The Bread of Life

Today, we get to the first of the seven “I am” statements that Jesus makes throughout the gospel of John. Like we just read in verse 35: “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.’”

Jesus used imagery like this all the time, from these kinds of little word pictures to teaching through longer stories and parables. Really, all of John 6 has been about bread: it starts with him performing a miracle and feeding bread to a crowd of 5,000 men plus women and children to now him using that visual to teach the same crowd that he is the true bread.

And that’s why all of John 6 needs to be taken together. It’s one of the longest teachings we have from Jesus, and it’s dense, so we’ve been breaking it down piece by piece as we dive into the chapter. But just like walking up to a group of people in the middle of a conversation at a party, you’re going to be lost without some context.

So, as we continue to move forward in the chapter, we’re going to be referring to the earlier parts of John 6 each week as well as looking further ahead. If you haven’t yet, I’d encourage you to read the entire chapter in one sitting sometime this week as we continue to study it together as a church. Write down the questions you have, and then bring those questions to your Community Group.

If you’re not plugged into our Community Groups that meet in people’s homes throughout the week, you can ask for more information on our Connect Card or take the Next Step card on the lobby table that’s called “Connect” for a list of all our groups.

As we look at these 6 verses this morning, there’s one bit of context that we need to unpack before we dive into the text. The New Testament audience thought about bread differently than you and I probably think about bread. Don’t get me wrong, I love bread, and for the few months Macie was trying to be a sourdough mom feeding her starter every day and using the discard for all kinds of recipes, I was a big fan. I’m sad it didn’t last longer.

But bread, for me, is often just a nice addition when I have a good meal. I’m a sauce guy, so I love taking the bread from the table after I finish my entree and soaking up every last bit of the sauce that I can. But for a Jew living in the first century, bread wasn’t just a nice addition; it was mandatory for survival. It was one of their primary forms of sustenance.

So, when Jesus fed the crowd from just five loaves of bread and then said he was the bread of life, that would be like telling my toddler that I am the chicken nugget of life—the thing he looks to for the most foundational need he has.

If you don’t get the priority of bread in the life of the original audience, then you won’t see the sense of urgency in Jesus’ words. Just a day ago, the crowd was hungry on the side of the mountain, and Jesus took 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish and continued to break them and hand them out until every person was filled and satisfied, with even more food left over.

But as night past—and just like we do every single day—the crowd woke up, hungry again. Yesterday’s provision didn’t meet today’s need. So, they went looking for Jesus. They needed to be sustained. They wanted him to satisfy their physical hunger and meet their physical needs, so they wouldn’t have to.

That’s what Jesus corrected them on in our passage last week when he told them 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.” And now, he makes that point even more clear. He is the food that endures. He is the bread of life.

We’ve mentioned it a couple times over the past few weeks, but verse 66 at the end of the chapter tells us the majority of the crowd leaves Jesus and doesn’t follow him anymore after this teaching. And the core of his whole message in John 6 is found right here in verse 35: Jesus is the bread of life, but the crowd came looking for different bread.

That’s why, last week, we looked at the question, “Why do you want him?” Most of the crowd here is going to decide they don’t want the kind of bread Jesus is offering. And so, this week, I want us to spend the next few moments looking at what he is offering. What does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life, and what does it look like for us to take and eat?

Four characteristics we see in Jesus here in these verses, and I guess I had some extra energy when I wrote my sermon outline because they’re all alliterated. What does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life? he’s the sign, he’s the source, he’s our savior, and he’s sufficient. Let’s look first at how he’s the sign. Read with me again verse 30.

John 6:30 ESV

³⁰ So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?

If you remember in our passage from last week, Jesus said in verse 27 that he was the one that gives eternal life because God the Father had placed his seal of approval on him. Again, in verse 29, he tells the crowd that the work that endures to eternal life is to believe in him whom the Father has sent (talking about himself).

So, verse 30 picks up with the crowd essentially saying, “Prove it.” Which is quite ridiculous when you think about it. Jesus had just used 5 loaves of bread and 2 small fish to feed this group of 10,000-20,000 people, and now they’re asking him for a sign to show that he’s legit.

But the stakes are greater than him just proving he has the power of God and can perform miracles. He’s saying he has the power to give eternal life. That’s kind of a big deal, so the crowd is looking for him to validate that he has the authority to do it. You might be in a similar position this morning. You might think it’d be great if Jesus is who he says he is, but you’re looking for something to trust that’s the case.

And the crowd’s had some movement here over the last several verses. In verse 26, Jesus says they didn’t come to him because of signs, but now they’re asking for a sign. In verse 28, they wanted to know what work they needed to do in order to gain eternal life, but now they’re asking what work does Jesus do that proves he can give them eternal life.

The crowd has moved from merely using Jesus to now being curious about Jesus. We see people experience this shift today as well. Someone might only think about God or pray when they feel like their back is up against the wall and they have no where else to turn—they’re hoping that, if God is real, they can use him to improve their situation. But that kind of understanding of God starts to change when someone opens a Bible and begins actually exploring who Jesus is, why he came, and what he did. Those are real steps someone might take in exploring Christianity.

Again, I don’t doubt the sincerity of the crowd here. Sure they also had political aspirations for the Messiah and misunderstood why he was there, but they wanted to believe in Jesus. But what’s interesting is that even though they might very well have been sincere in their request for another sign, another work from Jesus—he doesn’t give it. He could have done another miracle right then, but he doesn’t.

As we look ahead in our passage, we just see Jesus teaching about himself more rather than giving another sign. And if we fast forward to verse 36, we see why. After calling himself the bread of life, Jesus says in verse 36, “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.”

We just saw that language in verse 30 when the crowd asked him for a sign “that we may see and believe you.” Now, a few verses later, Jesus says, “you have seen me and yet do not believe.” That parallel in the language isn’t accidental. Jesus is saying that he is the sign; we don’t need another. His life is the sign that God is giving life to the world—the Son of God who took on flesh and dwelt among us—the Word of God that John 1 said gives life to everything—he has come near.

If you want a sign that eternal life and a restored relationship with the God who created you is possible, John 6 tells us to look to Jesus. If you want a sign that satisfaction and joy and purpose can be steadily found across your career, family, hobbies, friends, successes, and failures, look to Jesus.

Because when we see the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, we see a God who loves us so much that he would rescue us as well as a God who is so committed to justice that he won’t excuse the evil within us. When we believe in him, our punishment goes on Jesus; his righteousness goes on us.

For example, when you feel adrift in your job and are struggling to be motivated rather than apathetic or cynical, Jesus is the sign that our God is a worker. He’s still at work, and he works in bad situations to bring good results. And through the work of Jesus, we’re invited to participate in his work of renewal in whatever industry we find ourselves in. That’s how we combat our apathy in the office as Christians. We look to Jesus as the sign for our work.

Whatever the various spheres of your life look like right now—be it your job or your family or your accomplishments or anything else—seeing those things through the lens of Jesus sheds light on how you can find more contentment in them, deeper purpose for them, and glorify God with them. He’s the sign that points every area of our life to our maker, which is also why verses 31-32 go on to describe Jesus as the source of life. Let’s pick back up in our passage.

John 6:31–32 ESV

³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ” ³² 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.

Before Jesus has a chance to answer their request for a sign, the crowd mentions a different sign from the past: when God provided manna to the Jews in the desert after using Moses to free them from their slavery to Egypt. If you’re unfamiliar with that story, you can find it in Exodus 16. After the Israelites leave Egypt, they have quite the journey to make it to the land God’s promised them.

But he doesn’t just send them on their way. He leads them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night to show them the way. And then he feeds them with manna that shows up in their camp every morning. Jesus just gave them a miracle revolving around bread and then told them to seek the food that endures to eternal life. So, naturally, this Jewish crowd thinks back to the biggest display of God providing bread for his people in their history.

They’re telling Jesus that the manna was a sign that God was providing for their lives way back in the Exodus story. It verified that Moses was sent from God to lead them. So, if Jesus can provide eternal life like he just claimed a few verses earlier, then show us some manna—show us the food from heaven that’s going to provide for this eternal life and verify that God sent you to do it.

But like Jesus so often does, he doesn’t answer their statement directly, but he still answers it fully. He digs beneath the surface of the crowd believing that “manna showed us God was with Moses” to point out in verse 32 that Moses wasn’t the one who gave the bread. He might have been used by God, but “true bread from heaven” only comes from the Father.

He’s telling the crowd that his miraculous ability to feed them from 5 barley loaves and 2 fish—to essentially create and multiply the food that he provided for them—that that didn’t just prove he was sent by the Father like Moses. No, he is like the Father. He’s the true and better Moses: sent to lead God’s people, but also fully able to provide for God’s people because he is fully God. Jesus isn’t just the sign that points to life. He’s the source of the life that’s provided to us.

And what Jesus is revealing in his reply is that the crowd has placed too much focus on who God uses and what God gives rather than on who God is as the source of every good thing. Outside of Abraham, you don’t really get a more respected character in Judaism than Moses. He’s responsible for writing down what we call the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Old Testament. He shared God’s law with the people.

But over the years, the instrument of God’s work had gained more focus than the God who did the work. Whether it be the Moses they respected or the stories of manna they retold, neither is sufficient to give them eternal life now. And the same is true for you and me. You might have a pastor or a friend or a family member that played a massive role in shaping the way you believe in Jesus and follow him today. My mom certainly has been that person for me.

But the people God uses are not a substitute for the God who alone is able to change you. Your pastor can’t save you. You mom or your dad or that close friend can’t give you eternal life. And just because God provided manna that appeared for the Israelites right when they needed it in the wilderness back then doesn’t mean that’s how he’s going to meet your needs today. If your hope is in a person or a platform or a certain type of provision, then you’re setting yourself up to be disappointed.

It’s like loving a restaurant because they just have this one thing on the menu that you think is awesome. It’s the whole reason why you want to go. I’ve mentioned a Colombian restaurant in New Orleans in the past called Maïs Arepas. We brought another couple from our church once to try it: Ryan and Holly Messer.

Now, Ryan can be a little picky, but he found one thing that sold him on the whole experience: their pork belly sandwich. He raved about it all the time after that first night we had dinner there, asking when we were going to go back.

The next time we went together: they had taken the pork belly off the menu (and Ryan hasn’t really wanted to go there since). Now that I think of it, that’s happened at a couple of restaurants that Ryan and I have eaten at, so maybe I need to just try not to like whatever he likes.

When we put our whole reason for hoping in something based on this one thing that’s related to it, then when that thing falters or disappoints or disappears, then it feels like we lose the whole thing. When you believe God loving you means that he has to provide for you in this exact way that you want, when you want, like you know what’s best for you better than the God who created you, then when life doesn’t go the way you planned you’re going to struggle to trust that God is still real and still faithful.

Whether it be a certain way a pastor preaches or a certain style of worship music or even a certain kind of place where you gather together as a church with a disco ball, we can fall in love with the outputs of what God uses more than the source behind them. These good things can become functional saviors subtly replacing our submission to Jesus as we rely on them more than him. But as Jesus continues in verse 33 we see that he alone is our Savior. Let’s keep reading.

John 6:33 ESV

³³ For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

The crowd was looking for Jesus to produce a product, but he tells them that salvation is only found in a person. They wanted more manna. Jesus had called that out back in verse 27. They were seeking him because they ate their fill of the loaves and wanted to continue to receive from him. But Jesus turns their expectations on their head here when he says that he didn’t come to give bread; he came to be bread.

When Jesus says he’s the bread of life in verse 35, he’s saying that he’s the true bread—the fulfillment of what was only a shadow when God provided manna for the Israelites back in the desert. That bread had to be given every day because every day they woke up hungry and in need once again. That bread couldn’t be kept long term. It would spoil.

But Jesus doesn’t spoil, and he satisfies our hunger forever. We don’t have to keep breaking the bread of life. It was broken once for us, and that one sacrifice of Christ is sufficient for all your days and for all your sin. The bread in the Exodus might have nourished their bodies, but the bread of Christ “gives life to the world.”

So, why do we keep looking for things that are no more than temporary “manna” from God when the bread of life has been made available to us? Why do we interact with God primarily based on the circumstantial things we want in our life rather than pursuing and learning and enjoying the one who gives us life?

Asking God for this thing or that thing, sharing the burdens of your heart, and interceding for whatever’s going on in your life isn’t a bad thing. Scripture invites us to make our requests known to God. If he cares about you, then he cares about what you care about (even if he might not view that thing the same way you do). That’s why we’re told to cast our anxieties on him. But the most beautiful part of prayer isn’t that we get an answer; it’s that we meet with our Creator.

Macie and I can accomplish a lot during the day while I’m at work through texting each other. We can make plans, figure out solutions, encourage one another with whatever’s going on. But Macie asking me to grab something on my way home that day isn’t as sweet as the time we have together when I get there.

Both matter, and both are needed. But if you find yourself mostly relating to God in the context of what you want from him, I’d encourage you to set aside time where you can simply be with him, by reflecting on he is, still sharing what’s on your heart, but also expressing gratitude for his faithfulness in your life. The requests are sweeter in the context of the relationship.

But verse 33 might also feel a little hollow to you if you don’t think you need the life that Jesus is offering. That language of “[giving] life to the world” assumes that the world doesn’t already have that kind of life. So this presents two potential problems for us. First, you won’t want the life Jesus is offering unless you believe the life you have is needy; it’s insufficient; it’s incomplete. Jesus can’t be your Savior if you don’t believe you have anything to be saved from.

So, as a church, we cannot avoid talking about areas of doctrine like sin and justice and hell—both because these things are true of each of us who are separated from the righteousness of God as we’ve tried to rule our own lives without him, but also because they’re the “black felt backdrop” you see a jeweler lay down so that the diamond can shine all the more brilliantly on top of it.

We will see the beauty of Jesus most when we understand the weight of our sin the most. We will experience the greatest freedom in Christ when we understand the depth of our slavery to sin.

But second, if Jesus is the only one that can give this life to the world, then the only place we can find true fulfillment in life is in him—not just in eternity, but here as we live our daily lives now. So, if you’re looking for something else in your life to give you that kind of meaning, to give you that sense of completion, Scripture is telling us that even the good things in our life are going to fall short.

Back in 2005, Tom Brady was in the prime of his career as the Quarterback for the New England Patriots. He had won 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. And when he went on 60 Minutes for an interview, he said this: “Why do I have three Super Bowl rings, and still think there’s something greater out there for me?”

He said that many people would look at his life and think he’d reached the goal and was living the dream, but all he could feel was, “God, it’s gotta be more than this…”

So, Steve Kroft, who was interviewing him, asked, “What the answer?” To which Brady replied, “I wish I knew. I wish I knew.”

When you enter into a relationship with Jesus—when you turn from your sin and trying to rule your own life and place your faith in the work he’s done for you through his life, death, and resurrection in your place—you don’t just find that life in Christ is good. You learn that it’s sufficient. Let’s look one more time in our passage, now with verses 34-35.

John 6:34–35 ESV

³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ 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.

The crowd has heard Jesus speak to the value of what he gives, but they don’t yet understand the nature of the gift. They ask for Jesus to give them this bread always—at all times. But Jesus tells them that, not only is he the bread you need, but you’ll never need anything again.

We don’t get more and more of Jesus as we walk with him. We might learn more about him and fall more in love with him and, as a result, see our lives changed more by him, but Ephesians 1:3 tells us that for those of us in Christ we’ve already been given every spiritual blessing. You have all you need. You don’t have to keep trying to find your identity in your job or your reputation.

You are free to pursue those things faithfully without being enslaved by them because you can rest in who Jesus says you are and what he’s done for you to earn your reputation with the Father. We don’t have to hunger or thirst for anything else when we are feasting on the bread of life. He alone is sufficient for every area of your life.

Let’s pray.