32 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. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 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. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 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. 40 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 6:32-40
1. Jesus is the Bread of Life
You want a sign like your fathers had? Your fathers ate bread in the wilderness and they died. But Jesus tells them, I am the bread that has come from heaven. Eat this bread and you will never die.
His flesh is true food, and his blood is true drink (verse 55). Whoever feeds on him, abides in him. Whoever feeds on him will live forever. Jesus tells his hearers that the work God desires from them is to believe in him. That by believing in him, they feed on him.
How do we have life? Believe in Jesus, the true heavenly manna, who has come to Earth for us and our salvation. How do we eat this bread? By faith.
2. Jesus satisfies completely.
Jesus, the bread of life, satisfies completely. He says in verse 35 that “he who comes to me will never hunger or thirst.” Is this not what he told the woman at the well? He offered her living water that would well up as a spring inside her.
Jesus is the only one who can completely satisfy our hearts. Early in Augustine’s Confessions he writes, “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you.” Where are you looking for satisfaction?
The praise of man does not satisfy your hearts. It may for a little bit. But if the approval of others is a requirement for your soul to be satisfied, you’re in big trouble. Approval becomes your god.
If your satisfaction in life is tied to your work, then you lose it when you’re not working. If it’s tied to your family, then you have no reason to live when they die. If it’s tied to pleasure, you’ll run astray into all sorts of sin to scratch the itch that will never quite go away.
Only Jesus can satisfy. We come to the Lord’s Table every week at Resurrection Church, spiritually to feast on Christ, and remind us that we must continue feasting on him week in and week out, day in and day out.
Come to Jesus by faith and be satisfied.
3. Jesus receives the called.
Jesus has come from heaven not of his own will, but of the will of the Father. Of course, they share one will but perform different roles in its completion. Jesus says that ALL that the Father has given him will come to him (verse 37).
Jesus came to earth with names. His mission cannot fail.
Our human hearts are wary of this. We think, surely, we know better than God. This sounds bad, to put it simply and crassly. Perhaps you may be concerned that your name is not the one that Jesus has come to redeem. You may rack your mind with questions–why this name and not that name?
Jesus quickly answers that concern. Verse 37 may be one of the most succinct and clearest ways to think about salvation in the Bible: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
Is Jesus saying that he will receive all that the Father has given him? Yes.
Is Jesus saying that anyone can come to him? Yes.
4. Jesus turns no one away.
No one who comes will be cast out. WHOEVER comes to me, I will never cast out, he says. Jesus will never get tired of you. He will never tell you to get lost. You will never out-sin his grace or out-run his love.
One of my favorite hymns, How Firm a Foundation, says:
“The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose, I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”
Jesus is a better friend than you are! He welcomes you and keeps on welcoming you. Jesus is God. Jesus does not change. Because he does not change, he is faithful to his promise. Friends, Jesus will never change his mind. There is no new information to him.
5. Jesus keeps us forever.
It is the will of the Father that you be with him forever. Jesus says that all will be raised on the last day unto eternal life (verse 40).
The same Jesus who pursues us, who welcomes us with open arms, will keep us forever.
The only thing I know for certain about my future is that Jesus Christ controls it, and I will be with him forever.