Title: Jesus, the Bread of Life. Part 1

Text: John 6: 1- 35

Key verse: 35

Why did Jesus choose the symbol of the bread? Well, bread was a staple food for the Jews, just as it is today. Everyone understood bread was essential to life, and hunger was something experienced by most people in those times. At its simplest, this quotation of Jesus means that just as bread is vital to mortal life, so Jesus is essential to everlasting life. We can see then that the hunger referred to, is a spiritualhunger and the thirst, a spiritual thirsting. These represent our longing to understand, to make sense of this life.(Bible Basics) Ps 22:26- 26 The meek shall eat and be satisfied (Saba =to be fulfilled): they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your heart shall live for ever. KJV

Jer 29:13- 13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. KJV

V. 1- 6 – A great multitude follow Jesus because of the miracles He had done.

1. Miracles done by Jesus caused this crowd to follow Jesus. v.1,2

It is important for us to stop here and realize that crowds love to see miracles (phenomena’s, marvels). But, should we follow Jesus because of His miracles? No! We follow Jesus because He is the Messiah, the Savior of the world.John 10:27- 27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know( ginosko = well acquainted) them, and they follow me: KJV ( ex. Acts 19: 13 - 15 …. Jesus I know, and Paul I know but who are ye?) - Jesus is very well acquainted with those who are His!

2. Jesus tested Philip with a question concerning the feeding of this great multitude. v.3-6

As followers of Jesus we never know when our faith in Jesus will be tested. Testing usually come to test what is in our hearts. Deut 8:2- 2 And thou shalt remember all the way which the Lord thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove (test) thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. KJV

V. 7-14 – Jesus uses an impossible circumstance to affirm His Messiahship to His disciples, but also to teach them later even a greater truth.

1. Philip and Andrew express the impossibility of feeding so many with so little. v.7-9

Question: Don’t they sound like many of us when confronted with a huge impossible task before us? We tend to look at the huge problem or circumstance instead of our Great Awesome God that loves us. Jer 32:17- 17 Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing too hard for thee: KJV

2. Jesus gave a command, then He prayed, and the miraculous happen. v. 10-13

Note: Jesus made sure everyone was filled, and afterwards He commanded that all the leftovers be collected so that nothing be wasted. [ Perhaps they did like our Pilipino brethren do after everyone eats and is about to leave they prepared them a take home bag of food.]The left overs reveal that our God is more than able to supply more than enough to meet all of our needs. Prov 3:9-10- 9 Honour the Lord with thy substance, and with the firstfruits of all thine increase: 10 So shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. KJV

Ps 23:5- 5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. KJV / Another point:A little boy sacrificed what he had to the Lord!

Example: The widow of Zarephath, who made bread v.11 for the prophet Elijah first, then herself and her son of the last of her flour and oil according to the Word from the LORD v.14. - 1 Kings 17:15-16- 15 And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. 16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah. KJV – She gave what she had into the Masters hand!

V. 15-21 – Jesus withdraws Himself from the crowds for He perceived they wanted to make Him a king by force.

Note: Jesus first came as the suffering MessiahIsa. 53, later He will come as the conquering KingRev. 19: 11-16. Jesus did not come for His glory but for the glory of the Father.

John 12:27-28- 27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.KJV

Key point: Jesus never lived for Himself but for the glory of His Father, and part of that glory was the deliverance of mankind from the curse of sin, and Satan. John 10:10- 10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. KJV/10The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may haveandenjoy life, and have it in abundance[to the full, till it overflows]. AMP

Life = zoe– It expresses all of the highest and best which Christ is and which he gives to the saints. The highest blessedness of the creature. / And the highest and blessedness of the creature or humanity is to have a real relationship with the one who created him in this life on the next. You see Christianity is the only faith in which thee only Creator, thee only Designer comes to make His abode in the believer, forever.

John 14:16- 16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;KJV

V. 22-29 – Jesus rebukes the crowds who followed Him with impure motives. People need to come to Jesus with pure motives, He sees the heart. He knows if we come because we want and need Him or we want something else. Because once that something else is granted will we still want Him, especially when the going gets tough in following Him? And it will get tough so make sure your motives are pure. What the people really needed was not so much the physical bread, but the eternal bread, that will meet their need in this life and the next.

V.30 -35 – Jesus reveals Himself as the Bread of God from Heaven, the Bread of life. The people of Israel cried for a miracle to be fed in the desert following Moses and it was granted by God in Heaven, but it sustained them temporally. Another miracle came from Heaven but this time it was in the person of Jesus Christ. And He is the only one who can completely satisfy every longing in the human heart.V.35