You can see later on in this chapter an invitation to feed on Christ – which obviously sounds really weird. But what we’re looking at this morning is the essence of what that means: Since God has sent his Son into the world to save all his beloved chosen people (his ‘elect’), trust in Christ for eternal life – beginning now as you’re nourished by him daily, being kept by him forever.
With Jesus as the ‘bread of life’ you will see how and why you’re to feed on Christ for blessing in this life and the life to come.
These notes accompany a sermon on YouTube delivered at Bromborough Evangelical Church Wirral in August 2024. You can find more in the series in our sermon index.
Get your priorities straight (22-29)
Last time we looked at John 1:1-21.
Jesus fed 5,000 men in the wilderness to the east of the Sea of Galilee (sea of Tiberius). It was Passover time, and the people were high on national zeal. They saw Jesus giving bread in the wilderness and thought of Moses with the manna. They thought Jesus might be the fulfilment of promised Prophet like Moses. And they wanted to make him king. Jesus refused.
Amazingly, that night when his 12 disciples were out on the sea in a storm, Jesus walked to them on the water.
He is the promised Prophet who will lead God’s people out of slavery to sin. Much bigger rescue even than Israel from Egypt. And he is the very King of kings forever! Walking on water demonstrated yet again divinity: Son of God.
But all this passed most people by. Read John 6:22-25.
There’s a lot of confusion – and hot pursuit. There’s a lot of effort going in to catching up with Jesus – but the question is: why? What are they looking for?
It’s funny that when they did find him they asked, “When did you get here?” rather than “How?” “I walked on the water” might have caused quite a stir. But it seems that event was for his closest disciples only at that point. Jesus needed them to know who he is.
Equally, Jesus wasn’t about to brag to an unbelieving crowd.
Teaching, not tricks
He intended to teach, not perform tricks to amuse and amaze. Read John 6:26.
Those people were looking at the signs (miracles), but not at what they signified. Don’t make their mistake. There are plenty of people who quite like Christian culture, without committing to becoming a Christian themselves. That might be you. You like the friendliness, the familiarity, the sheer goodness of Christians. But you won’t acknowledge the Christ that it’s all built around and grounded in.
All I can say is: Don’t get cosy, because it’s not enough.
Read John 6:27.
Obviously you do need to work for food and shelter.
But this is about getting your priorities straight for the really biggest things in life… and death.
You have a greater need than food and shelter: Food for eternal life. The Son of Man (Jesus) will give you that food! God the Father confirmed it by setting his seal on Jesus: At his baptism (“This is my Son”), and in raising him from the dead.
The crowd didn’t understand: Read John 6:28.
They didn’t understand that Jesus was standing there ready to give life to all who will ask: They thought they needed to earn it.
Believe in Christ
So he corrects them: Read John 6:29. Then you say, “Believe what?”
Read John 20:30-31. After reading about how Jesus is God, reading all Jesus’ claims, then seeing him crucified and raised from the dead, you’re to believe he is the Messiah and Son of God and that by believing you might have eternal life in his name. Messiah? He’s the almighty reigning king who came to die for his people and rule over us forever. Son of God? He’s no less than God himself
So there can be no other way to be saved, and: He loves you.
Do you want to know what God wants of you? He wants you to trust Jesus for eternal life, to be saved, to serve him happily, to be a child of God. God loves you passionately, and greatly desires that you be saved.
Coming to Christ now is a moment with lifelong – and eternal – consequences and blessings. Make that your priority right now.
Feed on the Bread of Life (30-35)
Read John 6:30-31.
It seems that feeding the 5,000 wasn’t enough of a sign. From their point of view, if Jesus was the “Prophet like Moses” they were expecting then he should be able to do even more than Moses. Clearly, they don’t understand him or what he brings.
So, as ever, Jesus has to correct them.
Read John 6:32-33.
They’re too focussed on Moses and not enough on what God was doing through Moses. In the desert, when the Israelites cried out because there wasn’t enough food, God gave them manna – a kind of bread that appeared on the ground every morning (double on Fridays so that they didn’t collect on the Sabbath). Moses didn’t give anyone manna. God gave it.
But notice the change in tense Jesus uses: “Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” They were to forget the food they had across the sea! What they had in Christ was the true bread from God – if only they could see it. And this has been written down so that you might see it – and live.
Remember John 1:1 and John 1:14. Jesus is the eternal Word who was God and was with God in the beginning; and he’s that Word made flesh, made human.
He’s the bread of God from heaven!
Food for your soul
And it’s for the world (end of v33). Manna was for Israel in the desert. But Jesus is food for the world. And remember, in John’s gospel “the world” is almost always negative – unbelieving society.
Jesus is offering them food for their souls. But they’re still thinking of their stomachs: Read John 6:34.
They’re like the woman at the well in John 4, asking for the water that would leave no-one thirsty ever again. It’s 100% literal.
It’s easy for you to be like them too. You see your needs as immediate and physical, but God is over and above all and he sees your truest need. Even better, he offers to meet your truest need as he shows you what it is. God is offering you eternal life in Jesus Christ. And that life starts now.
I am the Bread of Life
Read John 6:35.
It’s the first of 7 “I am the [something]” statements in John’s gospel – all rich and worth dwelling on. Obviously he’s not talking about literal food and water. Plenty of his people are hungry and thirsty all over the world today as a result of the cruelty of others.
So what does he mean? Well, what do you hunger for? What do you crave? What do you dream of? What do you regret, or mourn losing?
Love? Community? Security? Hope, joy, peace? Rest?
There are many things in life that will ease the pain, but nothing really lasts.
- Jobs come and go, as do people and friends.
- Your health will forsake you – be sure of that.
- Money runs out, and people let you down.
- Holidays are soon over.
But Jesus is the bread of life. Bread for every day, fit for poor people and kings.
- Jesus is energy for when you’re weak.
- He’s nourishment for when you’re flagging.
- He sustains you daily without fail.
- There’s not one day when you don’t need him.
- Jesus Christ, alive and at work in his people, is food for your soul.
- Today, tomorrow, and all eternity.
- Nourishment in the deepest recesses of who you are.
You can trust him, and you must.
If you wobble in doubt, or slip into sin, know that he is more secure than your feelings and his mercy is greater than your sin.
Be confident in Christ (36-40)
So we come to words which are wonderful for those who trust in Jesus, but challenging too. Read John 6:36.
He’s speaking to people who saw Jesus and what he did, but didn’t believe in him – didn’t see him for who he is. They saw the sign (feeding the 5,000), but not what it signified (Jesus, Son of God, in supernatural abundant grace). Will Jesus plead with them to follow him? By the end of the chapter, he’ll watch many of them walk away. He knows that even though he’s given the invitation to feed on Christ, to be nourished by the Bread of Life, many will walk away.
But not everyone will. Some are drawn to Jesus while others aren’t. Why is that?
Read John 6:37-38.
Be in no doubt about this: Everyone has sinned; we all deserve punishment for rebellion against a God of perfect justice.
God’s elective choice
Yet, before the foundation of the world, God chose some in love to be saved from hell’s punishment – his ‘elect’.
- Not ‘elite’ – because there’s nothing special about them.
- But ‘elect’ – not because they have elected to follow Jesus, but because he has elected to save them.
The Father chose his people, and then entrusted them to the Son. No-one is saved except by Jesus, so “Everyone the Father gives me will come to me.”
Is it possible that Jesus might lose some, or fail some?
- “The one who comes to me I will never cast out.”
- That is a welcome to you. But it’s security too.
- Everyone the Father gives him will come to him; and everyone who comes to him will be kept.
- If that weren’t the case, Jesus would have either failed or been disobedient to the Father – unthinkable. Read John 6:38 again.
- It’s the Son’s delight to obey the Father by saving you from your sins, and then keeping you.
- He simply cannot let you go.
Salvation is God’s work from eternity past: That’s your security!
2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began.
You sin because you want to. Everyone deserves hell.
But God saves some because he wants to, and he elects all whom he will call.
Certainty of salvation is grounded in the love of God the Father and God the Son
It’s not for me to know if God has called you in love from eternity past – though I notice that he’s brought you here…
But I do know that Jesus came to do that Father’s will and that he did not – and could not – fail to do that will.
And verses 39 and 40 spell out what the Father’s will is.
Read John 6:39.
- That gives you the utter certainty that if you have come to Christ he will keep you and raise you up to eternal life on the last day.
- It’s the Father’s will, and the Son will accomplish it.
Read John 6:40.
- This gives you the utter certainty that the Father’s will is for you to turn to Christ for your salvation. He desires only that
- Not baptism, mass, penance or pilgrimage.
- Not any other religion or philosophy.
- Trust in the Son and enter life now.
God calls you.
You wonder, “What if I’m not one of his elect?” You’re not called to be chosen; you’re called to put your trust in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation. Do that.
As you go to him, repenting of your sin, seeking his forgiveness, you come to a God who came to save you. It is his will that you be saved – that’s all you need to know.
Turn to him.
Summary
Get your priorities right.
- He knows the needs you have in this life.
- But he has known you from eternity and knows your future.
- Turn to him in faith that he will forgive you and save you.
Feed on the Bread of Life.
- He is food for your soul, satisfying you at your deepest level – now, tomorrow, and forever.
Be confident in Christ
- As you come to Christ, know that your salvation is secure in the Father’s will and Christ’s love for the Father. Safe.