spiritual way though we should note it is true in a sense the words of Christ are like bread spirit in life Jesus goes beyond his words here and he says I am I am the nursery I am the bread but you’re right that it is it goes beyond physical nourishment could highlight some other differences based on what’s given in the passage so as we said physical bread sustains momentarily Jesus sustains forever no sweet physical bread still died but those that he Jesus never died physical bread gives life in this world while Jesus gives life in this world and the next those that eat physical bread get hungry again those that he Jesus never hunger or thirst again physical bread is digested and the nutrients taken into the body while the waste is excreted but Jesus not only becomes one with a person who eats him but that person also becomes one with Jesus he abides in them they abide in him so the bread of life brings the mysterious unity that physical bread does not all these are highlighted in our passage now what does it mean to eat Jesus as the bread of life okay all right so that you’re going back a little bit to what distinguishes Jesus as the bread of life he is the one that can fill your soul he’s the one that can nourish you in a much more profound way but what does it mean to eat Jesus Roy I think I saw your hand right yeah so Jesus is using a figure he’s using a comparison to get their minds away from physical food to what’s truly important which is believing in him believe in me we noted the connection between eating and drinking and belief throughout the past if she keeps on calling the people to believe he says and he points out to them that they are not believing eating here is just another is a figurative way to describe belief but by using that term he’s contrasting what they are focusing on with what they should be focusing on this is helpful because it shows is that this test this text is not about the necessity of the Eucharist or communion for one’s spiritual health or salvation this is about faith in Jesus as the Son of God the Savior the giver of eternal life eating is a metaphor for faith now Jesus does say something that may have been a little bit confusing here he says the work of God that you believe just belief in Jesus then count as a good work before God Steve okay I think I see what you’re saying that the work of God is not actually something that you do even though it is a work it’s actually the work that God does and it’s manifest in your belief is that what you’re saying okay Caleb what were you gonna say yeah I I think I would agree with what you’re saying Caleb he’s using the term actually to point out that they can do nothing he’s saying he’s using the term work and really an ironic way though there may be a little bit of what you’re talking about Steve in terms of God is the one who really does the work but we should know though Jesus calls belief a work here the New Testament just not refer to belief in that way this point Jesus point appears to be ironic you Jews are so concerned about what work God requires from you for salvation the real work that you need is not a work at all but an acknowledgment of your inability to work for your salvation and you need to accept God’s special provision and work his son the bread of life so belief itself is not something that we can bring before God and boast before God and say I did this no it’s you don’t have any good works to bring before God not even your unbelief char required to believe but that Steve said that really comes from God itself now it to come back to a little bit what we’re saying about eating Jesus if eating Jesus is tantamount to soul saving belief in Jesus so what does it mean to eat Jesus flesh and drink his blood we might feel tempted to make a connection to the Lord’s Supper here to the bread and the wine but the Lord’s Supper is not in this context Passion Week doesn’t take place for another six chapters in John and even there John doesn’t really actually have anything to say about the food or drink of the Passover or the low explored supper now it’s true verse 4 does mention the Passover before Jesus feeds the 5,000 but the emphasis in this passage is on the need for belief in Jesus not belief in the Eucharist or the necessity of bread and wine and the Lord’s Supper for spiritual well-being so why this talk of flesh and blood why did you say you must eat his flesh and drink his blood there are at least two aspects to the answer that one aspect is total identification flesh and blood represent all of a person’s physical body do they not the flesh is the solid part the blood is the liquid part in fact if you look at the phrase flesh and blood as using the New Testaments it’s used to denote humanity what it means to be human if you’re a human you consist of flesh and blood that’s your whole body therefore to take in Jesus flesh and blood is to take in everything that he is to fully believe in Jesus and to identify with all of his words actions and being there’s no going halfway with Jesus you’re either totally his disciple what you want his disciple at all you either totally believe in him or you don’t really believe at all but there’s an additional aspect of this phrase total identification on the one hand but notice Jesus said that he will give his flesh for the life of the world and he will also give his blood this then is a figurative way for Jesus to refer to and I think Roy was saying this earlier to refer to his sacrificial death on man’s behalf and truly these same things are represented in the Passover meal think about what Jesus says this is my body which is given for you and this cup was just poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood it is not merely Jesus life that gives to his disciples eternal salvation but it is also his death the father had to have a fitting sacrifice for sin so Jesus had to give both his flesh and his blood therefore if anyone is going to be a true disciple of Jesus and if he’s going to embrace everything that Jesus is that person must also embrace Jesus as the suffering servant the necessary atonement the dying Messiah in this way the true disciple of Jesus will eat Jesus’s flesh and drink Jesus’s blood if you yeah I should say this you do not truly embrace Jesus if you see him only as a great teacher or genie to grant you all your wishes must believe in him as the holy sin bearer the Lamb of God and now did the Jews understand this figurative expression from Jesus well perhaps some of them did Jesus increasingly spoke in parables in the face of unbelief during his ministry parables were enlightening and instructive to those who believed in Jesus but they were concealing and confusing to those who did not believe so perhaps Jesus is using a parabolic expression knowing that it would conceal to some and reveal to others however the figure this repulsive figure of eating Jesus flesh and drinking Jesus blood really is appropriate considering what he’s actually talking about just as Jews would a felt revolt and the idea of consuming blood or even eating a human being so also many Jews would have felt contempt and revulsion for a messiah who suffered and a messiah who died on behalf of sinners it’s not the kind of Messiah they signed up for they want a strong conquering victorious Messiah not some humiliated mocked and murdered Messiah we holy Jews they might say we holy Jews don’t need someone to rescue us from sin we need someone to rescue us from poverty and from Rome whatever the Jews made of Jesus statement and perhaps some of them deliberately misunderstood they did recognize clearly that Jesus was not the Messiah they were looking for and therefore many left him now I should also mention if this passage is not about the Lord’s Supper then what’s the connection to the Lord’s Supper the memorial of the Lord’s Supper is symbolic of many of the same realities described in this passage when we eat the bread symbolizing Christ’s body and drink the grape juice symbolizing Christ’s blood we too are identifying with the Lord in a complete way we proclaim I have totally taken in Jesus and have become United with him I proclaim that his death was necessary to cover my sin but I also proclaimed he was victorious over death now one day I will sit at the banquet with him in his coming Kingdom you see both the Lord’s Supper and what we see here in John 6 are describing core realities for Jesus salvation work both are presenting figures of Christ’s death and believers identifying in faith of Jesus to say it another way John 6 is not describing the Lord’s Supper but it is describing the same salvation reality that the Lord’s Supper also describes and signifies and because the reality is the same the figures are similar but why all this why did John record this passage for his original audience and ultimately for us well first it directs the hearers for their need to believe in Jesus stop working for the bread which perishes and take hold of the bread of life from heaven in grease Jesus totally believed in him and you will have everlasting life it won’t need anything else Jesus is enough but second this passage explains why so many especially among the Jews do not believe in Jesus he’s not what they’re looking for they’re still living for the world they’re still looking for a god and a messiah according to their own image desires that’s why the Jews rejected Jesus that’s why people still reject him today you wouldn’t think that the Jews so privileged privileged by God and chosen by God with so violently and obviously reject Jesus and even his followers but they did but it’s because they don’t want who Jesus actually is but also it’s because the Father is not drawing them yet as a nation their hearts don’t want God but one day their hearts will be changed and God will draw all Israel in but this apaches explains why so many reject to Jesus or leave him so in summary seen several great truths from John six today Jesus showed his divine power and compassion in the feeding of the 5,000 he showed himself more necessary and satisfying than any earthly food or thing he also showed that those who want him must believe in him totally holding embracing Jesus suffering and death as a sin sacrifice and being willing to follow being willing to follow in his footsteps in order to be with him in a half a turn of life now what are some implications from these truths we have about a minute so I’ll just mention a few things briefly but please think about this for yourselves on your own one let’s learn from Philip and Andrews failure they had the Messiah standing right next to them and yet they still wondered how they’re gonna get through that situation let’s not forget we have a powerful and compassionate God and Savior and he will provide let us beware of the felt needs evangelistic approach felt needs idea is that we need to show people that how all their needs and desires are fulfilled in Jesus you’re feeling lonely or purposelessness or you’re feeling purposeless or you you feel a desire for love and acceptance just come to Jesus and he’ll satisfy those desires there’s a problem in this approach and it’s the same problem that’s evident in our passage and is that some of the desires that people have are not godly desires or the way they want to see them fulfilled it’s not according to God’s will actually evangelism is a lot about showing people that they have a need that they don’t recognize you have more importantly than any loneliness or desire for healing relationships or a better marriage or whatever it is you have more important need than that and that is your need for Christ your need for a savior but God has fulfilled that need if you’re willing to believe so we do want to be careful when it comes to felt needs we should also note how this passage emphasizes that outward success in a ministry is not determinative of a person’s faithfulness sometimes faithful preachers and evangelists are rejected and sometimes unfaithful preachers and evangelists have great success this is not to say that faithful preachers don’t have success to wear that unfaithful preachers don’t sometimes fail but we have to look deeper than just the surface got to pay attention what are they actually saying is their success coming from their catering demands flesh where does it come from they’re actually being faithful to God’s Word and he supernaturally works we would prefer the latter for ourselves because that lasts that produces actual change then finally two questions to consider privately why do you follow Jesus I think everybody in this room many listening would probably say yeah I followed Jesus and I praise the Lord for that but why is it because you think that he’ll give you what you really want or is it because you’ve come to realize that he gives you what you really need and what you’ve learned to want which is himself and have you totally eaten Jesus flesh and his blood by faith have you given up everything to totally embrace him and receive eternal life with him as your master and Savior let us heed the words from Jesus do not work for the food which perishes but receive and embrace the food that lasts unto eternal life that’s it for today if you have other questions or comments on this passage of this lesson email me next week we’re gonna shift gears a little bit and talk about how Jesus responded to those who corrupted the truth of God and how we should respond ourselves let me pray as we close and I thank you for this word Jesus thank you for coming as truly sustaining food truly sustaining bread even unto eternal life you were glad I’m willing to give yourself as food so that we might eat and live Jesus I pray that each person who hears me today will have done that and be thankful for you revel in you as the bread of life and share share this bread with others so that they too might believe as you draw on them in Jesus name Amen