(7/7) I wonder when the last time was that you were really hungry? I mean really hungry, to the point where you couldn’t think about anything else. When your stomach is aching, and you are feeling on edge.

The thing about hunger is that at one time or another we have all felt it and that experience can be an incredibly motivating force in your life. Missing a meal or two can transform a person, changing your nature and your countenance. In fact, way back in 400 BC the Greek poet Aristophanes said,

"Hunger knows no friend, but it is a feeder."

Hunger is indiscriminate and unyielding, not resting until it has been satisfied, which is why Jesus’ teaching on bread is so incredibly relevant. Bread is a common, ordinary, universally understood answer for the hunger that we feel.

In our passage from the Gospel of John today, Jesus uses these ordinary things of hunger and bread to explain the eternal kingdom of God. Now, before we read the text, it is important to understand the context, so we understand how the conversation began in the first place. In the beginning of the chapter where we discover the account of Jesus feeding the five thousand.

He is out with his disciples in a remote place when a huge crowd of people came seeking him. When Jesus saw the multitudes coming toward him, he said to his disciples,

"Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5).

Of course, he said this only to test his disciples, to raise their awareness that he was about to do something amazing once again. And we know in the following verses that Jesus miraculously fed five thousand people that day and satisfied their hunger, but he also knew that they were more than physically hungry, that their souls were hungry, they were spiritually hungry. And so, even though they participated in one of the most amazing miracles ever recorded they remained hungry for the unconditional love and acceptance that can only come through Jesus.

As we come to our text in verse twenty-five, we learn that the people find Jesus on the other side of the lake. These are the same people who had experienced the miraculous feeding of the five thousand the previous day. They came to him and asked him,

"Rabbi, when did you get here?" (John 6:25).

Jesus recognizes that these people were more interested in a free meal than they were interested to see another miracle. And so, he says to them,

"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill" (John 6:26).

Now, they might not have realized it, but even after being in the presence of God, and seeing the miracles they didn’t appreciate what they had seen and experienced because they were hungry. And so, all they were concerned about was where their next meal was going to come from.

Understanding the context, this next statement from Jesus makes all the sense in the world. He said to them,

"Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you" (John 6:27).

Jesus connects the dots between satisfaction and lasting contentment for these people. He takes universally common objects like bread and hunger and helps them see that he is the only one who can truly satisfy their hunger.

They understood what he was saying, Jesus made the connection, but now I want you to imagine for a moment that Jesus is standing in front of you telling you these things. What would you be thinking? You would probably be saying to yourself, "If he is telling me that I should not work for food that spoils, but should work for food that endures forever, if that is the case…"

"What must we do to do the works God requires?" (John 6:28).

In other words, "What do we need to do to get that kind of food, the food that endures to eternal life?"

"Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent" (John 6:29).

Jesus tells them, the work that we have to do, if you can call it work, is to believe in the one sent from heaven. And so, it’s not work at all, it is belief, it is trusting him to do what he said he would do. In fact, that’s what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter two,

"For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith" (Ephesians 2:8).

In other words, it’s grace, it’s all grace. It was grace that God sent his son Jesus. And it is a grace that Jesus willingly humbled himself to the point of death on the cross so that we could have eternal life, satisfaction, and contentment with God.

But now those who had followed Jesus out into this remote area come to him asking for another sign to prove that he is in fact the Messiah, the Savior of the world. They said,

"What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat" (John 6:30-31).

And so, they said do it again, we want another miraculous sign. In other words, just like Thomas, they refuse to believe, they were not satisfied with what they have seen or experienced. And so, even though Jesus was standing in front of them, they would not believe, they refused to believe, until like Thomas they saw the nails scarred hands and touched the wound in his side.

The one who had been prophesied about, the one they have heard about since they were children said to them,

"I tell you the truth, 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 he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:32-33).

In other words, he points them back to God who is the true provider of bread and tells them that God has sent them "the true bread from heaven." After hearing about this "true bread" they said enthusiastically,

"Sir, from now on give us this bread" (John 6:34).

And it is understandable that they would be excited to hear about the availability of this bread from heaven, because maybe it was something like the manna from heaven that their fathers had told them about. But whatever it was, they were overjoyed to hear that it was readily available to them, and so they said, "From now on give us this bread."

And then, Jesus makes his famous declaration in verse thirty-five,

"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" (John 6:35).

Here we find Jesus clearly stating that he is the true bread sent from the father, he is the bread of life, he is the answer to all that we have been looking for. And so, I want to encourage you today to turn from everything else that you have been feasting on, the empty calories of this world, and turned to the radical love of Jesus. I want you to know that what you need, he’s got you covered because he is our provision. He said,

"For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33).

And so, that is Jesus, he is the Lamb that was slain before the foundation of the world. He is our great high priest, but

"Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself" (Hebrews 7:27).

And so, he offered up himself acting as both priest and as the sacrifice. He is the good Shepherd who lays his life down for the sheep and he said,

"No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again" (John 10:18).

And so, he was acting as both our high priest and our sacrifice, he was covering us, because he is our protection, and he is our provision. And so, if you have him, he’s got you, he’s going to take the heat, he’s going to protect you, and he’s going to provide for you.

He is the bread of life, and his provision is always first and foremost talking about salvation, he’s not talking about big houses or new cars. In fact, when Abraham went up on the mountain with his son Isaac and offered him as a sacrifice,

"Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14).

Because God said, "I am Jehovah Jireh" and the primary thought is that he provided a scapegoat, a substitute, a sacrifice for your sin. And so, God is your provision, but that means you’re leaving the old behind and you are moving toward the bread of life.

This is what the Bible means in Hebrews chapter six when it says,

"Let us leave the elementary teachings about Christ and go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death…" (Hebrews 6:1).

Let us leave, that means forsaking, it means you’re done with that, you are moving on to better things. The problem with some people that call themselves Christians is that they are stuck, because they haven’t experienced true repentance. And so, they are still wrestling with their sin, their guilt, and their shame as if Jesus’ blood wasn’t enough.

In other words, they are still worrying about what happened to them when they were five, or what so-and-so did to them when they were twenty-one. And so, they are struggling with stuff that should have been left at the altar, crucified on the cross, and washed by the blood. But it’s time to move on, it’s time to leave the elementary teachings about Christ, because you have cried long enough, you have wrestled with the guilt long enough, you have worried about it long enough, and God brought you in here this morning and gave you this word to save you and wash you.

In other words, God doesn’t want you to keep coming back to the blood over and over and over again, he has given you a way out, he wants you to move from grace to glory, going to another level of maturity, because he has given you the bread of life. And so, you’ve got to take hold of it, you’ve got to receive it by faith, because Jesus is the presence of God. He is God in the flesh, God with us, and in order to be our kinsman redeemer, he had to come in a perishable form so that he could understand the feeling of our infirmity.

You see, if he had come in power and great glory, he wouldn’t have known what it was like to be tired and weak, but the Bible says in Hebrews chapter 4,

"We do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet was without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).

In other words, Jesus knew what it was like to be tired, hungry, and thirsty and be victorious. He was in the desert forty days being tempted by the devil and yet he never sinned. Instead, the Bible says, he made himself nothing,

"He humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!" (Philippians 2:8).

The bread of life, the bread of heaven, became obedient to death, he made himself nothing, and became bread for us.

And it is not that God was giving us new revelation, it has always been there, it was just an unveiling, because Jesus was born in Bethlehem. Do any of you remember what Bethlehem means? It means the "House of bread". And so, Jesus who is the bread of life, was born in the town named the "House of bread" which means this thing about bread is not new.

In verse forty-eight, Jesus told the people,

"I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 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 6:48-51).

Jesus is our true bread from heaven, our eternal provision, and we want to celebrate that truth today. We want to remember him today, memorialize him today, as we celebrate the Lord’s supper. This meal, this fellowship of the church, our gathering together is the command of God.

"The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me" (1 Corinthians 11:23-24).

"In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes" (1 Corinthians 11:25-26).

In other words, it is a meal, he said, "Whenever you eat" and this is the command of God. It is an ordinance and not a sacrament, because there is no saving grace in the bread, no saving grace in the cup, but all of the grace is in the blood shed on Calvary two thousand years ago. The Bible says,

"We have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all… Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:10,13-14).

I wish I had a witness in this place that Jesus is the bread of life, that God protected you in a wilderness season, he made a way where there was no way, and he is still opening doors for you today.

There are some of you in this room that have experienced trauma, adversity, rejection, and heartache, but you are still praising God in the church because you know the promise of Jesus…

"Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (John 6:54-56).

In other words, Jesus is telling us that by his suffering and death, and his blood offered as a sacrifice for sin, he would extend forgiveness to all those who believed. And so, those who participated in that, sharing in the privileges of friendship with God would obtain eternal life.

And so, he was simply saying that all of his life, his body and his blood had to become their own because he alone was to be their sustenance and salvation. Without him there is no life, no promise, and no hope. And there are those of you here who know that if you eat the bread of life, this bread will take you through stuff that you never thought you would ever be able to make it through.

This morning, together as the church, as the body of Christ, we stand as a testimony to the bread of life, that you can survive, you can make it, and we’re not here because were perfect. We’re not here because we didn’t make any mistakes. We’re not here because we did everything right. But the fact that God could bring us through everything we’ve been through, that alone ought to make you eat your bread with gladness.

Read past sermons by Pastor John Talcott