The Mann̶a̶ From Heaven - Luke 9:10-17

Four points this morning in the message.

I'm going to go ahead and give you the first.

We'll be in it briefly.

The title of this message this morning is The Manna from Heaven, or better understood, the Man from Heaven.

Here's the first point.

The crowds could see what Jesus could give them.

The crowds see what Jesus could give them.

We'll pick it up right in verse 10, as we just read.

On their return from ministry work, sharing the good news of the kingdom of God, and told Jesus all they had done.

They withdrew to a town called Beth Seda.

When the crowds learned it, they followed Jesus.

He welcomed them.

He spoke to them more about the kingdom of God.

He cured those who had need of healing.

And of course, everyone gets really hungry.

And so the disciples say, you know, you should send the crowd to the villages to go get some food.

Jesus says in verse 13, you give them something to eat.

And they say, we don't have but five loaves and two fish.

And you know how the story goes?

Jesus multiplies the five loaves and the two fish so that there are twelve baskets left over.

Now, just a quick note here.

It says the crowd, there were about five thousand men, but there were certainly more people than five thousand men.

It did not count the women and children.

And so we could just roughly estimate at least double that.

And we know that's true because the gospel of Matthew and his account of what took place, Matthew 14, 21, it says the number of those who ate was about 5,000 men, besides women and children.

So in verse 15, they did so.

All the disciples had them sit down, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and he set a blessing over them, probably a traditional Jewish blessing that sounded something like Blessed be thou, Yahweh, our God, King of the world, who causes bread to come from heaven.

Then he broke the loaves, he gave it to the disciples, he set it before the crowd, they all ate, and there were twelve baskets of broken pieces still left.

Now, this story is one of the only stories, aside from the resurrection, that is included in all four Gospels.

All four of them have it.

But John uniquely gives some extra details that Luke does not, especially what happens after this event.

So Luke shows us the miracle that Jesus performed.

John follows the crowd and how they respond to what Jesus does, because there's some things that happen following this story that are really important as we kind of look to Jesus heading to Jerusalem.

John tells us that while the crowd was amazed by Jesus' miracle, they completely misunderstood Jesus.

And this is a point at which the crowd started to leave Jesus.

If you would, in your Bible, turn over to John chapter 6, verse 14.

John 6:14

Unique this morning, but I want us to look at what takes place following this miracle in John chapter 6.

John 6 · chapter mention

And that will introduce our second point and longest point.

The second is this the crowds wanted to use Jesus.

John 6, beginning in verse 14, right after the story of Jesus multiplying the bread and fish.

John tells us in verse 14 that when the people who were gathered there saw the sign that Jesus had done, they said, This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.

They knew that Moses had promised the Israelite people.

Deuteronomy 18, verse 15, the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers, and you must listen to him.

Deuteronomy 18:15

They'd seen what Moses done.

Okay, Jesus is that prophet, most certainly.

They'd saw Jesus provide food in the wilderness, as Moses did.

And the people then concluded, okay, Jesus must be that prophet that Moses spoke of.

Well, it gives us some commentary about Jesus here.

Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force, verse 15, to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.

And notice this Moses led the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity as their leader.

And now the Jewish people hope that Jesus will lead them from under Roman occupation as their leader.

They want to make him king, force him to be king.

And with Jesus withdrew.

Why?

Because the sort of kingship they had in mind was not what he had in mind.

Later on in the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus say, My kingdom is not of this world.

Later, Jesus will tell this crowd, as we'll read, that they were not coming for Jesus.

They were coming because they ate the bread and had their fill.

Here's the thing: the crowds wanted to make Jesus king, and they weren't wrong that he was king and would be crowned as such, fulfilling Daniel 7, 13 and 14 at his ascension.

They were wrong about how small his kingdom would really be.

They expected too little.

The kingdom of God, as we can confess, has outlasted and far surpassed the kingdom of Rome.

I mean, think about the irony here, if you would.

All right?

The empire this crowd is so afraid of is gone.

Rome had armies.

Jesus had 12 disciples.

Rome had wealth.

Jesus didn't have a place to lay his own head.

Rome had Caesar on a throne, Jesus would hang upon a cross.

Two thousand years later, Rome is ruins people buy tickets to sea, while people on every continent worship King Jesus.

They wanted Jesus to defeat Rome.

Jesus was building a kingdom Rome could never defeat.

See, Jesus hadn't come to merely take over Rome, Jesus came to take over the world.

They got into a boat.

They 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 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, then 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 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.

Jesus is frustrated as they're seeking him.

Isn't that interesting?

I mean, we we want people to seek after Jesus, do we not?

These people just crossed water to go find him, and Jesus is frustrated.

Jesus looks at the crowd across the Sea of Galilee looking for him and essentially says, You're looking for me, but you don't really want me.

The crowds wanted bread.

They were interested, as we'll find out, in another miracle.

They wanted kind of political liberation from Rome.

They wanted the gifts of Jesus without submitting to him as Lord.

They're hungry, not for righteousness, not for forgiveness, but for food.

They're seeking Jesus because he was useful to them.

Useful for bread.

They want physical food, like God, give me manna.

They want political freedom, like Moses, be our king.

Here's the principle.

You can seek after Jesus without really wanting Jesus.

That's the principle.

It is possible to be very interested in Jesus for your circumstances to be changed while having very little interest in Jesus changing your life.

Here's the thing Jesus does not want to merely manage your circumstances from a government throne like Caesar or a president.

Jesus wants to be the master of your life from his heavenly throne like he's God because he is.

It is possible to seek Jesus but not really want Jesus.

Jesus is not come to just give you better circumstances in life.

He's come to give you himself for all of life.

What's the principle?

It is possible to seek after Jesus but not really want him.

In a few hours, I will head to Nashville.

And I'll stay the night in Nashville.

I'll fly out early in the morning.

I'll head to Malawi, where I'll get to the chance to spend time with Malawian pastors and pour into them and see the school that we support in my time and ministry.

I've had plenty of opportunities to travel and speak and get to be on mission trips in Poland and South America and Central America.

And almost every time I travel, I bring back some sort of souvenir for both my kids so that when I come home, I can say, Look, yeah, look where I've look where I've I've been.

And just kind of get to tell them stories and show them pictures.

Imagine with me for a moment, if not this Wednesday, but next, I come back home and I pull into the driveway.

And my kids rush toward their car.

And I think they want to see dad.

And they open the door and they say, What'd you bring us?

Where's your suitcase?

What is it?

Can you imagine how heartbreaking that would be?

They don't want dad.

They want what dad brought them.

Here's the problem.

God sent the greatest gift the world has ever known.

And his children, but what can he give me?

Now there's nothing wrong with wanting the Father's gift.

James tells us that every good gift comes from above.

The problem is when we would gladly take everything out of his hand with no desire for a relationship with him, what we so desperately need.

You can seek Jesus without actually wanting Jesus.

So here is Jesus' word to the crowd: Do not work, verse 27, for the 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.

What does he mean?

Well, the text continues.

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

And Jesus answers them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.

Now this is important.

They wanted to know what works, plural, God required of them that they might qualify for the food that lasts to eternal life.

And Jesus answered, The work singular of God is this to believe in the one He has sent.

They ask, okay, what do we need to do?

Give us some sort of religious checklist so that we might have that sort of food that lasts into eternal life and that we might enjoy in eternity.

And Jesus redirects your attention from performing or meeting qualifications, and he says, believe in the one in whom God has sent.

Why?

Well, Christianity is not about a relationship with God through accomplishing certain tasks, but rather submitting yourself to believe that God has sent Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

Will you receive him?

If so, food, eternal life.

Believe God.

So they said to him, Then what sign do you do?

That we may see and believe you.

What work do you perform?

Now, if you're not crazy, you must be thinking at this moment, what?

Are you following?

Believe in the one he sent.

It's very clear he's talking about himself.

That's that's your quote unquote work.

Belief.

And then they're like, well, what do you do to prove it to us?

And you're thinking, guys, you just traveled across the water because you saw him.

Five loaves?

Two fish?

You just saw a really big sign.

You have to ask, you're there because you've seen him perform science.

Which brings a really good point up, I think.

And that is when someone doesn't believe in God, how many proofs do they need?

One more.

Always one more.

If you bring a if then statement to God, the problem can't be merely insufficient evidence.

The problem then is an unbelieving heart.

And that's the problem.

Then they say, our fathers, they ate manna in the wilderness.

As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Now, what are they referring to?

They're referring to, of course, the Israelites who were wandering in the wilderness for 40 years who didn't have food.

God provided this bread-like substance from heaven.

Every morning they would wake up, they would have enough food to sustain their day.

They could not put it, jar it, keep it overnight, because it would go bad.

So they had to trust God, lean on his promises to provide every day, that he would provide bread so that they would live.

It was a test.

In fact, Deuteronomy tells us it was a test.

He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord, the promises of God.

So here's the point God gave Israel bread to teach them that bread is never enough.

The manna wasn't just like filling their stomachs, it was preaching a sermon.

And the sermon was you can't keep yourself alive, you must trust me, and I will give you life.

Every day you must wake up and believe that I'll provide.

But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.

All 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.

Instead of performing another sign, Jesus claims that he himself is the bread sent from heaven, the man of that's come down.

They say, Give us bread, and he says, I am that bread.

They want something Jesus can put in their hands.

Jesus says, Okay, I have eternal life, and he says, And I'll hold you in my hand.

God has provided again to people in need of life in the wilderness, crying out, God, where are you?

And without his providing, you would not live.

So Jesus says, I am the bread for your life eternal.

In other words, the whole point of the manna in the old testament was a test from God to see if they would put their hope and trust in his promises to provide.

God provides again.

Would you trust him?

The question.

Jesus didn't say, I know where you can find bread.

He says, I'm it, and you get the Father by receiving his gift of life, his son, the man from heaven.

Verse 37, whoever comes to me then, I will never cast out.

Whoever comes.

Don't want to move past that.

Jesus says, Do you feel like you can't approach me?

If you come seeking me, you desire a relationship with me.

You would be acknowledging your sin before a holy God and saying, I need forgiveness.

I need a savior.

I know who you are, Jesus, and I want you.

I rely totally on you covering over my sin with your sacrificial death so that I could stand before God and not and not be fearing damnation, but be gladly received because if you're if that I want Jesus, Jesus says, I'm here for whoever comes.

Jesus says, and I won't lose you.

I will lose nothing that the Father has given me, but I will raise it up on the last day.

Scriptures teach us that the same God who bore our sin on the cross and was raised on the last day is the same God who holds us in his hands and will raise us up to live with him eternally on the final day.

Same hands that multiplied the bread are holding you.

Same hands that split the waters so that Israel could walk across the Red Sea on dry ground are holding you.

Same hands that drew on the wall in the Babylonian Empire to put fear in Belshazzar are holding you.

That's why when we read 1 Peter chapter 5, and it says, humble yourselves entrusting your life to the mighty hand of God because he cares about you, his hands are not against you.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

They're open to receive and they're holding you until he returns.

Oh, this is good news.

At the end of this chapter, we read that many leave Jesus.

Verse 57.

As the living Father sent me, I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he will also live because of me.

58, this is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate and died.

Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.

We're left here, the crowds have to decide whether Jesus himself is enough.

Crowds have to decide whether Jesus himself is enough.

That's point number four.

Last point.

The crowds have to decide whether Jesus himself is enough.

Verse 60.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, This is a hard saying.

Who can listen to it?

After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.

You know, at first in Jesus' ministry, he was very popular.

People loved him.

He fed people, he healed people.

They even thought they could use him to overthrow Rome.

They liked Jesus again for what they could use him for.

It is entirely possible to seek after Jesus and not want Jesus, right?

But now offering himself the same Jesus who couldn't get away from the crowds, couldn't keep him.

They didn't want him.

What changed?

Well, Jesus didn't change.

What changed was that Jesus stopped giving them merely what they wanted and started telling them who he was.

And because of who Jesus is, it demands a response of submission, of obedience, of repentance, a changed life.

And for many, that request is too much.

John says, many began turning away and rejecting Jesus after this bread speech.

They wanted bread from Jesus, Jesus offered himself himself, and they didn't want him.

Verse 67, so Jesus then said to the twelve, remember there's a lot of disciples following Jesus, but then there's the twelve.

He said to the twelve, Do you want to go away as well?

I mean, think about this moment.

Do you want to leave?

Simon Peter answered him, the one that always kind of jumps up and talks.

Lord, to whom shall we go?

Where would we go?

You have the words of eternal life.

And we have believed, and we have come to know that you are the holy one of God.

Peter says, Where else would I go?

Herein lies the difference between the person who's interested in things Jesus has to say and the person who is devoted wholeheartedly to Jesus.

Here's the difference.

The crowd essentially says, Jesus, if you won't give us what we want, we'll find somebody else.

The Christians, like Peter, say, Where else would we go?

You're it.

I've entrusted myself to you to hold on to me for eternal life.

You are the one come from God to seek and save the lost.

In you I have forgiveness.

Without you, I have nothing.

That's the difference.

In other words, Jesus, if I lose everything, but you, I have I have all I need.

All I need.

I've got you.

So here's a question.

Do you want Jesus or you just want what he gives?

And I'm not talking about forgiveness, just what he might change in your life temporarily.

Do you want Jesus or you do you just want Jesus to give you what you want?

That's the question John 6 leaves us with.

The truth is, Jesus did not come merely to give you what you need.

Jesus came to give you himself.

That's the point.

And they miss it.

Oh, don't miss that.

Jesus did not come offering bread for today.

He came offering himself forever.

If you believe that what can be taken away, you're provided for.

Got the bread of life.

I'm not going anywhere.

Jesus will not be like a supplement to add on to an already full life.

He is the bread that our souls can't live without.

And here's what scripture says in Matthew chapter five.

Shall be satisfied.

The righteous one has come.

You hunger for him, you got bread.

You'll be okay.

Satisfaction the world can't compete with.

Famous quotes from Tom Brady interviewed at the peak of football.

There's got to be more than this, he said, on 60 Minutes.

The Rolling Stones, one of the most famous songs that they sang.

I can't get no satisfaction.

One of the most beautiful apologetics to the Christian life is the Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.

He's enough.

You know, many find Jesus useful for life, for arguments, for stuff, for community.

Do you find him worthy of your very life?

And will you stay when others leave?

Jesus did not come merely to provide your needs.

Jesus came to provide himself.

And he's come.

Will you believe God the Father has sent him so that you might have eternal life?

Let's pray.