Coming to the One who Satisfies

Our passage today is John chapter 6, verse 1 to 40.

John 6:1–40

Please follow along in your Bibles or on the screen.

! If it's the Church Bible, it's page 837.

After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias, and a large crowd was following him.

Because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick.

Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.

Lifting up his eyes then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip,

Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.

Philip answered him,

Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to him,

There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?

Jesus said, Have the people sit down.

Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down, about five thousand in number.

Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated.

So also the fish as much as they wanted.

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples,

Gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.

So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.

When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said,

This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king,

Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea,

got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum.

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.

The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing.

When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat,

and they were frightened.

But he said to them,

It is I.

Do not be afraid.

Then they were glad to take him into the boat,

and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.

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 Tiberias 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 to 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 seeking me not because you saw signs,

but because you ate your fill of the loaves.

Do not work for food that perishes,

but for the food that endures to eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give to you.

For on him God the Father has set his seal.

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 whom 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 then said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you,

It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven,

but my Father 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.

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.

But I said to you that you have seen me,

and yet do not believe.

All that the Father gives me will come to me,

and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.

For I have come down from heaven,

not to do my own will,

but the will of him who sent me.

And this is the will of him who sent me,

that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me,

but raise it up on the last day.

For this is the will of my Father,

that everyone who looks on the Son

and believes in him should have eternal life,

and I will raise him up on the last day.

This is the word of God.

Amen.

Okay, great.

Thank you, Albert and Karen.

Hey, let's pray,

and then we're going to dive into this passage.

So join me in prayer.

Father God, as we come to your word,

we want to be fed.

What a passage that tells us,

Jesus, you want to feed our souls.

God, we want to be fed by you this morning.

We want to hear you speaking to us.

God, we don't just want to hear interesting things.

We don't just want a prep talk on how to get through life.

We want God to meet with you, the living God,

in your living word.

We know, God, your word is living and active.

It means you're present in your word,

and you're doing stuff.

So God, why don't you do stuff in our hearts?

Why don't you open our hearts to see you,

to feast in you,

to delight in you,

to savor you.

God, we hear your invitation,

and as I to come,

those who are hungry and thirsty,

to eat and drink.

Lord, we want to respond to that.

And so help us, we pray,

in your good and gracious name.

Amen.

Okay, well, I forgot to greet you.

If you are new to Watermark,

my name's Kevin,

and it's great to have you with us.

Welcome.

We are continuing to work through John's Gospel,

and John's Gospel is all about belief in Jesus,

how and why we can believe in Jesus.

And you remember,

at the end of John's Gospel,

John actually tells us the whole reason,

why he wrote this long book.

These days,

it might not feel long for us,

but in those days,

all the writing on papyrus,

papyrus was very expensive.

Why did John go through all this effort,

and all this cost and expense?

He tells us,

I've written these things,

that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ,

the Son of God,

and by believing,

experience life in His name.

That's what John wants,

and that's what we want.

We want to encounter Jesus,

and experience life in His name.

Whether you've been a follower of Jesus for many years,

or you are still a spiritual seeker,

that's what John wants,

and that's what we want.

And so today,

we are in chapter 6,

and we're continuing our discussion.

And like much of John's Gospel,

there's a miracle,

and what follows the miracle is a teaching,

a discourse,

a discussion.

And like much of John's Gospel,

the miracle is not the main thing,

actually the discussion,

the teaching that follows,

is what John really wants us to focus on.

And so,

let's take a look and see what happens here.

Now,

the context is important.

Context is everything,

right?

And so,

look at what John tells us in verse 4.

He says,

Now the Passover,

the feast of the Jews,

was at hand.

That's really important.

In John's Gospel,

many of these chapters,

all revolve around a different feast.

And the feast informs what's the message,

what's going on here.

And so,

in chapter 6,

it's all about the Passover.

Now,

what is the Passover?

The Passover was the most sacred

and momentous celebration

in the history of Israel.

It was the main feast

that everyone would celebrate.

It's kind of like

Lunar New Year for us Asians,

right?

Everyone would gather

and come together.

Us Asians,

you know.

Why is that so funny?

Don't I look Chinese?

Right?

Okay.

You Asians,

fine.

For us Asians,

okay,

so Lunar New Year,

it's when everyone gathers together

and they celebrate

God's deliverance.

In their case,

out of Egypt,

deliverance from Egypt.

You'll remember,

the reason is called the Passover,

is God's people were slaves in Egypt

and God's judgment comes on

their enemies,

the Egyptians,

but His judgment passes over

God's people.

And so they are saved,

they're delivered,

they are then rescued,

they leave Egypt.

And when they leave Egypt,

the Exodus,

they then pass through the sea,

the Red Sea,

on dry ground.

They go into the wilderness

and they're fed in the wilderness

with bread

on the way to the promised land.

And God provides them

and cares for them.

And as they come out of Egypt,

this Passover is the defining feature

of the nation of Israel.

It's kind of their national identity.

Later on,

God says to him,

two things must happen.

You must reset your calendars.

This is the first month

of the first year

of your new nation.

It's kind of like as a nation,

you've been reborn.

But the other thing he says is this.

He says that every Israelite must,

this is a statutory holiday,

every Israelite must celebrate Passover

and no foreigners are allowed

to celebrate it.

Because this is what it means

to be the people of God,

that I have delivered you,

I've saved you,

I've rescued you.

God says,

I am the rescuing,

delivering,

saving God.

I'm the Exodus God.

I'm the Passover God.

And now John tells us

it's the week of Passover

or Passover is at hand.

And so everybody's thinking about this.

Everyone's preparing.

Everybody's celebrating,

getting ready to celebrate

God's salvation,

God's deliverance of his people.

Now in this passage,

I want us to think about three,

think about in three sections.

Okay.

The miracles of Jesus,

the call of Jesus

or the challenge of Jesus

and the promises of Jesus.

Okay.

Three very simple things.

So let's dive in and look,

the miracles of Jesus.

So everybody's thinking about Passover

and they're getting ready for it.

But of course,

Jesus is also a pretty big attraction.

And so verse two says,

a large crowd was following him

because they saw the signs.

That's the miracles

that he was doing on the sick.

And so crowds are following Jesus

and it's been a long day.

It's been a tiring day.

They're all exhausted.

And Jesus,

knowing exactly what he's going to do,

says to one of the disciples

who's from that area,

Oh, Philip, by the way,

can you just make sure

we've got enough food

to feed these 5,000 people?

And it's a ridiculous question

because they don't have enough food.

There's no shops nearby.

They're in the wilderness

and they don't have enough money for it.

And so Philip is a bit stomach.

He has no solution

and they don't have enough food

or money.

And one of the disciples,

Andrew,

it comes up with a rather silly idea.

He says,

Oh, I saw a boy

who brought his lunchbox.

He's got five loaves

and two fish.

But then he quickly concludes,

what are they for so many?

And Jesus performs

this amazing miracle.

He feeds

more than 5,000 people.

When it says 5,000,

that was probably counting.

5,000 men

means 5,000 households.

So maybe 10,

maybe 15,000 people.

Jesus feeds them

and there's abundant leftover.

And as someone in our CG said recently,

the point of this

is that Jesus provides abundantly

in scarcity.

And so the people

start to make the connection.

Verse 14,

they say,

when the people saw

the sign that he had done,

they said,

this is indeed the prophet

who's come to the world.

They're putting two and two together

and they're saying,

this guy must be

some kind of Messiah.

Maybe he's the Messiah,

the one we've been waiting for.

But the problem is

what they think

a Messiah means

is a political Messiah.

A Messiah is going to come

deliver them from their enemies,

the Romans,

and bring freedom to Israel.

But that's not who Jesus is.

That's not what he's come to do.

So look at verse 15.

It says,

perceiving then

they were about to come

and take him by force

and make him king,

Jesus withdrew

to the mountains by himself.

So Jesus evades their attempts

to crown him as king

and disappears into the mountains.

And then Jesus sends

his disciples across the lake.

He wants a night

just in prayer with his father.

So he sends the disciples

across the lake

on the other side

while he spends time alone.

But in the middle of the night

he does the second miraculous thing.

He literally walks on the water.

The gospel calls it

the sea,

the Sea of Galilee.

He walks across it

and the storm-tossed waves,

there's chaos all around

and Jesus goes to the disciples

and they're petrified

and they think it's a ghost.

And Jesus says,

do not be afraid,

it is I.

And they take him into the boat

and immediately it says

they received him into the boat

and their hearts were glad

to take him in

and they are on the other side.

Now, did this really happen?

Well, the Bible claims

that it really happened.

We shouldn't just read this poetically

or allegorically.

The Bible claims this happens.

And that, of course,

is only true

if Jesus really is who said he is.

And that's part of the point.

This is a very unusual story.

I don't know how many of you

have walked on water.

I certainly have not.

But the point is

this should make us sit up

and think,

who is this man?

Who is Jesus?

That he can do these kinds of things.

And, of course,

the claim of the Bible

is that he's not an ordinary man.

He is unusual.

He is nothing less

than the Son of God.

And that's part of what

John wants us to think about.

But why are these miracles?

And why are these miracles

at this point in time?

What is John wanting to show us?

What is the message

that John wants us to see?

John's told us

that it's Passover.

But how do these connect?

Let's think about this.

Passover is a time

when God's people

are ready to celebrate

God's great big rescue of them

from their slavery,

from their Egypt.

He brought them out of Egypt.

He caused them

to cross the Red Sea

on dry ground.

And then he fed them

with bread in the wilderness.

And here there are

three elements to Passover.

There's the Passover lamb

who's going to die

so they can be saved.

There's the crossing

the Red Sea

in the wilderness.

And there is the feeding

crossing the Red Sea

and dry ground

and then the feeding

in the wilderness.

And Jesus is pulling

all these strings together

and he's saying,

can't you see

I am the Passover God?

I'm going to walk

on the water

in a sense dry ground.

I'm going to feed you

in the wilderness.

There's one element

that's missing.

That's the Passover lamb.

That's going to come

a little later.

But Jesus is pulling

in all the elements

of Passover,

all the things

that are in the back

of their mind

that they're thinking about.

And Jesus is saying,

this is me.

I am the Exodus God.

I'm the rescuing God.

I'm the saving God.

I am the great I am.

Remember the Exodus

is God's great

signature accomplishment.

Right?

It's the one thing

that defines him

throughout the whole

of the Old Testament.

Almost every chapter

is remember the Exodus.

Remember how I saved you.

Remember how I delivered you.

I am the saving God.

I'm the rescuing God.

I'm the Passover God.

And Jesus comes

and says,

this is me.

I am the rescuing God.

I'm the Passover God.

Jesus will later say,

I'm the Passover lamb,

the one who will die

for the sins of the world.

And Jesus says,

I'm the one who will

bring you through the sea.

I'm the one who will

provide for you

in the wilderness.

I'm the one who will

bring you to the promised land,

the other side.

Except they don't quite get it,

do they?

So look at verse 22.

They don't quite understand.

And so the next day

they come to him.

They are looking for him.

And they say,

Jesus, where are you?

How did you come here?

Verse 25.

And Jesus,

verse 26,

says to them,

truly, truly,

I say to you,

you seek me,

not because you saw the signs

and therefore believed,

but because you ate

your fill of the loaves.

And this really

is the heart of the problem.

Jesus is diagnosing

their problem.

Why do they misunderstand him?

Well, the reason is

because Jesus says,

you coming to me

to have your physical needs met,

you coming to have

your material needs met,

you coming to me

because you were hungry

and I filled your stomachs,

but actually,

so now you're coming back

for more,

but what you've missed

is that's not what I'm about.

I'm wanting to just,

not just meet your material needs,

your hunger,

I'm here to meet

your real need.

I'm here to meet

your spiritual need.

Jesus says,

you coming to me

to do,

just to help you

get along in life,

but I've actually

come to do for you

what you cannot do

for yourself.

I'm here to save you.

I'm here to rescue you

from death.

I'm here to give you life.

Jesus says,

you coming to me

because,

not because you saw

the signs and believed,

but because you ate

your food,

your stomachs

were full of food.

And so verse 27,

Jesus says,

do not work for the food

that perishes,

but for the food

that endures

to eternal life.

Food that I

can give you.

And that's Jesus' point.

Jesus says,

you can come here

all day.

I can provide for your needs.

I can give you food.

I can give you drink.

I can give you a job.

But that won't last

because I'm not just

the bread and water God.

I'm the Exodus God.

I haven't come just

to provide for you materially.

I've come to provide

for your greatest need,

your deepest need.

I've come to save you deeply.

And friends,

that's just as challenging

for us in 21st century Hong Kong

as it was in

first century Israel.

The area where Jesus was,

Capernaum,

it's up north of Israel,

it's a rather poor area.

They are living

by subsistence farming,

kind of hand to mouth.

They are working the ground

to getting their food

and eating of it.

It's not a very wealthy area.

And here are people,

they are working hard,

and here comes

a miracle worker,

and they're thinking,

here's somebody

who can rescue us

from hard work.

Finally,

somebody has come

that can give us food.

We don't need to work

the ground that hard.

Someone can save us

from this back-breaking work.

Finally,

the gods are shining down on us.

Jesus,

the miracle worker,

can come and solve

all our problems.

And Jesus says,

that's not who I am.

I'm not the genie

in the bottle.

I am the son of God.

And Jesus hasn't come

just to relieve us.

He's come to rescue us

from our sin.

Jesus says,

I haven't come

just to serve your needs.

I've come to save you

from hell and judgment forever.

Jesus says,

I haven't come

just to lift you up.

I've come to give you

a whole new life.

Will you believe in me?

And this is the call.

This is the challenge

of Jesus.

That Jesus,

yes,

he's a miracle worker.

Yes,

he's powerful.

Yes,

he can solve our problems.

But will we come to him

for the real reason

why he's come to us?

Not just to lift us up

and improve our lives,

but to save us.

And here are people

that are seeking out Jesus

because they want the blessing,

not because they see

the great need for him.

Friends,

we can do the same.

We want a job.

We want to get

into a decent college.

We want our kids

to get into a decent college.

We want a spouse.

We want to fall pregnant

and have children.

We want that promotion.

And so we serve

and we work

and we come to church

and we give

and we do all the things

and then we say,

okay,

Jesus,

I've played my part.

Where's my miracle?

And Jesus says,

that's not who I am.

That's not how I've come.

Jesus says,

I'm not the get into college,

God.

I'm not the find a spouse,

God.

I'm not the full pregnant,

God,

as good as all those things may be.

I'm the rescuing God.

I'm the saving God.

I'm the Passover God.

I am the Exodus God.

I am the great.

I am.

And David actually wrestles with us

in Psalm chapter four.

In Psalm four,

David writes this.

He says,

there are many who say to us,

who will show us some good?

Why don't you lift up

the light of your face

upon us,

oh Lord?

So,

so David says,

there are many people

and,

and things are hard

and they cried and they say,

God,

where are you?

We,

we thought you meant to be good.

Well,

why don't you save us?

Why don't you give us a blessing?

Why don't you give us a job?

Why don't you lift up

the light of your face

upon us?

Oh God.

But David says that

I've come to see

that's not who you are.

I've come to see you.

The God who's come to bring light

into the darkness,

joy in the midst of anguish,

life in the place of death,

salvation in the place of lostness.

And so David says,

verse five,

but you,

O God,

have put more joy in my heart

than they have

when their grain

and their wine abound.

Their grain can abound,

their wine can abound,

their stocks can go up,

their investments can overflow,

that they can have

everything going well,

but that's not

the main point of life.

You've put a joy in my heart.

You've put a satisfaction.

You've put something in my heart

that exceeds even

all the material blessings

of this world.

God,

you've put a joy in my heart

that exceeds them

even when their grain

and their wine

and their stocks

and investment abound.

For in peace,

I will both lie down and sleep.

For you alone,

O Lord,

make me dwell in safety.

Jesus says,

don't come to me

for temporary blessings.

Come to me to be rescued,

to be healed,

to be given new life.

I am the rescuing.

God.

Now,

what does that actually mean?

So Jesus says,

come to me.

But what does that mean?

Well,

look at what he says.

Look at verse 27.

Jesus says here,

do not work for the things

that perish,

but for the one thing

that will last forever,

the thing that only I can give.

And they say,

so what must we do

to be doing the works of God?

And that is a great question.

Jesus offers us new life

and you say,

okay,

so what must I do?

What is the thing

that God requires?

If there's one thing

that God requires me,

what must I do

to be doing the works of God?

I want to be saved.

I want to be rescued.

I want to experience

God's blessing.

What must I do?

Friends,

what should we do?

But look at how Jesus answers.

Verse 29,

Jesus answered them,

this is the work of God.

This is the one thing

that God requires

that you believe in him

whom he has sent.

Friends,

that's it.

Just believe.

No works required.

No charity required.

No giving of money.

No certain number of days

of church attendance.

No sacrifices.

No attending class.

No attending CG.

You want to be rescued.

You want to be healed.

You want to meet

the living God.

You want to experience

life in his name.

What must you do?

Jesus says,

there's only one thing.

Believe.

Believe in the one

that he sent.

And you will find life

and life in his name.

This is the work

that God requires.

Believe in him

whom God has sent.

But what does that mean?

Well,

obviously it means

believing the facts,

right,

regarding Jesus.

We spoke about that

last week.

Do the research.

Examine the evidence.

Question the eyewitnesses.

Investigate the evidence.

As we heard last week,

examine what the Bible says.

One cannot know God

or experience God

if you don't know,

if you don't believe,

at least come to

some level of confidence

in the historical claims

that Jesus really is

who he said he is.

That he really did live

and die and rise again.

But when Jesus says

you must believe in me,

he means much more than that.

It's certainly not less than that,

but it's much more than that.

What does Jesus mean

when he says believe in me?

Look what Jesus says

in verse 35.

Jesus says,

I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me

shall not hunger.

Whoever believes in me

shall not thirst.

Jesus says,

to experience life,

you must believe in me

and go on believing in me.

What he means is

not just simply believing

the facts about Jesus,

but in a sense,

feasting on him,

savoring on him,

looking to him

for sustenance and life.

When I was at school

many, many, many years ago,

it was like in the 1990s,

before some of you

were even born,

I had a good friend

that was a very serious diabetic,

type 1 diabetes.

He always used to have

a can of Coke with him

wherever he went.

In his lunchbox,

he had a can of Coke.

And some of the other boys

in school thought it was fun

to steal his can of Coke,

right,

out of his lunchbox.

But it was actually

very serious.

Because being a diabetic,

if his blood sugar levels

dropped,

it was obviously

very dangerous.

And he could go into

a hypoglymic state,

go into a coma,

possibly even die.

And so he always had

this can of Coke with him

in case his blood sugar levels

dropped too quickly

and he needed to get

the levels up.

And there were times

from times he would

have to do this,

open this can and drink it

to get his levels up

to not only be okay,

but maybe to even live,

to revive him,

to sustain him.

Jesus says that

you can go on living,

but unless you're feasting on me,

spiritually,

your level's going to drop

and you're going to die.

To believe in Jesus

is not just intellectual

assent about the facts

and knowing the knowledge,

it's about feasting on him.

It's about getting him

inside of us

so that we feast on him

so that he sustains us.

Well, think about this.

Maybe you go out for a meal

with a friend, right?

You've had a long day at work,

you're tired,

you're exhausted,

you're drained,

and you meet a friend

for a meal at dinner.

And the food arrives

and what do you do?

You study it very carefully, right?

And you look up

what is the Hebrew word

for dumplings

and you analyze it

and you do a Bible study

on the food in front of you

and you all go away

and say,

okay, what is the application of this?

And then you leave the restaurant, right?

And you've had a good Bible study.

No, no, you don't do that at all, right?

What do you do?

You feast on the food,

you eat it,

you savor it,

you devour it.

And maybe you don't know

what the calorie content is,

but that's okay.

You get the sustenance

inside of your body

because you need it

to energize you,

to sustain you,

to invigorate you,

to revitalize you.

When God's people

were in the wilderness,

they were in deep trouble

and God provided food for them

to sustain them,

to revitalize them,

to keep them going.

And they say here to Jesus,

they say,

Jesus,

God provided bread

for our fathers

in the wilderness.

He sustained us

and Jesus says,

you're on the right track.

Okay, keep going,

keep thinking.

Yeah, what's the next

logical conclusion?

Listen,

Jesus says,

I am the bread.

I am the bread

that's come from heaven.

Verse 49,

later on he says,

your fathers ate the bread

in the wilderness

and they died.

But there is bread

that comes down from heaven

and the one that eats of it

will not die.

I,

I am the living bread

that comes down from heaven.

If anyone eats of this bread,

anyone eats of me,

if anyone believes in me,

he will not die,

he will live forever.

Jesus says that

to believe in him

is to feast on him,

to savor him,

to delight in him,

to,

to get who Christ is

into us

so that sustains

and invigorates

and enlivens us.

And so Jesus says

to crowds

and he says to us today,

I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me

shall not hunger.

Whoever believes in me

shall never thirst.

Friends,

believing in Jesus

is not just intellectual assent,

it's not just understanding

the facts

or agreeing with him

or agreeing with the doctrines

about him,

it's actually coming to him

in such a way

that he feeds

and sustains our souls.

And so here's the question,

are you believing in Jesus?

Not just once off in 1997

you made a commitment,

but today,

are you feasting on him?

Is he sustaining you spiritually?

Is your soul alive

and awake to him?

Are you believing

and feasting on Jesus?

Friends,

all of us here

look to something,

to someone,

to trust in something,

to sustain us,

to energize us,

to carry us

through the journey of life.

What is it for you?

What is it that you're trusting in?

What is it that you're believing in?

What is it that you're hoping in?

Jesus says,

I am the bread of life.

I am the one that has come.

Friends,

many of us here this morning

would describe ourselves

as followers of Jesus.

Maybe you made a commitment

to Christ once upon a time,

got baptized,

to join the church,

but are you believing in him today?

Is he sustaining you?

Is he driving you?

What is feeding your soul?

Are you still feasting in Jesus?

How are your spiritual blood sugar levels?

Are you in cardiac arrest?

Are you hyperglycemic?

Are you suffering?

Friends,

I know from my own life,

one of the things

that I find so easy to do,

and actually as a pastor,

I find this particularly easy to do,

is to go through the motions,

to recite the confessions,

to sing the songs,

to do my devotions in the morning,

and to go through the motions,

but my soul is not feasting on Christ.

And I can tick the box

and say I've done it,

but actually my soul is still dry.

All of us have that temptation.

Jesus says,

come to me,

come and feast on me.

Now,

practically,

what does that mean?

Well,

two things very simply practically.

How do we actually do that?

To feast on Christ

requires two things very simply.

The first is this,

to slow down enough

to actually be with Him.

I don't know if you've ever

had this experience

where you've been unbelievably busy

at work

and your work is crunching,

you know,

you crunching hours,

work is crushing you,

right?

And you've been very busy

and all your relationships

start to suffer.

So your friends

no longer invite you out

because you've turned them down

the last 15 times,

right?

And your children

no longer tell you

what's going on at school

because you haven't really

been around for the last month.

And your spouse

just tells you

where to be

and at what time.

They don't even discuss it

with you

because you don't have time

to talk about things.

Your spouse says,

you've got to be

at that appointment

at 3 o'clock,

right?

And your life is so busy

that actually

your relationships suffer.

There's no connection.

You're just going through life

doing your diary,

your calendar.

What's going on?

You're so busy

you've left

your relationships behind.

You know,

in the ancient world,

thankfully,

they didn't have McDonald's

or 7-Eleven.

You couldn't go get

a quick meal,

right?

To have a meal with somebody,

to break bread with somebody

was an evening long

extended event.

You would sit down

and spend hours

with each other

talking and breaking bread

and then some more bread

would come

and you'd break that further

and you'd discuss

and you'd share your life

and you'd share your heart

with somebody.

Friends,

Jesus says that

to believe in Him

means to feast on Him,

to nourish our souls

on who He is.

But that means more

than just a one-minute

Bible study on the MTR.

It means more than

just scrolling Instagram

and finding a verse somewhere

and thinking I've had a devotion,

right?

That's not a devotion.

To believe in Jesus,

to feast in Him.

But to feast in Jesus

is to slow down enough

that actually to be with Him,

to hear Him speak

to the real issues

of our hearts,

the challenges of our life,

to meditate on His Word,

to turn that into prayer.

But here's the second thing

it means.

It means to open up enough

to let Him in.

Again,

I don't know if you've had

this experience

where maybe you're going

through a really tough time.

There's some deep,

deep, heavy things

in your heart,

things that are weighing you down,

you're worried about,

you're anxious about.

And you go and you spend

an evening with friends,

okay?

They eventually invite you

despite the 15 rejections.

and you spend an evening

with friends

and nobody asks you

a single question.

Nobody asks you

how you're doing.

They all just talk

about themselves.

Have you ever had that?

And you've spent hours

with your friends

but you've come away

and nobody knows

what's going on inside of you.

And you feel more lonely

than before

even though you've just spent

an evening with friends.

You ever experience that?

In the ancient world,

to break bread with somebody,

to have a meal with somebody,

meant not just letting them

into your space,

it meant letting them

into your life.

To have somebody

in your home

wasn't just letting them

in your home,

it was letting them

into your heart.

As you break bread

and have a meal

with somebody,

it's communicating saying,

I want a relationship

with you.

I want to know you

and I want you to know me.

That's why in the Gospels

everybody's freaking out

when Jesus keeps

on having meals

with all sorts

of unsavory characters,

right?

He's having meals

with tax collectors

and prostitutes

and political insurrectionists

and murderers.

And the religious leaders

are saying,

how can you welcome

these people into your life?

How can you have

a relationship with them?

You've got to reject them.

You've got to kick them out

because they know

that to have a meal

with somebody says,

I want to know you.

I want to know the real you.

Jesus comes to us

and he says,

come.

Come and feast with me.

Come and eat of me.

Come and drink.

Come and sustain your soul

with me.

I want to know you

and I want you to know

the real me.

Friends,

it means having the real Jesus

knowing the real you.

It means processing

our actual fears,

our actual joys,

our actual hurts,

our actual desires,

our actual pains,

our actual agonies.

Letting him in on those things

and letting him speak to them.

What must we do

to be doing the works of God?

Simply,

believe in the one

that God has sent.

I,

I am the bread of life,

says Jesus.

Whoever comes to me

and feasts on me

and eats of me

will find life.

The miracles of Jesus,

the call of Jesus

to believe and feast on him.

Finally,

the promises of Jesus,

the wonderful promises.

Look at how our passage concludes.

Look at verse 35 to 40 with me.

Actually,

verse 36.

Actually,

let's make it 37.

Look here.

Jesus says this.

All that the Father gives me

will come to me.

Whoever comes to me,

I will never cast out.

For I have come down from heaven

not to do my own will,

but the will of him who sent me.

And this is his will,

that I should lose nothing

of all that he's given me,

but raise them up on the last day.

This is the will of my Father,

that everyone who looks on the Son

and believes in him

should have eternal life,

and I will raise them up

on the last day.

Jesus concludes this section

with two wonderful,

wonderful promises.

First promise is this.

If you come to Jesus,

he will never chase you away.

He will never turn you away.

Friends,

how many of us grew up

being told either directly

or indirectly

that we were not good enough?

How many of us were told

that we were unwanted?

How many of us were scolded

and chased back and beaten,

belittled,

made to feel small,

inadequate?

How many of us were told

to sort ourselves out,

to fix our grades,

to sort out our life

and then come back

to our parents?

Jesus says that if you come to him,

weak as your faith may be,

all your issues,

all your baggage,

all your hurts,

all your pains,

weak,

insecure,

feeble as your faith may be,

he says,

I will never cast you out.

I will never chase you away.

I will never turn you down.

Friends,

that's amazing.

Jesus experienced

the type of rejection

on the cross

in our place

that we never need to fear

being rejected again.

And if you come to him,

weak and small

as your faith will be,

he will not turn you away.

One of the things

John Calvin says

is he says,

your praise,

he says,

our prayers are mixed with,

are full of mixed motives.

Self-centered motives,

greedy motives,

but don't worry,

your God knows that

and he loves you anyway.

So pray anyway.

Friends,

when we come to Jesus,

small as our faith may be,

weak as it may be,

mixed motives as it may be,

Jesus doesn't come and say,

come to me with perfect faith.

Once you've sorted it all out

and you've got all your issues

behind you,

then come to me.

He says,

come to me.

I will never turn you away.

What a promise.

What a savior.

What a king.

Second thing,

Jesus says this,

if you come to him,

he will never let you go.

Look at verse 39.

This is the will

of the one who sent me

that I should lose

none of those

he has given me,

but to raise them up

on the final day.

And this is the will

of my father

that everyone

who looks in the sun

and believes in him

shall have eternal life.

I will raise them up

on the last day.

Friends,

you know what that means?

It means it's not your faith

that's causing you

to hold on to Jesus.

It's Jesus'

gracious or amazing grace

that is holding on to you.

And there are times

when your faith is up

and there are times

when your faith is weak

and there are times

when you're doing well

and there's times

when you're not doing well.

You are not holding on to Jesus

as much as he's holding on to you.

And when your faith is weak

and when your faith is shallow

and when your faith

is not all that you hope it will be,

Christ is holding on to you.

He will not let you go.

on that final day, those who believe in me,

weak, small, insecure as their faith may be,

I will hold on them and I will raise them up.

Friends, let's not come to Jesus for material blessings.

Those things will never truly satisfy.

They will not last.

You can have all the money in the world.

You can have all the prestige or the power in the world.

It will flee away from you.

I remember hearing a story of a famous British author.

I've forgotten his name.

He sold like tens, probably even hundreds of books.

He was a multi-millionaire in pounds, right?

This is like in the 80s.

One of the wealthiest people in Britain.

He was in an interview one day and the interviewer says to him,

what do you wish someone had told you as a young man

it would be like when you got to the top?

And his answer was, I wish someone had told me there's nothing there.

Multi-millionaire, all the name, the prestige, there's nothing there.

Jesus says, you want to feast on those things?

It will not last.

It will perish.

Come to me.

Come and believe in me.

Let me satisfy you.

Let me fill you.

Let me rescue and deliver you.

Come and feast on me.

Fill your heart and your soul with me.

And let me bring you home.

Let's do it now as we come to him in prayer.

Lord Jesus, you are infinitely awesome and infinitely gracious.

God, we confess that the things of this world have their pull on us.

And God, we so need you.

We know we so need you.

Jesus, come and help us.

Lord, we confess with John Calvin.

Our faith is weak.

Our faith is small.

Our faith is full of doubts.

Our faith is insincere and with mixed motives.

But God, you're so gracious.

You will never turn us away.

So thank you, Lord.

God, help us to come to you now.

Lord, I pray for those of us maybe that are spiritual seekers.

Those that are wondering about faith.

Wondering whether they can trust you.

God, by your spirit, reveal yourself to us.

Open the eyes of our heart.

That we will see you and believe in you.

And have life in your name.

God, we pray these things in your wonderful and gracious name.