Sermon on John 6vv27-35 Southwood 4 February 2007
By Rev Steve Stewart
"I am the bread of life"
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?" 26 Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval." 28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" 29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 "Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
35 Then Jesus declared, "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. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.[NIV]
Introduction:
Today we begin our teachings on the 'I am' sayings of Jesus in John's Gospel with the account of Jesus declaring 'I am the bread of life'. John's Gospel has been famously described as being both shallow enough to paddle in and deep enough to swim in, which is about right. Bruce Milne in his commentary on John says of chapter 6, where we are today: "this …section contains some of the profoundest teaching in this Gospel concerning the significance of Jesus" -so we might think of ourselves as going straight in at the deep end this morning!
But although John's Gospel can be deep and challenging it is nothing to be afraid of for those who come to the LORD in prayer, asking for wisdom to understand it. Like all the Bible, with prayer and diligence, the guidance of the Holy Spirit is given to us, and we can be greatly blessed. The greatest barrier to understanding the Word of God is not intellect but arrogance! So, let's pray and ask God to guide us by his Spirit as we begin on John this morning…PRAY
Setting the scene -the 5000 fed:
First we need I think to set the scene for what Jesus says. At the start of chapter six we have the episode where Jesus performs the miracle -or signs as they are called in John's Gospel: the Greek word is semeion from which comes the word semaphore where signs are made with flags- the miracle of the feeding of a crowd of 5000 men plus women and children with just "five barley loaves and two 'small' fish" (John 6:9) I love the detail that they were 'small' fish, as if the miracle would have been reduced if they'd been big fish!
The crowd are obviously excited by what Jesus has done, and to cut a medium length story short, when Jesus ups and leaves, they decide to follow Him. Picking up the account at verse 25, the crowd find Jesus on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. The crowd ask Jesus the seemingly innocent question, which basically amounts to 'been here long, Jesus?'. Where I grew up in Sidcup, the former Prime Minister Ted Heath was our MP and you'd bump into him at local events occasionally, and even the most loyal of Ted's supporters would probably agree that one thing he didn't do too well was 'small talk': you'd mention the weather, and he'd talk about the effect that weather might have on the future of European Union farming policy.
You got a feel of how it must sometimes have been with those who follow Jesus (this is an analogy -I'm not directly comparing Ted Heath with Jesus, by the way!): One thing you might say about Jesus is that He doesn't really do small talk. At times it must have been awesome to be with Jesus, but it could also be very unnerving. The crowds have asked the seemingly innocent question, "when did you get here" (verse 25) and instead of replying in kind, Jesus sees straight to the heart of the crowd and confronts them, not with a warm welcome, but, well, like this (verse 26):
"I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill."
He is angry because He knows that the crowd have forgotten the purpose of the miraculous sign of feeding them with 5 loaves and two fish, and only remembered that this is where they got a free lunch! It's a challenging text, and a warning that if our relationship with the church or with Jesus is simply based on what we can get out of it, then we'd better watch out. I know colleagues who face this issue in a very real way, where they have church schools in the area, and some parents come to church to get their children baptized and get the letter from the vicar to approve them for the school as 'regular churchgoers' and then never see them again. Very sad, and draining for the church leaders too. Anyway, Jesus sees this attitude in the crowd, and confronts it head on. And he continues:
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
And here we should note three clear things in what Jesus says -they are very important for his argument:
1. 1. There's the instruction to have a different outlook to the whole of our lives: "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life". This begs the question, where can such food be found? -Jesus' second point:
2. 2. "which the Son of Man will give you" -the food that gives eternal life comes from Jesus (he often refers to Himself as the 'Son of Man'). This then begs the question, first who on earth is Jesus, a) that he can address the crowd so sternly ('who the blazes is he to talk to us so rudely?!') and b) who on earth is Jesus that he can give us food to lead us " to eternal life" (it's quite some claim, isn't it!!!) - all answered by Jesus' third point:
3. 3. "On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
And it's this last point I want to pick up on: "On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."
'On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval' but how? Through word and sign!
The basis for all Jesus claims and authority is that it has been given to Him by the will of God, His Father in heaven. But how? How has God 'placed his seal of approval on Jesus? In John's Gospel, and throughout the Gospels actually, in two very clear ways: through word and through sign. There is the word of John the Baptist, the last and greatest of God's prophets, who testifies to Jesus -added to by the direct words of God and appearance of the Spirit of God descending on Jesus like a dove (which we can read about in chapter 1 of John). But God also places his seal of approval on Jesus through signs and miracles: which is what Jesus seems particularly concerned with here.
If I wanted to prove I was the son of Paul McCartney, I could get some various papers, birth certificates together and give it a go -but what I wouldn't be able to forge would me songwriting genius, an ability to play a dozen different instruments and certainly not my DNA! But with Jesus everything about Him testifies to his authority and that God has indeed placed his seal of approval on Him: his words, his character, his genius -AND the most extraordinary miracles, like walking on water, feeding five thousand with a packed lunch -and being raised from the dead (that was quite impressive). Strip the miracles out of the gospels, and Jesus' claims might seem very impoverished. Everything about Jesus is like he carries God's DNA.
Can you see now why Jesus seems so exasperated with this crowd: they filled their stomachs, but failed miserably to see who Jesus was: the very purpose of the sign! The feeding of the 5000 was God's 'seal of approval' on Jesus!
'What must we do to do the works God requires?'
But at least the crowd, and there's a lesson for all of us here, at least the crowd seem to begin to get it (a bit!), and stick around to listen even though Jesus' words seem uncomfortable: they ask him:
28 Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"
Now, it seems a fair question: after all, these were Jews, who thought in terms of pleasing God by doing good works: a sacrifice here, a festival there. Do a good deed, earn some credit with God, and with good luck and a fair wind you'll get to heaven. That's pretty much how I find a lot of people see religion today. They see Christianity a bit like Karma in Buddhism: build up the old brownie points for the next life! But it's nothing like that: getting to heaven with Jesus is NOT a matter of doing a set number of good deeds, and this is one key Bible passage that should make that as plain as the nose on our face! "What must we do to do the works God requires?". Look at Jesus' response:
29 Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."
Spending eternity in heaven with Jesus', being forgiven and receiving all the blessings of paradise is not, what not and never has been first and foremost a matter of what we do, but what we believe in our hearts: "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent." That's it!
This is why the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 is so key to understanding what Jesus means when He says 'I am the bread of life' in verse 35! The bread in the miracle came free, for nothing -a gift from Jesus' Father in heaven! It is NOT like earthly bread, which we have to work for. The crowd should have seen this, seen the hand of the Father in heaven giving His approval to Jesus. They filled their bellies with the bread, but the sign passed them by. Don't let us be like that.
And now, seeing all this, can you believe the crowd verse 30:
30 So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
Don't ask for a sign when the the sign has already been given!!
This crowd had seen the very sign to prove all that he had said, and still they ask him for another one. It reminds me of many years ago at West Acton tube late at night. I'd got the wrong train, really had no idea where I was and went up to this guy, and asked him, "which way to London?" to which he replied rather menacingly "you're already in London". I think he was just being aggressive, but he did have a point! It's like that with this crowd asking for a second miracle to verify the first!
Any of us would probably have had steam coming out of our ears at this point, but praise be to Jesus (I'm often as daft as the crowd here), He is incredibly patient and gentle with them. He doesn't berate them any more, but simply and with great kindness tells them how it is (verse 32):
32 Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
(and he says this even though he knows the crowd still won't really end up believing he is the Son of God -see verse 36). But they ask for this special bread, and Jesus clinches his argument, by saying plainly:
"I am the bread of life"
"I am the bread of life" -to sustain you through eternity!
The subtlety and intrigue is all over now -it's plain speaking. He is giving the crowd -and us- a clear choice: the world (represented by the bread that fills the stomach and all the desires of this life) or Jesus. We will see later on in our series the stark choices that can face us with. But what we now know -ignorance is now no excuse for us- that the bread that fills the stomach is temporary and fading -we had a fabulous Chinese takeaway on Thursday, but this morning I was hungry. And the which is Jesus lasts forever: those who take Jesus into their heart are never left empty -I took Jesus into my life in 1979 and 28 years later I'm STILL full: 'Do the math', as they say!!!
35 Then Jesus declared, "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.
Conclusion:
As we receive communion this morning, the band will lead us in singing "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom", the words of course of the thief on the Cross, who even in His agony and torment, when he could have been consumed by the desires of this life, even to the need for oxygen in his lungs, does everything this crowd here could not: he sees who Jesus is, he knows God will raise Jesus from the dead - and he believes that Jesus will come again and establish His Kingdom forever. No wonder then that Jesus replies to him: "I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise!" (Luke 23:42). And I pray that we have eyes to see who Jesus is, that as we travel together through these 'I am' sayings in John, in the Lent course in housegroups and in our preaching here on Sunday morning, that we will see ever more clearly the meaning of these signs, that we will know Jesus better and better, and that we will always choose -when there is a choice to be made- the Bread who is Jesus over the 'bread' which fills the stomach for a fleeting moment, and tomorrow leaves us hungry again.
AMEN.
Rev Steve Stewart © 2006
*Scripture quotations taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton, a member of the Hodder Headline Group. All rights reserved. "NIV" is a trade mark of International Bible Society. UK trademark number 1448790.