August 18, 2024 – John 6:35–51

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Hope Lutheran Church
Manhattan, Kansas
August 18, 2024
John 6:35–51

Last week we started this three-week sermon series on Jesus’ words in John 6 where he tells us that he is the BREAD OF LIFE. And last week focused especially on how Jesus tells us that he is the Bread That’s Better.
And with that, we saw how Jesus is the true bread we really need because we don’t naturally want that kind of bread and what Jesus has to offer. Instead, we want all kinds of different things that we think can fill us up and satisfy us.
And then last week we ended with a little bit of a cliffhanger and teaser to what we’re going to focus on more this week as we we heard Jesus say this bread we need is something God himself has to give us.
So today, we see Jesus double down on and tell us even more clearly he’s the Bread That’s Given. And he takes it a step further as he shows us these three things we’re going to keep in mind today around our central theme of how Jesus is the Bread That’s Given:
1) I DIDN’T CHOOSE THIS BREAD
2) THIS BREAD CAME DOWN TO ME
3) THIS BREAD WILL RAISE ME UP
And really, there’s one verse from what we’re focusing on today that sums these three points up. In v. 44, Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
If you walk away with nothing else today, let it be that verse. But also let the rest of what Jesus says here help you unpack and better understand what Jesus is saying here because all the surrounding verses can help us see even more deeply what Jesus says there in v. 44 With that, let’s jump right into what Jesus says about how…
1) I DIDN’T CHOOSE THIS BREAD
Jesus tells us right away that no one can come to him by their own choice or decision. Sinful people like us simply aren’t able to do that. Listen to what Jesus says in verse 36: “As I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.”
Jesus confronts the unbelief of the people he was talking to head-on. Even though they had seen the signs and the miracles and the wonders, they didn’t believe. Sure, they could point to Jesus and identify him. We saw that last week when the crowds came searching for him after the Feeding of the 5000.
But they still didn’t believe. Why? Well, because there’s a difference between knowing about Jesus and actually truly knowing Jesus. Information in someone’s head about Jesus isn’t the same as faith, belief, and trust in him.
If you’ve ever studied a new language, I think that can help explain the difference a little bit. (And really you could easily use other examples to say the same thing.) Because it’s one thing to study a language in a classroom and in a textbook. It’s another thing to actually use that language in the real world with other people. 
Because it’s there – when the language meets real life – that what you learned in the classroom actually starts to sink in and impact you.
So, Jesus makes it clear that even people who saw him and knew about him weren’t able to believe. And the only words the people say in these verses show us why they couldn’t believe: “The Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?’”
You see what their problem was with Jesus? Jesus seemed too normal to them. They couldn’t believe that someone like them in so many ways could be someone special sent from God And so they thought they knew better. No way this person – this supposed “bread from heaven” could be good enough to save them and give them life. And you know who these Israelites sounded an awful lot like to me? They sound an awful lot like their ancestors.
Jesus refers to it a few times in this Bread of Life discourse – how the Israelites ate bread sent from heaven, manna, when they were wandering in the wilderness. But do you know what eventually happened? The people started to grumble and complain about the manna God was providing (Numbers 11). They didn’t think it was good enough!
And that’s because sinful people can literally have their lives saved by God and they will still find reason to complain and grumble. What does this have to do with you and me?
There’s a common expression: “Seeing is believing.” People especially talk this way in connection with God and religious things. We make the argument that if we could just see for ourselves, then we’d believe or have our faith strengthened. But Jesus makes it clear that way of thinking and that idea is wrong.
We’re all a bunch of spiritual dummies and the truth is that we’re no better than those people in the wilderness or those people who were eyewitnesses of Jesus. None of us naturally believes or trusts in God and his Son.
Our natural way of thinking brings us to the conclusion that Jesus and what he wants to give us isn’t good enough. What does that mean for us? It means that when we believe, it’s not our choice. It’s not a decision we made all on our own.
But I’m willing to bet some of you think I’m wrong. And even if you don’t think I’m wrong, I bet we all know people who talk about when they made their decision for Christ. But there isn’t a single one of us for whom that all happened in a vacuum and on our own.
Here’s what I mean – It’s not like you or I or anyone else was sitting around one day with no prior interaction with the Gospel or what Jesus has done when suddenly the thought came out of nowhere popped into our heads that said: “I should really become a follower of Jesus.” That’s not how it works! There’s always something that draws the person in. 
I think about it this way – I didn’t choose to move to Manhattan. I didn’t come here because I’m so smart and wanted to live a few blocks down from the stadiums at K-State. I’m here because you, the people of this congregation called me to come serve you.
That same thing is true for us when it comes to our relationship with Jesus. None of us picked it. None of us chose it. As Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them…”
Put another way, I DIDN’T CHOOSE THIS BREAD. Instead…
2) THIS BREAD CAME DOWN TO ME
Listen to Jesus’ words: “I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.”
Right there, Jesus tells us 1) Where he came from and 2) Why he came at all.
He came straight from heaven to earth. Yes, Jesus is and was like us in so many ways. But he’s different in a massively important way. He came from heaven. Yes, he made this world his dwelling place for a while, but it wasn’t his home country. He came from heaven.
And why did he come? Did he come to be a good teacher? Did he come to be a new-age philosopher? Did he come to give life advice? No, none of that. He came to “do the will of [his Father] who sent him.”
And what was that will? “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.” In other words, the will of the Father – the one who sent Jesus – was to save. Because God wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.
And because Jesus doesn’t want to leave us guessing about who he’s talking about in these verses when it comes to the one who was sent, he says it so clearly: “Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven.” Jesus is saying that he is the one sent from heaven by God for us!
And you know what Jesus was doing before he was sent down into the world? He was in God’s presence – from eternity God the Son was with God the Father in heaven – and now he has come down to and for us. That means he’s the one who knows God’s will better than anyone else and then is actually able to carry out that will.
And what did he do to carry out God’s will for us? Jesus said: “This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Jesus gave his life for you and the whole world. 
But why does it matter that Jesus is the bread that came down for me? Why does it matter that Jesus came to me instead of it being the other way around? 
Well it gives me so much comfort and security. Because the truth is, I make bad choices all the time. I make foolish decisions constantly. And if this were all about me and my choice, then it would always leave me wondering if I made the right choice or decision.
And so that I don’t have to wonder about all of it, God makes it crystal clear that this isn’t about my good or bad choice, but rather God choosing me and claiming me as his own and I get the chance to see that some clearly through what his Son has done for me. 
And it also equips me with humility and appreciation. And I need that. Because it’s pretty easy for me to look down on other people when it comes to their failure to believe. I easily start to wonder why they don’t just “get it.”
But what Jesus says here and shows us is that the only reason any of us “get it” is because Jesus drew us into himself. And if it’s not something that I can get credit for, then it makes it impossible for me to look down and think less of others.
And it also gives me a new level of appreciation that Jesus has drawn me to himself. Cause otherwise I would never have believed any of this on my own. Jesus had to draw me in and now I thank him for doing that.
A common question, though is “How does someone get drawn in then?” Well, the answer to that is that we have to go where God says we can find the Son. We are drawn in by the Gospel– the good news of Jesus –  in Word and Sacrament. This is where and how God draws all to himself. This is how he draws me in more and more.
And it’s there where I get to see what God thinks of me. Someone once told me – and I’ve probably said this before – that if you want to know what God thinks of you and how much he loves you, look at Jesus. Because what do you see when you look at Jesus? You see God’s greatest act of love for you as he sacrificed his Son so that he might draw you in. 
Jesus said: “No one can come to me…” (None of us chose this bread for ourselves) “...Unless the Father who sent me draws them…” (Jesus is the bread that came down and draws us in) and what does this all mean? “...I will raise them up at the last day” (This bread will raise you and me up).
3) THIS BREAD WILL RAISE ME UP
Resurrection and talk about being raised on the last day is just all over in these verses. And we’re going to see it even more next week when we talk about Bread That’s Essential. But even here in these few verses, it’s like Jesus can’t stop letting you and me know about it and that this is what he’s all about. He’s all about wanting eternal life with us.
“This is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day… Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life… Here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 
These words are just dripping with resurrection and eternal life language. It’s all over the place. This is why Jesus offered his life for yours. This is why Jesus has chosen you. This is what it’s leading to. So that someday he can raise you and others up to life. AMEN!