I AM: The Bread of Life
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Introduction
Introduction
The Power of the Savior
The Power of the Savior
(verses 26-29)
Jesus in verses 1-14 performed a marvelous miracle. He fed 5,000 people! And he did so with few fish and some bread. But his followers missed it. They were looking for the place they could find physical food, something to take care of the day’s needs. They asked him about chronology, finding the next meal, but in the remainder of his teaching he confronted them with theology. Who is this Jesus?
This Jesus is the one who gives us life. This Jesus is the one upon whom the seal of God the Father has been placed because he is the one sent from heaven. Jesus receives his authority and power from the Father, the one who sent him, and thus for us to receive the food that does not perish, we must be wholly dependent upon Jesus for life–both here and in eternity. The power of the One sent by God is not to multiply fish and loaves of bread, but to call us into Spirit-breathed, Spirit-given, Spirit-driven life with him.
When we seek Jesus as his disciples we should not seek, strictly speaking, the material benefits. What is the reason we truly seek after Jesus? Are we chasing signs and wonders, and only physical food and eating our fill? Or are we seeking the power of the Savior and his provision?
The Provision from the Savior
The Provision from the Savior
(verses 30-34)
Now there is a search for a sign. They missed the teaching the first time but Jesus provides another opportunity because we often miss it. Here, the crowd mentions Moses and that he is the one who provided the bread because their fathers ate manna in the wilderness. At least that is what they had been taught. Jesus corrects this teaching by saying no, it was his Father who provided this bread of life.
The Jews’ dependence was never upon Moses though that is what they had been taught. The Jews’ dependence for life, just like our dependence, is on the triune God. Life is provided by Jesus because he is the one provided from heaven.
Jesus is setting the scene for the end of the ages and it seems his followers have missed it. He is telling them, what is more important right now than searching for your fill which you just witnessed is the food that never runs out, the water from the well that never runs dry. He is preparing them for the eschatological banquet at the end of all ages. This is the power and provision of Jesus: that in partaking of the Bread of Life (trusting in Jesus which is the will of the Father), we then have a seat at the eschatological table. It is this bread that comes and gives life because it comes from the Father.
Jesus’ provision comes from the food
The Promise from the Savior
The Promise from the Savior
(verses 35-40)
Statement: Jesus is the bread of life, the living water. The promise of the savior is:
The promise of the savior is:
Whoever believes will never thirst.
The whole point for John’s writing of his gospel is so people will believe.
But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
Think back to –the woman at the well sought for the physical source to quench her immediate thirst. In her discussion with Jesus he tells her,
Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks from this water will get thirsty again. But whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never get thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give him will become a well of water springing up in him for eternal life.”
Then she cries for this water! Here in , we are told the same thing. If we believe in Jesus we have this water and bread which cannot perish. Our belief in Jesus, the living bread and water, satisfies the longing thirst of our souls.
Whoever believes will be kept and not cast out.
Those whom believe in Jesus are given by God the Father to the Son are then preserved and kept by his grace. We cannot be lost from the savior’s arms! This is the will of God for believers: if you look upon Jesus and believe you are kept in the arms of Jesus!
Whoever is in Christ taking the bread of life will be raised on the last day.
The death we die on this earth is not the end but only the beginning. I read a Facebook comment on the death of a well-known Christian pastor who passed away and Christianity Today, a magazine, posted that he had died. Someone responded and said, “Died? He has only begun to live!” That is what Jesus is communicating to us when we partake in the bread of life–that when we die on this earth, when our time comes to a close, we have only begun to live.
For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
John 6.
The full promise of those who are in Christ is they will never thirst; they will never be cast out; and they will be raised on the last day in the inaugural moment of the coming of the Kingdom of God–that is, entering into eternal life given by the power, provision, and promise of the Lord Jesus Christ. In anticipation for this eschatological meal, let us now prepare ourselves to join around the Lord’s table in remembrance of what he has done and in expectation for what is to come in the next age.