JULY 16 / JULY 23, 2017
JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE
INTRODUCTION:
1. We come now the first of Jesus’ famous “I AM” passages. There are seven of these passages, all of which are found in the Gospel of John. Each one begins with the incommunicable Name of Deity in the Greek form. In each one Jesus describes HIMSELF in some very profound manner.
a) “I am the bread of life.” (Verses 35, 38)
b) “I am the light of the world.” (Ch. 8:12)
c) “I am the door.” (Ch. 10:7, 9)
d) “I am the good shepherd.” (Ch. 10:11, 14)
e) “I am the resurrection and the life.” (Ch. 11:25
f) “I am the way.” (Ch. 14:6)
g) “I am the true vine.” (Ch. 15:1, 5)
2. Jesus, the “bread of life” is the first of these discourses and in some ways is basic to them all.
3. The occasion of the discourse was the question that was asked by the Jews, who, inspired by the miracle of the loaves, continued relentlessly to seek Jesus, desiring to make Him a king.
a) At first, He upbraided them for wrong seeking and wrong laboring, and they seemed to take it. (Verses 25, 27)
b) They then go on to ask about doing works for God, which He tells must consist in believing on Him whom God sent. (Verses 28, 29)
c) What follows seems at first to be an assent to His words, but they wanted a further sign, even a greater miracle, equal to that of Moses’ sign of MANNA in the wilderness. (Verses 30, 31)
4. To elaborate on their question and to further show the purpose of the previous miracle of the loaves, Jesus sets Himself forth as The Bread of Life.
I. JESUS SPOKE ABOUT THE TRUE BREAD WHICH THE FATHER SENT DOWN FROM HEAVEN. (VERSES 30-40)
A. THIS DISCOURSE AROSE FROM THE JEWS’ DEMAND OF A “SIGN.” (VERSES 30, 31)
1. It’s hard to imagine how those who had seen so much could demand a further sign, that is, a miracle. (Vse. 30)
2. They had not actually seen the five loaves and the two fishes, or the creative operation by which the abundance of food was produced.
3. They wanted a miracle performed before their eyes bigger than the provision of manna in the wilderness.
4. We cannot ignore the fact that this group was offended that Jesus refused their offer to make Him a king, and yet had gone on to claim to be the supreme Messenger of God, and the proper object of their faith. (Verses 26-29)
5. They wanted Jesus to give them a sign that would make Him greater than Moses. (Verse 31)
a) Manna was Moses’ bread from heaven, but God, not Moses, was the true source and provider of it. (See Psa. 78:17-25)
b) Jesus had, in the previous chapter and on other occasions, declared that God was the power source of His own miracles. (Ch. 5:17, 19; Matt. 12:28; Luke 11:20)
c) Just as God had sent the manna, so also had He sent the True Bread in the Person of His Son.
B. JESUS WENT ON TO SPEAK OF A BREAD THAT IS MORE WONDROUS THAN MOSES’ MANNA. (VERSES 32, 33)
1. Jesus gave great emphasis to what He was about to say. “Verily, verily…” (Amen, amen…).
2. He told them plainly that Moses did not accomplish the giving of Heavenly Bread. “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven.”
a) That is, he did not accomplish the giving of it permanently. (perfect tense)
b) The manna was a picture of The Bread from heaven.
c) It was intended to lead them to Jesus Christ.
3. But the Father gives (is giving, present tense), is now giving, true Heavenly Bread. This was happening as Jesus preached the Word, and as hungry souls believed on Him.
4. The True Bread is not a material substance, but a Person. (Verse 33a)
5. That Person, who presently stood in their midst had come to give life unto the world.
C. THE JEWS, AT THAT POINT, ACTUALLY ASKED JESUS FOR THIS BREAD. (VERSE 34)
1. Their request, in many ways seemed sincere and proper.
a) They addressed Him as Lord. (Sovereign, Majesty)
b) They asked for this gift to be permanently given. “evermore.” The manna was given daily for forty years and then stopped. So they wanted heavenly bread evermore.
2. This was the highest point of their expectation, and at this point there is a decided break between Jesus and them.
D. JESUS OVERTLY DECLARED HIMSELF TO BE THE HEAVENLY BREAD. (VERSE 35)
1. They had said, “Give us this bread,” He said, “I am Myself this bread.”
2. He was saying, “I am the food that endures; the work to be done in order to obtain, is faith in me.” (Vses. 27-29)
3. They, in order to be satisfied were but to come and believe.
4. However, one has to be hungry and thirsty, otherwise he or she will not come.
E. JESUS PLAINLY DECLARED THEIR SPIRITUAL STATE. (VERSE 36)
1. They were unbelievers – they had faith enough to ask for heavenly bread, but not enough to recognize Him as the Bread from heaven.
2. They were proud sinners. They could say, “Give us,” but were too proud and stupid to receive Christ as the Bread of Life.
F. NEVERTHELESS, GOD’S PURPOSE WAS NOT FRUSTRATED. (VERSES 37-39)
1. Jesus will receive all that the Father had given to Him. (Verse 37a)
2. All of them will, without fail, come to Him. (Verse 37b)
3. This is according to the will of the Father. (Verse 38)
4. Jesus will lose none of those given to Him by the Father. (Verse 39)
5. All true believers will be raised up at the last day. (Verse 40)
II. JESUS PLAINLY IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE BREAD OF LIFE. (VERSES 41-51)
A. LIKE THE UNBELIEVING JEWS IN JUDEA, THESE GALILEAN JEWS MURMERED OVER JESUS’ ORIGINS. (VERSES 41, 42)
1. It was impossible for them to recognize Jesus as having come down from heaven, because they thought they knew His origin and His family.
2. Like the folks at Nazareth, their supposed knowledge of who Jesus was was a barrier to their faith, and thus deprived them of great blessings. (Matt. 13:54-58)
3. The origin of Jesus is not a means of faith, but can only be accepted by those who truly believe.
4. Sadly, countless souls remain in their unbelief because of what they think they know, and they cannot accept as possible what their finite minds cannot attain unto. (Isa. 55:8, 9)
5. That said, the real reason for one’s unbelief is usually not what he says it is. This Jesus knew to be the case here, as His response will show.
B. JESUS EXPLAINED TO THE UNBELIEVING JEWS THE CAUSE OF THEIR UNBELIEF. (VSES. 43-46)
1. Since the real cause of their unbelief stemmed from something much deeper than their knowledge of His family, He did not directly address their question.
2. Going directly to the real reason for their discontent, Jesus cited their lack of inner drawing and teaching. (Verses 37-40, 44)
a) All who were given to Him by the father in the eternal covenant of redemption are effectually drawn to Him, i.e. they come to Him in faith. (Verses 37, 44)
b) They come not as being forced against their will, or by blind instinct, but through teaching, the Word is inwardly received.
(1) Without this inward teaching and divine drawing, they had no will to come to Christ or even the ability to understand the Scripture. (Ch. 5:39, 40, 46, 47)
(2) These two divine works, the Father’s drawing and inward teaching, meet in man’s soul in faith.
c) The God who sent Jesus also draws souls to Jesus.
d) Jesus promises to bring the work to full completion in the final resurrection at the last day.
3. Jesus confirmed this great truth by citing an Old Testament passage. (Verse 45; Isa. 54:13)
a) The whole Messianic community will be taught of God.
b) Only those who experience this inward teaching can truly come to Christ, and by faith submit to Him.
c) All who experience this inward teaching do come to Him.
4. In all of this Jesus declared His own unique authority. (Verse 46)
a) All may outwardly hear the Word, but only the Son can see the Father. In this Jesus restricts “teaching” in a very particular way.
(1) The Son saw the Father before all worlds.
(2) As incarnate Son He saw Him.
b) Consequently, He is the only one who can reveal or teach God perfectly. (Matt. 11:27; John 17:3)
C. JESUS AGAIN AFFIRMED HIMSELF TO BE “THE BREAD OF LIFE.” (VERSES 47-51)
1. Again He prefaced His affirmation with “Verily, verily.” This has the force of, “What I am saying is true, whatever your objections may be.”
2. He declared the absolute truth that everlasting life could be obtained only through faith in Him. (Verse 47)
3. He could justify this claim by declaring absolutely, “I am the bread of life.” (Verse 48)
4. He offered proof of this claim. (Verse 49)
a) He gave His hearers back their own words of Verse 31. “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness.”
b) He then added another obvious truth. “…and are dead.”
c) Their fathers not only died, but they died under God’s judicial wrath.
5. Jesus, however, proclaimed Himself to be the living Bread. (Verse 50)
a) He gives life as “the bread of life.”
b) But moreover, He is that Divine life realized in a Person.
6. Jesus ends these assertions with a statement that to the unbelieving and faithless was considered “a hard saying.” (Verses 51, 60)
a) He would give His flesh as bread to be eaten.
b) This would require that He give His flesh as a substitutionary sacrifice.
c) Thus, Jesus was to become the Passover Lamb.
d) The extent of the new Pascal feast would be worldwide.
7. These objectors took His words in a literal sense, having not understood that it is through believing on Him that one partakes of the sacrifice. (Verse 47) Having not been taught inwardly, they had no understanding of spiritual things. (Verse 63)
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