The Bread of Life

We're actually going to be spending a few weeks on this chapter.

We've really been kind of going through the chapters pretty quickly through the Gospel of John.

Because John, as you may have noticed, really hammers home his main point,

which is Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.

So really, every message I preach, I could have said that over and over again,

and it would have been correct. That's what John is trying to get at.

But this chapter, there's a lot in there.

So I'm going to go up to 35, verse 35 today,

and then preach from a shorter section of the same passage on Christmas Eve

as an evangelistic sermon.

We're told people who are going to come to visit on Christmas Eve.

And then we'll cover the rest of the chapter from 36 to 71 next Sunday, this coming Sunday.

But before I start, let me pray for us.

God, as we sang earlier, we say again, speak, O Lord.

We want to be people who are governed not by our own ideas,

not by the whims and the shifting directions of the culture,

but by your word.

So speak, O Lord.

We are listening.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.

Sigmund Freud, the renowned psychologist and atheist,

once accused people of creating God in their own image.

He said, no, God did not create man in his own image.

No, rather, men, they created God in their own image.

But to his credit, that's partially true,

because that's what we, in fact, do oftentimes.

We try to create God in our own image.

We try to put him in our own box

and use him for our own purposes,

rather than submitting to him

and being governed by him as our Lord and King.

And that's exactly what's going on here in this passage

as these men who have been following Jesus,

they try to peg Jesus down,

put him in a box of their own making,

and Jesus is unwilling to yield to that.

And he consistently defies their expectations,

as we will see throughout this passage.

And what Jesus teaches us instead

is that he is the bread of eternal life,

who alone can satisfy our true hunger and thirst.

We believe that we have hunger and thirst

that we want to satisfy for ourselves,

but Jesus reveals a deeper hunger and thirst.

And he says that he is the one who alone can satisfy it

as the bread of eternal life.

And to do that, John gives us three vignettes,

kind of portraits of Jesus,

who he is, his identity.

First one is in the first 14 verses.

It tells us that Jesus is the prophet like Moses.

And the second is from verses 16 to 21.

It tells us that Jesus is the I am.

And then third and finally,

it tells us in verses 22 to 34

that Jesus is the bread of life.

And we'll see after,

we just talked about how Jesus healed an invalid of 38 years.

So after having done that,

there was a confrontation that ensued

between him and the Jewish leaders about the Sabbath.

And so Jesus moves on to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.

And read with me here in verse 2.

It says,

If you've been with us for the series in John so far,

you know that coming because the signs is a dangerous thing.

So people here are not coming

and having realized the significance of the signs,

the identity of Jesus that it points to.

Rather, they've come to see a spectacle,

to see a show.

They're coming to follow the signs in and of themselves

and not to see and to know Jesus as he is.

And as this crowd comes to him,

Jesus sees an opportunity,

a teaching opportunity.

And he asks one of his disciples,

Philip, in verse 5,

Where are we to buy bread

so that these people may eat?

Not because he actually intended to buy bread from somewhere,

but as it says in verse 5 or verse 6,

in order to test them, it says.

Jesus wanted to test his disciples.

And Philip answers in the most predictable way.

He says,

Two hundred denarii worth of bread

would not be enough for each of them to get a little.

And one denarius is a day's wage

for a common worker during that time.

So this is,

if you were to calculate it,

to contextualize it to our time,

the amount of money that they're saying

they need to feed just these people

just a little bit of food

is about $30,000.

And so, of course,

people don't normally carry $30,000

just in their wallets.

So they don't have that.

So Philip's shocked.

There's no way you could buy enough bread

to feed these people.

And not only is there no place

that sells that much bread,

even if there was such a place,

we would not be able to afford it.

So what are you talking about, Jesus?

And at this point,

another disciple interjects.

In verse 9,

Andrew,

there is a boy here

who has five barley loaves and two fish.

But what are they for so many?

You could hear the tinge of despair

at the end of his sentence.

He said,

well, there is a boy here

who's got some food

and he's willing to share it with us.

But that might be enough

for Jesus and his disciples,

perhaps if they share it,

just a little bit of food.

But what is that for so many?

And Jesus is not daunted.

He tells the crowd to sit down.

And verse 10,

it tells us that there were 5,000 men.

And that there's a distinction there

between men and people in general.

And all the Gospels

that record this miracle

make the same distinction.

And here,

because Jesus says in verse 10,

have the people sit down.

That includes women and children.

But later,

it notes in the same verse,

the men sat down about 5,000 in number.

So that shows that they only counted the men,

as was customary at the time,

especially large gatherings,

to make it easier to count.

For convenience sake,

they count only the men.

So if there are 5,000 men,

considering that most were probably married,

they married early,

and many of them had children.

And they had more children

back then than they do now

in Cambridge in particular.

So if you were to kind of guess

how many people were there,

it's probably over 20,000 people.

It's not a small gathering.

It's a large crowd.

And Jesus is telling them to sit down

and then he prays for the,

prays,

thanks God for the food

and then begins to distribute the food.

I mean,

can you just picture it with me?

This is,

it's so easy to just read this

because we're familiar with the story,

but this is ridiculous.

He has this five loaves of bread,

two fish,

he's breaking it,

starts to give it up.

And you could just look at,

imagine the disciples' faces

just staring at him aghast in disbelief.

What are you doing?

I mean,

this is not going to end well.

People are going to be very unhappy

at the end of this distribution, right?

And so they're staring on in disbelief

and he's not even just giving a little bit.

He says that he gave as much as people wanted,

says in verse 11.

I mean,

if you have only a little food,

you give them a little bit at a time,

but instead,

no,

just as much as you want,

he's giving them out.

And to their amazement,

as he does that,

somehow,

there's always more food to give out.

There's more bread.

There's more fish.

Somewhere in that process,

a miracle had occurred

and Jesus is able to give food

to all the people

as much as he wanted.

And not only that,

verses 12 to 13,

says,

when they had eaten their fill,

they gathered up

and filled 12 baskets

with fragments

from the five barley loaves

left by those who had eaten.

There was more food

left over at the end

than there was

at the beginning.

And it's almost certainly significant

that they filled 12 baskets

because there's 12 tribes

of Israel.

So in filling 12 baskets

full with the leftover bread,

that Jesus shows

that he is the one

who can fulfill the need

and meet the need

of all his people,

all of God's people,

Israel.

And so we're going to come back

to this main point,

what the meaning

of this miracle is

in a second.

But before we do that,

I want to make two,

it's a digression,

but two side points

that are illustrated here

about how Christians

have to relate to food

and what Jesus does here.

It's interesting.

And first is,

of course,

the familiar practice

of thanking God.

We thank God for the food.

And throughout the Bible,

we see more examples of,

there is one instance

where Jesus blesses the food,

but almost every other instance,

Jesus rather blesses God

for the food.

He thanks God for the food.

That's as if he prays.

And this is so familiar

to many Christians

that we don't think

it's very radical at all.

But if you think about it

from the perspective

of an unbeliever,

it's a very radical practice.

to pray and to thank God

for your food.

Because, I mean,

in their mind,

they're saying,

well, I worked hard

to get the money

and I used the money

to buy the ingredients

and I used the ingredients

to make the food,

so why do I have to thank God for it?

I mean,

I did everything

that I need to do

to thank,

why should I thank God

for this food?

But Christians,

so this is a very subversive thing.

That's the way

we are conditioned

to thank in this culture.

But by thanking God

before our meals,

we are acknowledging

that even something

as ordinary

and customary

as everyday food

is ultimately from God.

We're recognizing that

as we pray,

as we thank God for it.

It's not a meaningless

road exercise.

As we do that,

we're forming habits

that form our affections

and understanding of God.

And that's the first thing.

And the second thing

is that after performing

this amazing miracle,

John takes care to note

that Jesus said,

in verse 12,

gather up the leftover fragments

that nothing may be lost.

Isn't that interesting?

Jesus just multiplied

five loaves of bread

and he didn't have

to pay a dime for it.

He'd fed 20,000 people with this.

He could do that

whenever he wants.

Why is he so concerned

about gathering up

the leftovers?

And it's not because

he's preparing

for future scarcity.

Rather,

he's trying to teach

a principle of stewardship.

The idea of Christian stewardship.

Here,

that the heart of Christian stewardship

is the idea

that God ultimately exercises

discretionary right

over all of creation.

It's his.

He's the owner.

It belongs to him.

Everything we have.

And that means

we are just managers

or stewards

of what belongs to God.

So think about it this way.

A property manager of a house

can't do whatever

he wants to do with the house.

He can't make

whatever renovations

he wants with the house

because the house

doesn't belong to him.

He's a manager.

He's not the owner.

In the same way,

a financial advisor

can't do whatever

he wants with the money

that his clients have given him

because that's not his money.

But he needs to maximize

the profit,

the interest for his client.

He's just a steward,

just a manager.

In the same way,

for us as Christians,

we have to recognize

that everything we have,

every relationship,

every hour, minute,

we have everything we eat,

all that we have

is ultimately from God.

He's the owner.

We're just stewards.

We're managers.

And that,

it's a simple

but profound concept.

If we get that right,

it radically changes

the way we understand

and do a lot of things.

For example,

if our bodies are given

to us by God

and they belong

ultimately to him,

we should neither abuse it

nor indulge it.

And if all the money

that we have

has been given to us

by God,

they belong to him,

ultimately we're just stewards,

then we neither have

the right to be stingy with it

when an opportunity

to be generous arises.

But we also don't have

the right to be spent with,

to spend it on

whatever we wish.

We're just stewards.

We manage God's money.

In the same way,

food,

Jesus says here,

ultimately belongs to God.

So we should steward,

not buying or eating

more than we need

and not wasting

what we have left.

That's what Jesus

is talking about here.

So there might be

a pertinent lesson

for the kids

if you have parents

who have kids

and keep believing

leftovers.

It's a good way

to teach them

about stewardship,

about God

and how he is the owner

of all things.

But now,

getting back to the main point,

that's the end

of that digression.

What's Jesus'

multiplication of the bread

and fish mean?

Why did he perform

this miracle?

Because a sign

by its nature

points to something,

right?

It points to something

beyond itself.

So what does this sign

of Jesus multiplying

the bread and the fish

point to?

And people,

it's the clues

in verses 15 and 14

because it says,

when people saw the sign

that he had done,

they said,

this is indeed

the prophet

who was to come

into the world.

The prophet

who was to come

into the world

is an allusion

to Deuteronomy 18,

15 to 9,

which prophesied of

and promised

a prophet-like

Moses.

He said,

another prophet

arrives who is

a prophet-like

Moses.

And Moses,

if you recall,

gave Israelites

manna,

bread from heaven

in the wilderness

after the Exodus.

And in a similar way,

Jesus here

provides bread

for the Israelites

in the wilderness.

And he leaves

12 baskets full

to indicate

that his provision

is sufficient

for all of Israel.

And moreover,

the fact that

it's mentioned

in verse 4

that this happened

during the Passover

is also making

this connection

even stronger

because Passover

was the last event,

the last sign

that God performed

that led to

Israel's ultimate

exodus and liberation

from slavery in Egypt.

And it happens

during that time.

So people have that

in their minds

and they see

that Jesus

is the promised

prophet like Moses.

And so they're making

the correct connection

here with biblical prophecy.

However,

they take it

one step further

than they should have

because they make

the deduction

that since Moses

let God's people

out of slavery in Egypt,

then this new Moses

that we have here,

this new Messiah,

should also lead us

out of our servitude

to the Roman Empire.

And so they have

it in their mind.

Look,

we have 20,000 people here,

5,000 men,

perhaps more will gather

once we have a cause.

That's a sizable,

that's a formidable militia.

Maybe they could have

waged successful

guerrilla warfare.

Right?

So they come to,

they put their heads together

and say,

well,

let's force him

to be our king.

Let's make him our king

to lead us

into the new exodus

out of this servitude

to Roman Emperor.

But Jesus

doesn't want anything

to do with that.

Because he's not interested

in creating

his own earthly kingdom,

but rather he has come

to announce

a spiritual kingdom.

He doesn't want

to stage

a military rebellion.

And so it says

in verse 15,

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.

Suppressed in

by a crowd

that wants to make him

fit their mold

and expectations.

Jesus withdraws

the mountain

by himself.

That's the first vineyard.

Jesus is the prophet

like Moses,

but not what people

expect of him.

And the second

vineyard begins

in verse 16.

Read verses 16

to 21 with me.

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.

And 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.

The Sea of Galilee

lies about

600 feet

below sea level.

And it happened

quite frequently

that the wind

from the

Southeastern plains

would come

and it would

just interact

and displace

the warm,

moist air

in the lake

and that would

cause a violent

squall.

So that was

very common

for storms

to just suddenly

come in the

Sea of Galilee.

And that's what

seems to have

happened here

to Jesus'

disciple.

They're caught

in one of these.

And so in verse 18,

the sea became

rough because

a strong wind

was blowing.

But as they're

struggling with

their oars,

because in this

kind of wind

sail is useless,

so they're using

oars to get out

and they're being

tossed to and fro

by the waves,

they see Jesus

walking on the sea

and coming near

their boat.

And they are

understandably

frightened.

Because Jesus is

doing something

that humans are

not supposed to

do.

They're not

supposed to

walk on water.

In the same

way, if we're in

our room,

somebody just

suddenly started

levitating,

we'd be frightened

too.

What's going on?

Why is that

happening?

So they're

frightened.

But Jesus

reassures them

in verse 20,

saying, it is

I.

Do not be

afraid.

He's saying,

it's me.

Don't worry.

But to the

people, that's

the normal way

to say, that's

me.

It's me, so

don't worry

about it.

But for the

people that are

reading, the

people that John

intended this

gospel to speak

to and to be

read by, this is

more than a

simple phrase,

it is I.

Because the

phrase for it

is I literally

is I am.

And that's

the name of

God revealed

to Moses at

the time of

the Exodus.

Again, another

Exodus connection

in chapter 3,

verse 14, where

God said to

Moses, I am

who I am.

Say this to

the people of

Israel.

I am has

sent me to

you.

So by

connecting Jesus'

self-identification

with God,

with God's

self-revelation

in Exodus,

John's declaring

that Jesus is

God.

He is the

Son of God.

He is the

great I am.

And this is

all the more

pertinent in

this particular

miracle because

Jesus is

walking on

the water.

If you

peruse the

Old Testament,

there are many

prophets who

do miracles

related to

the water.

So Moses

parted the

Red Sea,

Elijah and

Elijah both

parted the

rivers.

They part

water, but

no one

walks on

water.

In fact, it

says in

Psalm 77,

19, only

God is

seen as

walking on

the water.

Water is

seen as

his path.

It says,

your way was

through the

sea, your

path through

the great

waters, yet

your footprints

were unseen.

Water is

frequently seen

in the Old

Testament as a

place of

chaos and

disorder, and

only God

was understood

to be able to

control it, to

tame it.

And Jesus

shows here his

mastery over

the storm, over

the elements, and

proclaims that he

is the divine

I am.

So we saw

that he was

the prophet

like Moses, and

we see here

that he is the

great I am.

And then

finally, in the

third and

climactic

vignette, we

return to the

original sign of

the multiplication

of the bread.

So noticing

that Jesus and

his disciples

had gone, they

had eaten

their fill, and

they were

talking amongst

themselves, and

they lost

track of

Jesus, and

they finally

follow him, they

track him down,

and find him, and

in verse 25, they

say, Rabbi, when

did you come

here?

So they're

wondering, okay, so

how long have you

been here?

When did you

leave?

And why did

you leave?

How, well, we've

been looking all

over for you.

They come to

Jesus, but Jesus

responds to these

seekers is

surprisingly sharp.

He responds in

verse 26, truly,

truly, I say to

you, you are

seeking me, not

because you saw

signs, but

because you ate

your fill of

the loaves.

on a superficial

reading of the

text, you might

think that this

flies in the face

of verse 2, which

said that a large

crowd was following

him because they

saw the signs that

he was doing on

the sick.

So verse 2 says

they came because

of the signs.

Verse 26 says that

people follow Jesus

not because of the

signs, but because

they had their fill

with the loaves.

But that's not a

formal contradiction

because they're

essentially saying

the same thing,

just in different

words.

What they're both

saying is that

people came to be

dazzled by and to

benefit from the

signs in and of

themselves without

paying any attention

to what the signs

pointed to, the

Christ identity, and

who he is.

So it's kind of like

people who go to

grocery stores just

to sample the free

food, like they go

to free sample food,

and they go around

and sample all the

food, but they're not

willing to buy

anything that those

samples were supposed

to point to.

It was the actual

product, which is

right next to it.

So it's kind of like

this, these people

are coming, they're

just sampling the

free food, they're

coming for the

signs, to see the

signs, to have

wonder and be amazed

by the signs, and to

eat the things, the

benefits that come

from the signs, yet

they have no interest

in who Jesus truly is

and claims to be.

The thing that the

signs were supposed

to point to.

And so he says,

no, you came here

because you ate your

fill of the loaves.

And then Jesus

continues in verse

27.

Do not work 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.

Jesus is telling

people, stop following

me around for signs,

stop following me

around for food, like

I'm a cheap crowd

pleaser or a magician.

I am the Son of God.

I'm the great I am.

I'm the promised

Messiah, the prophet

like Moses.

Come to me for the

food that endures to

eternal life.

And we have a knack,

don't we, for getting

caught up in lesser

things and losing

sight of the most

important things.

Right?

Even with things that

are not eternal, we

lose sight of the most

important things.

For example, we work so

hard for the food that

perishes.

We work hard to make

money so that we can

provide for the best

possible environment for

our children.

Right?

But in doing so, because

we're so busy, we neglect

our children.

Right?

We sacrifice our health to

study hard and to work

long hours to ensure a

successful career, make a

lot of money, and then

only to spend that hard

on our money to recuperate

our health.

And even if we get to

keep our money at the

end of our life, we

realize it does nothing

for dead people.

We can't take any of it

with us.

We idealize and even

idolize our boyfriend,

girlfriend, husband,

wife, family, but only to

find that even they can't

ultimately fulfill us.

or satisfy our deepest

longings.

We indulge ourselves in

various pleasures, whether

it's, you know, overeating

or binge-watching on

Netflix or drugs or

excessive drinking or

illicit sexual relations

or activities, thinking

that more is always

better and that with more

and more, we could have

more and more pleasure,

not realizing that the

more we do that, we

become more desensitized.

In fact, they bring less

and less pleasure.

We grovel for the approval

of people about our

appearance, intelligence,

or sociability.

And we're devastated by the

slightest hint of

disrespect, disapproval from

those people, not recognizing

that their approval is

fickle and fleeting and

ultimately unfulfilling.

we work so hard, don't we,

for the food that

perishes.

When there's food that

endures to eternal

life, Christ promises us

eternal life,

eternal riches,

and eternal love and

esteem of the

triune God who never

changes.

Yet why are we so

desperately and frantically

working for the food that

perishes?

And so Jesus

wrongly rebuked these

people for their

materialistic notions of

life and the kingdom of

God.

But they misunderstand

Jesus still further.

Jesus told them,

instead of working for

that, it worked for

this, worked for

eternal life, but

instead of focusing on

the goal, the reason

why they work, they

get back, they focus

their entire attention on

the work that they're

doing themselves.

So verse 28, they say,

what must we do to be

doing the works of God?

There's a naive confidence

about their response.

They say they have no

doubt about their

ability to meet any

challenge that God

sets before them.

Oh, just tell us what

he requires.

We'll do it.

That's their attitude.

But Jesus sets them

straight in verse 29.

This is the work of God

that you believe in him

whom he has sent.

Eternal life that

Christ offers is first

and foremost a gift.

not a wage.

So the quote-unquote

work that God requires

is simply faith.

To believe in him

whom he has sent.

And this is yet another

way in which Jesus

defies our expectations

and refuse to be boxed

in by our own

imaginations.

He says, we like to

be able to earn things.

We like to be able to

work for things.

We like to be able to

say, well, I had a part

in that.

I deserve that.

It is my right, my

entitlement.

But God chooses another

way.

He says, no, you simply

must believe and depend

on me.

And I give you this

eternal life.

And that's a radical

reason why God does that.

And a pastor in New York

named Kim Keller once

told a story in his book

about a woman that he

talked to.

And this woman had not

grown up in the church.

And she had never heard

the distinction between

the gospel, which is the

good news of Jesus Christ,

the fact that salvation

comes to us by grace

through faith, and works

righteousness, which

teaches that, no, you

earn your salvation by

working hard and becoming

a righteous person in your

own strength.

And when she first

heard this distinction,

she said she was

frightened.

And she was scared.

And the pastor asked

him, well, what's so

scary about this?

This is good news.

Like, what's wrong?

And this is what she

said.

Well, if I was saved by

my good works, then there

would be a limit to what

God could ask of me or put

me through.

I would be like a

taxpayer with rights.

I would have done my

duty, and now I would

deserve a certain quality

of life.

But if I'm a sinner,

saved by grace, then

there's nothing you

cannot ask of me.

If we're honest with

ourselves, we're wary of

and sometimes feel badly

about receiving free

things from people.

Like, oh, no, just take

this at least.

The reason why is because

we don't like feeling

indebted.

We don't like feeling

like we owe someone

something.

But God's way is, is

by fully, by His grace, He

gives us the gift of

eternal life, salvation.

All we have to do is

believe in Him and take

hold of it in faith.

And God does that because

then when we do that, God

becomes supreme, sovereign,

Lord over our lives, and we

owe our allegiance to Him in

every way, in everything.

He becomes our God and

Lord, and that's what He

wants for us.

That's what we cannot say.

That is my right.

That is my entitlement.

I demand it of you.

We cannot say that to God.

He gave it to us as a gift.

And the people, and this is

the moment when we might

roll our eyes and palm our

foreheads, in people's

response, verses 30 to 31,

they respond with this

question.

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.

So after all of this, we're

back to square one.

The sign.

They want more signs.

Jesus just performed a sign.

He just fed 20,000 people with

five loaves of bread and two

fish.

In fact, just before that, He

healed an invalid of 38 years.

And just before that, He healed

a dying son of an official.

And just before that, He turned

water into wine.

In fact, the whole book up to

this point, the book of John,

has been a book of signs.

The signs that point to Jesus'

identity as the Son of God, and

yet here they are, like they've

seen nothing.

They ask for a sign.

And Jesus is far more patient

than I would have been.

Verse 32 to 33.

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.

Then people then ask for this bread.

And Jesus says in verse 35,

I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not

hunger, and whoever believes in me

shall never thirst.

Jesus does give them another sign.

He says, I am the bread of life.

And He points to His cross when He's

going to give His life, His body

broken for us, His blood shed for us,

that He is going to be that bread,

that bread that sustains us and gives

us eternal life, makes us whole again,

makes us new again, spiritually.

Again, another way which God defies,

Jesus defies our boxes and

expectations.

No, Jesus is not going to come and

just rule over us with an iron fist

and rule the nations to submission.

No, He brings us into His kingdom,

not with that, but by dying for us,

paying the penalty for our sins Himself

so that we can be reconciled to God,

so that we can be brought into His kingdom

willingly and freely out of our love for Him

and faith in Him.

And how do we eat this bread?

Well, it's not by physical eating,

chewing, or drinking,

because it says

that those who will no longer hunger

are not those who eat,

but those who come to Jesus, it says.

Those who will no longer thirst

are not those who drink,

but it says those who believe in Him.

So that's how you know this is a metaphor.

Jesus is using the bread as a metaphor.

Jesus is the bread of life.

That's the ultimate sign that He offers,

and He's pointing to His sacrificial death

on the cross.

And the way we eat this bread

is we come to Him,

and we believe in Him.

Like the promise that God had given

in Isaiah 55, 1,

Come, everyone who thirsts,

come to the waters,

and he who has no money,

come buy and eat.

Come buy wine and milk

without money and without price.

Because Jesus paid for that price.

We can come without pay,

without charge,

without price.

And if you are not a believer

with us this morning,

you don't know,

you have not experienced

this eternal life that Jesus offers.

You can come to Him this morning.

You can come and believe in Him

for your salvation.

Forsake all your own righteousness

and all your own schemes

at getting to God

and say,

No, I need Jesus,

and He's the only way.

Because He's the bread of life.

There's no other food.

That's the only way.

Come to Him.

Believe in Him.

And if you have already placed

your trust in Jesus

and your faith in Him,

yes,

that's a once and for all event

that we are saved by grace through faith.

But it's also an everyday event.

We come to Him again

and again.

We believe again

and again.

And we eat that bread again

and again,

just like we need sustenance

daily.

Yes,

we are saved once and for all

when we place our faith in Jesus,

but we must believe every day.

Because the world that we live in,

the culture that we're in,

the people around us,

they challenge us,

they wear our faith down,

and they tempt us

to disbelieve at every point.

So it must be our effort

to believe,

to come to Him again

and again.

And we can do that

not begrudgingly,

but with joy

and gratitude

because Christ is the Lord,

the bread of life

who offered Himself for us.

So let's pray together.

Amen.

God, we are so grateful

that you speak to us

in a way that we understand very well.

It's that when we go without food,

we go hungry.

When we go without food for a while,

we die.

Amen.

And spiritually even more so,

Lord.

We are already dead

apart from you

and we need the bread of life

to live.

Thank you for giving us

this bread in Jesus Christ.

And grant us unflagging faith

so that we may persevere

to the end

for your glory.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.