The Bread of Life – John 6:22-40
“I am the bread of life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
“Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)
“Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” (John 8:58)
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9)
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11)
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live…” (John 11:25)
“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
1. We often seek satisfaction…
A. We are earthly creatures who…
“No earthly bread can meet the deepest longings and cravings of the human person. None of the stuff we clamor to own and keep finally satisfies. We are too gloriously constituted for “stuff” to fill us. This is a fact made graphically clear in the wealthy parts of the world, in our part of the world where we have all the “stuff” anyone could ever want and are still hungry.” (Darrell Johnson)
“for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13)
“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” (C.S. Lewis)
“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. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food” (Isaiah 55:1-2)
B. We need a new understanding of…
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness’” (Matthew 7:22-23)
2. It’s possible to live…
A. We need to…
“When we find ourselves empty and hungering too much for the bread that perishes, it likely means we have fallen out of the habit of the “keep coming.” (Darrell Johnson)
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned” (John 15:4-6)
“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “Do you want to go away as well?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I not choose you, the Twelve? And yet one of you is a devil.” He spoke of Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the Twelve, was going to betray him” (John 6:66-71)
3. Jesus is…
A. He offers…
B. He offers…
“All the unhappiness of men arises from one single fact, that they cannot stay quietly in their own chamber.” (Blaise Pascal)
C. He offers…
“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:51)
“Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” therefore the Lord God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.” (Genesis 3:22-24)
D. He offers…
“Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!” (Psalm 34:8)