The Bread of Life

You know, I actually think every single person on the planet should ask, “Who is Jesus?” Like, who is He really? I actually think if you have any intellectual integrity you have to ask that question. Who is this man that literally divided history, that is still intriguing, compelling to us to this day? Who is the person, this man that was this carpenter turned rabbi who lived in a very obscure part of the Roman Empire, eventually was executed by the Empire itself, and yet, two thousand years later, we are talking about Him and billions of people gathering around the world because of Him. Like, at some point you have to ask, “Who is this man?”

Now, I think even a better question, maybe even a more important question is, “Who does Jesus say that He is?” Like, not just who do we think He is and we all have some ideas and, like, “Oh my, I have this and…” But who does Jesus say that He actually is?

You know, in John’s gospel – there are four gospels, by the way. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. They are all telling the life of Jesus from different perspectives. In fact, Matthew is writing to a Jewish audience so, really, declaring Jesus as Messiah. Mark is writing to a predominately Roman audience and so, it’s really this action-packed Jesus. Let’s see, Luke, he’s the doctor. He’s the historian. He’s really writing to the skeptic.

And John, well, John is writing to a people in Asia Minor around Ephesus and when he’s describing his interaction and writing about the story and the life of Jesus, he’s writing to the philosophical, the Hellenistic, the cultured. And he’s writing fundamentally so that we might not only know Him but believe in Him. And as he writes the account of Jesus’ life, there’s actually seven different places where Jesus says specifically who He is.

Like, you don’t have to wrestle with it. Like, if you’re sitting down with coffee with Jesus and you’re like, “Jesus, who are You?” And He would go, “I am.” And He does this seven different times. And He says, “I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the good shepherd. I am the gate. I am the vine.” “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus, who are You? The first thing that He wants to reveal and tell us, “I am the bread of life.” Now, let me give you a little context. In fact, we are going to read just a section of Scripture. And so, I want you to kind of get ready as you’re listening to me. So, if you have your Bibles, or open your phones to John chapter 6, we’ll begin in verse 25. John chapter 6, verse 25.

The context for this statement, just the day before Jesus was feeding the five thousands. He’s out in the wilderness, people flock to Him, they find Him, He feeds five thousand people and then He sends His disciples on to Capernaum but He stays and prays and then He literally walks on water and nobody sees it but the disciples.

And so, He shows up onto the scene in Capernaum and everybody has been looking for Him, trying to get a piece of this miracle-worker, this bread-multiplier, this person that is going, like, “Hey, you know what? You can make bread? We want You as our leader.”

Because, by the way, anyone who can manufacture bread like that, we’ll never go hungry. In fact, we don’t even have to work anymore. This is great. You’re great. We want You.

And so, even in this context there’s some deeply political undertones as the people are looking for a political leader and one who will provide for them. And here’s where we pick up the story. John chapter 6, verse 25.

“When they found Him on the other side of the lake they asked Him, ‘Rabbi, when did You get here?’” Because they didn’t see Him walk on water. “Jesus answered,” and I love this, He doesn’t answer their question. How often Jesus does this, by the way. Read the gospels; it’s fascinating.

“Very truly I tell you, you are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you at the loaves and had your fill.” You got fed and you wanted more. Verse 27, “Do not work for food that spoils, that perishes, but food that endures to eternal life.”
Don’t spend your life striving after things that will eventually fade away and are of no eternal value. Strive after that which will last forever which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him, God the Father has placed His seal of approval.”

So, now, they are going to ask a different question. “Then they asked Him, ‘What must we do to do the work God requires?’” Their translation, or our translation of this is, literally, "What are the eternal life kinds of things?” And our context and their context, they are asking, “There must be something we have to do.”

Jesus’ answer, “The work of God,” notice this, “the work of God.” What is the work of God? Is this, “To believe.” Ooh. Not to be better, not to do better, not to earn it. But to believe in the One [who] has sent Me.

Verse 30, “So, they asked Him,” because they weren’t ready to believe in Him. And this is what we do when we are confronted with Jesus in such a way where we are like, “You know what? This is making me a little uncomfortable. I don’t really want to believe in the One who sent Me, because that means I have to change my life.” So, let’s change the topic.

So, they asked Him, “What sign, then, will You give that we may see it and believe You?” What will You do? Ooh. “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” I don’t think it’s a good idea challenging Jesus, but here they went. “Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread,’” what You gave us yesterday must have sucked then, because I’m still hungry. Give us that bread.

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.’” The first declaration Jesus gives to us in revealing who He is, if you really want to know Jesus, what is He like? He says, “I am the bread of life.”

There’s so much here and in the rest of the chapter, I actually just want to unpack the six words in our time together today: “I am the bread of life.” And who is Jesus and what it means for us today.

When Jesus began, and I said there are seven “I am” statements, this spoke so much deeper to the original audience, the original hearers than it does today. When Jesus said, “I am,” here’s what He is saying to His audience. Jesus is the explanation and revelation of God to the world. He says, “I am. I am. I am the explanation, I am explaining what God is like. No, it’s even better than that. I am the revelation. I am revealing exactly what God is like.” When you see Jesus, when I see Jesus, when we look at Him, you do not just see a good man, you see God in flesh man.

And so, if you want to know what God is like, look at Jesus. If you want to know how God feels about injustice and the poor and the oppressed, look at Jesus. If you want to know how God responds to self-righteous jerks, look at Jesus.

See, that phrase “I am” is actually rooted all the way back into the Exodus story. Moses, he was wandering in the wilderness and he was tending sheep on the far side of the mountain. And he sees this burning bush and it doesn’t burn up, he’s curious, he goes over to it and God speaks to Him from amidst this burning bush that is not burning up. And He calls Moses to be the liberator of the people of Israel.

And he's like, “Who am I?” And God is like, “No, you don’t get it. It’s all about Me, not you. It doesn’t matter. I called you, so go.” And then eventually Moses gets to the point where he's like, “Okay, but what is Your name?” Like, who am I to tell sent me?

A name in the ancient day actually was a revelation of a person’s character and who they are, their identity. And so, when he asking, “what is Your name?” He’s not just saying, “I want to be able to have a name. I want to know who You are, what You’re like.” And then God reveals Himself and He gives Moses His covenant name. Three times He says this. He says, “I AM who I AM, Yahweh. I AM who I AM. I AM has sent you.” And sometimes I think Moses has got to be going, like, Okay, thank You. I Am. You told me I AM. What does that even mean? “The Lord, the God of your Fathers. This is My name forever. The name you shall call Me from generation to generation.” This word Yahweh, I AM. It’s ever-existing One, uncreated, sovereign Creator of all.

It’s interesting, when they translated the Hebrew Scripture into the Greek, it’s called the Septuagint, the phrase, the Greek phrase they use is ego eimi. And this is the very phrase Jesus uses seven different times to say, “This is Me. I am God. I am, Jesus, the ever-existing One. I am the uncreated Creator, I am the sovereign One walking this planet in flesh, in person, eternal, immutable,” which means changeless, “and active. I am, I am actively engaged and involved.”

When Jesus says, and if you’re going to sit down with coffee with Him, He’s going to begin with I AM. “I am the explanation and the revelation of God to this world.” And what does that mean? “I am going to explain it even more,” Jesus says, “because I am, goes so far, but let Me explain it and give you a picture. I am the bread.” In fact, all seven of the pictures are very visceral, tangible.

And so if you don’t have any understanding of the Jewish background, you can actually get the picture. And then if you do understand some of the Jewish background, it brings so much more depth and meaning to it.

He says, “I am the bread,” where Jesus is saying, “Only Jesus, only Me will finally and fully satisfy the desires of your heart. I will finally and fully satisfy.” This picture of bread is the picture of the very sustenance of life. It’s like we need food to survive and without it we can’t. And Jesus is saying, “I am the very sustenance of life.”

And when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they show up on Mount Sinai with Moses, they get the law, these commands, and then they wander for forty years. God gives them manna, this heavenly bread that came down that provided for them when they were in the wasteland, when they weren’t able to provide on their own.

And as they got further away from Mount Sinai and from that wandering moment for the Jewish people, the bread, that manna actually began to become synonymous with the Law of God that came down from Mount Sinai. And so, when the Jewish people began to talk about the very bread, they began to have this metaphor that was connected to the very words of God that bring life. That this manna is really connected to the Torah and His very words of life that are bringing life.

And the Greek thinker who would be reading this in the Hellenistic culture would understand the bread as this symbol of the wisdom and the wisdom of the world and the wisdom the gods that actually is life giving and Jesus is saying, “Yeah, I’m all of it. I’m all of it. I’m the sustainer of life, I’m the wisdom of life, I’m the very Word of God.”

In fact, that’s the reason John would begin and say, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” Moving on to John 1:14 and he’ll say, “And the Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” “I am the bread of life.”

And what our hearts need more than anything else is to recognize that only Jesus can finally and fully satisfy the desires of our heart. He actually gives us some descriptors of what kind of bread this is. He says it’s true bread, it’s heavenly bread, it’s living bread. What kind of bread am I? Well, it’s true. It’s true bread as opposed to fake or substitute bread. It’s genuine. I’m authentic. It’s heavenly bread as opposed to earthly or temporal. It's eternal kind of bread. It’s living bread as opposed to dead or lifeless or poison.

You know, we have built inside of us cravings and desires. And I think there are some of us that kind of think that the Christian life is somehow the oppression of desires and that’s not Christianity at all. That’s actually Buddhism more than that. And then there’s also this idea of desires that, in our culture and day, is the exploitation of desires. And that’s hedonism where you give way to all your desires. In fact, in Christianity, God says: I created your desires and they are actually good in the context upon which I created them. And, in fact, they are to point to the deeper longing that you need.

Do you ever notice that as you eat, you are satisfied but you are never fully satisfied, because eventually you’re hungry. A little bit later, you know, today I’m going to have some lunch because I’m going to be hungry, but I ate breakfast this morning and, yet, later I’m hungry. I’m never fully or finally satisfied.

And Jesus says it points to the longing of our soul and heart that one day that someone might fully and finally satisfy and He says, “I’m here. I’m here.”
John is writing to a people in Asia Minor around Ephesus and when he’s describing his interaction and writing about the story and the life of Jesus, he’s writing to the philosophical, the Hellenistic, the cultured. And he’s writing fundamentally so that we might not only know Him but believe in Him. And as he writes the account of Jesus’ life, there’s actually seven different places where Jesus says specifically who He is.

Like, you don’t have to wrestle with it. Like, if you’re sitting down with coffee with Jesus and you’re like, “Jesus, who are You?” And He would go, “I am.” And He does this seven different times. And He says, “I am the bread of life. I am the light of the world. I am the good shepherd. I am the gate. I am the vine.” “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Jesus, who are You?

You know, I actually think every single person on the planet should ask, “Who is Jesus?” Like, who is He really? I actually think if you have any intellectual integrity you have to ask that question. Who is this man that literally divided history, that is still intriguing, compelling to us to this day? Who is the person, this man that was this carpenter turned rabbi who lived in a very obscure part of the Roman Empire, eventually was executed by the Empire itself, and yet, two thousand years later, we are talking about Him and billions of people gathering around the world because of Him. Like, at some point you have to ask, “Who is this man?”

The first thing that He wants to reveal and tell us, “I am the bread of life.” When Jesus said, “I am,” here’s what He is saying to His audience. Jesus is the explanation and revelation of God to the world.

See, that phrase “I am” is actually rooted all the way back into the Exodus story. Moses, he was wandering in the wilderness and he sees this burning bush and it doesn’t burn up, he’s curious, he goes over to it and God speaks to Him from amidst this burning bush that is not burning up. And He calls Moses to be the liberator of the people of Israel. And then eventually Moses gets to the point where he's like, “Okay, but what is Your name?” Like, who am I to tell sent me?

A name in the ancient day actually was a revelation of a person’s character and who they are, their identity. And then God reveals Himself and He gives Moses His covenant name. Three times He says this. He says, “I AM who I AM, Yahweh. I AM who I AM.” It’s ever-existing One, uncreated, sovereign Creator of all.

And this is the very phrase Jesus uses seven different times to say, “This is Me. I am God."

This picture of bread is the picture of the very sustenance of life. It’s like we need food to survive and without it we can’t. And Jesus is saying, “I am the very sustenance of life.”

Do you ever notice that as you eat, you are satisfied but you are never fully satisfied, because eventually you’re hungry. A little bit later, you know, today I’m going to have some lunch because I’m going to be hungry, but I ate breakfast this morning and, yet, later I’m hungry. I’m never fully or finally satisfied.

And Jesus says it points to the longing of our soul and heart that one day that someone might fully and finally satisfy and He says, “I’m here. I’m here.”

And I think part of the question and intention that we have to wrestle with is if Jesus really only finally and fully satisfies, why aren’t all of us craving Him? Did you realize, I didn’t know this until recently, seventy-five percent of the population in the U.S. are chronically dehydrated? Three out of four of you are dehydrated.

It was really fascinating. Because it was like, well, why? If we are dehydrated, why don’t we drink water? One article wrote this, “You would think that our bodies would tell us we are thirsty, but the modern world’s obsession for coffee, soft drinks, fruit juices, and processed foods and additives,” listen to this, “…has desensitized our thirst mechanism. We have forgotten what it feels like to be thirsty. We mistake it for hunger or we reach for a coffee or a sugary drink before reaching for water.”

And Jesus says: You have been reaching for things that are substitutes and I’m the true bread. You’ve been reaching for things. Yeah, it kind of quenches temporarily, but I’m heavenly, I’m eternal. You have been reaching for these things, but honestly, some of the things you’re reaching for are just poison that are slowly killing you and I’m the life-giving, living bread. Only Jesus will finally and fully satisfy.

And here’s what we do. And here’s the problem and what we have to realize. You cannot solve a spiritual problem with a physical solution. This is what we try to do. We try to fill our spiritual problem, the ache in our heart, the longing with some physical thing. You know what? If I just was prettier. If I just had more followers. If I just was more popular. If I just, you know, drove a better car, if I had a nicer house, if I had a better job then I’ll finally be satisfied.

Now, here’s another interesting thing. Spirituality in the U.S. is not on the decline but it’s on the incline. It’s growing. In fact, research from Barna that literally just came out said that ninety-one percent of Americans either believe in or are open to the idea of a spiritual or supernatural dimension. An astonishing seventy-four percent say they would like to grow spiritually. Because we are craving for something to finally satisfy, to make sense of the world, to help us navigate and figure it out.

Philip Yancey wrote, “A society that denies the supernatural usually ends up elevating the natural to a supernatural status…Sophisticated moderns have not renounced transcendence but rather replaced it with weak substitutes.” We have replaced it with keeping up with the Joneses, the American Dream, having just the right person in our life.

I AM. Jesus is the explanation, revelation of God to the world. The bread only Jesus can finally, fully satisfy of life. Jesus is the source of meaning and purpose for your life.

There are a few words in the Greek for life. The two primary ones is zoë and bio. Bio has to do with the quantity of life, how much life you have. Zoë has to do with the quality of life: meaning, purpose, wonder, amazement. That’s the zoë life.

John is using the word zoë here. Like Jesus is offering zoë life, eternal kind of life, life that is filled with meaning and purpose in life. In fact, He’s not just offering it. We’ve got to get this. He’s not just offering it. He’s saying He is it. He is meaning; He is purpose.

And, in fact, a little bit later on He would go and say this in John chapter 6, “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes,” we get that word again, “has,” present tense, “eternal life.” Believe: to place your weight upon, to put one’s full trust in. Has eternal life. Well, what is eternal life?

John chapter 17, verse 3 Jesus defines eternal life, “Now this is eternal life, that they know,” personally know, “You.” In relationship with the one true God and with Jesus Christ. That is eternal life. Like, eternal life isn’t later on someday way out there when I die, get my fire insurance, hello, and now I’m good. Eternal life starts today in personal relationship with Jesus. And the minute you step into relationship with Him, He is meaning, purpose, and satisfaction and eternal life starts in the moment you say yes to Him and you put your trust on Him.

“Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here, right now in front of you is bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. What is this bread? It’s my flesh, which I give for the life of the world.”

“My body,” as He would say in another gospel, “broken for you.” On the cross, laid out. “And My blood poured out for you,” to welcome you in to life itself.

John Piper, this pastor, he has this great line about this. He says that Jesus doesn’t want to give bread, but to be bread. Jesus doesn’t want to give bread. And that’s what the people were thinking about Him. “Could You give us some of this? I want to get a little something from You and go on my merry way. I want to get a little something from You and make my life better and then do my own thing.” And that’s what we want and that’s why crystals are kind of so popular is we want to get something from it to be able to do our thing, live our vision, have our way, and pursue what we think will bring meaning and purpose and satisfaction and we keep after it, keep after it. Jesus doesn’t want to give bread, He wants to be bread.

I say this to Jenny every so often and if you’re married and a guy, a husband, don’t do this. But I do this. It’s joking. It’s tongue in cheek. But I just, I sometimes I look at Jenny and go, “Jenny, you’re my favorite wife.” What’s wrong with that?

Do you see how odd that feels? How wrong that seems? “You’re my favorite.” No, no, no. You’re my only. See, when we think about Jesus, when we think about what He provides and the meaning and purpose, we go, we kind of prioritize in hierarchy and go, “You know what, Jesus? You’re at the top, You’re my favorite.” He doesn’t want to be your favorite, by the way. He wants to be your only.

He's like: No, He is meaning. He is purpose. And everything else, everything else other than Jesus is just simply a fake, a substitute. It will never fully satisfy. And you can run after it and you can chase after it and you can search for it and you can build a career around it, you can build your life around your kids and your marriage and whatever else. And though those are good things, they will not finally, fully satisfy. They will not bring you meaning. Only Jesus. Only Him. He is the bread of life.

I have a buddy and he has everything that you would think about that would come to your mind that you’d go, “If I had that then I would be, you know, I’d be so happy.” He’s good looking; he’s got a good looking wife; he’s got good looking, smart kids. He’s so wealthy he can travel whenever he wants, go wherever he wants. He doesn’t have to work anymore, but he still does. He’s got a great house. I mean, everything you could dream of.

And because I’ve known him and because we have journeyed, what I know that no one else sees because what we see is the substitute, we see the exterior that looks good but isn’t good on the inside that is hollow and empty, we see that and go, “You know what? I’m going to go after that.” And if you just could peel behind and rip it open a little bit and see that, no, it’s actually empty and hollow what I know is he is chasing after something else and other things because that doesn’t satisfy him.

And our hearts and our souls often are so victimized by the pursuits and the demands of what we think will actually satisfy. And it’s Jesus. It always has been, it always will be.

A question is what will we do with Jesus? How will we respond to who He is? I think there’s at least two responses. Maybe two words I want to give you: repentance and renewal.

Repentance, it means to change your mind, which results in a change of direction. Repentance, you know, is this turnabout. It literally means to change your mind that results then in a change of direction.

And especially for those in this room who have never begun a relationship with Jesus, who have never stepped into this new life that I’ve been talking about, this eternal kind of life, to know Him, it’s to change your mind about what brings satisfaction, to change your mind about what brings meaning and purpose, to change your mind and go, “You know what? That job, that career, that person never will. That bottle, those pills? They never will. And I’m going to turn my face toward Jesus and I’m going to say yes to You, Jesus. And today I place my faith, which is my trust in You, the full weight of my life, and I say yes to You. Would You come into my life and make me new?” And He longs to have a personal relationship with you. And that’s repentance.

And if you’re in a place where you have yet to begin a relationship with Jesus, I want to invite you as I give you time just to process, to pray a simple prayer. “God, I’m tired of running after those things and they have never satisfied me. Today, I am turning to You, Jesus. I believe You are the bread of life. Would You come into my life and make me new?” And when you respond and you call out, every single time He moves and He changes and transforms. And the Spirit of God comes and lives and dwells inside of you, bringing life. It’s repentance.

The other word is renewal. And I think many of us in this room, that’s the word for us. It’s renewal. Renewal is an insistence of resuming an activity or a state after an interruption.

Our hearts are easily adrift from God, we have gotten out of whack, we understand, we have heard the message before. And, yet, we have run after those other things. In fact, I was talking with another buddy this last week and he was just sharing. He was like, “You know, Ryan, materialism is my thing. And right now is the heaviest and the hardest work for me. And you know what I had to do? I had to go to small group out of an act of resistance to materialism in me.” But just that recognition. Like, I need renewal. I need to pick back up what I have left off. I need return to my first love and this moment.

Remember the bread of life. Would your prayer be one of renewal? Where you go, “God, I recognize I have been adding things to You. I want to get a little Jesus, but I want to go do my own thing. And today I want You to be my everything. I’m picking it back up. I’m picking it back up with You.”