Download the Bethlehem Baptist Church Mobile App
Available for iOS and Android
February 6/7, 2016
Ken Currie | John 6:22-59
On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave 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.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, 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 feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on 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 whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” Jesus said these things in the synagogue, as he taught at Capernaum.—John 6:22–59
Outline
Intro
This passage is about one central issue; the call to believe in Jesus
Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. John 20:30-31
Jesus interacts with the Jews in Capernaum (many of whom are following him as he ministers). He is calling them to believe in him with a crescendo.
Jesus calls them to believe in him four distinct times. The first three times the Jews push back. The fourth time the crescendo rises to a thunder.
Jesus has performed his very public and famous miracle by turning five loaves of bread and two fish into enough food for 5,000 men (plus 12 baskets left over). Prior to this he has turned the water into wine (John 2), healed the official's son (John 4) and healed the lame man by the pool at Bethesda (John 5)
The people want to make him king (6:15) so Jesus leaves by himself.
In the evening the disciples get into their boat and head to Capernaum without Jesus.
In the night, Jesus walks on the water to join them.
After he gets in the boat they are immediately at their destination.
Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. (6:21)
The crowd realizes that Jesus is gone (6:22). They know Jesus did not leave in the boat with the disciples. They head to Capernaum (6:24) and when they find Jesus they ask him when he came there (6:25).
Preliminary Interaction
Jesus answers that they are seeking him because they were filled by the food from the miracle. (6:26)
Then he instructs them:
"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”—John 6:27
When you're dealing with Me you are dealing with God.
The Jews ask what they must do to do the works of God (6:28)
THIS IS HUGE, What work MUST WE DO, to do the works of God.
All religions “work.” How do we please God? What “work” will please him?
Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” —John 6:29
This should have been the end of the conversation
At this point the Jews challenge (unbelief) Him. What sign do you do? "Our fathers ate manna ..." (vv. 31–32).
Jesus answers:
It wasn’t Moses who gave you bread, but my Father. ... For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”—John 6:32–33
The Jews want the bread but they are hung up on the temporal. “Give us this bread always” (v. 34)
Jesus answers:
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."—John 6:35
This should have been the end of the conversation
Explanation (vv. 36–39)
The Father “gives” to the Son those who are saved.
Salvation is SURE; Jesus is God, One with the Father and not fickel.
Look anywhere else: false gods, financial security, reputation, giftedness and you will be eternally defrauded
"For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”—John 6:40
Jews grumble (unbelief):
What does he mean he came down from heaven? (vv. 41–42)
Jesus answers:
Expanded Explanation (vv. 43–50)
The Father draws people to Jesus and they are raised up on the last day
Quick detour. This assertion is here to assure the believers. Many will soon walk away. Those who will believe will keep on believing because salvation is of the Lord.
Anyone who truly is seeking God, the Father, comes to believe in Jesus.
Those who believe in Jesus have eternal life.
Summary
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”—John 6:51
This should have been the end of the conversation
Jews grumble (unbelief):
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”—John 6:52
At this point you would think Jesus would back off the metaphor and explain that he didn’t me literally to eat his flesh but Jesus goes the other direction.
Jesus answers:
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, 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 feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.—John 6:53–56
“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.”—Leviticus 17:11
There is no flirting with Jesus, There is no mistressing with Jesus. He will be Lord and Savior and Treasure or he will be nothing (until the day of judgment).
Believe is the verb of faith. English doesn’t have a verb form of “Faith” we use "believe."
Spurgeon: Knowledge, belief (embrace as true), trust
Know: Jesus is the Son of God, He is God the Son. He died for Sinners.
“Know the Gospel! Know what the Good News is, how it talks of free forgiveness, of change of heart, of adoption into the family of God and of countless other blessings. Know God, know His Gospel and know, especially, Christ Jesus the Son of God, the Savior of men, united to us by His human Nature and united to God.”—Spurgeon
Embrace as True: What Jesus says about himself and his work
“Get firmly to believe that 'the blood of Jesus Christ, God’s dear Son, cleans us from all sin,' that His Sacrifice is complete and fully accepted of God on man’s behalf so that He that believes on Jesus is not condemned.”—Spurgeon
Trust
“Commit yourself to the merciful God; rest your hope on the gracious Gospel; trust your soul on the dying and living Savior; wash away your sins in the atoning blood; accept His perfect righteousness and all is well! Trust is the lifeblood of faith—there is no saving faith without it!”—Spurgeon
Faith and repentance always go together.
Faith and repentance are the call to be saved for the unbeliever and the daily spiritual walk for the Christian: “Preoccupation with Jesus.”
We were not made to be impressive but to be impressed. We were made for mountains, not mirrors
What if our belief is not strong enough?
Is Jesus strong enough? Does he keep his promises?
The issue is not the strength of our faith but the object.
“When we say that faith must be certain and secure, we certainly speak not of an assurance which is never affected by doubt, nor a security which anxiety never assails; we rather maintain that believers have a perpetual struggle with their own distrust. ... On the other hand, whatever be the mode in which they are assailed, we deny that they fall off and abandon that sure confidence which they have formed in the mercy of God.”—Calvin’s institutes
Application
If you are believing tonight/today. keep on believing. Feed your faith on the sweet nourishment of the Word of God, Fellowship with His people, seek to use your gifts for his glory (including that which the world does not honor, setting up chairs or nursery)
If you are unbelieving, turn to Jesus and believe. He will not cast you aside.
Communion
So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. —John 6:53
What does that mean? To believe in Him. Here we celebrate that belief with this emblem.
Charles Blondin was the first person to cross Niagara Falls on a tightrope, a 3” hemp rope, 1,100 feet long In 1859 and 1860 he walked across it 160 feet above the Niagara River, just below the falls, several times, each time with a different, daring feat: dressed in a sack, walking on stilts, pushing a wheelbarrow full of potatoes, riding a bicycle. One time he stopped in mid-section and cooked an omelet on a small portable stove.
If you stood in the crowd and he came up to you with his wheelbarrow and asked, “Do you believe that I can push you across in this?” undoubtedly you would say “Yes.” What would your answer be if he then said, “Get in?” That’s a different story!
“What does belief accomplish?”
Unites us to Christ. We receive his righteousness. We are united to Christ in his life, his death, his resurrection.
Sermon Discussion Questions