Bread of Life | What's in a Name?

So we continue our sermon series, What's in a Name? What's in a Name where we're

looking at the name, the distinctives, the titles of Jesus and the gospel of John.

And now we've jumped a little bit as we were going a little bit. It's not

chronological. John is not written chronologically. John is written kind of

for the Jews in more festival rotation. That's kind of nerdy. More on that if you

ever ask, we can sit down and talk about that. But it's written to kind of remind

us of the seasons of the believers, of the people of God in the first, in

Jesus' day of the Israelites. So we're jumping to chapter 6, bread of life,

really quick. How many of you, you've got to be careful how I ask this, have a

spouse, I really have to be careful how I ask this, that gets hangry. I am also

participating in this. Yeah, I see a lot of double, like husband and wife, both

raising their hands. I will pray for you because that's a lot. That if food is not

ready to go, both of you, oh man, like the book of Revelation all over again. But

the thing about getting hangry is it's funny to watch. And I'm going to use

probably a figurative person because I don't really want to use my wife for this

example because I feel her staring at me right now. Is this idea of being hangry

is if you're not the hangry person, you really, you know how to quote unquote

feed the beast, right? Like it's one of those they need, they feel like they need

to eat or they do need to eat and there's something going on that's making

them angry. That it's if they don't have food, watch out. And the thing about that

is it's really, they're hungry, they need to eat, they need sustenance, that one

thing we need in life is food. Now I'm not going to get into any of the debates

about what type of food and all of these things are, you know, whether you're a

vegetarian or a carnivore or a pescatarian or whatever the other Aryans

you are, that food is something we all have in common. That we all need to eat

in life, okay? How many people are breakfast people? They love their

breakfast. Teddy, raise that hand. You love breakfast. You could have breakfast

every day. How many people are more lunch people? They love a good lunch, that's me.

I love a good lunch. The rest of you are wrong. How many of you are dinner people?

You just need that dinner at the end of the night, okay? So let's just ask Max,

what is some wonderful foods that Evy makes that you just cannot wait till

she's shaking her head no? Maybe this is the wrong person to ask. Does she make

anything that you like to eat? Good, smart answer. Good, smart answer. You just lied

in church. But understand that, you know, we look forward to certain things. My

favorite holiday out of all the holidays is Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. I

love, yeah, getting together with family and all those things, but I just love my

favorite Thanksgiving food, and I know I'm gonna get judgment from at least a

third of you, stove top stuff. Mandy, don't you shake your head at me. Stove top

stuffing. Any other kind of stuffing is a representation of sin. But if I don't

have stove top stuffing, my Thanksgiving is utterly ruined, okay? There's some

that we long for certain kinds of foods. Sometimes we wake up and we know exactly

what we want to eat, and we live in a country where more times than not we can

get it or we can eat it, and food plays an integral part in our life. I know we

probably don't think about it because we are in a world that it's pretty readily

available of all different kinds. I mean, just take one mile stretch of Ridge Road,

start on the border of Lansing and Munster, and go until you hit, let's say,

the bridge going into Highland, because really after Calumet there's not a whole

lot of eateries. But just take Calumet and Ridge to State Line and Ridge. Think

of all the things you could eat. You can stop and get anywhere from tacos to

pizza to D, all of the above. You get sushi, everything you ever could want.

And we've kind of glorified food in this country. We have. My family, I don't

really like to watch it, but they love to watch all of those cooking contest shows,

right? Whether British or American, they watch all of it. They love all of those

things. And food is glorified in our society. It is. Which again, as a church,

we want to make sure that we are already always at the ready to give people food

that doesn't have food or give someone drink that doesn't have drink,

because that is a direct commandment of Jesus. Matthew 25. To the hungry I gave

food, to the thirsty I gave drink, more on that later. But what we're going to

dive into today in John 6 is Jesus substituting himself for language that

everybody, every world religion, every belief system that was in the first

century and everything in 2025 that incorporates that would understand. And

it's the understanding of bread. Now, if you're gluten free, I'm sorry if this

offends you, it shouldn't, grow up. But understand that when he calls himself the

bread of life, that should send shockwaves into our faith. That should

send shockwaves into what makes Jesus different than any other Messiah that

claimed to be that, any other God that claimed to be that, whether in the first

century or in 2025. That bread of life, that distinction is so powerful and has

so much depth that a lot of times we just pass by it because of one of the

greatest miracles that Jesus ever gives. And it's a miracle that actually I'm not

going to preach about because in John 6 where we're going to start, it's already

past this miracle. Who wants to guess what that miracle was? It's the only

miracle recorded in all four Gospels, the feeding of the 5,000. And we know that it

was more than 5,000 people, that was 5,000 men, right? So it was more than

that. If you could easily double that, then you'd be fine. That's not heresy. But

understand that from five loaves, two fish, he feeds a giant multitude of

people. But then he walks on water, which was a pretty cool thing, and that

interaction with the disciples. But then we're going to pick up at John 6 starting

with verse 22 where again we're remembering the feeding of the 5,000.

We're remembering the crowd that he fed that is still there. So he feeds the

crowd, then he withdraws to go to the mountain by himself. Then in the evening

comes, the disciples get into the boat, right, and he says, do not be afraid, and

then they go to land. So we have a little bit of time in between where we're going

to start. So we're going to start and we're going to look at the hungry crowd

in John 6 starting with verse 22. John 6 verse 22 says this, on the next day, so

John 6:22

this is the day after the feeding and the walking on water, so pretty busy day

for Jesus, but on the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the

sea saw that there had been only one boat there and that Jesus had not entered

the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other

boats from Tiberius came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the

Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there nor his

disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went into Capernaum seeking

Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi,

when did you come here? Jesus answered them, truly, truly I say to you, you are

not, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill

of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that

endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on him God the

Father has set his seal. How many of us, being honest, have probably glossed over

this section of John? I know I would because all the action is really in the

feeding of the 5,000 and the walking on water. I mean that's mind-blowing. It's

incredible that Jesus did all of that, but this is where a lot of the, this is

actually the teaching because what he did is he separated himself with the

feeding of the 5,000, five loaves, two fish, 10,000 people eat, and they not only

ate their fill, as we're reminded, but there was leftovers. Then he walks on

water and that was a teaching pretty much just for the disciples and for us

do not be afraid, but now you have these people longing for Jesus for a couple

different reasons. The main one is they want more food, and I think that's a, that's

a very human response. So they came to hear a sermon, and so apparently if I

give a long enough sermon, I'm allowed to as long as I feed you, so we may

experience that sometime in Munster's future. We'll just go longer and I'll

feed you, but understand that they ate, they ate their fill, they wanted more. It

was the next day. They were hungry. It's a human response. They were hungry. They

wanted food. The day before, Jesus had performed the miraculous feeding, and

they were hoping for more signs, and they were hoping for physical provision.

They wanted more food. Jesus fed them once, so Jesus should feed them again. Do

you see the immature thought that we can have around Jesus? And again, this should

really strike us right in the soul of when life is going hard or life is going

right, how often do we cry out for God? That they were hungry, they were fed, now

they're looking, they're looking more for Jesus the baker than they were Jesus the

Savior. And the significance of the bread, just so we understand, in first century

Jewish culture, bread was a symbol of life and sustenance, and the people of

Israel would understand bread in a way of manna, if you remember from the Old

Testament when the Israelites were in the wilderness, Exodus 16, manna was given to

them from God. That bread fed them, and the crowd saw Jesus as a prophet, maybe

even as the Messiah, that could provide their earthly needs. Now that's a newer

understanding of Messiah, because you have to understand Messiah or Mashi'iah in

the first century had more political kind of undertones or overtones than it

ever did bread giver or food giver. But what Jesus is kind of getting their

attention, it's a great hook for his message, is by feeding them. We can learn

from that, that you might have someone in your life that you're trying to walk

alongside in a discipleship way, maybe in an evangelism way, maybe they don't know

Jesus and you want them to know Jesus. One way to kind of gain that audience or

maybe even that trust is feeding them. A great evangelistic tool is food. Inviting

people to come to a table, taking them out to eat, giving them an opportunity to

share a meal with you, to break bread is a very biblical concept. That sometimes

meeting the physical needs of people comes before meeting their spiritual needs

of people. Jesus, I think, makes that very clear in his ministry. And I think he's

doing it practically here. He's feeding them. Now he's teaching them. So

understand that this provision from Jesus is not only messianic, but it points to

that of salvation. See, Jesus challenges their motives, doesn't he? You are

seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

He redirects their focus from the temporary satisfaction to the eternal

substance that he actually is. Do not labor for the stuff that passes away, but

strive after me. So that's going to be a very different conversation. But we just

want Jesus the baker. We just want his bread. It was good. We ate. We were

satisfied. But friends, we know that that's what we chase in life. That doesn't

bring what we ultimately really want, which is heaven, when we die. It's

salvation, his eternal life in the person of Jesus. So my first question today, are

we like the crowd? In your week, this past week, have you been seeking Jesus

just for temporary blessings? Or do you come to him looking for true

fulfillment? What does that look like in your life? Oh, Jesus, I'm really in a bind

with this relationship. I just need you to fix it so then it's easier for me to

follow you or easier for me to believe you exist or insert whatever issue you

might be having here. Are we seeking Jesus for temporary relief or for the

life-giving nature that is him? Are we seeking him come what may or are we only

seeking him when we get our way? That's tough. That's convicting. Because when

life just continues to be strikeout after strikeout after strikeout, if we're

being honest, Jesus gets the blame. Jesus, you said you'd be with me always to the

very end of the age. You said that you will always be there. You said, but I

don't have my needs, I don't have my wants met. Maybe you need to look at your

needs. Are your needs being met? Jesus, like I've said, is not a genie in a bottle

that's gonna grant you wishes. He is your sustainer, your deliverer, your Savior. So

are we seeking Jesus only for temporary blessing or are we coming to him for true

fulfillment come what may? So then he makes this claim. He makes this claim in

verse 28.

Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus

answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him who he has sent.

So they said to him, then what sign do you do 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 from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, truly, truly I

say to you, it is not, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but

my father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God who is he who

comes down from heaven and gives you life, then gives life to the world. They

said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread

of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall

never thirst. A lot is said. This is a bold declaration of Jesus. What Jesus is

doing is Jesus is taking the verbal and putting it into the actual. He's looking

into the history of the Israelites. They kind of front on Jesus a little bit. They

kind of push back on him. Even our fathers got bread from, who did they

attribute the bread to? Moses. Swing and a miss. They attribute the bread to Moses.

This is tradition eating away at salvation. That the Israelites understanding

obviously the verbal and then what was written by the prophets and what they

could read in the historical books, the Torah, what they believed, they got

actually wrong. Moses is the one that fed us and Jesus is making a very, very bold

statement. This is the first of Jesus' seven I am statements which we're going

to get to five of the seven in this sermon series that are in John's gospel.

This is Jesus echoing God's self-revelation. The I am statements go

back to the burning bush and Moses. I am that I am. You remember that? That the

bold declaration Jesus is making is not only was I there but it was the Father

that gave you the bread. He's also giving you me. That is a bold declaration. That

is a distinctive that only Jesus can walk in. The crowd references the manna

given to their ancestors and Jesus clarifies and the true bread of heaven

is now here and it has nothing to do with however you make bread. I've never

made it. I don't know. I just you put things in a bowl mix it put in the oven

but what Jesus is saying is fools you desire this but I'm telling you in the

end you need to desire me. That Jesus being the bread of life goes way beyond

just the ingredients to make bread. The eternal satisfaction Jesus contrasts the

perishable bread of manna with himself. He uses that word eternal life to eat

this bread means that we are to believe in Christ. That we are to believe in

Jesus. That we are to believe that Jesus died on the cross and rose again. If we

confess and believe we shall be saved and the feast that we will be entered

into in glory pales in comparison to the many feasts we get on communion Sundays

or on Monday Thursday when we all eat together. One of the things Jesus is

emphasizing here is that this bread is a gift. It is a gift that no one has to

cook no one has to prepare that God out of his love for us we learned last week

in John 3 gives you this bread of life. Jesus emphasizes that this bread is a

gift from the Father. Salvation is not earned but received through faith alone.

One of our reform doctrines one of the five soul laws and out of 20ish years of

preaching I've preached John a lot never on a communion Sunday. The connection to

what we are all going to experience in a couple minutes is great because what

communion is this sacrament of communion is for us the body and blood of Jesus. It

represents exactly what Jesus is claiming in this section of John 6. So

Lord's Day 28 of the Heart of a Catechism question answer 75 helps us

understand a little more of what Jesus is saying. Question how does the Holy

Supper remind and assure you that you share in Christ one

sacrifice on the cross and in all of its benefits. Answer in this way Christ has

commanded me and all believers to eat this broken bread and to drink this cup

in remembrance of him. With this command we get two promises okay. First as surely

as I see with my eyes the bread of the Lord broken for me and the cup shared

with me so surely his body was offered and broken for me and his blood poured

out for me on the cross. Second as surely as I receive from the hand of the one

who serves and taste with my mouth the bread and the cup of the Lord given me

as sure signs of Christ's body and blood so surely he nourishes and refreshes my

soul for eternal life with his crucified body and poured out blood. That the bread

of life Jesus the Savior when we partake we will never not be satisfied. We will

never be hungry again. What does that mean? Obviously in the practical

and the actual we eat we need to re-eat right. That you eat then you don't you

get hungry again you eat. It's just a cycle that we do every day and if we're

being honest we probably don't even think about it. But what Jesus is doing

here what Jesus is giving all of those people that he's teaching in John what

he's giving to us today in 2025 is what he says in John 6 35. It's a clear

invitation to come and believe. Jesus said to them I am the bread of life

whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never

thirst. Nikki you can leave that up there. My question is do you believe that or in

the little small parts of our soul that we don't really talk about do we doubt?

Hmm I don't know if Jesus is gonna be enough. Like I get it I did the you know

the bread I'm gonna eat it right now never thirst but maybe we still believe

we are gonna thirst that we are gonna be hungry. What we have to understand

church is that we are kind of striving after earthly things. That what does it

look like for you to be satisfied in life? Find a trusted friend today and

this week ask that question. Maybe if maybe you talk about it with your

spouse what would it look like to be satisfied in life? Maybe right now you're

going through a hardship and everything it just it seemed like the cards are

down you're just down on your luck and this understanding that I will never be

hungry again I will never thirst again I will never long for anything else this

world can give but Jesus maybe you just don't believe it. Maybe you're doubting

maybe you're struggling. Friend let me ask what what are you putting in place

of the eternal? You're putting in the temporary. You've heard it said this too

shall pass right there's nothing biblical about that though there is you

could tie scripture to it but this understanding that as we struggle if we

have Christ we do have everything even if it seems like we have nothing. Why do

you think Jesus calls the church to meet the physical needs of people? It's not

just so we can hopefully gain an audience with them to teach him Jesus

but as we learned about months ago Maslow's hierarchy of needs if people

don't feel cared for if people don't feel nourished physically that's a

slippery slope to a lot of things. So as a church we have the responsibility to

feed the hungry to clothe the naked to visit those in prison to give drink to

the thirsty Jesus is demanding pastor can you really say demanding I can

remember the sheep and the goats one gets what heaven the other gets what

hell I think he's doubling down on it and if Jesus is saying okay I am also

the bread of life let's feed the people and bring them to the cross it's an

invitation to come and believe coming to Jesus means trusting him fully as the

source of life some of you may struggle with this today belief is not merely an

intellectual thing but a wholehearted reliance on him so another question for

you for this week what is your reliance in Jesus look like how are you relying

on Jesus in your life are you relying on Jesus for everything or just for the

things that seem outside of your control because I look out and I'm looking in

the mirror too we have a lot of type-a personalities I'm not gonna ask you to

raise your hand that's only gonna cause fights we have a lot of activators we

have a lot of go-getters we have a lot of people that that want to make their

name want to do their thing and being a good steward of what God's giving you

that's not a bad thing but if we think then ultimately we can do it all

ourselves how quickly is Satan gonna turn that and say you don't need this

you got you you can feed yourself you have enough money in your bank account

you don't need to have faith in this just believe in you why do you think the

first commandment you shall have no other gods I've said it before I'll

continue to say it until we're all in glory he was talking about us we can be

the golden calves in our lives how many of you have made an actual golden calf

out of your own jewelry no none of us are that dumb to do that but we can do

it to ourselves we can become our own golden calves Jesus knows that about us

it's why he makes it very tangible feeding 10,000 with five loaves two fish

big deal the disciples doubling down walking on water saying I am always

going to be with you and then he does the teaching I don't know maybe we need

to do coffee hour before church Vanderwood's how do we think it no we

won't do it we won't we won't rock the boat that way but understand meet the

physical needs of people that is the call of the church come and believe it's

not just in the mind but it's in the heart why because eternal life begins

now those who partake in this bread are nourished both now and forever

experiencing eternal life in the present but also in eternity if I understand

this if I understand that Jesus is the bread of my life that I will never go

hungry I will never be in need eternally it gives me a perspective that the

valleys will end it gives me perspective that the darkness won't win though it

may feel like it right now that Jesus being the bread of life in a couple

weeks when we see during its baptism Sunday and we're gonna talk about the

water of life what Jesus is telling the first century what Jesus is telling

Munster Church right now I am all that you will ever need and for some of us we

need that reminder we need that understanding that Jesus is the all-in-all

period end of sentence end of chapter end of book so what does it mean for us

today for our head our heart our hands for the head is no this is kind of dr.

Susie but for the head know the bread right that we are to know the bread that

we that we understand that Jesus is the bread of life so I'm asking I'm

challenging us to reflect on Jesus identity as the bread of life meditate on

the sufficiency of the atoning work that and his ability to satisfy your

spiritual hunger for the heart trust the bread rest in the assurance that Jesus

provides eternal nourishment worship him with gratitude knowing that he satisfies

your deepest longings and for the hands what can we do to take it out share the

bread so know the bread trust the bread share the bread just as bread is meant

to be shared we are called to share the bread of life with others look for

opportunities to point people to Jesus the true source of satisfaction