Well, let's look at our New Testament lesson today as Jesus applies that very passage to himself. We're going to look at John chapter 6 starting at verse 25 and reading through verse 51. It's a lot of verses, and not only is it a lot of verses, but it actually builds on an account that happened earlier recorded in John chapter 6 when Jesus fed the multitude, some 5,000 men. And after feeding that multitude, the disciples went across the Sea of Capernaum and Jesus walked on the water to meet them. And the following day, as the crowds are looking for him, we're going to pick it up when they finally connect with Jesus. And Jesus will explain both the Old Testament manna and the feeding that he had. previously provided as a miracle. So this is John chapter 6 beginning at verse 25. Let's give attention to God's Word. When they found Jesus on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? Jesus answered them, truly I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the son of man will give to you. For on him, God the father has set his seal. Then they said to him, what must we do to be doing the works of God? Jesus answered, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. So they said to him, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What works do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. So the Jews grumbled about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. They said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? Jesus answered them, do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, and they will all be taught by God. Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except he who is from God. He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh. And may the living Lord today impress upon our hearts and our minds the truth of his word. Do you know what the first debate and controversy that the church had to endure was? It was about food. It's recorded in Acts chapter 6. In the infancy of the church, there is a record of a division that was starting to emerge about the distribution of food for those in need. And that story shows how important food is and how Christians have been dedicated to providing food for those in need. Jesus also showed the importance of food. He fed some 5,000 people when they came to hear him teach. But in doing so, they were not able to provide food for themselves. And he provided that miracle of the feeding. And then in our passage, Jesus uses the everyday practice of eating food and the nature of bread to teach great truths about life. And what we're gonna see in the passage today is the wonderful promise of eternal life that Jesus uses bread to illustrate. And then we're gonna see the reason that Jesus can fulfill that great promise of life. And then finally, how to receive it. So let's start with the promise. The first truth is this, bread gives life, but it is not just any life. Again, in our passage, verses 26 and 27, Jesus said, truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me. This was after he had disappeared following feeding the 5,000. You are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. He continues, do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. Well, the eating of bread was part of a powerful miracle. Five loaves, two fish, you remember, fed thousands of people. But what Jesus is saying is there's yet a greater miracle. There's a bigger purpose that this feeding with natural bread points to. And that is the miracle of eternal life that comes through him. And Jesus repeats that many times, if you recall, in the verses we read. He is the bread of life. And he brings eternal life. That's the bigger picture, which the bread is pointing to. But not only is there this bigger picture of bread that saves, but Jesus points to also the bread that sustains. When the people asked Jesus for a sign, they mentioned the sign of God providing manna for them as they wandered in the wilderness. And Jesus responds, verses 32 and 33, Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Even more explicitly at the end of the passage, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat of it and not die. Great promise of life and sustenance. Remember the story we heard in the Old Testament passage. God brought his people out of Egypt where they had been slaves and they escaped into the wilderness. But there, while they were grateful for the deliverance, they began to fear and they grumbled. Why did you bring us to the wilderness? We're going to die here. And yet, for all their days in the wilderness, God provided each morning a substance which mysteriously appeared called manna. In Exodus 16.35, Towards the end of the reading in the Old Testament it says, the people of Israel ate the manna 40 years till they came to a habitable land. They ate the manna till they came to the border of the land of Canaan. So manna was actually, well actually they were never sure what it was. Manna literally means, you've probably heard this, manna means what is it? So for 40 years they ate, what is it? Sometimes you get that at the cafeteria, right? The proverbial mystery meat, and you're wondering, what is it? Well, they ate what is it for 40 years. But through it all, God was faithful. He provided for his children. He gave them bread from heaven. And so now, now Jesus says, I'm the bread of life. I'm the bread of heaven. He's saying, I am the true manna. I am what sustains you. Just picture those children of God wandering in the wilderness in the midst of great fear. It's I who am with you in the midst of great uncertainty. And we don't understand, I'm pretty sure, pretty confident, what it really is like to be hungry and not know, are you going to eat tomorrow? It's easy to kind of see the unfaithfulness, ungratefulness of the people of the Old Testament. But what would it be like every day in that wilderness? What is it like for many people around the world today to wonder, am I going to have food to eat tomorrow? And Jesus is saying, I am the one who sustains. I, when everything else is uncertain, I'm there. When everything else in life lets you down, I'm there, I'm that bread, I'm that sustenance. So these are remarkable claims. That's the first thing we want to look at today, just how Jesus uses bread and the experience of eating bread to point to these marvelous promises of life that saves, life that sustains. But now the question is, how does that even work? How can that be true? And in the verses that follow and really woven throughout this teaching by Jesus, we see it's Jesus, of course. It's who he is, it's what he's done. Notice what Jesus says about himself in the passage. The first thing to think of is he has authority. Over and over, where does he say he is from? He's from heaven. What does that mean? That means he's not from earth, right? He's not bound to earth. Earth can't stop him. Earth can't hold him. He has an authority that is beyond earth. It is from heaven. He is from God and he is one with God. So he has that authority. He also likewise has power. Verse 40, Jesus says, everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the last day. Think about that. Not only those who believe in Jesus as the bread of life will have eternal life, but Jesus himself will give that life. He has the power to raise up. And again, he says that multiple times in the passage. So he has authority, he has power. And he describes this incredible relationship that he has with God the Father. And it is a relationship of promise. Remember that. What Jesus is talking about. This is a relationship of promise. So the Father has a will or a plan, a promise regarding those who are going to receive this gift of life through Jesus. In verse 40. Jesus says, for this is the will, and a will is a plan, a design. This is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life. Well, what is the will? What is the plan? And the plan is this, Jesus describes it. The plan is to give a people to his son. which of course is Jesus. So verse 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. So think about that. There is a gift here. Talking about giving. What's the gift and to whom is it given and who gives it? Well the gift is people. The people who believe in Jesus. And who is the gift of people given to? Well, they're given to Jesus. So the gift is people. And this gift of a people is given to Jesus by the Father. People that God the Father draws to the Son. And that's what we see in verse 44. No one can come to me unless the father who sent me draws him and I will raise him up on the last day. The word for draw can also mean drag. It's the word used when Jesus, after he had risen from the dead, he came to the disciples while they were fishing at the sea. And Jesus provides this large catch of fish. And the story says that they had to drag that load of fish to shore. So then we also see here the relationship Jesus has with the Father in heaven. Jesus is obedient and faithful to his Father to do all that it's necessary to save this people. The Father is drawing to him. In verse 38 it says, for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will, and remember the will is the plan, to do the will of him who sent me. So you gotta put that all together, right? Because I ran through a bunch of stuff. This is the relationship of promise. And what is it? The Father, God the Father, has a plan to give to His Son the gift of a people. And the gift of this people will glorify the Son as they believe in Him and call on Him. And the Father draws those people to the Son, because that's the gift, and it's glorifying the Son, and the Son in turn is laser focused on doing His part to fulfill the will of His Father and bring honor to the Father. So these are the truths, the essential truths that make it possible for Jesus to give and to extend and to affirm this gift of life, eternal life and sustaining life. I've asked through the years the question, What is the most important relationship in your life? If you've been around, you've heard that question before. And if we're candid, we probably often will quickly say in a relationship of a loved one or a family member. And if we're trying to be spiritual, we'll say, well, it's Jesus, right? It's always Jesus. But really, as you hear what I've just said, this covenant promise between God the Father and God the Son, and you see it in the rest of the scriptures, what you will realize is the very most important relationship in your life is the relationship between God the Father and God the Son. There's God the Holy Spirit too, but in this passage, that's what it's focused on. That's the most important relationship in your life because it's only out of that promise that there is this security, that there is this assurance. All the other relationships in life are important, but it is only here that the promise for God to give you eternal life by believing in Jesus can be secure. If it rested on you, if it was about you, your assurance would go like this. Good one day, not so good the next, right? Oh, good one day, not so good the next. But get this, before you had a relationship with Jesus, there was a more foundational relationship, and that was the relationship, this covenant promise between God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. And out of that relationship, you are secure. If that relationship of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit, and this promise that they have covenanted together, right? This plan to save a people for the honor of the Son, and the Son to honor the Father through His obedience to the will, if that relationship could ever be fractured, there would be no security that you would have. And guess what? The universe would fly apart too. That'd be a secondary thing. Actually, that'd be a primary thing. There would be nothing but the great hope Great assurance is this, this relationship of Father, Son, and Spirit. And that's what Jesus is focusing on. That's what He's getting to, the truths He's conveying. He's authority, He has power, and He is part of this promise relationship, this covenant relationship that includes us. Well, one more form of affirmation Jesus gives to show it's possible for Him to provide bread that saves and bread that sustains. And that is grace. It's grace. The bread that saves us is not from us. It's not in us. It is a gift. A gift that comes through the precious blood of Jesus. Verse 51 from our passage, Jesus said, I am the living bread. There it is again, right? I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And get this, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh, my flesh. Jesus gives himself. Jesus doesn't give bread, he is bread. And the bread of his body was broken to bring life. The gift of grace that happened on the cross, his body was broken, that we might have life. That gift of grace was already foreshadowed in the Old Testament manna. In Exodus 16, verse 33, again in our Old Testament passage, we read this. Moses said to Aaron, take a jar and put an omer of manna in it and place it before the Lord to be kept throughout your generations. So the manna was put inside the Ark of the Covenant. That's what it's talking about there. And the Ark of the Covenant was then, you may recall, the most holy place inside the temple. The temple represented the presence of God and the holy of holies. That holy place was kind of the most sacred place. But then if you zoomed in even closer, there was the Ark of the Covenant, the focal point of God's presence. Now, the book of Hebrews describes that holy place, the Ark, and what was in the Ark. Hebrews 9, verses 3 and 4, beyond the second curtain was a second section called the most holy place. having the golden altar of incense, and here it is, the Ark of the Covenant, covered on all sides with gold, and in which was a golden urn holding the manna, right, our manna, and Aaron's staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant, which would be the Ten Commandments. So you picture it, inside the Ark was a piece of the manna, along with Aaron's staff and the Ten Commandments. God's presence was summarized there, right? His Word. His Word and the Ten Commandments. His provision of leadership in the staff, and then again, His sustaining life in the manna. But what was on top of the Ark? Do you know? It's called the Mercy Seat. And on the Mercy Seat, once a year, the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies with blood. The blood of an animal that had been sacrificed for the sins of the world. And that blood was poured on top of the mercy seat to cover the sins of the people. And so when we picture that, we see that this life-giving, life-satisfying, life-sustaining bread comes because of the death of the lamb and the blood that was shed. Jesus was the man in the ark, but Jesus was the blood on top of the ark. And the picture was clear. You don't get to God. You don't live in the presence of God. You don't receive his word. You don't feed on his bread apart from blood and the precious sacrifice of another. And that was Jesus. We live in the presence of God today, not by doing, not by going, but by believing and coming to Jesus. which is why the right response to this gift of life is to believe. And the only response is to believe. Again, Jesus spelled it out in verse 29. This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. Think about it, anything other than believing in Jesus, any work that you might look to or trust in. When you hear another person say, well, I'm trying to be a good person, or I think I'm good enough, I'm okay. That's a work, that's not believing, that's a work. And think of that work just like the people in the wilderness would work to try to store up the manna. Do you remember what happened when they tried to store up the manna and they did that work? What happened to the manna? It rotted. Not only did it rot, it stunk. Your good work apart from, God, I hate to say, no, I have to say it, it stinks. And the people smelled it. What a wonderful picture, not too pleasant, but a wonderful picture. All the time people thought, I can do this, I can do this. Or I'm insecure and I've got to protect myself, I've got to do more. And what did it do? It would stink. The only response is to believe, to believe. But bread also helps us understand better, what does it really look like to believe? Do you believe? Well, think about bread. First, it's ongoing. It's daily bread. Again, that manna in the wilderness. How long could they store that bread? Could they put it in a fridge? Could they freeze it? No, it lasted only a day. Does that remind you of the Lord's Prayer? Give us this day our daily bread. To believe is to have, get this, a living, ongoing, daily relationship with Jesus, just like the bread and the manna, right? Do you believe? Do you have a daily, ongoing relationship with Jesus? Are you reading the scriptures? Are you praying? Are you fellowshiping with others in His body on a regular basis? That is the regular daily bread. Second, not only is it ongoing, it is also central. Bread is a central part of life. Now, that's hard for us to think of today, probably, right? When you think of bread, what is bread? It's kind of almost incidental, right? Might be a little extra thing you have on the side. Throughout the ages, bread was always central to life. You structured your life with bread, right? You got up, and whether you were in the wilderness getting manna, but even if that, not that, you were thinking, where do I get the elements for the bread? How do I start to prepare the bread? and then eating the bread and it was central to your meal, right? In the same way that apply that principle to faith. Do you believe? Do you believe? Is Jesus central to your life? Is he central to your schedule? Is he central to your decisions? Is he central to your dreams? When you dream, does it include Jesus? Or is it incidental? Is he incidental? To believe is to have this ongoing, regular relationship with Jesus, where he is central to your life. And then finally, it's personal and transforming. You've heard the phrase, you are what you eat, right? Why do you say that? Because it's true. Because think of this, when you eat, that food is broken down and it becomes part of you. And that's faith. That's what it means to believe, to have Jesus come into your life. To change you, and when he comes, he comes to change you, right? To work from the inside out that transformation of his grace. Making you more like himself. When we receive the elements of communion, that is the picture, is it not? To believe. to look to him, to let him into our lives so that he will make us more like himself. He is the bread that saves. He is the bread that sustains. He is the bread that satisfies. So come to him and believe in him and rest in him and live with him and live for him. Let us pray. Lord, we do want to come to you in faith. Thank you for this incredible witness that you have given that you and you alone can provide life, a life that sustains, a life that saves and leads on to eternity, a life that is what we ultimately truly need and truly long for. So Lord, help us to come in faith. Help us to lay down and lay aside our works, whatever else we're holding on to. Lord, let that be the leaven that is removed so that the transforming work and power of your spirit would bring your life and your goodness in us and through us. We ask in Jesus' name, amen.