200406.ser
“Food That Really Satisfies”
CLBC Feb. 1/04 a.m.
Subject: Salvation:
Theme: The Provision of Salvation
Passage: John 6: 28 - 65
Segment 1.
We have come today to the study of one of the most difficult passages in John’s gospel,
and we are also going to celebrate the Lord’s Table.
You remember that this all began with Jesus feeding a huge crowd of over 5,000 people.
Later he told them that they were following him for the wrong reasons and that they
should stop giving their best efforts to get food that could never really satisfy their inner spiritual
hunger, but that they should give their best efforts to spiritual food that could satisfy their spiritual
need and give them everlasting life.
Then there comes a dialogue between the Jews and Jesus in which they want to him to
perform a miracle greater than Moses who fed them with manna in the dessert. and Jesus replies
that He is the real bread of life,
Read John 6: 28 - 36
There follows a section in which Jesus talks to them about the Father’s will.
That portion has some outstanding theology, and the Jews begin to really grumble.
Read John 6: 37 - 47
And then Jesus returns to the subject of bread and begins to speak about eating the living
bread, and feeding on Jesus Christ in order to have eternal life. By this time the Jews are getting
really upset and soon the whole crowd begins to leave until there were only His 12 disciples left.
Read John 6: 48 - 58 and verse 63
One more point in our overview.
Notice the reason the Jews could not understand Him. They took every word that He said,
literally, just as the woman at the well, and Nicodemus had done. But in verse 63 Jesus gave an
explanation of how to understand His word. John 6:63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh
profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and [they] are life.”
We need to ask, “What does Jesus mean by these words?” not just what do these words
literally mean? When Jesus spoke about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, what is the real
spiritual meaning he is trying to convey? That is what we shall seek to understand this morning.
Now let us prepare our hearts for the Lord’s Table:
Confession of Sin: Romans 3:23 tells us “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God.” - a short time of silent prayer for the confession of sins
God’s response: Romans 3: 24,“Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus.”
The Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 10 Your kingdom
come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 13 And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory
forever. Amen.
Segment 2. (preached at the Table)
Jesus is the Bread of Life:
This is a mystical concept. What does it mean?
Without food we would starve to death and die. Without Christ, one’s soul would remain
in a state of death and separation from God.
a. The manna in the Old Testament was a type or a picture of Jesus as the Bread of Life.
The Jews were both unwilling and unable to believe in Jesus. They were glad to listen to
his teaching, to bring their sick to be healed, and eat the bread with which He fed the multitude,
but they still weren’t ready to believe. They compared his feeding the 5000, to Moses in the
wilderness. What sign will you show us? The Israelites ate manna for 40 years. Can you do that?
How obstinate the human heart is! That manna sustained the physical lives of the Israelites
for a while, but the people who ate the manna still died. That manna was simply a type or a
picture of Jesus whose life and death would provide spiritual food, which would not just keep the
body alive but would give life to the soul - spiritual life, everlasting life, so that we may live with
Christ forever.
b. Eating or feeding on Christ means to come to Him, believe on Him, to trust Him.
I want you to notice the use of the word “believe” in this passage. In v. 28, Jesus says,
“This is the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent.” In v. 35, He says, “He who
comes to Me will never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” In verse 37, we
read, “the one who comes to Me, I will not cast out”. In v. 40 “This is the will of Him who sent
Me, that everyone who sees the Son, and believes in Him, may have everlasting life.” v. 47
“He who believes in Me has everlasting life.” v. 64 “But there are some of you who do not
believe. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe.”
It is important that we grasp this, because without this explanation, it sounds as though
Jesus is advocating cannibalism when he speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. What
He is is really advocating is that we come to Him, place our trust in Him, believe on Him, feed our
souls on His Word, and enter into a life of union with Him and dependence on Him.
c. When Jesus speaks of the living bread, He is speaking of Himself, and of His flesh or His
body being given on the cross for us.
“If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is my
flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” v. 51.
Now if you don’t have the above explanation that feeding on Christ means to believe in
Him, then of course His words are impossible to understand. You can see why these people
grumbled and quarreled among themselves, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”Instead
of stopping and clearing up the difficulty, Jesus presses the claim home still more strongly, v. 53
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, 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 eats My flesh and drinks My
blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is food indeed,
and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats 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 he who
feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down from
heaven——not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live
forever."
You understand why the Jews reacted in horror to these statements. Without the Holy
Spirit to open their hearts, and without spiritual life in their souls, these words drove them away
from Jesus, and He allowed it to happen.
You see, Jesus does not want any followers who do not love , and trust, and serve
Him. That is why evangelical churches try to make sure that no one becomes a member of the
church who is not a true believer. Anyone may attend a church, but to allow people to become
members of a church without being born again by the Spirit of God would be to do them a
disservice, and to give them a false hope!.
d. Since Jesus is the living bread, He instituted the Lord’s supper in which the bread
represents His body which was given on the cross for us.
This bread, then is a picture of His body, a symbol of His death for us. This bread is not in
any way the actual body of Jesus, because that would involve us in cannibalism.
It is a symbol, which is eaten as representative of our faith in Jesus Christ. In eating it we
are declaring our love for Him, and our trust in Him.
That is why it is important that those who do not yet believe in Jesus should not take the
bread and the wine. It would be a false picture. It would symbolize your faith in Jesus when you
have not yet come to faith in Jesus.
But if you have come to faith in Jesus, then as you eat this bread, let your mind and your
soul really think about Him, think about what He has done for you, and worship Him.
Prayer and Distribution of the bread.
Segment 3: The Cup Symbolizes Jesus Blood shed for us on the cross.
Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, 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 eats My flesh and
drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 "For My flesh is
food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood
abides in Me, and I in him.
This passage does not only speak about Christ as the bread of life. It also speaks of the
shedding of His blood.
Once again you can understand the horror of the Jews at these statements. With no faith,
they were horrified at the thought of drinking His blood. How they thought they might have done
it is a puzzle.
No, drinking His blood is a picture of believing in Him, just as eating His flesh is.
His blood was shed for you on the cross of Calvary. When His blood was poured out, His
life was being poured out for there can be no life when the blood is no longer carrying nutrients to
every part of the body.
a. When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Table, He gave us a picture of His blood which was
shed for us on the cross.
He took the cup of wine that was on the table and said “This cup is the New Covenant in
my blood which is shed for you.”
Dear ones, the grape juice in these little cups is a picture of the reality that Jesus Christ
purchased your salvation with His own blood; that He purchased the forgiveness of your sins by
paying for your sins with the giving of His own life. He died that you might live, not just
physically for a few years but spiritually, forever.
Again, I say, if you have never come to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord, it
would not only be foolish but give a completely false picture for you to take this cup.
But if you have come to trust Jesus Christ as your Saviour, even if your faith is still weak
and you are just learning more about what it means to trust Him, then you can take this cup and
drink it, thinking about Christ dying on the cross for you. As you think of your sins being forgiven
by God because Jesus died in your place, then you can worship the Lord Jesus, and it will
strengthen your faith.
Prayer and Distribution of the Cup
Dear ones, this has been a difficult passage of scripture, but I hope that its meaning has
become clear to each one of you.
Being a Christian means trusting in Jesus Christ as your only Saviour and Lord. It means
trusting Him with your life, bith in the present and for the entire future even beyond death. Being
a Christian means that you should feed your soul on Jesus and the Word of God every day, taking
time to pray and worship and praise Him, committing every need of yourself and others into His
care.
May the Lord bless you as you continue to grow in Him.
Amen.
Benediction:
Jude 1:24 “ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present [you]
faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,25 To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise, [Be] glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and
forever. Amen.
