Ben Carbone: I AM The Bread of Life | 08:03:26

Let's pray.

Lord God, I thank you for your word. I

thank you for your church. And I pray

that this next series that we look into

who you are, that it would open our

minds and our hearts

to new things.

you would speak into our lives and begin

to transform our lives

so that we become more and more like

you. I pray this in Jesus name. Amen. A

few weeks ago, Julie shared a ser sermon

around God's covenant name.

Anyone remember what it is?

Yahweh. That's what we call it. Back

then it was I am who I am. The Jews had

it. It's in Exodus 3 13 and 14. And she

read this quote from Michael Lebra, if I

pronounce it right, where it goes into

the meaning and the significance of

Yahweh. And it says, "In the name

Yahweh, God made himself known as a

present being

that is present with and for his

people."

And wherever God's presence is invoked,

that announcement is pregnant with

certainty of his attention, his care,

his power, and his grace.

This is really important for us to get a

hold of because this is how God

introduced himself to the children of

Israel in one of the most difficult

times. They were in slavery in Egypt.

And God came to Moses through the

burning bush and said,"I am who I am."

And in that statement, he was saying, "I

want to be present among you, and my

presence amongst you

is my attention, my care, my power, and

my grace."

Now, I want you to fast forward 1500

years because that's what historians

tell us that between the time when the

Jews were in the desert to the time when

Jesus was born is about 1,500 years.

Jesus in the Gospel of John

declares himself

in the same way, not once but seven

times.

And in that in him declaring himself as

the I am, he is explicitly identifying

himself as God.

In other words, he's telling us like

Yahweh in Exodus is saying, I am God's

presence in human form

to be present amongst you. Why?

so that he can give us his attention,

his care, his power, and his grace.

So, as Lef Lebra says, I don't know how

to pronounce his name, but that sounds

good enough. Jesus is letting humankind

knowing that in the I ams, God is

addressing every area in our life, our

lives that needs his attention.

So over the next seven weeks, we're

going to explore each of the seven I

ams.

I'll put them up here for you so you can

see what they are. The first one that

we'll look at today is I am the bread of

life.

The second one,

Jesus says, I am the light of the world.

Then I am the door. I am the good

shepherd. I am the resurrection and the

life, which we'll do on Easter Sunday.

And then I am the way, the truth, and

the life. And then finally, I am the

true vine. And I want you to understand

that each of these I ams as they are

door vine. They're great word pictures,

aren't they? Like lovely pictures, but

they're more than just a word picture.

They are a way that God wants to make

himself present

in yours and my life.

This is how he wants to make himself

known to us. Number one, so that we do

know who God is. But in knowing who God

is, then we know how we should respond

to him, how we should know him. And in

reality, we discover who we are in that

place. So today, we're going to look at

I am the bread of life. And Jesus

declares this in John 6:35

John 6:35

just after he's fed 5,000 men, which

means there probably was a about 5,000

women and who knows how many kids. So

I'm estimating that probably he's just

fed close to 20,000 people. Would you

agree?

Probably even more knowing how Jews

procreate. But um the reality is there

was a lot of people there. And after all

of this has happened, Jesus declares

this and he says stands up in front of

the cl crowd and says, "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." Jesus knew exactly

what he was doing at this point. He was

declaring something that spoke into the

very fabric of what it meant for them to

be Jewish.

Bread, if you understand Jewish culture

and Jewish customs, bread is central to

everything they did. For the Jews, their

lives would not exist without bread. It

was the staple of their diet. It it

undergurtded everything they ate, but it

was also a huge part of their religious

activity. No meal or activity was

started until there was the breaking of

bread. If someone came to your house,

the first thing you would do was break

bread together.

The Jews had all sorts of kinds of

bread. They had a type of bread for

every event. So if birthday we use this

bread, if it's uh Sabbath, we use this

bread. There was all kinds of bread that

they use for different meals and

different occasions. And this idea of

bread as part of their culture and their

customs was cemented into their culture

back when God provided mana for them in

the wilderness. This is why bread was so

significant and so important because God

as part of their when they were a young

nation

provided bread

for them in the wilderness when they

desperately needed it.

So when Jesus stands up and declares, "I

am the bread of life," they knew exactly

what he was saying.

They had context because all their lives

as a Jew, you were brought up with bread

to remind you, hey, don't forget God

provided for us in the wilderness. God

was there in the wilderness.

And so he was telling them in no

uncertain terms,

I am everything you need to live.

In other words,

Jesus as the bread of life is not only

the one who gives us life, but is the

one that sustains it.

So, fast forward now to us today.

What does Jesus being the bread of life

mean for us in our everyday lives?

Number one,

Jesus being the bread of life tells us

that he satisfies us.

As I said, the Jews understood the bread

of life to be that bread that God gave

them in the wilderness as mana.

So for the Jews, what they understood

was without bread, they were dead.

They didn't exist anymore. If God hadn't

provided mana in the wilderness,

they wouldn't have survived as a people.

So, every mouthful of bread reminded

them of that story that they had been

taught from just young children that God

provided everything we needed. Without

God's provision, we would not be here

today. The people of Israel would not

exist.

Their nation would be dead.

And so the story in the wilderness shows

us that God will supply our most

essential needs. But it goes much deeper

than that. You see, every person in in

this room knows this truth that if we

don't eat food, what happens?

We starve

and ultimately we will die.

Now the problem with us today though is

we've become so far disconnected with

where our food comes from that we don't

realize how important food is. The

reality is in the western world food has

become an entertainment industry.

We we eat food and we get food prepared

for us and and we love extravagant food.

We love to go to nice restaurants and we

love to to eat whatever we want, but we

don't ever think where it came from or

what it is actually doing. Who ever

thinks if I don't eat today, I'm going

to starve and die?

Anyone think that

it the Jews thought that they were

reminded every time they ate bread

and it had become such a central it was

there to remind them that God provided

for their needs.

But we eat whatever we want whenever we

want. Isn't that right?

And we don't even have to go out. We

don't even have to prepare a meal in our

home. Don't even have to go to the shops

to buy ingredients and make a meal at

home. We can just call Uber.

Is that right?

We we just, hey, I want two hamburgers.

You know, the other day I was driving

home from a meeting and I just wanted a

McFlurry. And praise God that there is a

McDonald's in North Haven now.

Oh, glory to God.

I got a McFlurry. I was very

disappointed though. They didn't have

Milo McFlurries anymore. They stopped

that. That was very disappointing. But I

had to settle for an Oreo. But we don't

but we don't think

where that why our food

exists. It exists to keep us alive. It

exists to feed us. It keeps this body

going. And and I'll talk about this more

later, but it also exists. We need to

have a balanced diet to make us healthy.

But for the Jew,

it was very very different.

You see,

for the Jews, they actually had to bake

their own bread.

And usually it was from either the wheat

that they had grown

or the wheat they had bought. But they

would have to grind the wheat.

They would have to actually make flour

and then make bread and then cook the

bread and then eat it. All keeping them

connected to the source.

And so they understood how valuable the

bread that they ate was for them because

they are reminded that think about it.

If it didn't rain that year,

they had to work out another way to get

food.

Kids in those days didn't get to choose

whether they had broccoli or not, or I'm

not going to eat my greens. I'll just

eat the steak or the the nice food. I'm

not going to eat any of that salad

stuff.

They ate what was put on their plate

because they didn't know

they'd be getting another meal.

sometimes

because they had to

get their food, they grow their food,

make their food, create and cook the

food and then eat it. So they are very

strongly connected. They understood very

clearly that without bread they're

no longer alive. Mahatma Gandhi says

this

to forget how to dig the earth and to

tend the soil is to forget ourselves.

So when Jesus is saying I am the bread

of life,

he is literally reminding us today in

this era where we are so disconnected

from where bread comes from. Did any

everyone know bread's made from wheat?

>> Yes. Some of the younger people Sema

looks like she's not quite sure she's

flour is made from wheat. And uh the

reality is we've been so disconnected

that we forget that

without God's provision

we are just dust ourselves

that we do not exist without his breath.

God created us. He

took dust and breathed his life into it

and made you and I, made humankind.

And so when Jesus says, "I am the bread

of life," he is reminding because they

were connected to what that meant that

hey, just like bread, we come from the

earth

and God has given us life.

So just we need food to keep us alive

physically,

the truth of the bread of life is that

we need Jesus to keep us alive. Yes,

physically, emotionally, but most

importantly spiritually.

Without Jesus,

we are like starving people trying to

satisfy that need inside of us, that

hunger inside of us with anything we can

find.

Isn't that true?

We are trying to find our purpose, our

position, our meaning in life in all

sorts of stuff. In our relationships,

in our jobs,

in our pastimes, in our hobbies, in our

bank accounts, in our possessions.

Some people are finding it in drugs and

alcohol.

all sorts of things. But it's only in

Jesus that we can truly be satisfied.

We have lost and forgotten who we really

are.

We are really dust without God's life in

us.

And this is the incredible thing. Jesus

has done everything required to bring us

back to him. He's done everything

required

and he's come and f found us

and paid the price for our brokenness

and our lostness

and he's restored restored us back to

him.

This is the truth of the bread of life

that Jesus is the only one who can

satisfy

the hunger within us.

We won't find it anywhere else. The

second thing is as the bread of life,

Jesus sustains us.

So bread not only satisfies us, but it

also sustains us to live the lives we're

called to live. In Deuteronomy 8:3,

Deuteronomy 8:3

Moses is talking to the children of

Israel and he says these really powerful

words talking about God. He says, "And

God or he humbled you and let you hunger

and then he fed you with mana 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 man

lives by every word that comes from the

mouth of the Lord." Anyone heard that

verse anywhere else in the Bible?

Yeah. When Jesus was being tempted,

he quoted this scripture. When when the

enemy tempted him and said, "Turn,

you're the son of God. Why don't you

turn these rocks?" He fasted for 40 days

and 40 nights. Said, "Why don't you turn

these rocks into bread?" And Jesus

responded with this statement.

in a powerful response that speaks right

into this idea

that he is the bread that satisfies us.

Not physical bread, but him alone. He

said these very words, "Man does not

live by bread alone, but by every word

that comes from the mouth of God."

In this statement, Moses is giving the

children of Israel a foretaste of what

is to come. A time when yes, God is

satisfying your physical need and

keeping you alive physically, but there

is a time coming when he is coming

so that you will never be hungry again.

That your that hunger within you will be

satisfied. That spiritual hunger, that

inner hunger will be satisfied by Jesus

himself.

Think about it for a moment. In John,

there is another name given to Jesus in

John 1. Anyone remember what that name

is,

the word that the word

became flesh.

That name for Jesus is the word. As

and as that passage we just read says,

every word that comes from the mouth of

God is Jesus.

So in John one, Jesus is God's word.

And the other thing is, think about it

now. Where do we find God's word in this

day and age

in the Bible? The Bible is God's word.

The Bible teaches us everything we need

to know about God, about Jesus, and who

he is. So, the Bible is also described

as spiritual f food. So it makes sense

that if Jesus is the bread of life that

sustains us, a good way that we can be

sustained by Jesus is through God's

word.

Does that make sense?

So God has given us his word. I want to

give you an example of this because in

the Bible it says that if we meditate on

God's word, our life will be blessed.

Anyone read that passage in uh Joshua

and other areas and a lot of the psalms

it says if we meditate on God's word we

will be blessed. Now in the Jewish

language the word for meditate is hagar.

Everyone say hagarah

or hagah.

Thank you, Mory.

And now this uh this word in the Greek

and in the Hebrew

we find in in um Isaiah 31:4

Isaiah 31:4

and it says there as a lion or a young

lion the word hagar is growls over its

prey and that that can be also

translated as meditate but in that

passage they translate it as growl

because it wants to give the full idea

of what meditating on God's word is all

about. So meditating on God's word is

not going um

you know is that right? We're not doing

that. What meditating on God's word is

like a young lion growling over a bone.

Now, we used to have a little dog called

Cody, Bonito's dog who passed away la

couple of years ago now. And this little

dog, we would come give him a lamb's

bone or whatever and he would grab it

and he would growl over it, you know?

You know, like dogs

he just like get into it and he just and

the weird thing is he would bury the

bone. Like once he'd grout over it

enough, he'd think, "I've had enough.

I've got my feel." He'd bury it and then

a few months later he'd dig it up again.

This moldy old and

it was his bone and he was going to get

all the life he could out of it. And

this is the picture that God wants us to

have

with his word. He wants us to growl over

it. He wants us to meditate on it. He

wants us to get enjoyment and pleasure

out of it like a dog with a bone. But he

wants us to suck the life out of it.

He's given us his word to sustain us,

but our responsibility is to eat it and

to devour it and to to be totally

I don't know

growl over it. That's a good word. Like

just like it's it's everything now. Let

me ask you this question. Who thinks

that you would be healthy if you only

ate one meal a week? Anyone in this

place? I would probably lose a few

kilos, which would be good. But um but

you would not be healthy. But the

reality in modern Christianity and in

the Western church especially, some of

us, and I I put myself in this boat. I

know I'm the holy pastor up here, but

sometimes there might be times in my

life where I don't read God's word very

often.

And and the reality is we think coming

to church once on a Sunday, getting a

someone up the front to talk about God's

word is enough to keep us healthy. It's

not.

Sadly, it's not. And we we sell

ourselves short because Jesus, as I read

in that quote at the start of this

message, he wants his presence to fill

every part of our lives. And he has

given us his word, the Bible.

for us to feed on and to strengthen our

spirits.

This is our challenge, our

responsibility

because like spir spir physical food

makes us healthy, spiritual food makes

us healthy as well. I think one of the

problems we have and I I I'll be honest,

this has been my challenge is that

sometimes there's stuff in the Bible I

just don't understand.

It's like I'm reading it and it's like

eating Brussels sprouts.

Although Julie's found a way to cook

Brussels sprouts lately that is really

good. So, it's really nice. But think of

the thing that you hate eating. Salad or

vegetables or anything that's not

chocolate. And

coriander. Oh, that's the worst thing

ever.

But coriander would have some sort of

healthy benefit to our lives, I'm sure.

But the problem is we read bits of the

Bible and we don't understand it. So we

think that's too hard. I put it away.

Rather than being like a dog with a bone

and say, "I want to find out, God, what

this means." I I was reading the Bible

with someone regularly lately. We came

across a passage that said, "When sin

abounds, grace abounds even more." And

we both said to each other, "What does

that mean? What does that really mean?

Does that mean when sin abounds, I can

do whatever I want because God's grace

covers everything." And so we we both

said to each other, "Let's go away and

just meditate on that, think about that,

look up and research that, and think

about what it means." And for me, I

remember waking up in the middle of the

night at one point and God just

downloading some stuff into my head

about what it actually meant. And that

when sin abounds, grace abounds even

more. What is grace? In the simple term,

the Bible says when Jesus appeared,

grace arrived.

So grace is Jesus.

Jesus is God's gift to us. What is God?

Grace. Grace is God's gift to us. His

free gift. So Jesus is grace. So when

sin abounds, Jesus arrived to set things

right. And the same happens in our

lives. When we fall into mistakes and

sin and sin gets too much in our lives,

we can come to Jesus and he is more than

enough to conquer that sin. That's what

God spoke to me about a passage that I

didn't fully understand.

And all of a sudden, I thought, "Thank

you, God." But that took time and effort

to wrestle with. And I want to encourage

you today that there's things in the

Bible that are hard and that aren't

easy, but it is God's word. It's

spiritual food for us. And so if you are

struggling with stuff, that's why you've

got a body of Christ. You got people to

talk with, discuss with, iron sharpens

iron. Let's help each other in that. But

let's not put the Bible aside because

sometimes it's too hard. There's and it

doesn't mean you need to understand it

straight away. Maybe it will take years

for you to get it. Maybe there are some

things that I just got to put that on

the shelf, God, because I don't

understand it. But I know you're

faithful and you're true like Chris said

today. And so I'm going to keep pressing

in.

And one thing we want to do over this

series to help you spend time in God's

word and to help you understand God's

word and to be fed by God's word and be

healthy and have a balanced diet

spiritually is we're going to give you

after each sermon a worksheet to take

home. Oh, homework.

Who loves homework? Or the young people

said, "I'm gonna you have to bring yours

back, Sam, so mark it and make sure you

did it." So, um, but it's a it's just a

simple worksheet where each day, well,

the one I've done for this week is for

each day. Each one will probably be be a

bit different, but each day you can read

a little bit of scripture and then

respond to it and think about it and

consider what God would be saying to you

about him being the bread of life. How's

that sound? Does that sound good? So,

that that will be available at the end

of the service.

So the bread of life satisfies us, meets

us, meets that hunger in our lives, and

it also sustains us through his word.

But in closing, I just want to finish

with this last story because uh I think

I've shared it before, but it really

sums up the significance of Jesus being

the bread of life. Because I discovered

a few years ago that the Romans,

who were in control of Israel at the

time Jesus made this statement, had a

very interesting and effective strategy

to keep the people they had conquered

under control or in line.

The Romans would ration food to the

people that they had conquered,

especially

the food known as wheat.

So, they would only let them have

certain amounts of wheat. Now, one some

historians tell us and have worked out

that the Romans actually would give each

person

a ration of around 1,600 calories per

day. of food or wheat.

Enough for them to survive, but not

enough for them to flourish.

So, as the Rome as for the Romans, they

had as much as they like. They could eat

all they wanted. And so, that's why some

historians say that Rome conquered the

world with bread, not a sword, because

they would actually limit the amount of

food people could have.

So they thought we'll just give them

enough so they can survive but not so

they can grow stronger and then overcome

us so we will always be stronger than

them.

So you think of this strategy the Romans

used bread as a means of control

and for the Jews who saw bread as life

itself

it was how they were held in bondage.

The thing that should have been their

freedom was now the thing that they had

been bound by.

In that space, they would have

understood exactly what their ancestors

would have felt like some

1500 years ago when they were under

Egyptian control.

So when Jesus fed probably 20,000 of

them with five loaves and two fish, you

can understand if you read that passage

this week, you can understand why they

wanted to make him king. Why they were

so excited. We're getting rationed bread

right now. But Jesus just create the

five barley loaves. He created enough to

feed us all. This man must be the

Messiah who's come. He's he's actually

giving us bread to make us strong so we

can overthrow the Romans.

But as we know, Jesus was talking about

something so much deeper than this. You

see, when Jesus was declaring himself to

be the bread of life, he was saying to

them, "I have come

to set you free from all those systems

and structures that try to control you

and keep you in bondage.

That's my paraphrase. What it means to

be the bread of life. I have come to set

you free from all those systems and

structures that try to keep you in try

to control you and keep you in bondage.

For the Jews at that time, it was Roman

control. But Jesus was speaking past

that. He was also speaking into the

religious control they were under with

the law.

and say, "I've come to give you freedom

from that bondage." Because for them,

the law had become bondage. They had to,

you know, tithe on every little bit and

they had to make sure they did nothing

on the Sabbath and they there were all

these rules and regulations for them to

just stay right with God. And if they

didn't, then there was shame and guilt

and and and all that sort of stuff.

But for us today,

let me ask you this. Is there something

or even someone that controls you to

such an extent that it robs you of your

freedom today?

Your ability to make decisions?

Is there a foreign influence like Rome

controlling who you are

paralyzing you and damaging your future?

Maybe there's a religious influence

making you feel like you're not good

enough for God,

making you feel like I'm not worthy

or I just can't get it right. I keep

stuffing up time and time again.

Maybe you feel like that because you

look at your life and you think, "I'm

still struggling with these addictions."

Or, "I'm still struggling to make ends

meet. My relationships seem all

dysfunctional and all not quite right."

You're thinking, "I'm just You're just

full of shame and guilt, and you're just

feeling, I can't do this. It's too

much."

What Jesus says to you, you shall know

the truth and the truth shall set you

free.

And what Jesus is saying

is, I am the bread of life and in me is

everything you need.

He is saying to each of us here today,

I can give you a life

that satisfies and sustains you.

But our challenge is will we put our

faith in him? Will we put our trust in

him? Will we accept his invitation to

eat his bread?

Eat of him, be a part of him. Will we

trust that he can fill that void in our

life that nothing else ever will? You

see, as the bread of life,

Jesus wants to set us free from the

control of others and the pressure to

perform.

He wants you to know that in him is

everything you need.

As I was preparing this, I was reminded

that in the Lord's prayer, Jesus set a

standard for how we should pray. And one

of the things he said is, "Give us this

day our daily bread.

Sure, that might mean our everyday

needs, but maybe it's a reminder to say,

"Jesus,

I need you today.

Give me you, Jesus. Help me today,

Jesus. You are the bread of life. So,

Jesus, I come to you

and ask for your help.

I need your help. I want your help.

I can't do this without

you as a part of my life. Paul said this

in Philippians

Philippians 4:19

4:19.

And this same God who takes care of me,

that's Paul speaking, will supply all

your needs from his riches, glorious

riches, which have been given to us

where?

In Christ Jesus.

In Jesus is everything we need. That's

what Paul's saying here.

God has given you it all in Jesus, the

bread of life, who's come to satisfy

that hunger within, but has also come to

sustain you in life's everyday needs and

requirements.

Can I ask you to bow your heads in

prayer?

You see, when we understand Jesus is our

bread of life,

and I'm talking to myself as much as I'm

talking to you all out there,

then it doesn't matter what's happening

around us

because we understand and know that he

is the one that supplies our needs

physically, emotionally, spiritually.

That means your boss doesn't supply your

needs.

Your doctor doesn't supply your needs.

Your bank account is not what makes you

happy.

Governments don't provide

a healthy

mental state.

Isn't that the truth?

And even your pastor up the front here

is not the aim

to provide

everything you need. It's Jesus,

the bread of life,

the bread of life.

He is the one who comes to set you free

from the control of all those systems,

all of those things that try to keep us

in bondage. And he says, "No, you shall

know the truth that I am the bread of

life, and it will set you free.

It will bring you peace.

It'll give you a word that says, "Be

still and know that I am God." when

you're going through difficult times.

So this morning,

let's accept his invitation

and say, "God, I acknowledge you as the

bread of life.

I put my trust in you and I ask you for

your help."

Let's pray.

Lord God, I thank you for your word and

I thank you that you've made yourself

present amongst us to show us how you

meet

every need that we have.

One of those needs is bread to remind us

that you are the only one who can

satisfy us.

That even

without your bread, without your breath,

we are just dust.

Help us never forget that that every

time we eat

that you are the one who sustains us.

God, I pray that for each of us here

that you would help us

trust you more deeply,

know you morely,

and seek you with everything we have.

Like that picture of a lion with a bone,

let us be hungry for you.

I pray in Jesus name. Amen.