I AM the Bread of Life

Take your Bibles this morning and open them, if you would, to John chapter 6.

! John chapter 6, and we'll get to that in just a moment. I want to talk about one of my favorite subjects. At least I want to talk about that first of all.

And that is food. Is that one of your favorite subjects? Just admit it. Just admit it. Very relevant subject for most of us here this morning, and it shows.

Can't hide it. We love to talk about food, but actually we love to eat food. The subject is food. The well-known Andy Rooney once made this keen observation.

He said the two biggest sellers in any bookstore are cookbooks and diet books. He said the cookbooks tell us how to prepare the food, and the diet books tell us how not to eat any of it.

They're kind of contradicting one another. Orson Welles, that famous actor, who was himself quite a large man in the latter years of his life.

And he once confessed. He said, my doctor had advised me to give up those intimate little dinners for four. Unless, of course, you really do have three other people eating with you.

You have to think about that one a little while. You know, food is a big subject. And, you know, we kind of joke a little bit, especially we Baptists, about eating.

And I like to eat, and it does show. And showing more and more as the years go by. And I guess it really is a subject that is not just simply isolated to Baptists, but other faiths, other denominations and churches.

Church people, they just like to eat. And really, I guess you could attach that subject and the love of that subject, or the love of food, to Americans in general. I was reading the other day about a research that was done, research done by a certain California scientist.

And he had computed that, on the average, a man, an American, will eat 16 times his or her weight in a single year.

Just on the average. 16 times. I'm trying to visualize that. It's 16 times that I could eat my weight in a year. I'm kind of thinking I'm on the upper end of that average, maybe.

But that is incredible when you consider that a horse only eats eight times its weight in a year. According to this research. Now, you know what that means, don't you? If you want to lose weight, just eat like a horse.

Okay? That's all you have to do. Now, I need to confess to you, God, and I don't have to confess this, God did not call me to be a stand-up comedian.

I decided to maybe get your attention this morning with you little humorous things to get our attention on food. And maybe I have shot myself in the foot.

Because now you're thinking about food and possibly think about what you're going to eat after the service this morning. But I do need to draw you back, certainly to the subject of food.

But not just any kind of food. A heavenly food. And that's our subject this morning. Heavenly food.

Food, in a sense. And the text that we're going to be looking at here in just a moment does tell us about food. That is the subject here.

And it tells us about a group of people who were obsessed with food. Obsessed with really physical things.

Or temporary hungers. Hungers. Hungers that they wanted to be satisfied. And they were looking to a certain person to satisfy those hungers.

So the text is going to tell us about those people. Also, this text is going to tell us about a teacher slash preacher slash miracle worker and slash a lot of other things.

But this one it tells us about performed an incredible miracle. And with the miracle or from the miracle, this teacher, miracle worker, taught them and I hope will teach us this morning a truth.

The truth about a certain kind of food. Not a temporary food. Not some earthly food. Not something that will satisfy a physical hunger.

But real food. Real food. Heavenly food. Now the group of people in the text are the Jews and the teacher slash miracle worker is, of course, the Lord Jesus Christ.

And really, let's continue to acknowledge the fact that in one way or another and to varying degrees, we are all obsessed, like these Jews were obsessed, with earthly foods.

Not just earthly foods in the sense of bread and foods that prepare and foods that we eat. But in the sense of earthly hungers.

Obsessed with that. Having those hungers satisfied. When we ought to be obsessed with heavenly food. That's the idea here. In the text.

The overarching idea. That we ought to be obsessed with heavenly food. A heavenly food. And so, that's our subject this morning. Food. Food. Heavenly food.

The bread of life. And so, if you would look at John chapter 6. I had you turn to that. And find verse 35. A little bit later, we're going to look at a larger number of verses in this chapter.

But verse 35 is going to get us started. Where 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. The key phrase there that I want us to focus on is that phrase. I am the bread of life.

Tremendous statement of Jesus. It's one of those I am statements. And that's what last Sunday I started a series of messages preaching on.

That is the great I am statements of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I mentioned last Sunday that there are 12 of them in all in the Gospel of John. And if you want to know all 12 of them, I'm going to give them to you here in just a minute.

You can jot them down again. But right up here on the front pew and also sitting out here in the foyer at the desk is a copy of all 12. And so you might just pick one of those up on your way out this morning.

There are 12 in all. Five of the 12 deal with Jesus declaring something about who he is.

Declaring what I have called his royal person. He's declaring his royal person. He says, I am. Ego, I me. I. I am.

He's declaring his royal person. Five times he does that. Or that is five times the Apostle John records this for us in the Gospel. Five times.

Earlier in this chapter, and we're not going to look at this this morning. But earlier in this chapter, the disciples are in a boat and they're out in the storm. And they see Jesus walking on the sea.

And they are afraid. And you would be too. And Jesus said to them, I am. Do not be afraid. Now, the English version of the text includes the word he, but it's not in the original text.

Jesus did not say, I am he. He said, I am. Do not be afraid. And then in John chapter 8 and verse 28, Jesus is speaking to the Jewish leaders of the day.

And he said to them, when you lift up the son of man, speaking of his cross, though they didn't understand it that way. But he said, when you lift up the son of man, then you will know that I am.

I am. Again, declaring his royal person. And then later in that same chapter, and this is the passage we looked at last Sunday. He declared to this same group of Jews, he said, before Abraham was, I am.

There it is again. So three times. Declaring his royal person. Fourthly, the fourth instance in John 13 and verse 19. Jesus predicted his own betrayal at the hands of Judas.

And he told his disciples, he said, I tell you, before it comes, that when it does come to pass, you may believe that I am.

Ego I me. There it is again. Again, the English translators add the word he. But when you look at that text, you'll notice he is in italics. It's not in the original text.

And so Jesus said literally, ego I me. I am. Declaring his royal person. And then the fifth instance. The one I think is one of the most amazing instances of this recorded in the Gospel of John.

In John chapter 18 and verse 4 and following. The Jews, the Jewish leaders, backed up by quite a number of Roman soldiers, came to arrest one man.

And they said, we're looking for Jesus of Nazareth. And Jesus said to them. I am. I am.

But then after that, and when he said that, the Bible says, goes on to record that they went backward and fell to the ground. When he said, I am. See, five times, five out of the twelve instances in the Gospel of John, we have Jesus declaring his royal person.

Declaring himself to be none other than God himself. And the Holy Spirit had inspired, apparently had inspired the Apostle John to write on that particular aspect of the Lord Jesus Christ.

His duty or his job, I guess, in writing one of the Gospels was to highlight the deity of Christ. And he begins the Gospel in just that way.

And so five times then he records of the many sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ. He records five times that Jesus declared himself to be God.

God. That is, he was drawing from the Old Testament the most holy and sacred name for God. And he was applying it to himself. And therefore telling them and us that the Yahweh of the Old Testament is none other than the Jesus of the New Testament.

God incarnate. But then the other seven I am statements each declare an additional truth about the Lord Jesus Christ. And this series of messages is going to focus on these seven I am statements.

And not only then does he declare his royal person, but with these seven other I am statements, he is declaring his redeeming purpose.

His redeeming purpose. And in these seven instances, Jesus attaches the words, ego, I, me, I am, to some very vivid metaphors.

And you're going to remember these right off. I am the light of the world, he said. I am the door of the sheep. I am the good shepherd.

I am the resurrection and the life. I am the way, the truth, and the life. I am the true vine. And the one we're going to focus on this morning, I am the bread of life.

Now that brings us back to the subject of food. Again, my favorite subject. But not just any kind of food, of course. And so let's look at the larger text.

If you will look at verse 22, which may be a page over from where you are, depending on how your Bible is constructed. But in verse 22 of chapter 6, as we kind of get this started, and I'm just going to lead us up to this great statement, the statement, the I am statement.

And then we're going to focus on just what exactly Jesus meant by that. Verse 22 begins this way. On the following day.

Do you see that in your Bibles? You ought to look at your Bibles. Now, I might have a little different, some different words there. But he said, on the following day.

Now, that's John's way of just linking an event that has already taken place and linking that event with what follows in the following day.

And what was the event? Well, to give you a clue, it was a food event. It was the feeding of the 5,000. So that's already taken place.

And so he's saying, on the following day, it's the next day, he's going to link that great miracle with his teachings that are going to follow and the events that follow.

Very important that we link the two together. Jesus didn't just pull out this, I am the bread of life, out of thin air. It was attached to something that he had already done, something he was already teaching, something he had already revealed.

And now he's going to give the significance of that. And he's going to give the significance of it through a dialogue that he has with the Jews. Now, don't think that any time Jesus has a dialogue with people, that the people are in charge of it.

Even in those instances where there's this kind of back and forth kind of dialogue between Jesus and the people or the Jewish leaders in this case, where they're asking questions or they're probing or they're making statements.

Don't ever get the idea that man is in control of that dialogue. Jesus is in control. He was in control back there when he fed the 5,000 and he knew that this would be followed by the dialogue we have recorded for us here in the remaining portions of chapter 6.

And it's all going to tie together. And he's leading these people to learn an incredible truth about himself, about Jesus. And so he fed the 5,000.

Look at verse 22 and following. 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.

And then John doesn't include what happened in the intervening moments here. Verse 23 takes it up. However, other boats came from Tiberias near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks.

When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there nor his disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here?

All right, let's stop right there for a moment. Jesus had fed the multitudes. All right, I told you, that's already taken place.

Fed the multitudes. Then he left them. Got in a ship. Sailed to the other side of the sea of Galilee. And the people followed after him.

You might be thinking for good motives, but it was not. Because when they found him, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you come here? That is, when and how did you get here?

But notice, Jesus did not answer their question. In fact, you might notice in Scripture that often Jesus did not answer questions that people posed to him.

He just went right on to get to the heart of the matter. And in verse 26, he said, most assuredly, do you see it here? Look at it. Most assuredly or truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs.

Or literally, not because you understood the meaning of the miracle. You're not looking for me and seeking me because you understood the meaning of that miracle the day before.

And so why are they looking for him? He says, because you ate of the loaves and were filled. What's he saying?

It's pretty clear, really. He's saying that I fed you through a miracle. A miracle with a meaning. And you did not see the meaning.

Did not see it. Did not understand it. And now you've come looking for me and you have found me. But you did not come looking for me to find out the meaning of the miracle. You came for more bread.

That's what he's saying. You came for more food. More free food. That's why you've come.

Now, let's see what Jesus says next. And all of this, again, is leading us to this I am statement. So you need to follow along in your Bibles because we're setting this up. It's very important. We get the background and get the context so that we can fully understand what Jesus meant by this great I am statement that I'm the bread of life.

Look at verse 27. Do not labor. He said to them, do not labor or do not work. Literally work is the word here. Do not work for the food which perishes.

But for the food which endures to everlasting life. That's what he said to them. And from where, according to Jesus, or more accurately, from whom, according to the Lord, does this eternal food come?

We'll look at the rest of verse 27. Do you see that there in verse 27?

That is meaning that the Lord Jesus Christ has been authorized by God the Father to give eternal life. He had the Father's sovereign seal upon him.

And how did they respond to that? Well, verse 28. Follow along here. I know this is kind of a running commentary. But we're trying to understand this entire text.

Verse 28. What shall we do? They said. What shall we do that we may work the works of God? That was a natural question, don't you think? I mean, Jesus has just said, do not work for the food that perishes, that you eat it and it's gone and you have to eat again.

Don't work for that kind of food. But work for the food that endures to everlasting life. And so they have taken the bait and they're asking a very natural question.

What are these works that we might work them? So that we can have this food that does not perish. So it's very logical. And Jesus says to them in verse 29, look at it. This is the work of God, he said.

What is the work of God? That you believe. Believe in him who he said. That's the work.

You see, their question is works. What works? And Jesus, in effect, said, no, not works. Faith. Faith.

It's faith. Now, pay attention here. What these Jews said next. Remember, Jesus is in control of this. All right. He's not just kind of moving with the punches and and taking up the conversation as it's as it's unfolding.

He's in charge of this thing. And so what these Jews say next reveal the depth of their spiritual blindness. And many today have this same blindness.

He said in verse 39 or they said in verse 30. Look at it. What sign will you perform then? Now, pay attention to this. What sign will you perform then that we may see it?

And believe you. Now, these are important words here. I tell you, with that that one question.

These Jews are opening up their heart and mind to who they really are. They're really revealing the true heart of man. And it's very appropriate for what people are looking for today.

Would you look at it again? What sign will you perform then? That we may see it. That is the miracle. And we may see it and believe you.

That's it, isn't it? Seeing is believing. Isn't that right? No. That's not right.

Seeing is seeing. That's right. But believing is being sure about something when you do not see it. Believing in the spiritual sense, in the truest sense, is trusting something without seeing it.

And so in a real sense, spiritually speaking. Believing is seeing. Believing is seeing.

Believing. Believing. Now, notice what they said next. They're playing right into Jesus' hands. Verse 31. Our fathers ate the manna in the desert.

As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. Now, we need to read between the lines here somewhat. Because I think it's pretty clear that these Jews were pretty impressed by the miracle of the day before.

They were impressed by that. No doubt about that. It was an impressive miracle. The Bible, we often refer to it as the feeding of the 5,000. But the Bible says there were 5,000 men.

There may have been as many as 15,000 people there that day. And Jesus fed them with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fishes. Or fish. Okay.

What a miracle. And they were very impressed by that. Who wouldn't be? And yet, I think, as I understand kind of the, you know, the flavor of this.

The kind of look behind their statement here. I think they got to thinking about it. And started to look back into their history.

And they got to thinking, you know, that was not such a great thing. It was a great miracle after all. Because after all, Moses fed our forefathers with bread from heaven.

And he did that for 40 years. 40 years. Now that is something. Jesus, can you do anything like that? That is kind of their question.

There is also an underlying reality here as well. Because the Jews were looking for the Christ. Christ. And among the many prophecies of the Old Testament.

Christ would be one. Like, would be a leader like Moses. So are you this Moses? I mean, that is a pretty impressive miracle.

But that in itself doesn't prove to us that you are that Moses who has come. The Christ who has come. Because he fed us for 40 years with bread from heaven. Can you do anything like that?

If you'll show us that kind of sign. That kind of miracle. Then we'll believe you. It is basically what they're saying. And so Jesus sets them straight about all of that.

Verse 32. Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. Well, who then did?

But my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The true bread. What kind of bread is this true bread from heaven?

Well, verse 33. For the bread of God is he. Notice, not it. Now, if you have a New American Standard, it says that which.

But the word he is in the text. Jesus is not talking about an it, a thing. He said the bread of God. He's talking about the true bread.

The real bread. That true bread from heaven that God gives. It's not an it, not a thing. It's not even a manna like your fathers ate back there in the Old Testament.

Who ate it and also died eventually. But the bread is not an it. It's a he. It's a person. For the bread of God. Look at it there. Verse 33.

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. That's some kind of bread, isn't it? That can give life to the world.

This person who has come down from heaven. This person who has come down from heaven is the bread of heaven. He is the bread of God.

He is the true bread. And listen, just like bread, physical bread, real bread gives something we need. That is physical nourishment.

In fact, bread is kind of the symbol of that among all foods. Bread is kind of the symbol of nourishment. Of physical nourishment. Just like bread, physical bread, is a symbol and does give us something we need.

The bread from heaven, God's bread, the Lord Jesus, gives us something we desperately need above all other things. Not physical nourishment, but life.

Life. And not physical life. But eternal life. I mean, this is Christianity 101, dear people.

This is just basic, isn't it? And yet these Jews didn't get it. Still didn't get it. Amazing. Because then they say, verse 34, look at it.

Lord, give us this bread always. That means not only the bread yesterday. Give it to us today. Give it to us every day. And I think maybe there might have been some kind of mentality here.

Certainly was that these Jews were looking for one like Moses to lead them. Lead them against the Romans. Deliver them from their captivity, so to speak, to the Romans.

And what an army. What an army they could have if they didn't have to feed them. I mean, you have to feed your army, don't you? And so they're thinking, what a powerful force we could have.

We have the Messiah now. He's the leader. And he can just rain down bread for our armies every day so that we don't have to worry about food. I don't know what they were thinking, but they weren't getting it, were they?

Whether it was just some selfish motive in their own hearts that this guy, we're going to follow him because he can give us bread. And it's bread that never perishes.

And it will always feed. And we don't have to work for it. Don't have to go out in the fields and toil over it. And I don't know if it was selfish, free food all the time. Or if it had something to do with their political outlook, which is the way they saw the Messiah.

Or whatever it was, but they didn't get it. They said, give us this bread always. They're still thinking on the physical level. They're still thinking about here and the satisfaction of earthly hungers.

And yet, at the same time, they did ask the right question. Didn't they? Similar to the Samaritan woman.

You might remember that story. The Samaritan woman at the well. She comes to the well to get water. And Jesus met her there.

And he said to her, if you drink the water I can give, you will never thirst again. And she said, give me that water. That's a natural question.

It's the right question. But it's motivated by the wrong desire. And certainly a faulty understanding. The Samaritan woman was seeking God on the material level.

Merely the physical level. That is, seeking God to satisfy earthly hungers and cravings. And the multitudes here in John chapter 6 were seeking God on that same level.

And most people today are seeking God on that same level. Give us that water that will never thirst again. Give us that bread so that we'll never hunger again.

Give us success. Give us wealth. Give us health. Give us good life. A prosperous life. A happy life. Give us all these things. I tell you, people are flocking to the prosperity preachers as if their doctrine was the best thing since apple pie.

But they can have their BMWs. They can have their Bentleys. They can have their mansions. They can have their big bank accounts and all these other things that the prosperity preachers are promising to them.

They can have all that. They are selling themselves short. Way short. They're actually selling themselves short of heaven. Because there's so much more.

Verse 34. They said, give us this bread. Meaning physical bread. And Jesus said, Ego I me.

I. I myself. Am the bread of life. Look no further.

Desire nothing else. The bread you seek is me. I am the bread of life. See? I am.

I am representing the holy and sacred name for God. I am. And the word bread. Representing the most basic of human needs.

Life itself. And the two are brought together. The divine name. The divine person linked with the symbol of sustenance for human life.

Jesus said, I, I am. I am the bread of life. And then he explains what he means. So let me give you several truths drawn from the text about that bread.

The bread of life. Number one. As the bread of life. First of all.

Jesus is the sacrificial bread. Get that down first. Jesus is the sacrificial bread.

Verse 33. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Now you and I know how physical bread, regular bread can give life.

We know how that works. But how does Jesus, the bread of life, give us life? We'll look at verse 51. Skip on over to verse 51. He said, I am the bread, the living bread.

There he basically repeats what he's already said now twice. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 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. My flesh.

What's he talking about? He's talking about the cross. He's talking about his death. You can't eat the flesh, if anything, without killing it first.

He's talking about the cross. That's the clear reference here. And so the bread, you see, for it to give life must die. That's true in a physical sense.

That is, that bread, in order to impart sustaining nourishment and life for you, that bread must give its all.

Right? That's just simple. And so the bread must give all. And it's no different than with Jesus. You know, to make bread, first you take the seed and plant it in the ground.

Right? Though I've never planted wheat. But you put the seed in the ground. And then it springs up out of the ground. Right? Okay? First the blade appears, breaking through the soil.

And it's tiny and fragile. And it kind of makes its way up through that soil. And then eventually comes the ear. And then the full corn in the ear as it reaches the place of maturity.

And when it reaches the place of maturity, it is then cut down. Right? And winnowed is the term that is separating the chaff from the wheat.

And after that, the wheat is ground into flour and put together in some kind of mixture. And then it is finally placed in the oven and baked for however long.

Baked in the fire. And it's only after that process that the bread is not only edible. At least something we would want to eat. I can almost smell the bread right now.

Can't you? It's edible, but it also is able to sustain life. See, that's just how it works with bread. Physical bread. It was the same with Jesus.

Bread of life. Right? Jesus was planted in this world. Kind of as a seed. A seed.

And it came on the scene as just a tender plant in a dry ground. As Isaiah tells us. Dry land.

Born in a very humble way. A little infant. Helpless. Birthed in a stable. Birthed in a stable. Laid in a manger.

The firstborn of a peasant family. Just a tender plant. In a dry ground.

And then he grew up. Reached the place of maturity. And at the hands of wicked men. He was cut down.

In a sense. Winnowed. Thrashed. And ground up. And then of course. He was baked.

In the fiery oven. Of God's. Holy wrath. Because he bore your sin. And my sin. And only after that.

Did he become the living bread of life. See. The. Depth. Of the. Metaphor. Jesus uses here.

And. How it just. So easily. Applies. And so. Vividly. We can see. That. He's the bread of life. The bread must die.

He's the sacrificial bread. When Jesus instituted. The Lord's Supper. That first supper. He took. The bread. And he said. This is my body.

Which is. What? You ought to know. It's. Broken. For you. The sacrificial bread.

Number two. As the bread of life. Jesus is the saving. Bread. Saving bread. All throughout this.

This dialogue. He's having with the Jews. Jesus keeps talking about. Eating bread. Now. It's maybe difficult. To. To think of that.

Because I didn't read the whole text. All at once. But. Constantly. Throughout. The chapter. Jesus is talking about. Eating. Eating. Eating bread.

Eating bread. He said. I am the bread. He keeps talking about. Eating. The bread. He's trying to teach them something. Through this. Talking about.

Eating the bread. And pardon the pun. But these Jews. Just could not swallow that. And the reason is. Because. He said. I am the bread of life. And he said.

And life. Comes. Through. Eating. Me. That's. What he said. As a matter of fact. He said it more than once.

He said it over. And over again. Look at verse 50. This is the bread. Which comes down from heaven. That one may. Eat of it. And not die. This. Meaning himself. And you can skip on down there.

To verse 53. Or verse 51. I am the living bread. Which came down from heaven. If anyone. Eats. Of this. Bread. There it is again.

He will live forever. And look at verse 53. 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 me.

In you rather. Verse 54. Whoever eats my flesh. And drinks my blood. Has eternal life. And I will raise him up. At the last day. No wonder.

A little bit later. Though we are not going to look at the text. These Jews. Many of them. Say this is a hard thing. This is a hard thing. And many of them left. See they just could not stomach that.

This is ridiculous. Jesus is saying. Eat my flesh. Drink my blood. Over and over. And over again. And yet you know. And certainly they knew.

That Jesus. Was not telling them. He is not telling us. That we are to actually eat his body. And actually drink his blood. Jesus did not constitute cannibalism here.

He certainly did not. The fact is. And though they missed it. And we better not miss it. The fact is. That Jesus already explained. What he meant. He explained it over and over again.

He made it clear. Numerous times. That in essence. He was saying. Eating me. Means. Believing in me. That's what he meant.

And he says that. Over and over. Let's not miss that. If I'm going to talk about. Or read the text. On eating his flesh. Let's look at. Those texts. That speak about.

What he meant. Look at verse 29. Jesus answered. Said to them. This is the work of God. That you believe in him. Whom he sent. So we know. What he's talking about here.

Talking about believing in him. Look over verse 35. 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.

And let's look down. Verse 40. 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.

Look at verse 47. Most assuredly. I say to you. He who believes in me. Has everlasting life. So the subject is not. Actually. Literally.

Eating the body of Jesus. And drinking his blood. The idea here. The message is. To believe in him. Believe in him. Eating. Jesus.

Is believing. In Jesus. The psalmist said. Oh taste. And see. That the Lord is good. See. A sacrificial bread. He's the saving bread. And number three.

He is. As the bread of life. He is. The sustaining bread. The sustaining bread. This is.

Very logical. And very wonderful. As the sacrificial bread. Jesus gave his life. As the saving bread.

Through faith. Jesus gives you life. And as the sustaining bread. That life he gives. Can never end. It can never end.

Do you look at it? Verse 49. Your fathers ate the manna. In the wilderness. And are dead. They died. This is the bread.

Which comes down from heaven. That one may eat of it. And not die. Speaking of himself. Isn't it? I am the living bread. Which came down from heaven.

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.

Isn't this wonderful? He said. I'm the living bread. I am. Literally. I am no one else.

I am. The living bread. Which came down from heaven. If anyone eats. This bread. That is. Believes on me. He will live. How long?

How long? Forever. How long is that? That is.

That is some kind of bread. Isn't it? No. That is. Some kind of saving. The sacrificial bread. The saving bread.

The sustaining bread. Number four. As the bread of life. Jesus is the sufficient bread. We sang a lot about that.

This morning. In our worship service. Early on. About Jesus being the sufficient bread. A big part of our Christian journey.

That is that we would come to the place of spiritual maturity. Where we understand. Realize that Jesus is not only what we need. He is all we need. He is all we need.

Jesus is that kind of bread. What did he say in verse 35? I am the bread of life.

He who comes to me shall what? Never hunger. Never thirst. He is all we need.

In fact, Simon Peter would later confess to Jesus. Lord, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.

Let me give you another one. It's very similar to the sustaining bread. But number five. As the bread of life.

Jesus is the securing bread. Look at verse 37. For I say to you. That's not it.

Sorry. All that the Father gives me. Will come to me. And the one who comes to me.

I will by no means. Cast me. That's a tremendous. Passage description. To plumb the depths of that.

Take a little time this morning. But can you imagine any statement. That offers more security than this one.

I tell you. I belong to him. And he can never lose me. Never lose me. How secure is that?

Well, let's read on just a little bit further. For I 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 none.

Nothing. But should raise it up at the last day. How secure is that? He's the securing bread.

One more. As the bread of life. Jesus is. The sweet bread. It's a good one to end on.

The sweet bread. You say, where do you find that here? Well, you have to work. Backward in the text. That is backward all the way to the Old Testament. From the New Testament back to the Old.

It was the Jews who brought up the issue of the manna. They brought that up. And Jesus knew they would. Because you see, in reality, the manna does speak of Christ.

The manna back in the Old Testament. Back there in Exodus 16. The manna was a foreshadowing of Christ. The bread of life.

They brought up the subject. Jesus was the one that made the connection. But what I'm getting at is. Exodus 16 tells us something about that manna.

Do you remember? It tells us a number of things about it. But one particular thing. That is its taste. The Bible describes it.

As sweet. As honey. That's who our Jesus is. To us.

Sweet as honey. Is it true? What we sometimes sing. Every day with Jesus.

Is sweeter than the day before. I'd add one qualifier to that. Well, actually I don't have to add it. It's there. The word with.

If you're with him. He's sweeter than the day before. Or how about the chorus. That you sometimes sing.

I haven't heard it in a while. Jesus is the sweetest name I know. And he's just the same.

As his lovely name. And that's the reason why I love him so. Jesus. Was the sweetest name.

I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.