Fed Beyond the Moment

Transcript

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[0:00] Our sermon text today comes from John chapter 6 verses 51 through 58. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. And this bread, which I offer so the world may live, is my flesh. Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. How can this man give us his flesh to eat, they asked. So Jesus said again, I tell you the truth. Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I will raise that person on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. I live because the living Father who sent me. In the same way, anyone who feeds on me will live because of me. I am the true bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will not die as your ancestors did, even though they ate the manna. But will live forever. Let's pray.

[1:26] Our good and gracious God, we ask for your blessing upon this word. Would you speak to our hearts and our minds? Would you give us understanding that comes from you? These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

[1:42] So we haven't read this whole chapter. It's a long chapter. But it should be familiar to you. Because before this passage, Jesus had been preaching for some time. People were starting to get hungry. Which today we'd be like, oh, big deal. They can just hop in their car and grab some McDonald's or something on the way back. But it's a big, big deal back then. Because there were no cars. They couldn't just hop in their car and drive home and be home in a couple of minutes. It was going to be a journey. And there were a ton of people there. They didn't have supplies to feed everybody. And with crowds that size, they had actually become a health hazard not to feed them.

[2:28] They hadn't eaten in hours and hours. And people had been listening to Jesus for probably, well, maybe sitting, maybe standing. But they could have become faint or ill if they didn't eat soon. And the food that was closest to them was quite a journey away. So by now we've all heard the story of how Jesus fed the 5,000.

[2:51] He used only a small boy's lunch. And after that story, Jesus walks on water to get to his disciples in the middle of the sea. So this is an action-packed chapter. But then the crowds catch up with them on the other side of the water. And Jesus continues to talk to them. And he talks to them about how he is the bread of life. And that's where our scripture from today picks up. Now, I tend to believe that we like to hear the really cool, cool stories about the awesome power of God being displayed through miracles, like the feeding of the 5,000 or walking on water. But I believe there's a danger in focusing only on this sensational side of the story. It's easy for us to get caught up in the miracle and lose sight of the purpose of recording this event.

[3:48] So the reason that John records this story is to deal with the topic of experiencing satisfaction in life. This particular story reveals to us two types of satisfaction. One is the type that focuses on the temporary, or the strictly physical, bodily needs. And the other is concerned with our spiritual needs. And the good news is that John wants us to understand that Christ is concerned about both. Christ is concerned with every aspect of our lives. He knows and he understands the longings in our hearts. And he also came to meet our needs, all of our needs. So Jesus came to minister to the whole person.

[4:41] And he doesn't ever do anything halfway. The abundant life he came to offer is not just for some future life that we can't experience right now, that we can't even imagine right now. But it's also for the way we live right here, right now, on this earth and in these bodies.

[5:04] The lesson that we're to learn from this story is that whole and complete satisfaction in life is only found through faith in Jesus. So by partaking of the bread of life, we will be satisfied wholly and eternally. And I want you to take just a moment, you don't have to turn to anyone, but just in your own head, take a moment to think, what would it mean for you personally to be satisfied holistically? Like every need of yours satisfied. Let's take about 10 seconds to just think through that.

[6:01] 1. The ministry of Jesus Alright, so the first thing that this story teaches is about the ministry of Jesus. And that is that he came to meet our felt physical needs. So to put it another way, Christ came to fulfill our immediate right now needs. In the beginning of the chapter, Jesus was planning a little bit of a getaway.

[6:27] He and his disciples needed some time for solitude. And so they were planning to get in a boat and to cross the sea and have a little bit of a retreat. And we don't learn this from this chapter specifically, we learn this from the synoptic gospels that have the same story only told in different details. They were planning a little retreat for themselves, but when they crossed the Sea of Galilee, crowds and crowds and crowds of people came up to him and his plans for solitude had to be pushed off to the side. And it wasn't just a few people. We know that there were 5,000 people, but actually that only counted the men. So there were 5,000 men plus an equal amount probably of women and of children.

[7:20] So he carried on. With hours and hours of ministry instead of taking that retreat of solitude. And in the other gospels, we see that he met the physical needs of the people by also providing healing to them. So people who were sick, people who were injured, people who may have been like that all their lives, who couldn't because of their injuries or illnesses, who couldn't have a livelihood to depend on because they couldn't get work with their physical limitations. And so he healed them and in healing them gave them a chance for the future. So at the end of a long day of preaching and of healing, he recognized their bodily hunger and he satisfied that hunger by feeding all of them.

[8:14] Now I once had, I hope I never repeat this experience, but I once had a friend who was a pastor. I once had the great displeasure of hearing somebody I know talking, bragging about how they give out gospel tracts to the homeless. And that's not a problem. That's not a problem. But what they gave them were what looked like money. And on what looked like money, it had the gospel instead of being spendable money. And so in their cups where they were hoping to get money to be able to provide maybe an night of shelter or some food for themselves, instead of money, they would have their hopes stashed and have a gospel tract instead. And I actually, there are very few times in my life where I've been truly furious, but that was one of them. Because to hand someone who's desperate to get their physical needs met, something that looks like money and gives them hope that their needs are going to be met is actually quite arrogant. So the assumption was that they needed the gospel more than they needed to get to their next meal or to have that night of shelter. And I just think that's very narrow-minded. Jesus didn't do that to us. God knows about our physical needs and he wants to supply them. And Jesus understood this about the crowds that day.

[9:44] And so he met people where they needed to be met physically. You can't understand the true gospel of Christ until you experience his goodness over your bodily needs. The gospel is a very important need that needs to be met. And so handing someone a gospel tract has its place.

[10:11] But Jesus understood that we are multi-faceted beings and we are more than just our spiritual needs. So the same holds true for us today. This is not just an account about this unique incident in ancient history, but it's a pattern for the way that Christ meets our needs in the present.

[10:34] When he looks at you and when he looks at me, he knows all about our needs. He knows we need jobs. He knows we need food. He knows we need healing. He knows we need to feel safe. He knows we need to be able to live. Jesus knows all about our physical, immediate needs. And he did come to meet us where we are. And I know that there are still homeless and there are still hungry the world over. And I know sometimes we see our needs and we think, Jesus, his timing is not our own. But Jesus counts on us to be his hands and feet in the world to meet the needs of the vulnerable around us. And of course, that's another topic altogether. And we don't have time to really dig into it today. But the food that was provided for the 5,000 came from the willingness of one little boy who decided, it's okay, I don't really need my lunch. And so he gave it up. Not knowing, he couldn't possibly have known that Jesus would multiply that lunch to feed him. Maybe he thought it would go to the hungriest. He couldn't possibly have known that Jesus would multiply that lunch to feed him. He couldn't have known what Jesus would do with it. He just gave it over in faith because there was a need that had to be met. So Jesus will provide.

[12:00] But we are his agents on this earth. So while we won't spend any more time on this today, just be thinking that we are his agents for provision for people and their needs. Now if we look all the way back to verse 2 of this chapter, John describes this as a miracle. John describes the crowd as people who followed him because they saw the miraculous ways that he healed the sick. They were attracted to Jesus because they saw that he had the power to remove their immediate suffering, to give them relief.

[12:37] They sought hard after him because they felt some type of pain, whether that was sickness or demonic influence or hunger or some type of pain. They wanted Jesus to make that pain go away. Their belief was that if they could obtain a remedy for their physical needs, then everything else would fall into place. And they assumed that the only needs they had were the ones that they could see with their eyes and feel in their bones or otherwise experience with their five senses.

[13:22] And wouldn't Jesus make a great national leader? He knows how to meet the needs of the people and that's exactly what the crowd began to feel. Let's make Jesus our king because they felt good in their bodies and they had full stomachs and they were healed and they didn't even have to work for those things. It just was given to them as a gift. So let's look at verse 2. They thought they had found an easy answer to their everyday inconveniences. But that wasn't what Jesus came for. He came for so much more than they could understand.

[14:04] And can't that be said for our own lives as well? When everything is fine, we're quick to boldly hail Jesus as a king. As long as all of our physical, immediate needs are satisfied, it's not a problem for us to exalt the name of Christ and testify that we're his faithful followers. And that's the kind of savior that many of us are looking for. It's the kind of savior that many of us were promised we would receive if we chose to accept him. A king who would make life a type of heaven on earth. But Jesus did not come to make certain that our stay here on earth is a pleasant and carefree distance.

[14:51] And he will have no part in our plan to hail him as an earthly king if we are not willing to also serve him as the king that he truly came to be. So in addition to our physical and earthly needs, Christ came to meet our spiritual needs. The people had been impressed with the instant meeting of their needs and they wanted to make him king right then and there. And we have a natural tendency to want instant answers to our problems. And things haven't changed much. We still want instant answers to our problems. We're still looking for an answer that will solve all of our cares with the snap of a finger or the wave of a wand or a quick little prayer. We're primarily focused on the moment at hand and its circumstances. But Jesus came to be the bread that truly satisfies.

[15:53] He came as the one who could fulfill our innermost needs of our spirits. He came to end our hunger for meaning or for a sense of worth in this life. He came to meet the one need that nothing else can meet. Nothing else can fill that need. And without such a need, we cannot live. Without such filling, nothing else really matters. What we need most in life is to experience the lasting peace and hope and security and love and meaning when everything we thought would bring us happiness and fulfillment has failed or been taken from us. And the only way to satisfy that need is to receive the bread of life, which is Jesus Christ.

[16:44] So another earthly-minded attitude that we have to have is to receive the bread of life. And this is what we have, is that we want our satisfaction in this life right now. More specifically, we want this instant gratification. In many cases, we don't even care if that gratification is long lasting. And it makes me think of someone who suffers from addiction. They would like nothing more than to get clean once and for all. And to get back on their feet and experience that freedom of truly being well again and free from addiction. That would be a more long lasting satisfaction. But the temptation for a temporary relief is too overwhelming.

[17:32] And so they give in, just to get that instant gratification. What Jesus offers us is a lasting satisfaction. A lasting and full satisfaction. But the temptation for temporary relief is too overwhelming for us. So Jesus attempted to explain to this multitude that the bread of which he spoke was himself.

[18:00] God the Father had sent him down to earth to satisfy the deepest needs of humanity. His role was not a temporary earthly king. But it was to be an eternal king. One who would conquer sin and provide the way for renewed fellowship with God the Father. And that's why he states in verse 33, For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

[18:31] This was supposed to make them think of manna from heaven. And what was manna from heaven? When the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, they became hungry. So hungry, in fact, that they began to wish that they were back in Egypt. It would be better to be beaten and abused and manipulated and exploited in a life of slavery where they had to live as a race who were not even treated as fully human, than to starve in the desert.

[19:05] That is what they said. But God didn't want that kind of broken life for them. And he heard their groan. And he heard their grumblings. And he gave them bread that rained down from heaven. Manna was not just bread. It was a representation of God's salvation for them. It was a representation of God's provision of freedom. And so Jesus compared himself, not just to bread, but to the bread that came down from heaven and gave life and freedom to the world. Jesus came for the provision of freedom. He gave freedom to all of us. Freedom from sin. Freedom from brokenness.

[19:49] Jesus means that we can be eternally complete. But the only thing the crowd could hear Jesus say was, bread that gives life. In their minds, they conceived of a special recipe of bread that when eaten would satisfy their physical hunger for the rest of their lives. Sir, they said, from now on, give us this bread.

[20:16] This is similar to the misconception that the woman at the well had when Jesus spoke about partaking of the living water that he had to offer. Upon hearing of such a drink, the woman said, Sir, give me this water so I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming to draw water. Both this crowd and the woman sought for an answer that would give them satisfaction in this life. Our deepest need can only be satisfied by faith. But it begins with a work by God in us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is absolutely clear on the fact that we cannot save ourselves. No matter how hard we try, we can never meet God's standard or be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect.

[21:09] And the Bible is clear on this issue. Eternal life is a gift of God. It is not works so that we can boast. It is God's gift to us, given freely. God is the one who must take the initiative in bringing us into a proper relationship with himself. If he did not take that first step, it would be impossible for us to ever experience renewed fellowship with him.

[21:36] Once God has so moved in our hearts, then salvation is apparent. We are apprehended through faith. Jesus says in verse 47, I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. So our focus must be on Jesus and Jesus alone as we seek to find the lasting satisfaction and meaning in life. While it's true that Jesus came to meet every need of the whole and total person, many of the benefits of our new life in him will not be met right away. We will not understand them even fully until he establishes his eternal kingdom. So true satisfaction is found by partaking in the bread of life sent down by God from heaven. By receiving Christ through faith, we can experience fulfillment in this life. Ultimate, true, whole, whole person fulfillment, as well as the ultimate fulfillment that is to come in the next. Let's pray.

[22:50] God, we thank you that you are the bread of life. God, would you help to heal us and make us whole. And would you help us to experience whole life, fulfillment through you. These things we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.