The Bread of Life (John 6:25-35)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:04.240 Tonight scripture is actually going to be coming from the gospel of John and we're 2 00:00:04.280 --> 00:00:11.310 going to be looking at John Chapter six, starting at Verse Twenty Five and 3 00:00:11.509 --> 00:00:17.429 going through until or through verse thirty five. So John Chapter Six, starting 4 00:00:17.429 --> 00:00:25.219 at Verse Twenty Five. Here now is God's word. When they found him 5 00:00:25.219 --> 00:00:28.420 on the other side of the sea, they said to him, rabbi, 6 00:00:28.699 --> 00:00:32.780 when did you come here? Jesus answered them truly, truly, I say 7 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:37.689 to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because 8 00:00:37.689 --> 00:00:41.289 you ate your fill of the loaves. Do Not Labor for the food that 9 00:00:41.450 --> 00:00:45.289 perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the son 10 00:00:45.369 --> 00:00:48.850 of Man will give to you, for on him, God, the father, 11 00:00:48.969 --> 00:00:52.399 has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we 12 00:00:52.520 --> 00:00:57.600 do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, this is 13 00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.119 the work of God that you believe in him, whom he has sent. 14 00:01:02.679 --> 00:01:03.909 So they said to him. Then, what sign do you do that we 15 00:01:03.989 --> 00:01:08.670 may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate 16 00:01:08.709 --> 00:01:11.670 the manner and the Wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread 17 00:01:11.790 --> 00:01:15.870 from heaven to eat. Jesus then said to them, truly truly, I 18 00:01:15.989 --> 00:01:19.060 say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, 19 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:23.859 but my father gives you the true bread from heaven, for the bread 20 00:01:23.900 --> 00:01:27.340 of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 21 00:01:29.540 --> 00:01:33.329 They said to him, sir, give us this bread always. Jesus 22 00:01:33.329 --> 00:01:36.209 said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me 23 00:01:36.370 --> 00:01:42.170 shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Thus, 24 00:01:42.290 --> 00:01:49.599 ins God's word, you may be seated. Well, we are in the 25 00:01:49.680 --> 00:01:56.959 season arounding the corner to Thanksgiving this coming week, and it is interesting, 26 00:01:57.040 --> 00:02:02.670 as we contrast godliness and worldly mindedness, how this one holiday is an example 27 00:02:02.750 --> 00:02:07.750 of how people have totally turned it from an opportunity to thank God and focus 28 00:02:07.870 --> 00:02:12.189 on him to an opportunity, quite literally, to think about the belly. 29 00:02:13.590 --> 00:02:16.900 I heard on a radio program a few years ago that the average amount of 30 00:02:16.939 --> 00:02:24.379 calories that Americans eat on Thanksgiving was five thousand, and I think they even 31 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:28.620 said it was just for the Thanksgiving meal, not counting breakfast or anything else, 32 00:02:28.780 --> 00:02:32.050 but just Thanksgiving meal. Let's probably counts the or d'euvres and, you 33 00:02:32.169 --> 00:02:37.930 know, the wine and then the meal and then seconds and thirds and then 34 00:02:38.009 --> 00:02:43.930 you got dessert and then, of course, you pass out as the football 35 00:02:43.969 --> 00:02:46.919 game is going on, because the trip to fan kicks in. And you 36 00:02:46.000 --> 00:02:52.199 see, that's the modern liturgy for Thanksgiving. We've transformed it from being something 37 00:02:52.520 --> 00:02:57.599 which we focus primarily on God to something that is definitely worldly minded. And 38 00:02:59.669 --> 00:03:01.870 that contrast is kind of what Jesus deals with as he comes even to his 39 00:03:01.949 --> 00:03:06.229 own people, the Covenant People of God in Israel, as he comes to 40 00:03:06.310 --> 00:03:08.870 those who were called out from the world, those who had been given God's 41 00:03:08.909 --> 00:03:14.219 word, given his law, given the prophets, those who had the signs 42 00:03:14.259 --> 00:03:21.020 and symbols of God's grace, Jesus finds that his message about his kingdom meets 43 00:03:21.099 --> 00:03:27.530 with a sharp contrast with the mindset of the people around him, that even 44 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:30.849 among his disciples, he has to constantly correct them and focus them on the 45 00:03:30.889 --> 00:03:36.530 kingdom that is to come rather than on the kingdoms of this earth and the 46 00:03:36.569 --> 00:03:42.759 way things work among the kingdoms of this world. And so Jesus here, 47 00:03:42.840 --> 00:03:46.560 as he is teaching these people who have been following him around kind of like 48 00:03:46.680 --> 00:03:52.719 a fan club. They have been following watching his miracles, hearing his teaching 49 00:03:53.520 --> 00:03:59.750 and just being very, very busy about following him. Suddenly are brought to 50 00:03:59.830 --> 00:04:03.229 a screeching halt and are even offended by what Jesus says here and what he 51 00:04:03.270 --> 00:04:10.219 will shortly go on to say as he continues in his discourse. This passage 52 00:04:10.460 --> 00:04:15.259 follows on the heels of Jesus feeding the five thousand across the the Sea of 53 00:04:15.300 --> 00:04:20.139 Galilee. And what happened there was Jesus in its disciples had wanted to get 54 00:04:20.139 --> 00:04:25.370 away, actually to get some rest from all these people who had kept going 55 00:04:25.529 --> 00:04:30.410 in and out among them and trying to get more miracles and and just hobnob 56 00:04:30.490 --> 00:04:34.610 around Jesus and the disciples, and they finally needed some rest. And so 57 00:04:35.009 --> 00:04:39.439 Jesus and them got in a boat and went across the Sea of Galilee. 58 00:04:40.480 --> 00:04:43.240 But, Lo and behold, when they got there, they found that the 59 00:04:43.319 --> 00:04:47.920 people had intercepted them. They made an run around the lake there and we're 60 00:04:47.959 --> 00:04:55.470 already there and were we're wanting more. And so, you know, Jesus 61 00:04:55.790 --> 00:04:59.389 taught them and he performed this this miracle, the most public miracle that he 62 00:04:59.470 --> 00:05:03.189 had performed up to date, a feeding five thousand men, not counting women 63 00:05:03.230 --> 00:05:09.779 and children, from this small lunch that this boy had brought a five loaves 64 00:05:09.819 --> 00:05:15.779 and two fishes. And the people saw what Jesus did and they knew that 65 00:05:15.939 --> 00:05:19.699 this was a miracle and they started to think to themselves, this must be 66 00:05:19.779 --> 00:05:24.970 the Prophet of God, this must be the one who is who is sent 67 00:05:25.089 --> 00:05:29.889 from God to save our nation, and began to plot. and Jesus, 68 00:05:29.970 --> 00:05:34.009 it says in earlier in this chapter that Jesus knew that they were trying to 69 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:39.959 make him king by force, that that was their intent so that they could 70 00:05:39.959 --> 00:05:46.079 bring their will to pass. And yet Jesus, because he had a different 71 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:51.269 kind of kingdom to bring a separated himself from them and and did not allow 72 00:05:51.310 --> 00:05:56.790 that to happen. Well, in the meantime, the disciples had gone over 73 00:05:56.910 --> 00:06:00.430 in the boat, the single boat that they had brought over, and Jesus, 74 00:06:00.550 --> 00:06:04.540 under cover of darkness, had snuck over the water by walking on the 75 00:06:04.579 --> 00:06:10.819 water. And you recall that story, how the there was a storm and 76 00:06:10.980 --> 00:06:15.139 how the disciples were making a difficult headway and Jesus walked out to them and 77 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:20.449 calm the storm and I got in the boat and and finally they all got 78 00:06:20.889 --> 00:06:26.370 to the other side. Well, this is perplexing for the people, these 79 00:06:26.410 --> 00:06:30.610 groupies who've been following Jesus around. They realized that he and the disciples came 80 00:06:30.649 --> 00:06:34.319 over in just one boat and they realize the disciples left without Jesus, and 81 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:38.399 yet they don't know where Jesus is. And so, you know, they 82 00:06:38.439 --> 00:06:40.639 start to do the math. are like, okay, guys, there's one 83 00:06:40.720 --> 00:06:44.680 boat. The disciples got in and they went to the other side. Jesus 84 00:06:44.680 --> 00:06:46.120 must be around here somewhere. So they're looking, looking, and they can't 85 00:06:46.120 --> 00:06:51.110 find them and finally they give up and decide however he got there, he 86 00:06:51.149 --> 00:06:56.069 must be in another place, and so they get in some other boats that 87 00:06:56.189 --> 00:07:00.860 came across and they head over to copernium and sure enough, when they get 88 00:07:00.899 --> 00:07:06.620 there they find Jesus and they're still a little bit frustrated and they they find 89 00:07:06.660 --> 00:07:09.860 him and they say, rabbi, went do you come here? They're trying 90 00:07:09.899 --> 00:07:12.740 to still add it up in their mind. You know, we're your groupies, 91 00:07:12.740 --> 00:07:15.259 we're your fans. You know, we're the ones who are following you 92 00:07:15.339 --> 00:07:16.850 around. We like you. You know, why did you just leave us 93 00:07:16.889 --> 00:07:25.769 behind and Jesus, rather than answering their question and, you know, restoring 94 00:07:25.889 --> 00:07:30.920 that breach so that he could be popular and continue that wave and they're thinking. 95 00:07:30.439 --> 00:07:35.319 Cuts right to the root of what's going on in their hearts. He 96 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:42.639 does ministry and he does the Difficult Ministry of confrontation with him and he says 97 00:07:42.639 --> 00:07:45.269 to them, truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking 98 00:07:45.310 --> 00:07:49.870 me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate your fill of 99 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:55.430 the loaves. Yes, they called him rabbi, yes, they put a 100 00:07:55.509 --> 00:07:59.899 premium on the miracles. Yes, they respected him as far as they understood 101 00:07:59.899 --> 00:08:05.980 him in their worldly mentality. But Jesus says, that's not the real reason 102 00:08:07.100 --> 00:08:09.740 that you came to me. The real reason is not because you care about 103 00:08:09.740 --> 00:08:13.490 spiritual things. The real reason is not because you are looking for the Kingdom 104 00:08:13.529 --> 00:08:18.689 of God as I have been preaching it. I know that the real reason 105 00:08:18.730 --> 00:08:24.170 that you were seeking these because you ate bread and in your worldly mindset you 106 00:08:24.290 --> 00:08:28.920 thought that that was something special, that that was going to crave your desire 107 00:08:28.959 --> 00:08:31.720 or that was going to satiate your desires, and that that was going to 108 00:08:31.759 --> 00:08:35.960 bring about the type of kingdom that you were looking for. Were and so 109 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:39.080 Jesus Confronts Him. He goes right to the root of their thinking and he 110 00:08:39.159 --> 00:08:43.149 teaches them in verse twenty seven. He says do not Labor for the food 111 00:08:43.149 --> 00:08:48.470 that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the 112 00:08:48.509 --> 00:08:52.070 son of Man will give to you. There's so many things in this world 113 00:08:52.149 --> 00:08:58.259 that people go after, whether it's politically, and we see, we saw 114 00:08:58.419 --> 00:09:00.620 just a few weeks ago in our own nation, how, you know, 115 00:09:00.740 --> 00:09:03.100 hopes and dreams can be dashed. You know, in the span of a 116 00:09:03.179 --> 00:09:07.740 couple of hours. You know somebody who thinks their winning suddenly realizes that they're 117 00:09:07.779 --> 00:09:09.409 losing, and all that money, always millions of dollars, poured into a 118 00:09:09.490 --> 00:09:16.169 campaign, are just up and smoke. But people who care about their their 119 00:09:16.649 --> 00:09:22.809 their food and their their ambitions and their worldly their name and reputation, these 120 00:09:22.929 --> 00:09:28.000 things come in, these things go and eventually, no matter how much they 121 00:09:28.000 --> 00:09:31.279 take care of their bodies, no matter how well they feed themselves, their 122 00:09:31.360 --> 00:09:35.600 bodies wear out and die. and Jesus says, I did not come to 123 00:09:35.720 --> 00:09:39.389 bring that kind of a kingdom, a kingdom that you can understand in your 124 00:09:39.429 --> 00:09:43.309 worldliness, but a kingdom that will eventually die like every other kingdom. Know, 125 00:09:43.710 --> 00:09:46.990 I came to bring a kingdom that endures. I came to bring eternal 126 00:09:48.110 --> 00:09:54.659 life. And so Jesus says, do not be distracted, for indeed, 127 00:09:54.659 --> 00:09:58.179 the the irony here is the whole purpose of those miracles was to point away 128 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:03.179 from the world and point to the uniqueness of Jesus Ministry, that to point 129 00:10:03.340 --> 00:10:07.210 and substantiate what Jesus was saying, as different as it was from how the 130 00:10:07.250 --> 00:10:15.529 way other kingdoms worked and the way other politicians did their business. But Jesus 131 00:10:15.610 --> 00:10:18.490 says, this is what you should have your your heart set on. This 132 00:10:18.529 --> 00:10:22.759 should be your priority, eternal life, not just tomorrow's bread. And this 133 00:10:22.799 --> 00:10:26.039 is something that the son of Man will give you for on him, God, 134 00:10:26.200 --> 00:10:33.000 the father, has set his seal. So yes, Jesus is engaging 135 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:35.950 in a bit of confrontation, but he's also giving them good news. He's 136 00:10:35.950 --> 00:10:39.429 saying, folks, you need to redirect your focus. But the reason you 137 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:43.149 need to direct your focus is because there are blessings that the Lord will give 138 00:10:43.190 --> 00:10:48.070 you, eternal blessings. You know you're barking up the wrong tree if you 139 00:10:48.149 --> 00:10:54.220 just want what the world has to offer. And so he tells them. 140 00:10:54.259 --> 00:10:56.740 Even God, the father, in the highest of heavens, has set his 141 00:10:56.899 --> 00:11:03.019 seal on the son of man, and they ask him in Verse Twenty Eight. 142 00:11:05.450 --> 00:11:09.929 What must we do to be doing the works of God? See, 143 00:11:09.929 --> 00:11:11.370 they don't quite get it yet. They, I don't think, even completely 144 00:11:11.370 --> 00:11:16.090 understand that the difference that Jesus is bringing here when he talks about eternal things. 145 00:11:16.450 --> 00:11:20.960 Maybe in their mind they think of, you know, a bottomless basket 146 00:11:20.039 --> 00:11:22.720 of bread or something like that. That, to them, would be eternal. 147 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.720 Give me something that, you know, like the and at the well, 148 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:28.919 so I don't have to keep coming to this well to draw water. 149 00:11:28.080 --> 00:11:33.230 Give me something that will give me a life of ease, give me something 150 00:11:33.269 --> 00:11:37.710 that will give me convenience. And they think in a worldly way, like 151 00:11:39.190 --> 00:11:41.990 political kingdoms. What box do I have to check? What foreign do I 152 00:11:41.029 --> 00:11:45.309 have to fill out to get on this gravy train? You know, what 153 00:11:45.389 --> 00:11:46.940 do we have to do? They ask Jesus to be doing the works of 154 00:11:48.019 --> 00:11:54.460 God, and Jesus answers them in a way that once again steers them away 155 00:11:54.500 --> 00:12:00.940 from worldliness. He says this is the work of God, that you believe 156 00:12:00.980 --> 00:12:07.730 in him, whom he has sent. This is fundamentally different than the advice 157 00:12:07.049 --> 00:12:15.610 that's your average political consultant or your average financial planner would give you, although 158 00:12:15.610 --> 00:12:18.919 some financial planners might tell you just to believe you needed to stay away from 159 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:22.320 those ones. But but generally what they will tell you is why you need 160 00:12:22.399 --> 00:12:24.679 to you need to be aggressive, you need to be assertive, you need 161 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:28.960 to go out and, you know, campaign or, you know, ingratiate 162 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:33.070 yourself with a whoever's in power. You know, send your lobbyists and money, 163 00:12:33.429 --> 00:12:37.149 try to get in their favor or just work really hard to get an 164 00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:41.230 angle on the market and try to outsmart other people. It's all about being 165 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:43.750 stronger, being better, being faster, all those things. That's the way 166 00:12:43.789 --> 00:12:48.539 the world works. But Jesus points into something totally different. He says it 167 00:12:48.700 --> 00:12:52.659 is by faith that is how they will be connected to these eternal blessings that 168 00:12:52.779 --> 00:12:58.850 he is talking about, and faith itself is something that is not of this 169 00:12:58.009 --> 00:13:03.090 world. Faith is something that, at least this kind of faith, which 170 00:13:03.169 --> 00:13:09.090 looks away from what man can do and trust in a God that man cannot 171 00:13:09.129 --> 00:13:15.039 see and in the kingdom which you cannot understand according to the principles of this 172 00:13:15.159 --> 00:13:20.480 world, and a savior who will come in his time, not your time, 173 00:13:20.799 --> 00:13:26.039 to save you. When Jesus tells them, this is the work of 174 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:30.350 God that you believe in, him. He's telling them here something that they, 175 00:13:30.429 --> 00:13:33.909 at least some of them, are fundamentally not going to understand and not 176 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:41.019 going to accept because it's too different. Free See, we as Christians, 177 00:13:41.059 --> 00:13:46.580 are called, when we are called, to live by faith, to live 178 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:50.580 and to believe in a God that we cannot see, that we know only 179 00:13:50.620 --> 00:13:56.850 because of what is told to us in the word and which is spiritually discerned 180 00:13:56.889 --> 00:13:58.450 as well by the work of the Holy Spirit. But that itself is something 181 00:13:58.490 --> 00:14:05.649 that is not worldly. Everything about the Kingdom of God is different, and 182 00:14:05.809 --> 00:14:09.570 that is why Jesus has such difficulty explaining to worldly people what it is all 183 00:14:09.610 --> 00:14:13.720 about, because it can't be interpreted or understood or grasped by worldly criteria. 184 00:14:16.120 --> 00:14:22.120 You can't measure the Kingdom of God the way you measure other kingdoms, but 185 00:14:22.240 --> 00:14:28.990 rather the way we enter into eternal life is by relying on somebody else's work, 186 00:14:31.190 --> 00:14:33.950 by waiting for a savior to come and redeem us, rather than US 187 00:14:35.149 --> 00:14:39.419 redeeming our self. It requires us to do the opposite of ambition. It 188 00:14:39.580 --> 00:14:46.940 requires us to rest and humbly glory in somebody else's works and boast in somebody 189 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:52.929 else's righteousness and somebody else's accomplishments to save us. It is something that is 190 00:14:52.929 --> 00:15:03.970 impossible for unregenerate man to do. Jesus said it is easier for a camel 191 00:15:03.090 --> 00:15:07.129 to go through the eye of a needle than for the wealthy in that case 192 00:15:07.240 --> 00:15:11.200 to enter the Kingdom of God. But he also said what is impossible for 193 00:15:11.360 --> 00:15:15.960 man is possible for God. God is the one who is able to do 194 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:20.159 that heart surgery, to bring somebody spiritually from death to life so that they 195 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:26.190 can see the Kingdom of God and they can believe in what they cannot see, 196 00:15:26.230 --> 00:15:28.350 what they're physicalized, but which they can now see, what their spiritualize. 197 00:15:28.830 --> 00:15:35.299 God is the author and perfector of faith. And so even as Jesus 198 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:39.179 is telling them this, even as he is telling them to believe, he 199 00:15:39.340 --> 00:15:43.220 knows that there are some, even many, in as audience who are not 200 00:15:43.259 --> 00:15:46.100 going to accept us, who are not in fact going to believe and follow 201 00:15:46.100 --> 00:15:48.500 him. In fact, what he goes on to say is going to become 202 00:15:48.500 --> 00:15:54.809 so offensive that there's going to be a mass exodus of of these groupies, 203 00:15:54.929 --> 00:16:00.250 these disciples, who are going to turn away from following Jesus completely because they're 204 00:16:00.250 --> 00:16:04.080 so offended by what he says and so many of them leave that Jesus even 205 00:16:04.159 --> 00:16:07.600 turns to the twelve and he says, are you also going to leave? 206 00:16:08.399 --> 00:16:11.960 When it's like a pastor who gets up and just, you know, offends 207 00:16:11.000 --> 00:16:14.559 everybody, and you just see people leaving the church never to come back, 208 00:16:15.879 --> 00:16:21.149 you know. And that's what's was going on here. But Jesus was not 209 00:16:21.309 --> 00:16:26.470 bringing in a kingdom that would appeal to groupies or to worldly people. He 210 00:16:26.629 --> 00:16:30.269 was not, in that sense, seeker sensitive, but he was bringing in 211 00:16:30.389 --> 00:16:37.259 a totally different kind of kingdom. Well, the proof that that their faith, 212 00:16:37.220 --> 00:16:41.500 many of them, is not that strong is something that we see in 213 00:16:41.539 --> 00:16:45.740 verse thirty. Immediately they ask him for a sign. Now these are the 214 00:16:45.779 --> 00:16:51.289 same people, of course, who just saw him multiply those loaves, who 215 00:16:51.330 --> 00:16:53.690 were wanting to take him and make him king by force because of the sign 216 00:16:53.730 --> 00:16:59.370 that they had already seen. But before they will believe in him further, 217 00:16:59.529 --> 00:17:02.879 before they will believe the words that he is now telling them, they want 218 00:17:02.919 --> 00:17:07.440 to see yet another sign and they wanted to be a sign that once again, 219 00:17:07.440 --> 00:17:11.599 they can taste in, they can touch and they can apprehend with their 220 00:17:11.640 --> 00:17:18.869 worldly faculties as earthly people. He says, our fathers Ain't the man in 221 00:17:18.950 --> 00:17:22.109 the Wilderness, as it is written. He gave him bread from heaven to 222 00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:29.349 eat. They wanted more bread, they wanted yet again, to fill their 223 00:17:29.390 --> 00:17:33.299 bellies. But Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to 224 00:17:33.339 --> 00:17:34.500 you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but 225 00:17:34.619 --> 00:17:41.059 my father gives you the true bread from heaven. Moses gave them something that 226 00:17:41.099 --> 00:17:44.180 could not give them eternal life. They had to go out and collect man 227 00:17:44.289 --> 00:17:48.490 I every day, and all those people who wandered around in the wilderness, 228 00:17:48.569 --> 00:17:53.730 except the two spies who were faithful, eventually died and their bodies were scattered 229 00:17:53.769 --> 00:17:57.960 around in the Wilderness. That manner that they ate sustain them for a short 230 00:17:59.000 --> 00:18:03.079 period of time, but it did not even come close to giving them eternity. 231 00:18:03.119 --> 00:18:08.519 Jesus says to them, Moses didn't even give you this bread and that 232 00:18:08.640 --> 00:18:14.390 I'm talking about, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. 233 00:18:17.910 --> 00:18:25.910 Need the people were looking for something that they could that they could get behind. 234 00:18:26.299 --> 00:18:30.940 I should mention that when Jesus had multiplied bread and fishes for the crowds, 235 00:18:30.980 --> 00:18:36.339 it was right before Passover, which for Israel, was kind of like 236 00:18:36.420 --> 00:18:41.970 their Independence Day, it was their celebration of liberation from Egypt, and this, 237 00:18:41.130 --> 00:18:44.970 I think, is one of the reasons why they tried to take him 238 00:18:45.009 --> 00:18:48.410 by force and make Jesus King, because they saw that this power to make 239 00:18:48.529 --> 00:18:53.250 food was a very, very important power indeed if you're going to be a 240 00:18:53.289 --> 00:18:57.559 king, if you're going to lead a kingdom, especially if they were going 241 00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:00.720 to throw off the yoke of the Roman Empire, which had been oppressing them. 242 00:19:00.799 --> 00:19:06.559 They would need food if they were going to survive a siege from the 243 00:19:06.640 --> 00:19:11.509 Roman army. And so here's somebody who can heal the sick, here's somebody 244 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:15.430 that can give sight to the blind and here's somebody who, for thousands, 245 00:19:15.109 --> 00:19:22.349 can multiply food out of nothing or very small amount. They wanted to get 246 00:19:22.349 --> 00:19:26.940 behind this movement, they wanted this bread that could bring political power and could 247 00:19:26.980 --> 00:19:32.940 bring freedom and could bring them a life of health and wealth, and they 248 00:19:32.980 --> 00:19:37.660 were willing to give their allegiance to Jesus for that end. But Jesus was 249 00:19:37.740 --> 00:19:44.329 not willing to accept that allegiance for that end, but rather he pointed them 250 00:19:44.450 --> 00:19:45.809 to something that they could not accept, which was the bread of God. 251 00:19:48.490 --> 00:19:51.569 and Jesus says in Verse Thirty Three. The bread of God is he who 252 00:19:51.569 --> 00:19:56.039 comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They say, sir, 253 00:19:56.200 --> 00:19:59.599 give us this bread always, and Jesus said to them, I am 254 00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:03.720 the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes 255 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:07.269 in me shall never thirst. He's not going to give them another worldly sign, 256 00:20:07.309 --> 00:20:08.630 he's not going to give them some more manner that they can gather up 257 00:20:08.670 --> 00:20:12.230 from the ground, but he who is standing in their midst, he whom 258 00:20:12.269 --> 00:20:17.109 they are looking at, is greater than the manner which even Moses gave to 259 00:20:17.150 --> 00:20:19.269 them, is greater than the bread that even he gave to them when they 260 00:20:19.269 --> 00:20:22.779 were on the other side of the sea. For He who is the bread 261 00:20:22.779 --> 00:20:27.059 of life can give them eternal life, so they cannot hunger or will not 262 00:20:27.180 --> 00:20:33.579 have to hunger or thirst ever again, not in the way that we hunger 263 00:20:33.660 --> 00:20:40.809 and thirst as worldlings, but for eternity, for he is the one who 264 00:20:40.930 --> 00:20:44.970 is able to conquer the the ultimate human problem, the ultimate reason that death 265 00:20:45.009 --> 00:20:49.319 is in the world, and that is sin, the reason that there are 266 00:20:49.839 --> 00:20:55.480 hardships, the reason that there are famines and trials, the reason that's we 267 00:20:55.599 --> 00:21:00.319 fall and die is because of sin, because of our separation from God. 268 00:21:00.640 --> 00:21:04.509 That happened as a result of sin, and that is what Jesus came to 269 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:11.829 bridge by the bread and drink of his own body and blood, which is 270 00:21:11.950 --> 00:21:15.190 able to wipe away our sin and unite us once again to God and reconcile 271 00:21:15.349 --> 00:21:22.779 us to our creator. And he is able to give life to all of 272 00:21:22.940 --> 00:21:29.859 creation, just as he raised himself up from the dead. But the promise 273 00:21:29.980 --> 00:21:33.890 is surer that we ourselves, who trust in him, will also be raised 274 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:37.410 up and this whole heavens and earth will be recreated. There will be a 275 00:21:37.529 --> 00:21:41.130 new heavens and a new earth that would be glorified because of what Jesus has 276 00:21:41.210 --> 00:21:45.329 done. This is so much better than a political campaign. This is so 277 00:21:45.410 --> 00:21:48.400 much better then even an empire that lasts for a thousand years. This is 278 00:21:48.519 --> 00:21:53.920 a new cosmos, this is something that is fundamentally different, in new world 279 00:21:53.960 --> 00:22:00.480 order where, instead of ambition and a rat race and death and pain, 280 00:22:00.359 --> 00:22:07.990 we have rest and glory and peace and life. That is why Jesus was 281 00:22:08.150 --> 00:22:12.990 trying to steer their minds away from worldly things. That is why he was 282 00:22:14.109 --> 00:22:17.740 willing even to offend them and even to confront them because he knew that what 283 00:22:17.859 --> 00:22:22.660 he was bringing was so fundamentally better than what they were trying to cling to. 284 00:22:26.059 --> 00:22:29.980 And that is the message of the Gospel. Even today, we, 285 00:22:30.809 --> 00:22:33.809 as we study the word and as we learn more and more about the Gospel 286 00:22:33.609 --> 00:22:37.849 and as we hear about it in church, our flesh is bound to be 287 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:41.609 disappointed with what we hear about, just as these people were disappointed, no 288 00:22:41.730 --> 00:22:47.000 doubt, in what Jesus was preaching. They wanted political glory, they wanted 289 00:22:47.079 --> 00:22:52.119 earthly glory, they wanted health and wealth and prosperity, something that they could 290 00:22:52.119 --> 00:22:56.440 appre and with their flesh lead senses, and Jesus no doubt disappointed them. 291 00:23:00.309 --> 00:23:02.990 And so as well, people today, who think only with their flesh, 292 00:23:03.109 --> 00:23:07.869 will be disappointed with the word of the Gospel, but beloved nevertheless. We 293 00:23:07.990 --> 00:23:14.259 have good news to preach and we have good news to believe in, because 294 00:23:14.299 --> 00:23:18.980 we have something better than what our flesh can apprehend. We have eternal life, 295 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:25.940 and that is something beloved that we can participate in and taste even now. 296 00:23:26.099 --> 00:23:27.890 That bread, that living water, that living bread, is something that 297 00:23:29.210 --> 00:23:33.410 gives us life, even in this world, even though we are pilgrims in 298 00:23:33.450 --> 00:23:36.210 this world, even though we were waiting for a Christ to come again and 299 00:23:36.450 --> 00:23:40.329 bring that new heavens and earth. Even a while we walk in this present 300 00:23:40.410 --> 00:23:42.599 world, we can still bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit. We can 301 00:23:42.680 --> 00:23:47.400 still know that we are a new creation, that we have new life within 302 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:51.400 us, that we are born again, that we are not slaves to the 303 00:23:51.440 --> 00:23:55.200 principles of this world, but the through the work of the Holy Spirit, 304 00:23:55.710 --> 00:24:00.349 we have been made anew. There we have been renewed, that we have 305 00:24:00.470 --> 00:24:06.750 died to sin and are alive in Christ that is something that we can taste 306 00:24:06.789 --> 00:24:11.420 and see and know is real even now, and for us who believe, 307 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:17.900 this is what we are called more and more to cherish and more and more 308 00:24:17.940 --> 00:24:22.380 to prioritize, even as Jesus said, seek ye first, the Kingdom of 309 00:24:22.420 --> 00:24:25.809 God, and all these other things, you know, your food, you're 310 00:24:25.849 --> 00:24:27.170 clothing, all the other things you worry about, these will be added to 311 00:24:27.210 --> 00:24:32.569 you because, yes, here father knows that you need them, he knows 312 00:24:32.609 --> 00:24:36.369 that you need health, he knows that you need food. You know, 313 00:24:36.450 --> 00:24:37.960 we even pray in the Lord's prayer, give us this day our daily bread. 314 00:24:38.000 --> 00:24:48.799 That's talking about temporal bread, but we also know that is Christians once 315 00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:53.430 this body wears out once we die. We have something so much better that 316 00:24:53.789 --> 00:24:59.190 is even now within us, and this jars of clay, the new life 317 00:24:59.230 --> 00:25:04.430 that we experience spiritually, but we know we will experience physically at the resurrection. 318 00:25:04.470 --> 00:25:10.099 And so this is something that we can rejoice in and it is something 319 00:25:10.180 --> 00:25:15.140 that we can cherish and prioritize it and make the very thing that we that 320 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:23.809 we prize the most, and it is something we should do. But this 321 00:25:23.970 --> 00:25:30.289 also takes some continued wrestling with the flesh, because it is still the case 322 00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:36.559 that the Kingdom of God cannot be understood with fleshly means, and so sometimes 323 00:25:36.559 --> 00:25:41.440 it's difficult to understand the fullness of our salvation. Is Difficult to see it, 324 00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:44.160 especially when we watch the news and we see so many bad things is 325 00:25:44.200 --> 00:25:48.279 happening in our world, or we look at our bodies falling apart and we 326 00:25:48.359 --> 00:25:52.269 may not understand what God is doing, we may not understand his plans and 327 00:25:52.309 --> 00:25:55.230 it may be frustrating when we wrestle with our own sins, it may be 328 00:25:55.349 --> 00:26:00.390 frustrating, but what God has given to us is a way that we can 329 00:26:00.390 --> 00:26:10.859 apprehend this very different kingdom, and that is the word of God. The 330 00:26:10.940 --> 00:26:12.460 more we study the word of God, the more we study the Gospel. 331 00:26:15.099 --> 00:26:18.130 That is how we will be able to gradually perceive and understand the dimensions of 332 00:26:18.250 --> 00:26:22.529 his kingdom. We will be able to know what it means to be part 333 00:26:22.569 --> 00:26:26.730 of his kingdom will be able to understand the newness of life that he is 334 00:26:26.769 --> 00:26:30.569 given to us. For, as I said before, his kingdom is not 335 00:26:30.609 --> 00:26:34.039 measured the same way other kingdoms are, in terms of how many nuclear missiles 336 00:26:34.119 --> 00:26:38.160 and nation has, or how strong their currency is or how healthy their citizens 337 00:26:38.200 --> 00:26:41.799 are or how much money they have or anything else like that. That means 338 00:26:41.880 --> 00:26:47.309 nothing to the Kingdom of God. But the things that are important in the 339 00:26:47.349 --> 00:26:51.349 Kingdom of God are things that we find in his word. The treasure and 340 00:26:51.390 --> 00:26:55.589 the inheritance that is reserved for us in Heaven, the glory that that Christ 341 00:26:56.990 --> 00:27:00.859 earned by his righteousness and the fact that he is seated with on the right 342 00:27:00.859 --> 00:27:04.900 hand of God, the father, the sending of the Holy Spirit that empowers 343 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:11.140 us and that causes us to bear the fruit of righteousness, all of these 344 00:27:11.220 --> 00:27:15.890 things are our treasures and the fact that it is his strength, not ours, 345 00:27:15.970 --> 00:27:22.609 that we glory in and boast and is our wealth. And so, 346 00:27:22.730 --> 00:27:25.849 beloved I would exhort you, as Christians, for those who already believe, 347 00:27:26.450 --> 00:27:32.079 for those who already are following Jesus, to continue to study the word so 348 00:27:32.200 --> 00:27:36.039 that we can continue to grow, so that we can see more and more 349 00:27:36.160 --> 00:27:40.319 clearly, because we still walk with the eyes of faith, that we can 350 00:27:40.400 --> 00:27:45.309 see more and more clearly what God's kingdom is all about, for it is 351 00:27:45.430 --> 00:27:48.950 the word of God that will sanctify us, just as it was the word 352 00:27:48.990 --> 00:27:52.990 of God that saved us in the first place, just as the Gospel is 353 00:27:53.029 --> 00:27:57.109 brought to us here for our justification, that Same Gospel in the word will 354 00:27:57.150 --> 00:28:00.779 strengthen us and cause us to grow. And so let us do that. 355 00:28:00.819 --> 00:28:08.420 As we continue as pilgrims in this world, as we continue to face people 356 00:28:08.420 --> 00:28:12.450 who do not share our priorities, and as we continue to wrestle with our 357 00:28:12.450 --> 00:28:15.930 own flesh, let us keep coming back again and again to that fount, 358 00:28:18.410 --> 00:28:23.690 knowing that the Lord God will never attire or slacken in his power, but 359 00:28:23.849 --> 00:28:29.960 that that life that he has earned is secure for eternity, and that life 360 00:28:30.039 --> 00:28:33.200 is the life that he gives to us through his spirit. Let us pray