THE Bread of THE Life

John 6:35-51

To understand our sermon text, we need to first of all put it into some context. Last week we started Jesus’ Bread of Life discourse. The Bread of Life discourse starts with Jesus feeding the 5,000. An amazing day. He had 5,000 men plus women plus children. He spent the day teaching, doing miracles, healing, et cetera, et cetera, feeding the 5,000. Amazing how clearly he was showing them that he was the true God. Well, what the people wanted to do was come and make him king. Man, if he can feed us like this today, I bet he can do it tomorrow. And Jesus wants none of that earthly kingship stuff. And so what he does is he dismisses the crowd. Think about it in political season. What politician would dismiss a big crowd? No, you keep the big crowd, right? Not Jesus. Jesus sends them away. He sends his disciples across the Sea of Galilee. Eventually, Jesus catches up with his disciples, oh, by the way, walking on the water in the middle of the night and then getting into the boat with them. And the next day the crowds find Jesus. He’s on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And a rather testy exchange begins. Jesus basically says to them, “You’re not here because you believe that I’m the savior. “You’re here because I filled your bellies. “And you’re hoping that I’ll fill your bellies again today. “That’s why you’ve shown up.” The crowds are not happy about it. And they start batting things back and forth. Jesus does not back off. What he does is he pushes the accelerator and pushes it real hard. And that’s where our text takes place. This is the middle part of what is a lengthy discourse of Jesus to them about the bread of life, what we’re just saying about. Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. “And whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. “But as I told you, you have seen me “and still you do not believe. “All those the Father gives me will come to me. “And whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will, “but to do the will of him who sent me. “And this is the will of him who sent me, “that I shall lose none of those he’s given me, “but raise them up at the last day. “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks “to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life. “And I will raise them up at the last day.” At this time, the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I’m the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is this not Jesus, the Son of Joseph, “whose father and mother we know? “How can he now say I came down from heaven?” “Stop grumbling amongst yourselves,” Jesus answered. “No one can come to me unless the Father “who sent me draws them. “And I will raise them up at the last day. “It is written in the prophets, “they will all be taught by God.” Jesus is there claiming that he’s God. “Everyone who has heard the Father “and learned from him comes to me. “No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God, “only he has seen the Father. “Very truly I tell you, the one who believes “has eternal life. “I am the bread of life. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, “yet they died. “But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, “which anyone may eat and not die. “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. “Whoever eats this bread will live forever. “This bread is my flesh, “which I will give for the life of the world.” The gospel of the Lord. – Praise to you, O Christ. – In the name of Jesus, the bread of life. Do you remember us of atonement? Do your guests gathered with us, and particularly you, those who are beginning their service here at Atonement Lutheran School? Have you ever thought about how much bread you’ve consumed over the course of your life? When I was growing up, my first years of elementary school, K through fourth grade, I went to a public school, and then the church that I was part of started a Lutheran elementary school. So from fifth grade to eighth grade, I went to Lutheran elementary school. We were very small, we were just getting started, and so we had no hot lunch program. And so I had a sandwich pretty much every single day. How much bread was that? It’s a lot of bread. And that’s of course only grades five through eight. Add to it all the hamburgers I’ve had over the course of my life, all the bratwurst I’ve eaten, all the hot dogs I’ve had. Then add to it the specialty stuff, like pumpkin bread and banana bread. I think that stuff counts as bread, yes? (audience laughing) Yeah, huh? How much bread have you and I consumed over the course of our lifetime? I heard somebody say too much. (laughing) I think you’re probably right. And that’s good, right? I mean, one of the petitions in the Lord’s Prayer is give us this day our daily bread. And so God indeed wants us to ask Him for bread, and bread there of course includes not just bread, but it includes all that we need to sustain our bodies. Today we’ll just focus on food. Over the course of life, I’m 58 years old, assuming that I’ve eaten about three times a [day]. I did the math yesterday. It means over the course of my life, I’ve had something like 63,000 meals. That is a lot of bread. If you’re younger than me, your number’s a little less. If you’re older than me, your number’s a little more is what I would guess. And you know what? Every one of those meals, every one of those sandwiches did exactly what they were supposed to do. They worked. They fed my body. They fed my body so that my body was able to function. I was able to do what I needed to do, and I was a grade-schooler eating that sandwich at lunchtime. It meant I was able to do my homework in the afternoon, and I was able to play outside at recess and able to interact with my friends and schoolmates, et cetera. But you know what? My supper, I was hungry again. I needed to eat. When I woke up in the morning, I was hungry again. I needed to eat. I then rolled lunchtime around again in another sandwich. And here’s the reality. No matter how much bread I eat, no matter how healthy the bread is that you and I eat, none of it can cause us to live forever. It just can’t. So what do we need? We need bread that can feed us for life which is eternal. And of course, you know who that is. That’s Jesus. We’ve started something new here at Atonement at the beginning of the school year. I think it’s new. It’s new to me. And that is that we have all of the parents come to an orientation meeting with some of the people on the administration team. They also go and meet with all their teachers, but they start, or somewhere along the day, they have a meeting with some of us on the administration team. I begin my talk by them, but with them by asking this question. What would be the definition of a wasted life? May I suggest that there’s really only one answer to that question? The only life which is wasted is the life that ends up in hell. That’s a waste. Because Jesus died to pay for the sins of the world. And for anybody to end up in hell, that’s a waste. A complete waste of life. And no matter what those people did during this life, if they end up in hell, life was wasted. Do you want to waste your life? I know I don’t want to waste my life. So the next question is, how do I make sure that I am not wasting my life? How do I make sure that I do not end up in hell forever? And the answer is, I need the bread of life. I need Jesus. And what’s interesting is when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life,” in the Greek, the construction is very definite. Two definite articles there. “I am the bread of the life.” David’s over here going, “Uh-huh, I get it.” Doug’s out, he’s back there somewhere nodding his head. “I am the bread of the life.” At the end of the day, there’s really only one life that matters, and that is the life which is eternal. And if you and I are not focused on the life which is eternal, you and I are wasting our lives. So how do I do it? How do I make sure I’m not wasting my life? How do I make sure I’m focused on Jesus? The way you make sure you’re focused on Jesus is being connected to the Word of God. The Word of God is the way that God feeds our faith. The Word of God is the way that God convinces us that Jesus is our Savior. The Word of God is the way that God feeds us and builds us. The Word of God is the way God reminds us of our baptism where He united us to Himself and brought us into His family. The Word of God is where we learn about the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus Himself feeds us with His own true body and His own true blood. No, John 6 isn’t about the Lord’s Supper, but the Lord’s Supper is one of the ways that Jesus feeds us with the bread of life. And a life which is focused on Word of God stuff is never wasted. [children screaming] Could there be any more valuable reminder for us as believers in Jesus? Could there be any more valuable reminders for us who’ve been called into gospel ministry here at Atonement? Yeah, it’s great that we’re going to teach our kids reading, writing, arithmetic, science, history, etc., etc. That’s all fantastic. Do it well. But at the end of the day, if they become great readers or great scientists or great athletes and they end up in hell, that’s a wasted life. By contrast, when you give them Jesus, the bread, the bread of the life, then you’re giving them everything they really, really need. But, but, but, Pastor, I struggle at this. I know, I do too. To keep it in our food analogy, during this past week, what do you think you spent more time on? Thinking about Word of God stuff? Or thinking about meal preparation? Planning, preparation, and eating. You ever thought about how much time we spend on meal planning, preparation, and eating? And that’s all good. That’s part of God’s blessings to us. But if meal planning, preparation, and eating takes the place of the bread of the life, then we’re missing the boat. And of course, meal planning is just the tip of the iceberg. How much time do we spend thinking about our career path or our path in regards to furthering our education? Or how much time do we put into bettering ourselves? Or our homes, or our cars, or our athletics, or the Packers Brewers Bucks? And all those are gifts from God. They’re wonderful. They’re great. [cheering] But none of them are the bread of the life. That’s Jesus. And only Jesus. And so we’re really, really thankful to hear Jesus give us some wonderful words of encouragement. Jesus, I’m coming to you, but I’m also struggling with it. What does Jesus say? The one who comes to me, I will never drive him away. Yes, I struggle in my walk of faith. Yes, I struggle to stay focused on Jesus, the bread of life. You too? But I’m coming to Jesus, and you are too. And Jesus says I will never, ever, ever drive you away. Indeed, I loved you enough to come to this world. I loved you enough to die for you. I loved you enough to rise for you. I will never, never, never drive you away. Instead, what I will do. And he says it several times, three, I think, and emphatically, I will raise you up at the last day. Yes, you and I are going to die, but that will not be the end. Because Jesus will raise you up at that last day. And he’ll rejoin your soul with your body, so that you will be body and soul with Jesus for all of eternity. Do you want that life? Absolutely, we want that life. And Jesus wants you to have that life too. Because that life ends up in heaven. And one of the things I wonder about is, will we eat when we’re in heaven? I don’t know. I’m guessing we might. Adam and Eve ate when they were perfect. What will it be like? I don’t know. But I have a wild guess. I have a wild guess that there might be bread involved. But whether there is or not, I know it will be awesome. Because it comes from Jesus, who is the bread of the life, your bread and mine. May God bless our school this year. That we are focused on Jesus, the bread of the life. And that we are bringing many youngsters to know Jesus. The bread of the life. Amen? And Amen.