New Life Bible Fellowship Church
11-3-24
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Psalm 46:1–3NKJV
- Go Light Your World
- Break Thou the Bread of Life
Psalm 111NKJV
- Doxology
- Introduction:Last week if you will remember, Jesus begins to explain the deeper meaning behind the feeding of the five-thousand. He did so by beginning his explanation with a display of divinity to his disciples and showing his power over creation by walking on the water. He than proceeds to declare to the human-need-focused crowd of people seeking to earn their way to the Father through their good works, that what the Father required was to believe in him. They responded by requesting that Jesus show them a sign similar to what Moses gave them in the wilderness when their forefathers ate manna for forty years. Jesus used their request to declare that he was that true sign, the true manna from heaven. When we left off last week, the people, again misunderstanding what Jesus said, focused on their need for continual bread always, focused only of course, on their physical needs .So we pick it up this week with Jesus taking his words to a deeper level, the real meaning behind this true manna, as we look at John 6:35-59, and see that Jesus declares Himself to be the Bread of Life, emphasizing that He is the only source for spiritual nourishment and eternal life, contrasting physical sustenance with the divine nourishment He offers.Text: John 6:35-59
John 6:35–59 ESV 35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59 Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.Main Idea: True sustenance is found in a deep, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, the Bread of Life, who offers eternal satisfaction and nourishment for our souls.Note: Jesus’ claim, “I am the bread of life,” constitutes the first of seven “I am” sayings recorded in this Gospel. Apart from these sayings there are also several absolute statements where Jesus refers to himself as “I am” (e.g., v. 20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5), in keeping with the reference to God as “I am” in Ex. 3:14 and the book of Isaiah 43:10.Exodus 3:14 ESV 14 God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ”Isaiah 43:10 ESV 10 “You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.I. Source of Satisfaction (35-40)This of course is in answer to the people’s response to give us this bread always, from the previous verse 34.This point highlights how believers are called to rely on Christ, who completes the Old Testament promise of manna, offering fulfillment beyond the temporal.A. Jesus, the Source of Complete Satisfaction (35-36)(35) Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. - this verse is like the major heading of this whole passage…Jesus is the “bread of life” in the sense that he nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longings of their souls. In that sense, those who trust in him shall not hunger; that is, their spiritual longing to know God will be satisfied (cf. John 4:14 [woman at the well] for a similar discussion of satisfying people’s spiritual thirst).This will be developed to the fullest extent throughout this passage.(36) But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. - it is a truth that by mankind’s very nature we will not believe in Christ even when the evidence is indisputable. Seeing is not always believing…so what has to happen?B. Father, Connects Believers to the Source (37-40)(37) All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.All that the Father gives me. God leads to faith all whom He plans to redeem. The redemption of the elect is certain, since it is secured by the sovereign purpose and invincible power of God Himself to draw them to the Son and secure them in His “hand” (10:27–30). The Son promises acceptance to anyone who truly believes.Whoever comes to me I will never cast out - Jesus promises to receive everyone who comes to him and trusts him for salvation. Yet, behind their willing decision to come and believe lies the mysterious, invisible work of the Father who all along was drawing them to Christ. See Romans 9; Eph. 1:3–6.Ephesians 1:3–6 ESV 3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4 even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.(38) For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. - again Jesus restates what was stated in chapter 5 (30-31) that the Father and Son are unified in purpose on why Jesus came.(39) And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.All that he has given me implies that everyone who has been chosen by the Father and has been “given” by the Father to the Son for salvation will in fact be saved. In v. 40 Jesus further explains that these people whom the Father has “given” him are also those who believe in the Son and have “eternal life.”I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. The Father’s will is more than that Jesus should make an offer to lost sinners (potential salvation). Jesus will at last raise up all who are given Him by the Father and lose not one from that group. The Son’s redemptive accomplishment and the Holy Spirit’s personal application are completely effective in securing the salvation of everyone chosen by the Father. God graciously preserves true believers, ensuring their final salvation. (perseverance of the saints)(40) For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” -everyone who … believes in him. This verse implies that no true believer will ever lose his or her salvation, since everyone who believes in the Son will also have eternal life and will continue as a believer until the final judgment (the last day), when Jesus will raise him up into the fullness of eternal life.looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, - John is referencing John 3:14 (who is referencing Numbers 21:8)…John 3:14 ESV 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,II. Struggle with Skepticism (41-47)The crowd’s disbelief illustrates once again the human resistance to divine truth.A. Skepticism because of Familiarity (41-42)(41) So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” - this is still in the context of the Jews asking for a sign similarly to the manna from heaven…the Jews grumbled about him. This response is similar to that of the Israelites in the wilderness who complained against Moses and Aaron (Ex. 16:7; 17:3; Num. 11:1). The grumblers believe that Jesus’ origins are merely earthly and human (v. 42).came down from heaven. Jesus’ origin establishes His identity as Messiah and Son of God. Those confronted with this revelation must respond either in belief or in rejection. There is no middle ground.(42) They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” - the Jews grumbled not because the evidence is not clear, but that they know where he lives and who his parents are, so, they thought, there is noway he can be who he says he is…again, human reasoning meets divine revelation.B. Skepticism because of Depravity (43-47)(43) Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. - it’s like Jesus is saying, “you sound so much like your forefathers in the Old Testament”.(44) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.No one can come to me means “no one is able to come to me” (Gk. dynamai means “to be able”) - power inherent within the source, not derived from outside.unless the Father who sent me draws him.Due to the corruption that human beings inherit by virtue of original sin (Rom. 5:12–21), all people (except Jesus, who was not born in Adam) are born with a moral inability to receive the gospel by faith (total depravity).This inability must be overcome by the Holy Spirit in His work of regeneration. Since the fall, human beings born in Adam are inclined against the things of God, and they will not and cannot place saving faith in the gospel message unless the Lord first changes their hearts. God must give fallen people the ability to believe, and He does that only for His elect.(45) It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—they will all be taught by God. In its original context, Is. 54:13 is a promise of the redemptive call. Isaiah is saying that God himself calls his children and teaches them.Everyone who has heard ... comes to me. Whoever desires to come may come, and they come because they have “learned from the Father,” who draws them (v. 44).(46) not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. - This is a truth regarding physically seeing the Father though you learn of him through Jesus as was stated in the prologue in John 1:18John 1:18 ESV 18 No one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father’s side, he has made him known.(47) Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. - again, Jesus is stating this truth once again, but he does so by using his formula for emphatic emphasis, “amen, amen”, listen everybody!whoever believes has eternal life - there is no more emphatic statement on eternal security. Those who have truly, truly, put they faith and complete thrust in the Bread of Life, have eternal life.III. Sustainability in Partaking (48-51)Jesus reaffirms His identity and mission, setting the stage for spiritual nourishment. Jesus, as the life-giving bread, urges believers to engage with Him consistently, illustrating a day-to-day relationship rather than a one-time experience, reinforcing the ongoing need for spiritual sustenance.(48) I am the bread of life. - repeated for emphasis, and compared with the sign that the Jews brought up regarding what Moses gave them back in verse 31.(49) Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. - your forefathers Jesus said, did eat of this physical sign, just like you did when you ate the loves and fishes, and they and you will die even though you consistently partake of this temporal provision, because it is not sustainable. So Jesus continues, “What I am declaring to you is that…”(50) This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. - This, the bread of life, is unlike that temporary provision because it is not temporary but eternally sustainable.(51) I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”I am the living bread that came down from heaven…the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. The “bread” Jesus gives is his flesh (a reference to Jesus’ death on the cross). Jesus’ statement intermingles physical and spiritual truth. Jesus is not talking about literal “bread,” but he is the true “living bread” in the sense that those who believe in him have their spiritual hunger satisfied. He becomes this spiritually satisfying “bread” by sacrificing his own physical body in his death on the cross, and in that sense he can say that this spiritual bread is my flesh.The bread that gives life, not just a temporary, momentary satisfaction of hunger, but life that will satisfy foreverthis bread is the flesh that Jesus gave that was broken for us and for all those in the world that the Father will give to the Son.If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. - again, Jesus stating an emphatic truth, this bread (Jesus), will sustain you forever with permanent, sustainable life.IV. Sacrifice and Transformation (52-59)The imagery of eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood can be difficult to understand but deeply spiritual. Yet Jesus invitation is to enter into a deeply committed relationship, where His life and sacrifice transform us from within.A. Sacrifice of Eating the Son of Man (52-57)(52) The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”Another example of misunderstanding in which Jesus’ hearers take him literally (cf. 3:4; 4:15). Jesus teaches spiritual truths by referring to physical objects, and people frequently misunderstand.(53) So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.Truly, truly, I say to you - listen carefully Jesus is saying, because this is the crux of the whole matter.unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you - cannot be intended literally, for no one ever did that. As Jesus has done frequently in this Gospel, he is speaking in terms of physical items in this world to teach about spiritual realities.Here, to “eat” Jesus’ flesh has the spiritual meaning of trusting or believing in him, especially in his death for the sins of mankind. (See also v. 35, where Jesus speaks of coming to him as satisfying “hunger” and believing in him as satisfying “thirst.”)Similarly, to “drink his blood” means to trust in his atoning death, which is represented by the shedding of his blood. Although Jesus is not speaking specifically about the Lord’s Supper here, there is a parallel theme, because the receiving of eternal life through being united with “the Son of Man” is represented in the Lord’s Supper (where Jesus’ followers symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood; cf. 1 Cor. 11:23–32).This verse refers to our initial reception of Christ’s spirit-filled words at the time of our conversion (justification).(54) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life - Jesus again helps us understand this truth by using this same phrase four times, each one providing a valuable piece of the same truth.I will raise him up on the last day(39) that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. (election)(40) For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (trust)(44) No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (irresistible grace)Therefore, the one who feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood are those who the Father chooses, those who look and believe in the Son, those who the Father draws.(55) For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. - again Jesus associates his flesh and blood with that which is true, or eternal.(56) Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.this association is important. Food that we partake of has no effect until it is consumed and abides in us, giving us temporal life and health.In the same way, unless Christ abides in us, fills us, controls us, is our whole life, and is our Lord and Master, there can be no eternal life. We will see this great truth in detail in John 15:4-5.John 15:4–5 ESV 4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.The greek word abide (meno [pre, act, ind]) refers to our continued reception of Christ’s spirit-filled words after our conversion when we keep on eating Christ’s words, (sanctification)Note: the two ordinances that Jesus gave the church are a visual representation of this reality of total identification and abiding in Jesus:Baptism: as we take one under the water allowing the person to be totally immersed, identified with the water, we are symbolically declaring our total identification of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection.Lord Supper: when we partake of the elements of bread and wine, this elements are consumed and taken into our bodies thus symbolizing the total identification with the body and blood of the Lord Jesus.(57) As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father - Jesus was given life as a human in order to fulfill his commission.so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me - in the same way, Jesus lives in and through us from now to eternity.B. Transformation by the True Manna from Heaven (58-59)(58) This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” - the final comparison with the sign the Jews spoke of; that Old Testament manna was temporary and all who ate of it have died, yet the true bread from heaven that Jesus provides is eternal.(59) Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum. - this teaching was not among the crowds but in the synagogue where the leaned come to hear the Rabbis.Summary of the blessings coming from eating the bread of life in this passage:Mutual indwelling (6:56)—The believer dwells in Christ and Christ in himNo spiritual hungering and thirsting (6:35)—There is no need for Christians to hunger and to thirst spiritually for we have constant access to Christ’s fullness, Rom. 8:32; Eph. 1:3; Phil. 4:19; Col. 2:10; Heb. 4:16.Possession of eternal life (6:27, 40, 47, 54, 58)So What?What do we hunger for most of all in our lives, the physical or spiritual?Jesus explains in the sermon on the mount where are priorities should lie:Matthew 6:25–33 ESV 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? 28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.Therefore, are we willing to risk our physical lives and needs on the sovereign God and focus our attention on our spiritual relationship with him?Did you eat the flesh of Jesus and drink his blood?In other words, have you placed your trust completely in his body that was broken, and his atoning blood that was shed, thus completely identifying him as your Lord, Master, and King?This is not just a profession of faith, but a complete abandonment of self to Jesus the eternal sustaining bread of Life! John 6:35–59ESV
Exodus 3:14ESV
Isaiah 43:10ESV
John 6:35–36ESV
John 6:37–40ESV
Ephesians 1:3–6ESV
John 3:14ESV
John 6:41–42ESV
John 6:43–47ESV
John 1:18ESV
John 6:48–51ESV
John 6:52–57ESV
John 15:4–5ESV
John 6:58–59ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
Matthew 6:25–33ESV
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New Life Bible Fellowship Church
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