Seeking Jesus the Right Way (John 6:22–36)
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Man, I love songs like that because they remind us so often of the power of the gospel in our life and the benefits that God gives us in that relationship where he will hold us fast. There's no other promise that you can get anywhere in the world than through the gospel of Jesus Christ, where we are held fast. We're fully protected. We're once saved. We're always saved. And we know he's going to hold us. It's a great joy to know that because we're going to fall down. We're going to slip up. We're going to sin from time to time, but we always have God's great cleansing and his power holding us where he says, I will never let you perish. Amen.
Now open your Bibles to John chapter 6. I notice that we have more than a few people that are gone this weekend on this Memorial Day weekend. And so we pray they have safe travels out there as they're out and about. But it's good to have a few of you here to worship with us today. But we're continuing in our study of John, the gospel. What a great message it is for us that reminds us of the basics of the Christian faith that always stay with you the rest of your life. So very important.
And so we want to read this section for us in just a little bit, but I want to tell you what's happening in the next couple of weeks. So next Sunday, Pastor Caleb's going to preach on the next section on the bread of life and talk about what that means because Jesus starts a discourse that's amazing that's really going to cause the people to say no to him. Because he's going to lay down kind of the truth, the hard truth that they don't want to hear. They like the freebies. They like the miracles, as we're going to talk about today. But they don't necessarily like the hard truth. And then we're going to have our church camp the weekend of June 5th and 6th. That's Friday, Saturday. And then on Sunday, Steve Green is going to stay here, and he's going to preach for us on that Sunday. And then the summer, for 11 weeks, we're going to do this series called Probing Questions That Jesus Asked.
And I think it's going to be a great time because Jesus, if you look at Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, taking all the duplicates out, he asked 81 questions in his ministry. We only have 51 days of his ministry recorded in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And so he used it as a great tool to probe people's lives. He also used it as a tool to really rebuke the religious leaders of the day. Oftentimes they would ask him questions, and he would just ask them a question, and it would shut them down because he knew what they needed to hear. And so we're going to go through a few of those questions this summer, and I hope you'll be around to enjoy that study with us.
Well, one of the things that we've been noticing that keep reoccurring in the Gospel of John are two major themes. You can't miss it. It's in every chapter. Number one is this. Who is it that truly qualifies to be the Christ, to be the Son of the living God, to be the God-man?
And John is presenting, obviously, the person of Jesus Christ that we know, that we love, and that we serve, and that we worship as that man. It's Jesus of Nazareth. And he uses all kinds of different testimony and all kinds of miracles, eight of them, to show that reality and testimony and miracles and powerful claims that Jesus is going to make even today where I am the bread of life. And it stuns the crowd because they know he's saying, I'm God, right? Because he's using the same I am that God used in the Old Testament in Exodus 3.14 when Moses by the burning bush said, well, who shall you say sent me? And he says, I am who I am. And Jesus claims that title. So who qualifies? Clearly, the Lord Jesus Christ does.
The second question that we see and the second theme that we see is this. How can sinners qualify to receive true eternal life in his name? How do they do it? And the answer is faith. By believing. That's how we qualify to give life in His name, is we believe, right? And we're going to see that today. This is an important thing to get, all right? Because it's not by works. It's not by what we do. It's not by our human effort. It's not by being religious, right? It is by putting our faith and trust in Jesus Christ alone for our salvation, and we're going to see that message over and over again. You might think, well, that's Christianity 101. Yeah, it is, but it's also Christianity 201, 301, 401. You have it the rest of your life because what propels us in the Christian life is the good news of Christ, and that's Christ living in us and us living in Christ.
And so today we're going to be looking at how people should seek Jesus the right way because the multitude in the day that Jesus is going to address, we're seeking him the wrong way, which is typical.
In fact, it's interesting, if we had time today, I was looking over, I've been keeping this running list of all the different descriptions that John, the apostle, is giving them the person of Jesus Christ. And there are 43 descriptions of Jesus Christ from John 1-1 until up to chapter 6, 43 of them so far, that tell us all the fullness of who he is. So John's saying, listen, don't miss it. That's why we always encourage people, hey, if you've got somebody you're praying for, witnessing to, ask them sometime, hey, would you be willing to read through the gospel of John with me? We can go as slow as you want and just kind of observe what the Bible says about who Jesus is. And God has used that one gospel to lead many people to saving knowledge in Jesus Christ because it's so crystal clear who he is.
But even as much as it's crystal clear, so many people miss it. So many people fail to commit their lives to these truths. And so we've often recognized there's only two religions in the world today, and there's like over 4,000 different religions out there, but there's really only two. There's the religion of human accomplishment that says, I will find God my way and maybe do it by works or whatever that God tells me to do. That's human effort. That's the false way. There's only one true way and that's Christianity. And that's a religion of divine accomplishment where Christ did for you on the cross and he rose from the dead what you could never do for yourself.
But we've also learned along the way that there are two pathways that promise deliverance from our sins and from our core problem. Pathway number one is the false way. It's the pathway of human effort. And the second pathway is the pathway of divine, supernatural grace from above, right? We're saved by grace through faith, that not of ourselves. And John is repeatedly calling us to understand these religions and these pathways and to choose the right religion and the right pathway. And we're going to see this again in our text today.
So if you have your Bibles open, your devices on, let's begin by reading in verse 22. Follow along here as we read through this story. Now notice what's happening here. The next day the crowd stood on the other side of the sea. This is the next day after the great miracle of feeding up to 25,000 people. The next day the crowd stood on the other side of the sea and saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus had not entered with the disciples into the boat, but his disciples had gone alone. So they said, where's Jesus? He's gone, but we don't see him. He didn't get in the boats with them.
Verse 23, there came another small boat from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and came to Capernaum doing what? Seeking Jesus. But if we were to add to the whole context here, we'd say seeking Jesus wrongly.
Verse 25, when they found him on the other side of the sea, that's the Sea of Galilee, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you get here? And notice how Jesus answers the question. He doesn't. Jesus answered them and said, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on him the Father God has set his seal.
Therefore they said to him, What shall we do so that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the true work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. There it is again.
So they said to him, this is unbelievable, what then do you do for a sign? What? He just had a massive sign the day before. What do you do for a sign so that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Give us more, Jesus. Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written, he gave them bread out of heaven to eat. That's what the crowd said.
Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. Now watch this. Sad verse. But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet you do not believe. How could they do that? How do we do that? We're still seeing that going on 2,000 years later. Some of us were a part of not believing as we heard the gospel over and over again. Even seeing through the word of God and maybe through someone sharing the good news of Jesus Christ that we just didn't connect with our dead souls and our blind eyes spiritually. And so Jesus sees them seeking him wrongly. In fact, they were really seeking him. I mean, they were willing to get in the boats, go across, look around and see if they could find him and they found him. Hey, we want more.
So Jesus takes the opportunity to teach us all three great lessons on how we can seek the Lord in the right way. Three key truths on how we can properly seek the Lord. Number one is this, is seek Jesus for the right kind of sustenance. Now listen, which is not temporary, but eternal. This is what he's trying to teach them.
Notice verse 26, how Jesus confronts the multitude. Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. I mean, this is something they'd done over and over again. He had proven himself clearly that he's divine, that he's supernatural. That it could do the miraculous. That it could be a blessing to even the sinners who were there because they were benefiting from the healing. They were benefiting from the food provision. But what was sad about it is they enjoyed the healings but missed loving the healer. They loved receiving the free provision of food but they didn't receive the provider of the food. They wanted all the miracles, but they failed to desire the miracle worker himself.
Sadly, that happens sometimes even in the church. We'll talk about this a little bit later. Some of you may have come to Christ because there was a great need in your life. Maybe you were a part of a failed relationship where you crashed and burned and you were overwhelmed and discouraged and someone maybe invited you to read the gospel of John or maybe to come to church and you felt like, hey, there's hope here and you wanted to respond to the gospel, but you responded for the miracle, for the peace, for the benefit. And maybe it wasn't about Jesus himself being the one who you love and whom you serve and you embraced who gives those benefits. You see, their minds were all upon the temporal and the material. Rightly understood, the miracle of the loaves and the fish should have turned them to follow the Lord Jesus Christ.
One commentator put it this way, instead of seeing in the bread the sign, they had seen in the sign only the bread to fill their stomachs. So their minds were on the temporary and the material when they should have been on the eternal and the spiritual. They wanted their stomachs filled, but they weren't seeking Jesus for the eternal. They had no real sense, and here it is, of their sin. They just know what they wanted on the material side, what they could see, what they could want, what they felt like was their need. But they needed to be reconciled to God. They only sought him for what he could do for them, maybe materially.
Listen, following the Lord Jesus Christ does grant you prosperity. I'm not talking about the prosperity gospel that we see out there in churches around the world. No, I'm talking about what true prosperity is. It's not the Aladdin genie kind that damnably claims it's God's will for every single believer to be physically and materially prosperous. No, all that preys on greed and deceives people about the real need we have. No, following Jesus grants you the greatest kind of prosperity, and that's to have the gift of eternal life that begins in this life. It's quantitative as well as qualitative. It's life in his name. New life, abundant life, supernatural life. Forgiveness.
So look at verse 27. Jesus commands them and us, do not work for the food which perishes, but work for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him, the Father God has set his seal. Now listen, Jesus is not asking anybody to quit their job. Jesus is not asking anybody to take a vow of poverty. No, he commends hard work. He commends providing for our families. He commends being generous toward his work and the needs of others. Earthly riches aren't condemned, but they come with warnings against the dangers of greediness and loving that money or loving that wealth or loving those possessions and trusting in them.
No, Jesus is pressing the truth of seeking the greatest provision, and he says this, work for the food which endures to eternal life. One of the most famous questions that Jesus asked of the 81 in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John is this, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and yet forfeits his own soul? Boy, that's a probing question, isn't it? Hey, say you want to have it all in this life. God gave you the competency and the ability and you get it all and you get to the top of the letter in every way. But what does it profit you if you gain the whole world and yet forfeit your own soul by not believing in the Lord Jesus Christ who gives you real life, eternal life?
Note the irony of Jesus' statement that you should work for the food that returns to eternal life, that provides for eternal life. Listen, wait a minute. I thought we believe in Ephesians 2, 8, and 9. For by grace you've been saved through faith, that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God. Not by works, lest any man should boast. Right? We believe that. Why is he telling us here to work for the food that endures to eternal life? We can't do it. And yet at the same time, in the same verse, it says the Son of Man will give it to you. Wow. So we work for it and then he gives it to us. So is it faith plus works equals salvation? No, no, no.
It's kind of similar to when Jesus commanded his hearers to do this in Luke 13, 24. Strive to enter through the narrow door. Or maybe Matthew 11, from the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent men take it by force. There's definitely a lot of effort in a striving and a taking the kingdom by force. Yet at the same time, Jesus gives us living water to the spiritually thirsty. He gives us living true bread of life to the spiritually hungry. So how in the world should we work for the food which endures to eternal life?
Well, I like what the commentator J.C. Ryle, who was a great man of God from yesteryear, said it this way, quote, How are we to labor? There is but one answer. He must labor in the use of all appointed means. We must read our Bibles like men digging for treasure. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of the benefactor's will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil like those who fight for liberty, and we must conquer or be slaves. These are the ways that we must walk in if we would find Christ and be found of him. This is the laboring. This is the secret of getting on about our souls.
It makes me think, what do you and I need to rearrange or change in our lives so that we might take the time and the effort to work for the food that endures to eternal life? Because he gives it to us. And yet there is this longing that we have to find real satisfaction. There's a longing that we find to find real purpose in life. And he says pursue that as God opens your eyes to the gospel.
But I want you to notice, and before we go to the second point, I want you to notice three things that we learn about Jesus through this encounter and what he says. Number one is that Jesus knows your motives. Did you notice that when he says, hey, listen, you guys, I know what's really going on here. You're not really here about the point of the miracle. No, you're here for the free food. You just love the food. I know what's going on in your hearts. He knows the wrong reasons that they're pursuing him, they're seeking him, but he wants us to know that he still loves us.
Secondly, we see that this, that Jesus gives spiritual food to those who seek him properly, which means he couldn't do that if he wasn't God. God is the one who's the provider. He's the one who can give that eternal life. He's the one that can respond to our cries to him. He knows exactly what we need, and he knows exactly how we need to grow in him, and he will give it to you as you diligently seek him.
The third thing we see about Jesus in this text is that Jesus is God's only approved source of spiritual blessing. Did you see that at the end of verse 27? A seal in that day authenticated a document as true. It showed that the owner of the seal approved of it, and God the Father certified the son as his agent, authorizing him as the one who alone can bestow this true living bread to us.
So the first thing that we learn is that we need to seek him for the right sustenance, not just that temporal food, not just that common grace gift that he might give to us in a miracle moment in our lives. Hey, we thank God for that. But ultimately, we need the eternal, don't we? Secondly, we seek Jesus with the right saving faith, which is God's work, not a human work. We see this over and over again all throughout Scripture.
Look at verse 28 and 29. Therefore they said to him, what shall we do so that we may work the works of God? And Jesus answered and said to them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom he sent. Notice the question picks up on Jesus' command not to work for the perishable food, but for the food which endures to eternal life. And Jesus, again, is using irony here. He's not teaching that their faith is meritorious on our part. And he commends us to God. You see, the scripture is crystal clear that faith itself is the gift of God that he gives us so that we can believe on him. We're blind. We're dead. I mean, we can't figure this thing out. We see the miracle. We see the claims. We see the testimonies. We read the word. God opens our eyes to see the reality of that truth.
So Jesus picks up on their question about works and says this in effect. The only work that you can do is not to work, but rather to believe in me. That's God's work in your heart. The one whom the Father has sent to provide salvation through my death and through my resurrection. One of the famous commentators, John Calvin, one of the reformers, made this excellent point. Now faith brings nothing to God, but on the contrary, places man before God as an empty and poor man, that he may be filled with Christ and with his grace. It is therefore, if we may be allowed to use the expression, a passive work to which no reward can be paid, and it bestows on man no other righteousness than that which he receives from Christ alone.
So true. We can't bring anything to the Lord. We have nothing to bring except our dead works that come from a depraved heart. Again, the most common error that takes place in religion is that you try to earn your way to heaven. You try it by your human effort, by your good works. Oh God, can we please you by, look at, I check this off the list. I come to church every week. I've read my Bible. I try to be honest and ethical with people in my neighborhood and those at work. I do an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. I mean, you just go through the whole list and you think, hey, you're committing yourself to God when you're not. You're not able to do that. It's not a result of works, Ephesians 2.9 says.
Titus 3 verse 5 says, it's not on the basis of deeds which we've done in righteousness. You see, the reality is none of us can do good works because we don't have good works. You say, wait a minute. How did all this come about that we have all this technology and all the blessings of a home and food and access to everything that we have? And that didn't come just from believers alone. It came from unbelievers and scientists and technicians and those who were innovative and they were unbelievers. Yeah, you're right. Right?
But in God's eyes, listen very carefully, good things that come from even unbelievers are not good in the same way they are from believers because our heart has been transformed. So now for the first time, we can do good works in Christ before our good works were bad good works because we didn't do for the glory of God. We do it for the glory of self or maybe for the sense of accomplishment or maybe to get a reward or maybe just to say, hey, look at me, look what I've done. Big difference. In fact, that's confirmed for us that we only have good works in Christ and your good works outside of Christ aren't good. Colossians 3, or excuse me, Romans chapter 3 makes that point that our good works, there are no good works. No one is good. No, not one.
I think Paul clarifies for us that real faith will evidence good works in your life because it's the fruit of your faith. It's not the root of your faith. The root of your faith is God's grace, God's gift. God's love towards you. Paul clarifies it crystal clear in Romans chapter 4 when he says, Now to the one who works, his wages is not credited as a favor, but as what is due. Why? Because you work for it. But to the one who does not work, but leaves in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited as righteousness.
Now look again, if you will, in verse 29. Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. You see, their problem and our problem is not a lack of proof that God is real, that Jesus Christ is the Christ. He's the Son of God. He's the God-man. The proof is clear for anybody to see. The problem that we have and they had was a lack of faith on our part. Again, verse 36 says, you saw it, you didn't believe it. You willfully didn't believe.
You see, sometimes we see that. It's easy to blame them and say, man, I read that passage. How could they not see that Jesus is the Christ? Well, how did we not see it for so many years until God opened our eyes? But sometimes we'll pray prayers like this. Oh, Lord, I'll believe if you just fix my struggling marriage. Oh, Lord, I'll believe in you if you just help me escape my dictatorial parents. Oh, God, I'll trust you forever if you just heal my disease and my sickness and my body. Oh, God, I'll follow you if you'll just do this one favor for me and so forth and so on. We're called to come to him as what? A guilty, helpless sinner and place our trust fully in him alone. It's faith.
When you fly from Seattle to wherever you're going to fly, listen, you entrust your life and your body in the hands of a pilot you believe who's been trained and a plane you believe that is mechanically, operationally doing well, right? It would be crazy and ridiculous for you to try to help the pilot fly the plane, especially because you haven't been trained. Even so, it's crazy to tell God that you're going to help Jesus save you with your good works. When he said his delivering work was done on the cross, it is finished. So we don't trust in our own good works to justify us. It's inadequate. They're not good.
Instead, we only trust in the one who flawlessly did good, who was perfect goodness, and he paid off our total indebtedness all by his death that was accepted by God on the cross, and he diverted the wrath from us.
Listen, there's nothing more important to seek for in life than to seek for Jesus, who is the life that we need for our dead souls, and he is the living bread that we need for our malnourished life. So Jesus is really getting to the point. He said, listen, I gave you this food so you would see that I am the bread of life. You just want more free food. You just want more healed bodies. I'm glad to do that for you, but it all points to who I am and what I can do for you ultimately.
Now listen to the third point. Seek Jesus for the right soul satisfaction, which is found in him, not yourself. Now listen, I looked this up this week because I just want to check it out. The latest research they have right now on happiness and satisfaction in life reveals the following, that people are most satisfied in life when they are deeply connected, living purposefully, growing meaningfully, contributing to others and are grounded in hopeful, healthy rhythms of life. That sounds pretty good, doesn't it? But it's missing something, isn't it?
It's missing the key point and has a relationship with the living God through the Lord Jesus Christ because that makes all the other things that are actually good for everybody even better because we know how to interpret those things to the glory of God. Newer studies suggest satisfaction depends less on raw income and more on whether people experience security, autonomy, competence, respect, and meaningful relationships. Sounds pretty good. Health habits matter more than many people think. The research increasingly links satisfaction with regular exercise, good sleep, reduced chronic stress, meaningful routines, and time outdoors. Who wouldn't want all those things? Satisfaction is less about constant pleasure than about flourishing. Now researchers are increasingly using the word flourishing now rather than simply happiness or satisfaction. And it includes meaningful work, character, emotional stability, relationships, hope, health, contribution to something larger than one's self. Again, missing the most important piece, which is the foundation of a relationship with the living bread out of heaven, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That's what ultimate purpose is. That's what our ultimate meaning is. That helps us to understand all that we can understand that are good for our body, our soul, our emotions, our mind, and the world that God has provided for us. And so God, Jesus says, seek me for the right soul satisfaction. It's not founding yourself in all the exercises and eating the right foods and doing the right things, getting the right rhythms of life.
Shockingly, these Jewish people who had just eaten the miraculous food the day before had been urged to believe and to ask this unbelievable question. What then do you do for a sign so that we may see and believe you? He just did a miracle, a miracle of miracles, feeding up to 25,000 people with five barley loaves and two pickled fish. Are you kidding me? And now they're saying, well, you know, that was pretty cool. That was pretty good. But you got to do more, isn't there? We don't really want that. And it wasn't really about the miracle, was it? The miracle was pointing to the meaning. And they're just missing the meaning. They're just saying, hey, we want something more. We didn't really. That was good. Now we're full. How about another one? Wow.
It would really be hard to imagine a more vivid testimony to the depravity of the human heart than this. And even after Jesus replies with his first I am of the seven I am statements, I am the bread of life, calling himself God as the I am. Boy, he points out that seeing is not believing for them. Verse 36 says, they had proof, positive evidence of his deity. They just simply would not believe. Boy, they enjoyed the miraculous meal, but they didn't like Jesus who was saying that, so their demand for another sign was just a way of putting him off. We don't really like what you're saying, which you're going to see at the end of chapter six. Everybody turns away. Then he turns around to his disciples. Are you guys going to go as well? They were kind of doubting at that moment.
Thank the Lord that Peter said the right thing. Who else could we go to? You have the words of eternal life. You see, that unwillingness of sinners to accept Christ is really a moral and a spiritual inability because they love their sin. They love their pride. They love being Lord over their own lives. And now what are they doing? Here's what they're doing. Turn to Romans chapter 1. You've got to see this to the right. Romans chapter 1. Paul starts out his whole letter to the Roman church saying, as he presents the gospel in an amazing way, the fullness of the gospel all throughout the book of Romans. But he starts this way by letting us know why in the world are people not willing to believe when the truth is staring them in the face. Here it is, verse 18. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. That's what we did. That's what you did. That's what the world does when they look at the gospel is they suppress the truth. It's the truth. They suppress it.
Look at verse 19. Because that which is known about God is evident within them, for God made it evident to them. But no, they just push it away. They suppress it. Why? Because they love their sin. They love their pride. They love being Lord of their own lives. And they just like the freebies along the way that maybe God would bless them with if there is a God. So Christ comes along to say, seek me for the right true soul satisfaction that I can give.
In spite of Jesus' miracle feeding up to the 25,000, they're asking for more. And here's what they're using. Here's what's interesting. They use Moses as the reason. This is amazing. We're going to look at this in verse 31. Jesus, here's what they're saying. Jesus fed a large group upwards of the 25,000. Well, listen to this. Moses fed a whole nation. Jesus did it once or twice in his ministry, but listen, Moses did it for 40 years. Jesus provided ordinary bread that filled our physical stomachs, but Moses gave them bread out of heaven. This is what they said to Jesus. So they're saying, okay, Jesus, you gave us a little sign. Let's see you do a big one like Moses did, and then we'll really believe in you.
I like what J.C. Ryle said about this. He said they were always deceiving themselves with the idea that they wanted more evidence and pretending that if they had that evidence, they would believe thousands in every age do the same. The plain truth is that it's a lack of heart, not a lack of evidence that keeps people back from Christ.
And so what does Jesus do with what they said about Moses? He corrects them. Look down in verse 32 and 33. Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven. It was my Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. He says, listen, the manna didn't come from Moses. The manna came from God. The manna wasn't the true bread because people who ate the true bread every single day that fell out of six days a week fell down to them. Perfect food. We don't even know what it was. It was sweet. Fed them every day. Guess what? They died, still died. It wasn't ultimate eternal life bread. No, that bread is Jesus Christ. They're missing it.
He's the one that gives eternal life to all who are willing to believe. And in their religious piety, they couldn't imagine that salvation is something that commences with God and continues with God and it concludes with God. And just like Noah had to learn by being in the belly of the big fish when he was resisting to preach the gospel to the Ninevites, what did he say in the belly? Salvation is from the Lord.
You see, as the bread of life, Jesus is necessary for life for our dead souls. If not, we're going to die in our sin. As the bread of life, Jesus is suited for everyone, isn't he? He fits everyone's need. Have you ever thought about this? Some of you like kale out there, but not everybody likes kale. Not everybody wants to have kale. Take that whatever weed it is and eat it, right? Put a little salad dressing on it. But you know what everybody likes at mealtime? They like bread. Bread. They like bread. Everybody likes bread. Even if you're on a diet and you say, well, I want to have bread. We like the bread. Listen, Jesus is the Savior of the world, we learned in John chapter 4. Whether you're an unknown peasant or a well-known king, and as the bread of life, Jesus is our daily bread. It's not enough to find nourishment in Christ every now and then, we need him every day.
So the Jews reply reveals that they were still focused on the material. Look at verse 34. Oh, Lord, always service this bread. When they said Lord, they wasn't calling him the Lord Jesus Christ. No, they were saying, sir, provide this bread. They just wanted Jesus to be there, their free meal ticket.
And Jesus tells them who the true bread is and how to get that bread when he says in verse 35, I am the bread of life, and he who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. This is the first of seven I am statements in the Gospel of John, proclaiming him as God is. What an astonishing claim that Jesus was making that he's the source and he's the sustainer of our life and whoever comes to him and believes in him will have that supernatural, divine life, abundant life from above. Listen, these Jews were sadly satisfied in their own religion, which was false. Jesus saying, listen, true soul satisfaction will come from me, not from yourself.
Before you are hungry to eat of the living bread, God must open your eyes to the true condition of your heart. Without Christ, what are we? Spiritually starving and we don't know it. I mean, we feel something strange. We might want something more. We might want something new because we try this and that doesn't work. Boy, we find this joy and this excitement and this activity for a little bit, but then it dulls. The law of diminishing return catches up. What is it that's going to truly satisfy and give us soul satisfaction? Again, it is Jesus saying, I'm the bread of life. You come to me and you'll have that. You'll never really thirst again. You'll never really be hungry again. Spiritually speaking.
Coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus are parallel here. He wants us to trust in him and to come to him and to believe in him. And what a joy that is. Caleb's going to be talking about that next week as he develops that whole bread of life motif that Jesus uses to share who he is and what it means to come to him. But let me just say this before we close.
When you and I and our eyes get opened up to the reality of what our sin has done to ourselves, that we've done and we realize the consequence that we cannot turn ourselves into someone who's been forgiven. We can't forgive ourselves. We can't bring the forgiveness in our life that we really need of our sin because we sinned against God. We've got to acknowledge that God. We've got to acknowledge that I'm a sinner and I'm guilty as charged. And God opens our eyes and gives the ability to believe in him and put our trust in him as the living bread so we'll never hunger and thirst again. That's a miracle in of itself.
But here's what we get. This is the amazing thing. We get all the benefits. We get it all in him. Ephesians 1.3, we're blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies. Colossians 2.10, we've been made complete in Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 3, verse 5, we're made adequate as servants of the new covenant. Adequate. 1 Corinthians 1, 5, in everything you're enriched in Jesus Christ. 2 Peter 1, 3, his divine power has granted us everything pertaining to life and godliness. Listen, you get everything, you get it all in Christ because he's the one who can satisfy your soul.
Tragically, the multitude sought Jesus for the wrong sustenance. They wanted the material side, not the spiritual side. Sadly, they sought Jesus by the wrong pathway. It was by their human effort, not by faith. They didn't believe. Sadly, they sought through the wrong satisfaction. They wanted the new Moses. They wanted Jesus to be that political leader to bring in peace and prosperity. It wasn't that time.
What a tragedy that Jesus reveals in verse 36. They had seen him and yet they did not believe. You know what you hear people say? Seeing is believing. Is it? Not according to verse 36. They saw everything they needed to see and they didn't believe. They didn't believe. What are you seeking for most in your life this morning? Immediate wants that you consider needs? Is it something physical, material, relational, mental? Listen, Jesus Christ is the only one who can provide true soul satisfaction both in this life and for eternity. Have you ever stopped to consider that you may be seeking Jesus wrongly? Wanting him to provide your temporal needs and yet you don't sense your desperate spiritual need for eternal life.
Come to Jesus. Believe in Jesus. And he'll deal with your spiritual hunger and your spiritual thirst. I read this verse this week. Listen to this, Isaiah 55, 6. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Now listen to this. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. Why? Here's the last part of the verse. Because he will abundantly pardon. Have you ever thought about that? How abundant is the pardon and the forgiveness of God? He forgives you lavishly his blood cleanses you from all sin he forgives completely as far as the east is from the west so far will he remove our sins from us he forgives repeatedly over and over again and he forgives eternally and so what in the world are you waiting for are you waiting.
Listen, if you've never put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ, today's the day of salvation. Cry out to him. Anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you'll be saved. Put your faith in him. Find your soul satisfaction in him. Find eternal life and forgiveness in him. And maybe for the rest of us who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you're not feeling that soul satisfaction, you know why? We know what it is. It's because we're not dealing with our sins. We're not going to the Lord and maybe walking in repentance. And maybe it's a cry to God to say, oh Lord, open up my eyes and help me to see and help me to resist the enemy and resist the flesh and to stand for you. And I confess my sins before you and I'm going to walk in a walk that's pleasing to you. Let's pray.
Scripture Explicitly Read:
Matthew 14:27-33 - Jesus walks on water, Peter's experience
John 6:15-21 - Jesus walking on water (main passage)
Matthew 14 - Account of walking on water with more detail
Mark 6 - Parallel account of walking on water
1 Peter 1 - Born again by the living and enduring word
Psalm 119:11 - "I have hidden your word in my heart"
Exodus 3:4-6 - Moses and the burning bush
Exodus 20:18-19 - Israelites at Mount Sinai
Hebrews 4:16 - Approaching God's throne with confidence
Matthew 26:26 - Institution of communion (bread)
1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins
John 20 - Purpose of John's gospel (signs written)
Matthew 19:26 - With God all things are possible
Psalm 89 - Reference to God's control over seas
Hebrews 7 - Jesus intercedes for us
Psalm 33 - The Lord looks from heaven
Isaiah 26:3 - Steadfast mind kept in perfect peace
Psalm 46 - God is a very present help
Psalm 37 - The steps of a man are established by the Lord
Daniel 3 - Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego
Mark 6:51-52 - Disciples' hardened hearts
John 3:21 - Lost their senses (context unclear in transcript)
Ephesians 1:22 - All things under Christ's feet
James 1:2-4 - Consider it all joy when you encounter trials
Alluded to or Referenced:
Psalm 42:7 - Deep calls to deep; waves and breakers
Matthew 14:14 - Jesus healing the sick
John 6:35 - "I am the bread of life"
John 11:25 - "I am the resurrection and the life"
John 15:1 - "I am the true vine"
John 14:6 - "I am the way, the truth, and the life"
Exodus 3:14 - "I AM WHO I AM"
Matthew 11:28 - "Come to me, all who are weary"
Matthew 26:36-46 - Jesus in Gethsemane
Philippians 4:19 - God supplies all needs
Mark 8 - Feeding of the 4,000
Exodus 20:3 - "You shall have no other gods before me"
John 6:69 - Peter's confession: "You are the Holy One of God"