Transcription
[Music] John chapter 6, beginning at verse 22, reading to verse 24. We'll get into our study, and I, I chose to simply entitle this particular portion of John, "Jesus, the Bread of Life." So, John chapter 6, beginning at verse 22, reading to verse 24.
On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone. However, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.
When, when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. So, these particular events that we're looking at here in verse 22 following, take place on the day after Jesus had fed the 5,000. You see, the people had returned to the area, they found that He and His disciples had left. They knew that Jesus hadn't departed with His disciples because of the storm. Other boats had harbored in the area, so they couldn't figure out where He was. So, they departed to Capernaum. Jesus had miraculously fed them, and they were determined to make Him their king, and because of this, they're diligently looking for Him.
Verse 25 says, "When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?'" And so, it's interesting that they knew where He was. They went and knew where He was. And, and verse 59, when we get there, is going to inform us that that Jesus was in the synagogue in Capernaum. So, it would be well known. People would have known where He was at. He was in a synagogue. So, there they are in the synagogue, and they wait till the service ends, and now they have an opportunity. So, they go and they speak to Him and they ask Him a simple question. Notice they say, "When did you come here?" They hadn't seen Him leave and knew He came alone. So, they wonder, "When did you arrive?" They were aware that He didn't take a boat. They wondered how He made it over the sea. And so, they're asking, "When did you come here?"
In verse 26, Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." You're coming to me not because the miracle and the things that I've done have caused you to see something in me that is beyond human. You're coming to me because you ate, your stomachs were filled, and you were satisfied. And so, they had come to Him because Jesus had met a physical need. That means that they're materialists. They're not interested in in reflecting on the significance of the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000. And, and because it begins to confront them. And, and by the way, I, out of it, point this out again. I want you to see something. I want you to let, let this kind of settle on you. It's like Jesus is there in a church like this. We'll say He's in a sanctuary. The people are there looking. The place must be packed. The service is over, and they approach Him, and they want to know, "When did you come here?" But I want you to see something. This is something that sometimes needs to be pointed out. I want you to see how He speaks to them. I want you to see again, in verse 26, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled." That is confrontational. That is very direct speech. Keep that in mind, because a lot of times, guys, the church likes to picture Jesus as some, almost a spineless man. Sometimes He's portrayed as always having kind of a silly grin, maybe a lamb on His shoulders. But Jesus was confrontational. Not all the time, but sometimes He spoke directly, and that's what He's doing right now. So, when you read your Bible or you go to a Bible study, and sometimes things come off directly, don't get upset about it, because if the Lord is asking a direct question, it's important to be able to give a direct answer. And when Jesus spoke, He made it very clear. He was really not hungry for the things that I do salvation-wise, and who I am. You're following me because you're hungry, and you think that I am your ticket to material satisfaction. And so, He, He's gonna, He's gonna rebuke them, and that's what He begins to do.
Because in verse 27, He says, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." In other words, when He says, "Do not labor," He's saying, "You made great effort in searching for me. You, you made great effort in finally finding me, but you did it to satisfy your physical hunger, for your physical appetite. To seek and to find has been worth your effort." But the fact is, and this is so important, a spiritual hunger cannot be met in a material way. And that's something I think that we need to always remember. It has to be something that we understand. Material things do not satisfy spiritual needs. We all know that. But as I was going through this and preparing the study, I made a note that I'll share with you. Witness the many wealthy who are completely bankrupt spiritually. There are so many people that are very materially wealthy. So, when I think of that, I used to think of, of Bill Gates. But now he's, he's kind of poor compared to Jeff Bezos. Listen to this. Let me, let me provoke you to covetousness here. Jeff Bezos. It's difficult to know how much money he has. It, it fluctuates. But in 2019, his net worth is estimated to be around a hundred and fifty-four billion dollars. Okay, I'll let that set for a minute. We don't know what that means. But one source said it like this: Jeff Bezos makes approximately two hundred and thirty thousand dollars a minute. There you go. That hit. That's the smaller number. I wish he'd give me five minutes of his time. I'm just asking for five minutes. Jesse, two hundred and thirty thousand dollars a minute. Let that settle you. Let's see if I got this right. You would need to spend four hundred and twenty-one million, nine hundred and seventeen thousand, eight hundred and eight dollars a day to spend it all in a year. Four hundred and twenty-one million dollars a day for 365 days in a row. Okay, here's another one for Jeff Bezos. When he spends about one and a half million dollars, it is like the average person spending $1. There you go. That hit. With all of his money, and of course, I'm not bringing a word of condemnation on Jeff Bezos. I'm using his wealth as an illustration. But with all of his money, he is not known for having peace and satisfaction in life. He's not known for that. You will never see an article, unless he comes to faith in Christ, that he'll ever say, "Jeff Bezos says, 'My money doesn't matter. I've got Jesus.'" This man's money, and no rich man's money without Christ, will ever satisfy. Spiritual needs are never satisfied by material things. They just aren't. They just aren't. The Bible tells us in Ecclesiastes chapter 6, verse 7, "All the labor of man is for his mouth, and yet the soul is not satisfied." Jesus asks the question in Matthew 16:26, "What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul?" Or, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" Remember how Jesus spoke to the woman at the well and gave her an invitation that she might have living water? For if she drank of that water, she would thirst again. But if you drink of the water that He gives, she'll never thirst again. You see, Jesus is the one who, who gives us the invitation to have satisfaction by coming to Him. That's why in Matthew 11:28, Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." So, from the pauper to the richest person, we all need the same thing. We need rest in Christ.
So, when Jesus is speaking here, and He says to them in verse 27, "Do not labor for the food which perishes." That is something for all of us to hear. You are, you're coming after me because I fed you well. Don't labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life. Now, the food that endures speaks of that which strengthens your soul, not just your body. And that food is, is, is knowing and it's doing God's will. Remember in John 4:32 through 34, Jesus said, "I have food to eat of which you do not know." And therefore, the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought Him anything to eat?" And then Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and finish His work." And so, the food that endures is that which strengthens your soul. It's knowing and it's doing God's will. And as He's speaking concerning that, He says, "The Son of Man will give this to you." Why? "Because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Now, when it says, "God the Father has set His seal on Him," this seal represents ownership. And, and a seal during the time of Christ was used to approve or to authenticate. Someone said, as as a person who wishes to communicate with another who is at a distance, writes a letter, seals it with his own seal, and sends it directed to the person for whom it was written. So, Jesus came to reveal God's will to man, bearing the seal of God in the evidence of His miracles. God has set His seal. God owns me. I am His. I belong to Him. And He has authenticated me by the works. So, that work, that He had just performed, the feeding of the multitude, was intended to communicate to them who Jesus is.
Well, as He's communicating to them and sharing this with them, notice verse 28. "They said to Him, 'Or what shall we do that we may work the works of God?'" Jesus had said, "Labor for the food." So, they said, "Well, what should we do? In other words, with good things, what good works must we do to have that? What kind of works must we perform?" And so, Jesus answers, verse 29, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." You see, the one thing that is necessary isn't you're laboring and working to somehow try to fulfill the law of Moses and to live it perfectly. You can't do that. What you need to do is you need to believe in the One whom God sent. That's what is required. You want to perform works, but Jesus is saying, "In order to perform works, you need to first and foremost have Me in your life so that you are no longer working for salvation, but are now working out your salvation." And there's a world of difference between those two things. You need to believe on the One whom God has sent. This is the work of God. Earlier in John, in chapter 1, verse 12, remember how John had said, "As many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believed in His name." It isn't by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, by the washing of regeneration, by the renewing of the Holy Spirit. And I, I didn't come to a relationship with God by trying and working hard. And that's what He's saying here. "Well, what must we do? What good work must we do?" "This is the work." You want to know how it begins? You want to know the origin of all real works? Believe on the One whom the Father sent. It begins there. You don't work your way into a relationship with God. You work out your relationship with God. So, you need to partake in Me. You need to have Me in your life.
So, as He's speaking in verse 30, "Therefore they said to Him, 'Well, what sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat."'" So, now they're demanding a sign. They're saying, "Moses provided bread for us. Why won't You, if You're our deliverer now? Moses fed more than two million people with bread from heaven. So, do something like this, then we'll believe in You, as we have believed in Moses."
And so, as they say that, verse 32, Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses didn't give 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." You see, He said very simply, "Listen, it wasn't Moses who provided this bread. The bread that was provided came through God." In Exodus, in the Old Testament, chapter 16, verse 15, it says, "When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, 'What is it?' They didn't know what it was. And Moses said to them, 'This is the bread which the Lord has given you.'" So, they are misunderstanding scripture. They're saying, "Well, Moses gave us bread." And Jesus says, "Moses didn't give you bread. God gave you the bread. The bread from heaven. God gave the bread from heaven to the children of Israel, and God gave Jesus, who is the true and living bread, that He might give life to spiritually hungry people."
And so, verse 34, they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." And Jesus said to them, "Shut up. You bother me." And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." At the well, they immediately asked Him to provide living bread. They're blind. They don't see the spiritual meaning of His words. They're not seeking His truth. Jesus in Luke 12:23 said, "Life is more than food, and the body is more than clothing." So, Jesus specifically states in verse 35, "I am the bread of life." Now, when you go through the Gospel of John, you're getting to know, note that there are seven, it's called the seven "I am" statements of Jesus. This is the first of seven "I am" statements. "I am the bread of life." And He's saying, "I am the only source of spiritual nourishment. I am the only way you can have spiritual life." You see, when you come to Me, you'll never hunger or thirst again, because I will fully satisfy you. When I came to faith in Christ as a young man, I didn't come to hear Christ, receive of His teaching, and then later on start saying, "Well, Buddha was a good teacher. Those are interesting words. I wonder what Buddha has to say." "Mmm, those are interesting words. I wonder what Muhammad had to say." "Mmm, those are interesting words. I wonder what Krishna had to say." Now, when I came to Christ, I no longer was interested in what Buddha, Krishna, or Muhammad had to say, because I had taken, and so had you, of the true bread from heaven. So, if you take of the bread, you never hunger for anything else again.
There, there, there are people who like to discuss issues related to our salvation. Do you lose it? Do you always have it? Once saved, always saved? Oh, no, you can lose your salvation. That's one of those questions that I'm not going to try to answer tonight, because that's not part of my study. But I use that as an illustration. My approach, that added to that, is such a simple, it's a simple approach. If I've been filled by Jesus, if my hunger has been satisfied by Him, then He, all that matters to me for the rest of my life. I'll never hunger for anything else. I'll never thirst for anything else. I, I don't worry about those things. When matters and matters of salvation, people say, "Oh, you can lose your salvation." "Oh, no, you don't lose your salvation." Some people, my pastor illustrated it like this. He said, "People think that salvation is like, you know," he says, "I look at salvation like a pickup truck." He said, "And I'm in the back. I'm there in, in the back of the truck." He says, "Some people think that the, the tailgate is down, and on your journey, you can bounce on out." Others believe that the tailgate is up, and no matter how rough the ride, you can bounce all around in, and you'll never fall out. So, one person says you can fall out. Another person says you can't fall out. But what's the answer? What's the solution? And I love what Chuck said. He said, "Stay close to the driver." That's true. Have you guys ever been in the back of a pickup truck just bouncing around like that? For me, I discovered a long time ago, and I was a kid, and we used to be able to do that. You can't do it anymore. But I used, I just would lean against the cab. I had no concern about bouncing out of a truck. I had no concern. Why? Because I were close to the cab. And when you take of Christ, when you partake of Him, when He is the bread of life, and you, and you, and you feed on Him, you'll never hunger for anything else. You'll never thirst for anyone else. It's all about Him. And that's what He's saying. "I am the bread of life. Come and eat of Me. Partake of Me. You'll never hunger for anything else."
In John 17:3, "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent." Jesus is saying, "You're never gonna hunger. You will not thirst. I will fully satisfy you." I hope that He's satisfying you, by the way. I hope that He is. I hope that He's everything to you. That's, that's the heart of Christianity, just loving Him with all of your heart. And I hope that you do. You won't hunger or thirst for anything else.
Now, He says in verse 36, "That I said to you, 'But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.'" You've asked for a sign, and you received it. Manna from heaven, the Living Bread. You've seen Me, yet you still reject Me. Verse 37, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." All that the Father gives Me, salvation originates with God. He's the one providing the means of salvation. In Matthew 11:27, Jesus said, "All things have been delivered to Me by My Father; no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and the one whom the Son wills to reveal Him." And so, "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out." By His Spirit, God draws people to Jesus, and Jesus receives them, and He doesn't reject them. It's kind of like a homeowner being kind to a beggar who comes to the door. He doesn't reject him. And we are spiritually impoverished, and who came to Christ, and He didn't reject us. He says, "You need just to come to Me." And He says, "Then I'm not gonna go to it by any means cast you out."
For verse 38, "I have, have come down from heaven not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. I don't have a separate interest for my Father. I've come to bring salvation. And it's His will that I should lose no one that He's given to me. It's His will that I might raise them up on the last day. And the power without which they could not believe, He freely gave them. But the use of that power was their own. So, when you come to Him, you have security. Notice, "I will hold on to them until the end, and I will raise them up on the last day." Now, He's already alluded to this in John 5:28 and 29. He had said, "Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation." So, He's simply saying, "I'm gonna raise you up at the last day."
See, for me, it's again, in a practical application to this, it's just a powerful thing to realize that yesterday, I had the opportunity to to meet with, but the number of pastors and their wives. Every month, every month here in the church, every month I have a meeting with about 20, 20 to 28 senior pastors, and they will come, and we'll have a two-hour meeting every month. And just yesterday, one of my friends, Mike Rodriguez, from Calvary Chapel Corona, had asked if we could go to his, his facility and bring our wives and have a luncheon and get together with the pastors' wives and staff members. And we did that yesterday. And one of the, we, I was in a panel answering questions from the other pastors and leaders. And, and one of the things that was asked of us was, "How do you deal with with difficult situations in times that you're going through hard, hard times? How do you deal with that?" And so, I'm, I'm actually, I'll say it like this, I don't know a better way to say it. I'm, I'm the senior, the senior man in that group, and I've been walking with the Lord for, for a long time, pastoring for a long time. Just a couple of weeks ago, on July 31st, I didn't even mention it was a Wednesday night. Just a couple weeks ago, I celebrated my 40th anniversary of ordination. And he did it on a Wednesday, and I didn't even think about it. I said, "Oh, guess what? 40 years ago today, I got ordained as a pastor." 40 years of pastoral ministry, and longer than that when it comes to teaching. I've been teaching home Bible studies to church studies since 1973. In September, I'll celebrate my 46th anniversary of beginning home Bible studies and moving into ministry. That's a long time. I never realized that, but it, but it is. It's a long time. So, 46 years of teaching, 48, almost 49 years of walking with the Lord. And the question is asked, "What do you do? Who do you go to? If you've got your, you down, who do you go to? If you have a need, and, and so that was part of the answer." And so, let me say it briefly to you. When I, when you say it like this, I said, "You know what, guys? I've been walking with the Lord for a long time. It is now second nature for me to cast my cares on Him, because I know He cares for me. My God has been faithful to me every step of the way for almost 49 years. He has never failed me. He has never failed me, and He never will." So, and you too, we could, we can say the saying, "Just, just when did you get saved?" From that day, He has never failed you. You'll see. I'm gonna illustrate this on Sunday, in the book of James, to the herd of John, but I will be doing this this upcoming Sunday, sharing some things with you. But one of the things that is, is, is so much what it means to be a Christian is, "Lord, to whom shall I go? You have the words of eternal life." Who else is there? Who else is there that I could go to? Who else loves me like You do? Who else cares for me like You do? Who else has given to me what You have? Who else has provided for me like You have? Who has been with me closer than a brother? Who has walked in my darkest hours? Who has lifted my, my, my, my head that was down, cat, down, cat? Who has lifted me up? Who has given me joy? Who has given me blessing? Who has forgiven me of all my sins? If not You, why would I turn from You? You are the bread of life. When I have eaten and have drunk of You, I am satisfied. Why would I look to somebody else? Why would I want something else? Who could be better to me than Jesus? And who could be better to you than Jesus? That's He saying this to guys who they just want the material needs met. You sought Me and you found Me because I, I fed you. You were hungry, and you want someone who'll be your ticket for life. And you don't understand that what I have to offer you, that even when you're hungry, is still gonna satisfy your soul, because your body may be hungry, but your soul be satisfied in Me. And you don't understand it. And I think the church needs to remember those words, to be honest with you. We need to remember that in these last days.
In verse 41, "The Jews then complained about Him because He said, 'I am the bread which came down from heaven.'" They said, "Is, is not this Jesus the Son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I've come down from heaven?'" They're offended. He said He came down from heaven. You see, Jesus' words divide. They either will draw you or they repel you. It just depends on who you are and where your heart is. Here's another scripture. Jesus gave Matthew 10:34, "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I didn't come to bring peace but a sword." And is that not true? You got saved. You told your mom and your dad, your friends. Did they jump up and down? If they were Christians, maybe they did. If they weren't, did they throw you a party? Did they kill the fatted calf to, you know, a prodigal game? Oh, no, I don't think so. No, they didn't. "What's wrong with you?" I still remember my brother telling me, "Dad, he thought I was a phony. I've seen you go through so many things, David, and this is just another one of those things. It's a fad. It's, it's just something you're going through. You've done so many things. Now you, this." That was my brother. And I, I would suppose that some of you in this room had the same kind of thing. We're friends said, "I've known you. I know what you're like. I know what you do. I know you're trying, but you'll go, you'll come back. You'll be what you were before." You know, you can't change. That's just not true with God. All things are possible, and then you can change. But there's, they're speaking.
And so, they say in verse 42, "Is, is this not this, is this Jesus the Son of Joseph?" No, a moment ago, they had begun to murmur. Now they're beginning to scoff and mock. How could He say He came from heaven when people knew of His father and mother? You see, Jesus was raised in Nazareth. Nazareth is a very small village. It may have had a population as small as 80, but no more than 200. It's a small village. Nazareth was around 30 miles from Capernaum. That's not too far. Some would have known Mary and Joseph. So, it's possible that they knew of the circumstances of Jesus' birth, and they were rejecting Him because, remember, they believed that Jesus, His mother Mary, had committed sexual sin. And so, they knew some of those circumstances. And so, they didn't recognize God as being His Father. And in not doing so, they were rejecting Him. Matthew 13, verses 55 and 56, has a similar kind of thing where it says, "Is this not the carpenter's son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things?" So, they didn't recognize Him for who He is.
So, verse 43, Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves." When he says, "Do not murmur," murmuring is rejecting. And as long as you reject what I say, Jesus would be saying, "You can't be saved." Charles Spurgeon, a great preacher of another day, said, "Murmuring is a great sin, and not a mere weakness. It contains within itself unbelief, pride, rebellion, and a whole host of sins." You see, God is the one teaching people to come to Jesus. Again, He does this by His Spirit in their hearts. He says in verse 44, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day." And so, Jesus is the one raising the dead on the last day, which speaks of the very end. Here, He's speaking of the resurrection of those who have believed in Him.
And verse 45, "It is written in the prophets, 'They shall all be taught by God.' Therefore, everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." And so, when He says, "It is written," that comes out of Isaiah 54:13, where the scripture says, "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children." So, this would refer to the special understanding those called by God would have by God's Spirit. Those hearing Jesus are given understanding of who He is.
Verse 46, "Not that anyone has seen the Father except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life." No one has seen God the Father except for Me.
In verse 47, "I have come that you might have life, and this life comes through believing in Me." And by the way, one of the things that I might want to note at this moment, just briefly, I want you to see how He has been saying in verse 47, "You see, 'he who believes in Me has it.' That's something you have right now. You have abiding life. You have it." And this life that you have in Christ is, is not simply length of days. It's not that you're going to continue and, and you'll never cease to exist. It's not simply that. It's not just length of days. It's also quality. Eternal life is fellowship with God, and that produces a quality in your life, a quality of relationship, a quality of enjoyment, of pleasure, of joy, of peace, a quality of thankfulness, of fellowship. It's the thing that, that you have now, that, when you're going through something, and it's a difficult time, and said, it's, it's hard, that that you can cast your cares on Him, and you know He cares for you. It's, it's going through the valley of the shadow of death, because we all do, but it's very no evil, because we know He is with us. It is, it's being an overcomer, even when we are tried in some deep and powerful way. And sometimes, the trying of our faith is a long-lasting and an enduring kind of thing that it just doesn't stop. There have been times in, in your life, there have been times in mine, when, when it seems like life is like waves that keep on crashing on me, and, and then I, I just have the ability to, to get out from underneath what, when another hits me, and then I get out from and neaten it beneath it, and then another hits me, and another hits me, and, and it's just one after another. And you say, "Oh my God, what's going on? How come?" And, and that's when I have learned to, and I think you have to, if not, you will. That's when I've learned, "I'm never alone. I'm Jesus." We'll see this when we continue on in John's Gospel. Let me say this. Yeah, amen to that amazing clapping. But Jesus said, "Now I am alone, and yet I'm not alone. Now I am alone, and yet I'm not alone, for you were with me." Have you been there yet? Have you been there yet? Some of you have. Have you ever been on your face on the carpet in a bedroom, just you and God, just crying? "God, what are You gonna do? What are You gonna do? My child is in trouble. What are You gonna do? My mom's sick, and I don't know how am I gonna help her. What are You gonna do?" "For my dad lost his job." My father, my father had worked for this one company for, for many, many years, and, and one day he came home, and I was only 22 at the time. My dad had worked there all of my life. He worked at a place called Davey's Warehouse. I used to think Davey's Warehouse was named after me. I did. As a little boy, I thought they named it after me. It's Davey's Warehouse. And my, my dad comes home, and he's depressed. And I'm just a young guy, and a new believer, really was only a couple years old in the Lord. And my dad had never had a day that he didn't have a job as an adult. Never had a day that he didn't have work. And my dad was providing for my, my mom and for his kids. And now he has no job for the first time in his adult life. And he comes home on a Friday, and he's depressed. And I didn't know why. And I, I see my dad. My dad was not one of these guys who would, would wear his emotions on his sleeve. So, I, I couldn't read him. And I just looked at him, and I knew something's wrong. But he wouldn't tell us. He didn't tell us any of these things. He would tell my mom, and my mom would come and tell us. "Your dad lost his job today." Your dad. Hey, can you lose your job? Your bills still need to be paid, right? You still have to eat, right? My dad had nothing. Nothing. I was a young kid, 22 years old. And I still remember talking to my dad, and I, in his den at his house, I said, "Dad, I don't know much. I don't know much at all. But I do know this. I do know, and I was a new Christian, I said, 'I do know my God shall supply our need.' I know that. And Dad, let me tell you something." And again, you got to put in your perspective. My dad was 46 years old. I was 22. My dad very easily could have looked at me and said, "What do you know about life? What do you know? You're just a kid. You haven't even held a job that long. You don't know what it's like to work and to provide, to buy a home, pay for cars, raise your kids. You don't know any of that." My dad could have done that. But he didn't. He just listened to me. And I said, "Dad, I don't know much, but I do know this. My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in Christ Jesus. Why? My God is able, Daddy. Let me pray for you." I still remember holding my dad's hands there in his den, and I prayed. And I said, "Father, or something like, Father, please, in Jesus' name, my dad needs a work." They had sold the company, and everybody had been let go. And all of these, all of his life as an adult was working there. For the first time, my mom said, in his life as, as an adult, he didn't have a job waiting for him on Monday. And this is a Friday. And we prayed. And on Monday, my dad got a phone call. And the company that had purchased Davies Warehouse was called Weber's. Whoever's Trucking. And my dad, and his two brothers, all worked for Davies, and they were hired to work for Webber's. My dad didn't miss a single day of work. See, so I have seen the goodness of the Lord. I know my God shall supply, and I know He loves us, and He will do abundantly above all, but we need to receive and trust Him. And Jesus is saying, "You want, you want what I give you, but you don't want Me. You, you want things, but you don't want relationship. You need to know I am that Bread of Life."
I am that. Verse 48, "I'm the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; they did. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die." You see, the physical bread your ancestors partook of didn't grant them eternal life. They all died. But in contrast to this, I am the heavenly bread that gives eternal life through My death. I'm that Living Bread.
He said again in verse 51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us flesh to eat?" Well, some understood Him, and they're arguing. They took his word literally, eating flesh and drinking blood. How is that possible? Well, 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. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed." Unless you, one time for all time, partake of Me, you won't have life. By using an illustration of eating, He's simply saying, "You must receive, be in your innermost being, you must partake in My life and My death." And this full participation in Me will result in life.
Well, verse 56, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him." As the living Father sent Me and I live because of the Father, so he who, who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 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.
These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. What is He saying? He's saying this: You need to fully commit yourself to Me, because this full commitment is what results in eternal life. And Jesus is saying, "You need to realize that I am the bread that came down from heaven. It's not a physical, wooden, literal interpretation. It is a spiritual ingestion. Take of Me so that you might live." And as He's doing this, He's teaching them.
Notice, and we'll close at verse 59, in a synagogue there in Capernaum. When we go to Israel, we'll go to the general area where this particular synagogue would have been, and we have Bible studies there, and we go through passages similar to this. And it gives us a gift, this good insight. And in closing, just a couple of thoughts, because when it says, "These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum." Well, Capernaum is a place that He often ministered in. Remember with me in Matthew 14, 413, Capernaum had become His headquarters. In Matthew 8, verse 5, it was in Capernaum that He had healed a Centurion's servant. In Mark chapter 2, that's where Jesus had healed a crippled man who was brought to Him by friends in the, the ceiling tiles and had lowered the man. That was in Capernaum. In John chapter 4, Jesus had healed a nobleman's son who was sick there in Capernaum. But ultimately, Jesus, Jesus condemned Capernaum for unbelief. In Matthew 11:23, He says, "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day."
In order to have life, we receive Christ at His word. We don't ask Jesus to be our Savior so He can give us a great day every day. We ask Jesus to be our Savior because we've sinned against Him and need forgiveness. But the benefit of it is that He is now with us. He does provide for us. He sticks closer than a brother. He provides for us. He convicts us by His Spirit when we're wrong. And in every single facet of our life, He is our bread. He is who sustains us. He is the one who nourishes us. When, when I first got saved, we were hippies. They used to just call us freaks. Hippies were called freaks. Some of you are old enough to remember that. Some of you have read that in your history books. But they called us freaks. And so, when we got saved, they called us Jesus freaks, because we were freaks for Jesus. And you can dress up an old man like me, cut my hair, and put a shirt on me and shoes, but in my heart, that's what I still am. I'm a Jesus freak. That's what I am. Just out there. There you go. There you go. That's what I am, because the Lord has has done so much. You know, every once in a while, and I'll close with the thought here, every once in a while, at least a couple times a week, I should say, it's not just once in a while, I will, I will count my blessings. I have a habit of doing that. I don't know if you do. It's a good habit to have. You know, I count my blessings. God has given to me an incredible wife. God has given to me beautiful children. They're tough, but I love them. God has given to us grandchildren. And I mentioned to you, I just dedicated my Olivia. She is just an amazingly beautiful little thing. And my, my daughter Corrine, at 42, is adding to my grandfather quiver, and we will have another baby in November, and I'll be dedicating that baby probably on Easter. And my son David's wife is going to be giving birth to a baby in February, you know, another one. And, and I think about that. I think about that. I, I, He has given, He has given me friends, and He's given me family. He has given me blessings. He's given me joy that is unspeakable. He's written my name in the Lamb's Book of Life. He is, hasn't He good? I mean, He's good. You know, He's good. And there's nothing I've ever given up that I needed. I never lost anything. Somebody asked me once, "What is the greatest lesson that you have learned after all these years of walking with the Lord? What is the greatest lesson that you have learned after all of these years?" And, you know what? The greatest lesson I've learned, it's real simple. It all works out in the end. It all works out in the end. What I was concerned about, so worried about, needed to be. It all works out in the end. Somebody has asked me, "What would you change if you could change something, anything? What would you change?" And the answer, after a lot of thought, "Nothing." Nothing. Why? There were, there's been pains, there's been losses, there's been, because everything I've ever gone through has made me who I am today. I would not want to not be who I am by the grace of God. And I have learned that my God will never abandon and never, never stops caring for me. I have learned that through walking through the valley of the shadow of death. I have learned to abound, and I'm learning what it's like to be abased, and then I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. Because that is the secret of being content, is to know that your God is next to you, and He is on the throne, and He has never abandoned you. And Jesus is the bread of life, and that's how it works.