August 11, 2024 – John 6:24–35

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Hope Lutheran Church
Manhattan, Kansas
August 11, 2024
John 6:24–35

I have a confession – I love eating at buffets. I think they’re great. Everyone can choose what they want. I can eat as much as I want. I don’t have to do the dishes or clean up afterward. And usually I don’t need more food for the rest of the day.
But as much as I love buffets, I’ll also be the first to admit I almost always feel terrible afterward. Almost every time I go, I walk around with a rock in my stomach for the rest of the day. And even though I ate and had my fill while I was there, sooner or later I’m going to need to eat again.
Even though I know all the problems with buffets, the appeal is still there. The temptation is to keep going back to it even though I know what it does to me and how it makes me feel and that if I had the buffet early enough in the day I’ll probably be hungry for something else by the time the evening rolls around.
Over the next few weeks, we’re going to look at some important things Jesus had to say about what kinds of things we fill ourselves up with and as he does that, we see him compare himself to food. And specifically, he compares himself to bread.
And Jesus tells us that he is the bread of life. And what I pray we see over these next three weeks – today, next week, and the following week – is how Jesus is the bread of life, we recognize that he is…

1) Bread That’s Better, 2) Bread That’s Given, and, 3) Bread That’s Essential

And today we’re going to focus on how Jesus is The Bread That’s Better.
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Before we dive into that, it’s helpful to know what happened leading up to what Jesus says in John 6. This comes shortly after the Feeding of the 5000. Jesus and his disciples had left the crowd and crossed to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Why? 
Well, John tells us a few verses before our verses for today: “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, ‘Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.’ Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.”
In a time and culture where many people lived hand-to-mouth, the miracle of Feeding the 5000 offered the potential for some sort of stability to them. Think about it – a limitless supply of food that could satisfy their daily hunger.
They were so excited at the idea of having food every day that they were ready to make Jesus a king. But that’s not why Jesus had come and not what those people really needed. And what we see in Jesus’ response shows us they missed the point of the Feeding of the 5000. He wanted them to see that he hadn’t come primarily to bring bread to people. He wanted to show them that he came to be bread for people.
So Jesus withdrew from them (again). And the people sought out Jesus (again). And then they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
It sounds like an innocent enough question, right? But the way Jesus answered is what we’re going to look at over the next few weeks. And his response cuts through the surface of what the people were saying as Jesus gets down to what was in their hearts.
Today, as we dive into Jesus’ words and his answer when the people came looking for him, we see what he has to say about The Bread That’s Better. And we see him tell us about that Bread That’s Better in three ways today:

1) THE BREAD WE WANT 2) THE BREAD WE NEED 3) THE BREAD JESUS FREELY GIVES

1) THE BREAD WE WANT
We all tend to work for and seek out things we think we can find joy, happiness, and fulfillment in many different things. 
But Jesus’ words show us that the bread we feast on won’t satisfy us or keep us alive in the long run. While that kind of bread is certainly a good thing and a gift from God, it has at least a couple of problems that Jesus addresses here.
First, he says, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
What’s Jesus getting at? He’s calling the people out for coming to him for the wrong reasons. They thought he was there to give them earthly blessings. It’s like they saw Jesus as a great cosmic vending machine. They thought they should be able to go to Jesus, get their fill, and then go on with their lives. And then maybe come back for more.
They wanted the wrong thing from Jesus – a quick fix, something immediate to fill their gut. The word Jesus used when he says they “had their fill” seems to suggest eating like animals, with no control over their appetite. And Jesus call them out for it.
Could Jesus say the same thing to us? Could he call us out for coming to him with the wrong motives and intentions? No doubt he could. Because sometimes I expect an immediate, tangible response from Jesus because why shouldn’t he?
But I wonder if in American culture – where we don’t lack for too many physical things – we do what the people in this account did in a more subtle way.
Because sometimes I still go to Jesus looking for the wrong thing. I want him to tell me what I want to hear. I go to Jesus because I know he has good things to say about life. I think if I just listen to him, I’ll get my life in order, people will respect me, and things will go well for me. And I never go beyond or past that to see what’s most important.
So, Jesus exposes the peoples’ sin and ours of going to him for the wrong things. And then he tells us the problem with those things. He shows us the problem with the bread we want. He says, “Do not work for food that spoils…”
Jesus is saying that the food these people wanted from him wasn’t even something that would last. They only wanted something from Jesus that would fill them temporarily.
What foods that spoil do I tend to fill myself up with? What things do I try to fill myself up with but will always leave me hungering for more?
An obsession with looks? An over-emphasis on what other people think of me and my reputation? A little more money in the bank? A little more vacation? A politician? It will be different for each of us, but we all have something we think can fill us up.
But they can’t. Sure, they might give a little hit of dopamine or serotonin. But once the little high wears out, sometimes you feel worse than you did before. And if you want to feel something again, you need more and more. Cause that food doesn’t last forever.
I like buffets. But if all I ate were buffets, eventually I’d start to feel miserable. And other people would start to notice the changes in my body and mood. When it comes to our bodies and nutrition, we know we can’t always eat whatever we want, whenever we want.
If I think that’s what Jesus is supposed to do – give me whatever I want, whenever I want – I’ve got it all wrong. And if I think I can keep filling myself up with food that spoils, eventually I shouldn’t be surprised if I start to feel sick. And other people start to notice.
It’s kinda funny though – we know in our hearts those things that spoil won’t give us lasting satisfaction. The problem is we’re good at looking backward and seeing that.
But we’re not very good at looking forward and thinking about that as we move into the future. That’s why Jesus needs to show us…
2) THE BREAD WE NEED
Rather than trying to continue to fill ourselves with bread that spoils, Jesus offers himself to us and promises that he will satisfy us.
He says, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” 
Instead of offering momentary satisfaction, Jesus offers us something so much better – food that endures to eternal life. 
And where does it come from? It comes from God. “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
This isn’t bread anyone else made. It isn’t the bread I would have chosen on my own. It’s the bread God sent down from heaven to us. And it gives us more than just the ability to get by – it gives us real, lasting life. More than life now – eternal life. Cause the bread God sent down is Jesus. “Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” 
We don’t have to guess what the bread is. Jesus says it’s him. And he tells us that when we eat of him by faith, we’ll never go hungry again. He’ll fulfill every last desire we have. Cause he’s already done everything for us.
Everyone knows a well-balanced diet is important for covering your nutritional bases. It satisfies you more than getting stuffed with unhealthy stuff. For example, compare the satisfaction and feeling you have after eating a whole bag of chips versus after eating a well-prepared prime rib. One is really easy to eat and has a ton of calories, but leaves you feeling hungry and wanting more. The other might take a little more effort and be more difficult to chew on, but it leaves you full and satisfied.
Jesus is the food – the bread – we need. And he’ll fill you up like nothing else can. And you know what that can do? It can make all the other things – all the other food – so much more enjoyable. Because Jesus isn’t saying it’s wrong to like bread.
But what he is saying is that all other bread comes after the bread of life. Maybe think of it like cake – If I ate only cake, that wouldn’t be good. But if I have cake at the end of my meal, it’s a nice finishing touch. It doesn’t make the meal, but it still adds something.
By feasting first on the bread of life – on Jesus and what he’s really about – Jesus isn’t saying we have to throw away all the other things. But he does want us to let him be the first thing. The main thing. The main course. 
And you know what’s amazing about the bread Jesus gives? It doesn’t cost you a thing. All those other breads and food cost us something. But The Bread of Life is…
3) THE BREAD JESUS FREELY GIVES
There’s no hidden cost when it comes to Jesus and the bread he wants to give us. There aren’t any catches secretly written into some terms or conditions.
And when people thought there was something they needed to do to earn that bread, what did Jesus say? “The crowd asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’”
People are always going to want to know what they must do to earn what Jesus is giving, and so what we see Jesus do here is totally reframe the question and the idea. He says that it’s not about what we do at all. It’s all about what God does.
Listen again: “The crowd asked him, ‘What must WE do to do the works God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of GOD is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’”
In effect, what Jesus is saying is that from start to finish this is all something God has to do to me and you. And we’ll look more specifically at at this next week when we talk about Bread That’s Given, but today, be comforted and know that the bread of life – Jesus – is already there for you and God is working in you to believe and trust in him for your salvation. And Jesus has already totally given himself for you.
Jesus knows that there’s bread and food we want, but he knows that those things we chase after can’t last or satisfy forever. And so today Jesus comes to you and me and he he gives us the bread we need the bread. The bread that gives us life now and forever. Cause he is The Bread of Life – The Bread That’s Better. Amen!