I Am the Bread of Life - Part 2

 Temple Baptist Church - 1-18-2023

John 6:28-41

 

Introduction:

 

A.  After seeing and hearing of multiple miracles done by our Lord Jesus Christ, the Jews asked to see a sign that they might believer.  The Lord Jesus’ answer was that the work of God was to believe on Him.

 

B.  Verse 31.  The Jews then mentioned the work of God as He fed Israel with manna from heaven. 

 

1.  They had just seen the Lord feed the multitudes with 5 loaves and 2 fishes with 12 baskets full left over.  They evidently were so busy eating that they ignored what He had miraculously done.

 

2.  Verse 35.  This led to our Lord’s short discourse in verse 35: “I am the bread of life.”  I want to take another couple of weeks to properly discuss this statement.

 

C.  The bread from heaven did not come from Moses.  Our Lord said that it came from God! 

 

1.  Our Lord used “bread” as an illustration of life giving.  Bread is called the "staff of life" because it is a very basic food that supports life. In the world, bread is vast and varied with some form of bread found in virtually every society. 

 

2.  The Israelites named the bread from heaven “Manna.”  “Whatness.”  “For they wist not what it was”

 

D.  The word “bread” is found 361 times in your Bible.  Often, bread in the Bible is used typically.  It is often used as a metaphor for spiritual life.

 

1.  The First Mention of bread is found in Genesis, chapter 3, which establishes the importance of it.

 

Genesis 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

2.  Also, in the First Mention of bread in the Bible, the Lord did not have to explain to Adam what bread was.  This could be taken that Adam and Eve had prepared bread previously from readily available wheat. 

 

Genesis 1:29-30  And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth (not just in the Garden of Eden), and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.  (30)  And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

 

3.  After the fall, Fruit trees would continue to provide fruit, but, from that time on, it would require the “sweat of thy face” to get bread as the flour would come from the tilling of the ground and planting such.

 

Genesis 3:19  In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.

 

4.  Satan mentioned bread while tempting the Lord in Matthew, chapter 4, which emphasizes its importance to life. 

 

Matthew 4:3-4  And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.  (4)  But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.  (The indication here is that man lives by bread but the Word of God, the Living Bread is more important.)

 

Our Lord drew a distinction between the temporal importance of bread in life to the Word of God which holds the key to eternal life.

 

5.  Acts, chapter 2 shows the importance of bread in diet in the New Testament.

 

Acts 2:46  And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,

 

6.  Bread has always been used in our communion with Christ Jesus.

 

a)  The Old Testament - Exodus 25:30  And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.  (The shewbread was essential to Israel’s communion with the Lord.)

 

b)  The New Testament - 1 Corinthians 11:23-26  For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:  (24)  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.  (25)  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.  (26)  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.  (1 Corinthians, chapter 11, concerning the Lord’s Supper, shows the correlation between bread and the body of Christ.)

 

1 Corinthians 10:16  The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?

 

E.  Manna was typical of Christ.

 

1.  It was Divine in its origin.  Christ’s deity.

 

2.  It came down from heaven.  Christ was sent from God.

 

3.  It was small in its size. Christ’s humility.

 

4.  It was round.  Christ’s eternality.

 

5.  It was white.  Christ’s purity.

 

6.  It was sweet.  Christ’s person.

 

7.  It was sufficient.  Christ is all we need.

 

F.  Physically, when going on a diet, the first thing people normally leave out of their diet is bread of any kind.  Though bread is good for us, it is left on the shelf.  When going on a spiritual diet, the first thing that they leave out is the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ and, without Jesus Christ, there can be no eternal life with God or no fellowship with God.

 

G.  Manna, though supplied by the Lord, had to be gathered each day and the bread that came from it only lasted one day at a time.  The Bread from heaven, Jesus Christ, only had to be received once for all eternity.