John 6: Beyond the Bread, Jesus the Bread of Life

Introduction

John 6 begins with a hungry crowd and ends with a saying that shocks: "Eat my flesh, drink my blood." In between, Jesus feeds thousands of people with five loaves and two fish, walks on the sea, and then declares: "I am the bread of life."

In this message from the series on the Gospel of John, at the Église Protestante Évangélique de Toulouse, César walks through the whole chapter in three movements. Look beyond the bread, because the signs reveal Jesus. Recognize that the Father's true gift is Jesus. Receive the bread given for the life of the world.

One question runs through the whole passage: are you seeking Jesus for what he can do for you, or for who he is?

Outline of the message

1. Look beyond the bread: the signs reveal Jesus

Jesus sees an immense crowd and asks Philip: "Where are we to buy bread, that these may eat?" Philip does the math: impossible. Andrew finds a boy with five loaves and two fish, then asks: "What are these among so many?" (verses 5 to 9).
"I too would probably have looked at five loaves, then at thousands of people." But in verse 6, John gives a piece of information the disciples did not have: Jesus already knew what he was going to do.
He takes the loaves, gives thanks to God and distributes them. Everyone eats until they are full, and twelve baskets are left over. Jesus sees the hunger, he acts, and he gives generously, in abundance.
John calls this a sign. A sign is a miracle that shows who Jesus is. "Like a road sign, it is useful, but it is not the destination."
In verse 14, the crowd cries out: "This is truly the prophet who comes into the world." They are thinking of God's promise to send a prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15). With the bread, the wilderness and the Passover, they see something true.

2. A king made to our measure?

In verse 15, the crowd wants to make Jesus king by force. They have understood part of his identity, but they still want to decide his mission. "A king who feeds us, very good. A king who solves our problems, even better."
What kind of Savior are we looking for? The preacher admits it: sometimes he brings a prayer to God with the script already written in the background. "Lord, here is what needs to be done. And preferably quickly."
We can even dress up our wants in nice spiritual reasons. He caricatures it: "Lord, give me a Mercedes, but it would be to drive the brothers and sisters to church. Very comfortably. With air conditioning. The music."
"The car is not the problem. The problem is when I want to persuade God that my agenda is necessarily his." We also need to let Jesus correct our desires.
Jesus refuses this imposed kingship and withdraws. Then, in verses 16 to 21, the disciples are out on the sea, the wind is blowing, and Jesus approaches, walking on the water. They are afraid, and he says to them: "It is I. Don't be afraid." (verse 20).
The one who feeds the crowd is also Lord of the winds. The sea is no obstacle to him. He refuses to be reduced to a bread dispenser. The real question is no longer only "what can he do for me?", but "who is he, then?".

3. The Father's true gift is Jesus: to do or to believe?

The next day, the crowd finds Jesus again, but Jesus knows the heart. In verse 26, he tells them that they are looking for him because they ate bread and were filled.
Jesus does not despise bread, since he has just given them some. But he knows that bread eaten yesterday does not feed us today. Health, work and success do not last forever.
In verse 27, he invites them to look further, toward food that lasts for eternal life. The crowd asks: "What must we do, so that we may work the works of God?" In other words: "Give us a list, Jesus."
His answer, in verse 29: "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." They thought they had to do, Jesus calls them to believe. He does not give them a method to earn heaven, he leads them to one person.
In verse 30, something astonishing: they have just eaten the miraculous bread and are still asking for a sign. This is reminiscent of some of our prayers, "myself first," says the preacher: "God, if you fix this problem, then I will believe forever." "If you heal me, then I will convert."
These requests can be sincere. But the question remains: "Am I truly seeking the truth, or am I imposing my own exam on God?"
The crowd talks about the manna. Jesus corrects their view: Moses was not the source of that bread, God was. And now the Father is giving the true bread from heaven.

4. "I am the bread of life"

In verse 35, Jesus does not say: "I know a recipe for obtaining eternal life." He says: "I am." On the sea, in verse 20, he had already said "It is I," literally "I am."
Here begins the series of seven great "I am" statements in the Gospel of John. For the first time, Jesus ties himself to an image to reveal who he is.
"The crowd wants bread. But the Father gives the true bread, his only Son." How do we receive him? The rest of the verse says it: whoever comes to him will never be hungry, whoever believes in him will never be thirsty. To come to Jesus, to believe in him, to trust him.
It is simple, and yet, in verse 36, Jesus observes: "You have seen me, and yet you don't believe." They saw the miracles, ate the bread, heard Jesus, and they do not believe.
This reveals something about our hearts: we can love God's blessings, look for his help, admire what he does, without really wanting to trust him. "This too is an expression of our sin: wanting God's gifts while resisting the one who gives them."
Then comes the promise of verse 37: "The one who comes to me I will in no way throw out." The preacher insists on this verse more than on all the rest. Not the one who has understood everything, not the one who has already managed to change everything: the one who comes. Even in the face of our unbelief, Jesus keeps calling us.
For those who have believed for a long time, our requests (health, work, family) are sometimes perfectly legitimate. But we can add a small prayer: "Lord, beyond what I ask, help me also to desire you."
In verses 39 and 40, Jesus promises to lose none of those the Father has given him and to raise them up at the last day, the day when God will raise the dead. He does not promise only bread for today or a few years of life, he gives a life that even death will not be able to hold.

5. Receive the bread given for the life of the world

From verse 41, the people grumble. This recalls the wilderness: Israel had received the manna and grumbled against God. Now the true bread is right in front of them, and the grumbling starts again.
Jesus claims to have come down from heaven, but they object that they know his family. They know his human origin and refuse to believe what he says about his heavenly origin.
In verse 45, Jesus quotes Isaiah: "They will all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13). Whoever listens to the Father comes to him. "It is God who leads us to his Son."
Friends who do not believe sometimes say: "Pray for me, I can't manage to believe." That is a beautiful reason to pray: "Lord, direct me to your Son, help me to come and believe in him." And if we believe, it is not because we are better than those who are still searching. His grace makes us grateful, humble and patient.
In verse 49, Jesus returns to the manna: "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died." The bread had fed them, but it could not defeat death.
In verse 51: "The bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." Until now, Jesus has given bread. Now he announces that he will give himself.
Why? Even fed or healed, one day we will die. And our problem goes deeper: our sin. "We want to live our own way, without listening to God or trusting him." We can neither wipe out our sins nor give ourselves eternal life. We need a Savior.
John does not speak of the cross here yet, but in chapter 19, Jesus will fulfill this gift by being crucified. "That is how far God's love goes."

6. Eat and drink: come to him and believe

In verse 52, the people ask: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" In verse 53, Jesus states that unless we eat his flesh and drink his blood, we have no life in us. Without Jesus, there is no eternal life, but he gives himself so that we may receive it.
"That is the whole question I was asking myself," the preacher confides. To understand, he brings three verses together. In verse 35, coming and believing. In verse 47, whoever believes has eternal life. In verse 54, whoever eats and drinks has that same life.
Coming, believing, eating and drinking invite us to receive Jesus personally and to depend on him. The words about flesh and blood remind us that this life is given to us at the cost of his own.
An image makes it concrete: someone is hungry and thirsty, with bread and a glass of water in front of him. He can know the recipe for the bread and explain the importance of water, but if he does not eat and does not drink, he will stay hungry and thirsty. "In the same way, knowing things about Jesus does not yet mean coming to him and believing in him."
In verse 57: "He who feeds on me, he will also live because of me." And Jesus promises to raise us up at the last day. That is what he offers: a life received from him, lived with him, and that even death will not be able to take from us.

7. And now, what does this change for you?

If you do not believe yet, you may be wondering how to come to him. "You don't need to come perfect. Acknowledge that you need him. Listen to his word and trust him." His promise still stands: whoever comes to him, he will not reject.
And for those who have believed for a long time: is Jesus still our bread of life, the one in whom we place our trust today and for eternity?
"We can serve at church, know many verses, and forget to live from the one we proclaim." Even when we open the Bible, are we only seeking to learn, or to know Jesus better and to trust him?
The preacher sums it up in three sentences: look beyond the bread; the Father's true gift is Jesus; come to him, believe in him and live. "Let us bring our needs to Jesus, he does not despise them, but let us not stop at this gift. Let us receive the one who gives us life."

Key takeaways

Jesus' signs are road signs: they are not the destination, they lead to the Savior.
Jesus refuses to be reduced to a bread dispenser. We need to let him correct our desires and our agendas.
The work of God is to believe in the one he has sent. Jesus does not give a method, he gives himself.
Whoever comes to Jesus, he will not reject: not the one who has understood everything, but the one who comes.
Knowing things about Jesus is not enough, we need to feed on him. His life is given to us at the cost of his own, and even death will not be able to take it from us.

Personal application

What are you expecting from Jesus right now: what he can do for you, or who he is?
Is there a prayer in which you have already written the script in God's place? What would it look like to let him correct that desire?
Do you catch yourself saying: "If you fix this problem, then I will believe"? What exam are you imposing on God?
This week, can you add this prayer to your requests: "Lord, beyond what I ask, help me to desire you"?
When you open the Bible or serve at church, are you only learning things about Jesus, or are you feeding on him?

Verses cited

Frequently asked questions

Why does John call the feeding of the crowd a sign?

For César, a sign is a miracle that shows who Jesus is. Like a road sign, it is useful, but it is not the destination. The multiplication of the loaves should not make us stop at the bread: it leads us to the Savior.

What must we do to work the works of God according to John 6?

The crowd asks for a list of things to do. Jesus answers in verse 29: the work of God is to believe in the one he has sent. He does not give a method to earn heaven, he leads to one person, himself.

What does it mean to eat Jesus' flesh and drink his blood?

César brings verses 35, 47 and 54 together: coming and believing, like eating and drinking, give the same eternal life. These images invite us to receive Jesus personally and to depend on him. The flesh and blood remind us that this life is given to us at the cost of his own.