I AM THE BREADJohn 6:35,51
I love to eat homemade bread. I've found there are several ways to enjoy
it:
Right out of oven w/butter spread all over it.
Have it with spaghetti.
With a bowl of home made chile.
Some people dip it into soup
The real way to eat it is warm, swimming in real butter with grape or apricot jelly (maybe apple butter). I have to be careful that I don't eat too much of it. The only thing I don't like about homemade bread is when it's gone. As satisfying as it is, it is only temporary.
Too soon the bread will is gone. If I don't eat it right away it will become stale. When the bread is gone, we get hungry again.
Jesus called Himself Bread. John 6:35 (NIV) "Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. {51} I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."
The most interesting thing about this bread Jesus talks about is that it will last forever. Keep that in mind as we examine Jesus' claim to be the Bread of Life.
1. THE SOUL IS HUNGRY
When we are hungry our stomachs growl. At the beginning of this chapter Jesus had fed the crowd of 5,000 people with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Now they have come to Jesus wanting more food. Their physical hunger was only temporarily satisfied.
Jesus told them in v.27 "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you..."
Jesus knew that their need for spiritual nourishment was even greater than the need for food. Do you hear the cries of the masses who are living their lives with out Christ? We can see the moral degradation of our world and the need for spiritual fulfillment. Why does the drug addict keep taking drugs? Why does the alcoholic keep drinking? Why does the prostitute sell her body? Why do people turn to religious cults?
Why do men and women reject the vows of marriage and go out and have adulterous relationships? There is a spiritual void in their lives. They walk through life with an empty spot and don't know how to fill it. So they turn to the things they think will satisfy. Things like booze, sex, cults.
When these things don't satisfy they turn to other vices. Depression is the most common mental problem in the world today. Because people have hungry souls and they don't know where to find the cure. The Soul is starved.
2. THE WORLD CANNOT SATISFY IT
Secular agencies and governments have not succeeded in feeding hungry people. During times of crisis different agencies are quick to come to the rescue. When it comes to spiritual hunger secular agencies and individuals have done more harm than good. Man believes that human problems can be solved through psychology and psychiatric treatments.
In today's world we don't fix problems as much as give approval to them. In our world it has become politically incorrect to say "that behavior is wrong." Psychology points its finger and says, "that behavior is acceptable as long as it's acceptable to you." Our world is not trying to help people fill their spiritual void. It is trying to fulfill their need for self-acceptance. That is totally against the scriptures.
I cannot fully accept myself until I fully accept Christ. Our world is totally foreign to the Bible.
Examples:
Human nature is basically good
Bible says it is inherently evil.
People have the answers to their problems inside them
Bible says we can find the answers to our problems through Jesus and His
Word.
The key to understanding and correcting a person's attitudes and actions
lies somewhere in his past
Bible teaches that understanding will come when our past is forgiven.
Individual's problems are the result of what someone else has done to
them
Bible says our problems are a result of what we have done to ourselves.
Human problems can be purely psychological in nature, unrelated to any
spiritual condition
Word of God shows us that almost all of our problems are spiritual in
nature.
Deep-seated problems can be solved only by professional counselors using
therapy
Bible teaches that the Word of God and Holy Spirit is what we truly need
to counsel us.
People are crying out to the world for help for the spiritual void in their lives. The advice of the world only makes the void larger.
The Soul is Hungry. - The World cannot feed it
3. GOD HAS SENT US BREAD FROM HEAVEN
The people wanted a sign from heaven. Jesus said in v.33 "the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Jesus was saying, "I am giving up my life for you." "I am the bread that satisfies forever." God knows the hunger in the world's soul. He sent Jesus to satisfy that hunger.
Jesus said John 6:40 (NIV) "For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life..."
The Soul is Hungry;
The World cannot satisfy it;
God has sent us bread from heaven:
4. WE MUST PARTAKE OF JESUS
You have all seen films of the starving children of the 3rd World.
It is almost impossible to look at them very long.
Their stomachs are protruding; flies stuck to their faces; they are crying out for something to eat.
Let's say we had a big grocery bag filled with nutritious food and we placed it in front of one of those children. But we put the bag inside a cage that could not be unlocked. The child could see the food; They could have a desire for the food; However, until the cage was unlocked the food would do him no good.
The spiritually hungry of the world are in a very similar situation. They have a great hunger but no way to fill it. We need to understand what Jesus is all about. They can look at Him. They can see that He is what is needed to fill their spiritual stomachs. They find that Jesus -- like our sack of groceries--is locked up in a cage and they can't reach Him. Is it because Jesus doesn't want them to have Him? No. - It is one of two reasons:
Sometimes Christians have locked Him up by not telling the world that He is available for their need. Until we tell them about Him we are just as cruel as someone who wouldn't share food with a starving child. Some know that Jesus will satisfy their need. But they are unwilling to unlock the door. It isn't a door holding Jesus in -- It is the door of their heart that is keeping Him out.
The starving child wouldn't hesitate to partake of food if he was able. For some reason many without Christ refuse Him even though He is standing at the door of their heart. How do we partake of Jesus? Jesus tells us: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51 NIV)
If anyone eats of this bread He will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He goes on to say in John 6:53 (NIV) ... "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you."
Was He talking about cannibalism? No. Was He talking about the Lord's Supper. No Jesus was saying, "Make Me a part of you." He is saying, "Don't hold back -- allow Me to work in your life."
The good news of Jesus is: The Bread of Life will never run out--It will last forever. No matter how many partake of it there is always more for the hungry soul in need.