Jesus: I AM the Bread of Life

This week we celebrated the life & work of Martin Luther King, Jr. who was born January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, GA.

In his speech on August 28 in 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until “justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Over & over again Dr. King talked about how they could not be satisfied. That’s because they were hungry for justice. Hungry for righteousness. Hungry for the people of this nation to realize that every person, regardless of the color of their skin, is a person of immeasurable worth.

Martin Luther King Jr., like so many during his time, were hungry. He was hungry for equality.

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What are we hungry for?

Take a look at our country today & ask the question, what are we hungry for today?  I look around our nation & I’m honestly not sure how to answer that question.

What are we hungry for as a church?

This should be easier to answer, right? What is it that we as the church are hungry for? What does our worship reveal about our hunger? What does our activity reveal about our hunger? What does how we spend our time & how we use our resources reveal about what we’re hungry for?

And are we hungry for God?

I know we’re hungry for something, because we’re not satisfied. And the fact that so many of us are unsatisfied in one area of our lives or another reveals that we’re hungry for something.

Hungry People

In John 6, we read a story about a crowd that had gathered around Jesus & they were hungry.

Jesus soon saw a huge crowd of people coming to look for him. Turning to Philip, he asked, “Where can we buy bread to feed all these people?”  He was testing Philip, for he already knew what he was going to do.  John 6.5-6

In the gospel of John whenever Jesus asks a question, it’s always a test. In this moment, Jesus wants to test Philip & His other disciples. They’ve seen Jesus heal the sick & turn water into wine. They know.  They’ve seen with their own eyes what Jesus can do. So Jesus asks the question & I’m sure he’s curious what kind of answer they will come up with. Two different disciples come up with two different answers to Jesus’ question. See what you think about their responses.

Philip replied, “Even if we worked for months, we wouldn’t have enough money to feed them!”  John 6.7

Philip looks at the situation a lot like you & I might look at the situation. Here are the numbers. We’ve got this many people. We’ve got this much money. Simple math. Answer – there’s NO WAY we can feed all these people.

I’m so glad that God isn’t as good at math as we are. So many times when the numbers don’t add up God seems to make a way!

[Tweet “So often when the numbers don’t add up God seems to make a way!”]

Then Andrew, another one of Jesus’ disciples, who has apparently overheard this conversation between Jesus & Philip, has snapped into action.

Then Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up.  “There’s a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish. But what good is that with this huge crowd?”  John 6.8-9

I love Andrew’s response. Andrew knows the math doesn’t matter when you have the Messiah on your side. While Philip is staring at the math & the sheer impossibility of the situation, Andrew snaps into action. There’s a couple of points here I don’t want you to miss.

[Tweet ” Andrew knew the math doesn’t matter when you have the Messiah on your side. “]

First – Notice that Andrew brings this boy to Jesus. In fact, every time you read about Andrew in the Bible he’s ALWAYS bringing someone to Jesus. I love this about Andrew. And if there could only be one thing said of me, I would hope it would be the same. That you & I are always bringing people to Jesus.

Second – Notice that Andrew doesn’t get discouraged in the face of this impossible situation. He doesn’t call a committee together to talk about the problem & list all the reasons this isn’t going to work. He doesn’t get mad that there isn’t enough money or there isn’t enough food. He does the only thing he knows to do. He finds someone who has some food & brings them to Jesus. So whenever you’re facing an impossible situation & the math doesn’t add up, can we just remember to bring what we have to Jesus, no matter how small it may seem, & trust Jesus to do what only Jesus can do?!

[Tweet “Remember to bring what you have to Jesus, no matter how small it may seem, & trust Him.”]

Next, Jesus says…

“Tell everyone to sit down,” Jesus said. So they all sat down on the grassy slopes. (The men alone numbered about 5,000.)  Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks to God, and distributed them to the people. Afterward he did the same with the fish. And they all ate as much as they wanted.  John 6.10-11

Now you can imagine that at this point these people, who from the time they were born had heard the stories about how God had given their ancestors bread from Heaven (Exodus 16), are sitting here in this grassy place & you can almost here the chatter from one group to the next. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”  “Is this really happening?”  “Are we really eating this?”  “Where did this bread come from?”  “How did He do it?”

This crowd knows something miraculous just happened. And it seems all to familiar. It seems like those stories we were told about another time bread came from Heaven.

So the next morning, when the crowd couldn’t find Jesus, they went looking for Him.

Hungry for POWER or PRESENCE?

John says…

They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. John 6.25-27

[Tweet “Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. #Jesus”]

What is Jesus saying right here? He’s reminding them & he’s reminding us… stop being so caught up in perishable things, with things that don’t last. Stop having such a hunger & an appetite for things that don’t really matter. Be hungry for God! Be hungry for eternal life. Be hungry for what only I can give you, for what only I can satisfy!

They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do?  After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”  John 6.30-31

Can you see the veins in Jesus’ forehead bulging at this point? Seriously? They’re giving Moses credit for the 40 year manna miracle? They’ve forgotten what I just did yesterday when I miraculously fed 5,000+ of them bread & fish?

Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.”

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6.32-35

[Tweet “”I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again.” #Jesus”]

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died.  Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” John 6.32-35; 47-51

What does it mean to be HUNGRY for God?

Jesus here declares that He & He alone is the true bread from Heaven, and that those who eat this bread will never die, they will have eternal life!

In this story, Jesus was talking to a group of religious people who, let’s be honest, they were not hungry for God. They were hungry for the power of God, not for the presence of God.

And if we’re not careful the same could be true of us. In fact, anytime our relationship with God is predicated on what God can do for us instead of who God is to us, then we’ve become like these people who had a hunger for the power of God, not the presence of God.

Some of you are hungry today.  You’re desperate. You’ve been looking for the answer in all the wrong places. What you’ve discovered is that nothing satisfies. Not facebook. Not online relationships. Not alcohol. Not drugs. Not food. Not anger. Not things. Not fame. Not power. Not possessions. Nothing satisfies. But something does. Some ONE does. His name is Jesus. And He’s the best bread at the best meal you’ll ever eat. And He alone satisfies.

We’re all hungry for something. Jesus is the only one that satisfies.

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So hunger for the presence of God.