The Bread of Life

For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives His life to the world. In verse 35, Jesus states, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."

Father, we pray that You would give us insight and understanding into Your word as we now open it. As we prepare to remember Your death, burial, and resurrection, we ask God that You would continue to transform us through Your word and by Your Spirit, so that we would be able to declare Your glory and show how awesome and good You are.

Lord, it is such a wonderful thing that from time to time we come before this table to remember Your body that was broken and Your blood that was shed, which makes it possible for us to be in relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. So God, we dedicate this time to You and we pray for You to direct it. For we ask this in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, Amen. You can be seated.

As we come to John chapter 6, we find once again in the Gospels that multitudes are following Jesus. The scriptures reveal that they are following Him primarily because of the signs that He performed. They saw and marveled at the good things that Jesus did. Whether it was casting demons out of those who were possessed or healing those who had diseases, the people were in awe of what Jesus was doing. This is the primary reason why so many people were following Him at that time.

They wondered about the things He was doing and began to speculate as to whether or not He was the fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament about the Messiah. Many people were beginning to believe that He was, in fact, the Christ, the anointed one. At a certain point in His ministry, Jesus asked some of His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" This is recorded in Matthew chapter 16. They replied, "Well, some are saying that You're a prophet. Some are saying that You're Elijah."

Come back from the dead. Well, who do you say that I am? Peter, inspired of God, said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." There was a recognition that Jesus was great, that he was not just a mere man. Consequently, there was a large multitude following him because of the things he was doing, and there was an anticipation that he would do even greater things.

During Jesus' day, there was a prevailing view among the people that the Messiah would come and establish an earthly kingdom, a kingdom above all kingdoms. Since the nation of Israel was oppressed by the Roman government at that time, the people were very excited about the coming of the Messiah. Additionally, there was a heightened sense that God was doing something significant. For 400 years before Jesus came on the scene, God's utterance, His inspired word through prophets, was completely absent. There was silence for 400 years from the time of Malachi until John the Baptist appeared.

When John the Baptist came on the scene, declaring good news and calling people to be baptized and to repent, there was a sense among the people that something was happening. Part of John the Baptist's message is recorded for us in Matthew chapter 3. His message was simple: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Then Jesus came on the scene, announced by John the Baptist, and His message was the same. In Matthew chapter 4, He proclaimed, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."

The major difference between John the Baptist's ministry and the ministry of Jesus is that John did no marvelous works or miracles, but Jesus did. The Apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 22, that the Jews require a sign. The people of Jesus' day, particularly the Jewish people, were looking for signs and wonders; they were enamored with these things. More than 20 centuries later, it is not much different. Many people are still seeking the fantastic, looking for some sort of sign.

One of the things we see in Jesus' ministry is that the signs He performed were not the end of what He came to do; they were a means to an end. In Mark chapter 1, verse 38, Jesus says, "I came to preach the gospel." The signs that Jesus did were given as authentication of His sayings, the words of Christ. In some ways, they were authenticated by what He did.

It proved that He had authority and that He was who He was proclaiming Himself to be. However, we need to recognize in our day that signs or miracles, although many people within Christian churches follow after the miraculous and the fantastic, are a means to an end. They are not the end in and of themselves. In fact, Jesus said in Matthew chapter 16, verse 4, that those who desire or seek signs are a wicked and perverse generation. To focus solely on the signs and not recognize the power of God is to fail at understanding what those signs are really given for.

In John chapter 6, we see that Jesus has a multitude of people following Him around the Sea of Galilee. Most of His ministry took place in what is the northern part of modern-day Israel. Although Jerusalem was the central focus of the children of Israel, God was working in the Galilee region. The people of that region were excited about the fact that someone from their home turf was now being powerfully used by God. Everywhere Jesus went, multitudes of people followed Him. When He was in the cities around Galilee, it was like a throng of people surrounding Him constantly.

As you go through the Gospels, you see that Jesus would often leave the cities of Galilee and go into the wilderness just to find some rest. He would say to His disciples, "Come, let us go along and rest a while. We're going to get outside of the city where all the people are." Yet, even when He would do that, multitudes would follow Him out of the cities. This is what we have in John chapter 6. Jesus is in the wilderness of Galilee, and we are told that there are now 5,000 men present, not counting the women and children who were likely accompanying them. There are more than 5,000 people gathered, following and seeking Jesus as He is out in the wilderness.

In John chapter 6, verse 6, we learn that Jesus knew what He was going to do when He looked at one of His disciples, Philip, and asked, "Philip, where shall we buy bread that these people, this gathered multitude, might eat?" It is important to note that Jesus knew what He was going to do, even as He posed this question to His disciple.

Hey, where should we buy food so that all these people could eat? But he knows exactly what he's going to do. Philip hears this question, and he looks at the multitude. He says, "Jesus, if we had 200 denarii—that's 200 days' wages—it would not be sufficient to provide enough food for all of these people." But Jesus knew what he was going to do.

Knowing what he was going to do, Philip and the other disciples are kind of in a test here. Jesus is testing them in the midst of this. Sometimes we can give the disciples a bad rap when we look at passages like this in Scripture because we see their faithlessness. However, we shouldn't give the disciples a bad rap because we have the privilege and advantage of knowing Jesus' true identity. They didn't know fully who he was and the power that he had. Not only did they not know who he was fully like we do, but we also oftentimes are faithless when we're confronted with difficult situations, just like the disciples were in this instance.

What a comfort it is to know that Jesus knew what he was going to do. The tests that God brings us into are not tests wherein he wants to see whether or not we will pass or fail; rather, they are tests in which we get to see that he is faithful. We all recognize that we fail. Every single one of us falls short of God's glory on a consistent and continual basis. God allows us to go through tests so that we can see his faithfulness in the midst of those tests.

That's exactly what is happening here. The test that Jesus brought his disciples through, and the test that God sometimes takes us through in our lives, are tests in which we are given greater revelation of who Jesus is. God brings us into these situations to see who he is. That's exactly what happens here in this passage. You may have read this passage of Scripture before. You know that Jesus gathered with this multitude of people in the Galilean wilderness, and he ultimately feeds the multitudes.

On two different occasions in the Gospels, it is recorded that Jesus fed a multitude of people miraculously. You are already anticipating where Jesus is going with this whole situation. Yet, he brings his disciples into this situation where they see that they, in and of themselves, cannot provide what is needed for the task that is before them. He does this so that he might reveal who he is. Jesus does this in our lives. He brings us into circumstances and situations where the task is greater.

Than the ability that we have to meet that task. Have any of you ever experienced that in your life? God does this regularly. We see this throughout the Scriptures, where God brings us to those events and situations.

He says to Philip, "Where should we buy food to feed this group of people?" Philip responds, "Well, we don't have enough. We are not enough to meet this task." Then one of Jesus' other disciples, a guy by the name of Andrew, who is Peter's brother, brings a young boy to Jesus. He says, "Jesus, this young guy has five barley loaves and two small fish." Now, we might think, "What great faith, Andrew," but he adds, "What are these among so many? This isn't enough. All we have is five barley loaves and two fish, but what's that among so many?"

In the responses of Andrew and Philip, we see ourselves. We often view the tasks that God places before us through our own inability rather than through God's super ability. This theme is evident throughout the Scriptures.

If we go back to the Old Testament, to the book of Numbers, we find the children of Israel have left their bondage in Egypt. They have been following God faithfully in the wilderness for two years, and now they have come to the very border of the promised land, the land that God said He would give to Abraham and his descendants. Here are the descendants of Abraham looking at the promised land. They send twelve spies into the land to scout it out, and they are there for forty days.

When they return, ten of the spies come back with a report that is actually a good report; it is a true report. They say, "The land is flowing with milk and honey. It's a good land." However, they add, "There are giants in the land, and we're not going to be able to overtake them." Numbers chapter 13 records their report. The ten spies say to the people, "We were in our own eyes as grasshoppers before these giants."

Yet there were two spies, guys by the name of Joshua and Caleb, who said, "Listen, yes, it is a good land. There are giants there, but God has given them into our hand. We just need to go into the land. They will be bread for us; we'll overtake them." Despite this, the people of the nation of Israel listened to and heeded the majority report that day. There are giants in the land.

We were, in our own eyes, as grasshoppers. The task before us is far bigger than we can handle. We're unable to meet what it is that God has called us to do. We've all experienced this, but the Bible is filled with detailed stories about how God works through those who are little to do great things.

The application of the story we have here in John chapter six, when Jesus takes five barley loaves and two fish and feeds more than 5,000 people, is clear. God is able to take a small offering, bless it, break it, and make it great for His glory. Why does God choose to do this? Because He gets the glory from it. You see, if you could meet and tackle any task that God brought before you because you're so smart and strong, then people would look at you and say, "Man, that guy is great." You would get the glory. But God brings us into situations where it's impossible for us to do it. Why? Because He gets the glory.

There are so many stories in Scripture like this. I think of Gideon with his 300 men who were able to come against 150,000 Moabites and destroy them. You think of the nation of Israel walking around the city of Jericho for seven days, observing, "We can't take this city." By the end of that seventh day, there was one thing that was absolutely certain among the people of Israel who had gone around that city: they could not do this. And then God brought it down.

The Bible is filled with examples like David and Goliath. You see all these opportunities where God works through someone who does not have the ability in and of themselves to meet the task before them. It’s a good thing because God has given us a task that is far bigger than we, by ourselves, in our own strength, can meet. At the very least, He told us to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. That task is far too big for us to do.

So what has God done? Well, Jesus said to wait in Jerusalem until you receive power from on high because the Holy Spirit will give you the ability, the power to be witnesses of Him. Why? So that we would rely upon Him and that He would get the glory. God is able.

To take what little offering we have, we bless it, break it, and make it great for His glory. This is good for us to know because, when we're honest, it is just us looking at ourselves in the mirror. We know that we cannot, by our own might, meet the task that God has given to us. Yet, what we find in the Scriptures is that with the Lord, we have the ability and the power to do so.

As the story continues in John chapter 6, Jesus tells His disciples to make all the people sit down. He takes this small offering—five barley loaves and two small fish—blesses it, breaks it, and gives it to His disciples, saying to distribute it. At the end of this event, every single person there is filled to the full, like hometown buffet full, like seven o'clock on Thanksgiving Day full. We've all experienced that moment when you think, "I can't eat another thing," and then someone offers pumpkin pie, and you think, "Okay, maybe a little." It was that full.

Not only that, John 6 records that the disciples took up twelve baskets of fragments left over. This seems to imply that each one of these twelve disciples had a basket themselves, allowing them to see the faithfulness of Jesus. Again, I said that God puts us into these circumstances to reveal Himself, and that is exactly what happens. When the multitude saw this, what did they respond with? John chapter 6 tells us they wanted to take Him by force and make Him king. They knew that He was something great. Jesus actually had to secretly withdraw from them so that they could not make Him king. He went up into a mountain to pray and told His disciples to get in the boat and go across the Sea of Galilee, assuring them He would catch up with them later.

So they did. Jesus performs another miraculous sign in John chapter 6, but it is only in the sight of His disciples. As these twelve men get in the boats and head across the Sea of Galilee, a great storm comes upon them. Meanwhile, Jesus is on the mountaintop praying all night long while they toil through this storm. Remember, at least four of the men on those boats were expert fishermen who had spent their entire lives on the Sea of Galilee: Peter, Andrew, James, and John.

At least those guys. But the Scriptures tell us that as this event unfolded, all of them were beside themselves with fear. Now, if you're on a plane and the pilot starts freaking out, that's not good. That's when you start looking around, wondering if there are parachutes and if you're prepared for this. If you're on a boat with four expert fishermen and all of a sudden they're losing their minds with fear, you're scared to death. You think, "We're done for."

There was a fable among the Jewish people that just before you die, you would see a ghost. Now they see someone walking on the water and they perceive it to be a ghost. What do you think they're all thinking? "We're dead." Of course, Jesus speaks comforting words to them, and ultimately the storm ceases. In the other Gospel accounts of this event, it says that Peter went and walked on the water. John, the author of this Gospel, does not record that, which is interesting to me because as you go through the Gospel of John, you see this rivalry between Peter and John. He just conveniently leaves out the part where Peter walked on water.

Then they see the power of Jesus, not only in calming the storm but also in walking on water. Awesome. The following day, Jesus is back in one of the cities of Galilee; I believe it was Capernaum. The multitude tracks Him down once again. They find Him and want to see Jesus again. The Scriptures record in this passage, in verse 26, why they want to see Him. Jesus pinpoints their motive, which was not right. He says, "You're not coming to see me because of the signs that I did. You're coming to see me because you are fed to the full."

You see, if you feed them, they will come, right? They got full the day before on food that was miraculously given to them, and so they're thinking, "Man, He fed us." Jesus identifies their impure motives, motives that were not entirely good. But they were seeking Jesus. How many times in our lives do we seek the Lord, and in reality, our motives are not exactly 100% admirable? I can think of a number of times in my own prayer life.

In my own life, following Jesus, my seeking of the Lord may not be the best. But you know what? Jesus does not respond by chastising them here in this passage. Instead, you notice that Jesus' response to their impure motivation was simply to direct them to seek that which was deserving of their attention and affection. He takes their impure motives for drawing near to Him and redirects them to something that is actually a good thing.

Look at verse 27 of John 6: "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give because God the Father has set His seal upon Him." Jesus emphasizes that we should not labor for food that perishes. The prophet Isaiah, inspired by God, said very similar words in Isaiah chapter 55. Seven hundred years before Jesus would speak these words in John chapter 6, God, speaking through the prophet Isaiah, says, "Ho, everyone that thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money, without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread and your wages on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me and eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance."

When Isaiah, inspired by God, says these words in Isaiah chapter 55, he is not calling the people to come and eat physical food. He is calling them to eat that which will give satisfaction to their soul. Physical food gives satisfaction to the body, but there is something more that gives satisfaction to the soul. Here, Isaiah is calling them to feast upon something that is greater than just physical food. Jesus, in John chapter 6, is revealing to us just what that is. The feeding of the 5,000 gave Him the opportunity to do that.

The works that Jesus performed, such as the feeding of the 5,000, are given to substantiate or lead into the words that He would speak, the message that He is going to deliver.

You're not following me because of the signs that I've done; you're following me because you were filled. But do not labor. Don't work for just mere physical food that's going to perish. Instead, work for that food which endures to everlasting life, that food that is satisfying to the soul and spirit, that brings nourishment to who you really are. That leads to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you.

You see, physical food will lead to the preservation of physical life. Jesus says there's another food that promotes, supports, and sustains everlasting life. Now, in all of this, the multitude, in verse 28, asks Jesus, "What is the work that we can do to receive this food that endures to everlasting life?" Jesus responds, "Don't work for food that perishes; instead, work for food that leads to everlasting life." The disciples then ask, "What is that work? What is it that we are to do that will bring about this everlasting life?"

Jesus answers in verse 29, "This is the work of God: that you believe in Him whom He sent." Don't work for food that perishes, which only sustains this life because this life will end. Instead, labor for that food that goes on into everlasting life.

So, what is that work? Here it is: Believe on Him whom God has sent. Put your trust, your confidence, your faith in Jesus. That's what He says. The multitude knew full well what Jesus was saying. They understood what He was telling them to do. Therefore, they ask Him for an authenticating sign. They say, "Listen, you're telling us that we should put our trust in you. If we're to put our trust in you, then we want you to authenticate that you are worthy of our trust."

Look at what they said in verse 30: "What sign will you perform that we may see and believe? You show us that you're worthy of our faith, and we'll believe in you."

But we got to see it. They provided Him with a kind of baseline, if you will, of what they were looking for. This is great. It's like saying, "Listen, I want you to show me a sign, and here's what I'm looking for." If you really want me to trust you, then here's what we need.

Our fathers ate manna in the desert. As it is written, He gave them bread from heaven. They said, "Listen, our fathers back there during the time when they left Egypt"—Exodus chapter 14—"they leave Egypt and cross over on dry ground in the Red Sea. God kills the army of the Egyptians. Then they're in the wilderness."

In Exodus chapter 15, they rejoice in what God is doing. However, in Exodus chapter 16, they wake up with grumbling bellies. They have no food, and so they cry out to the Lord, saying, "We want to go back to Egypt. We had food in Egypt." They cry out to Moses, asking, "What have you brought us out into the wilderness to die of hunger?" This is just 72 hours after they saw God part the Red Sea. They question, "You bring us out here to kill us with hunger? My stomach hurts."

Moses calls out to God. Exodus chapter 16 records that God gave them bread, manna, from heaven. Something appeared on the ground in the morning. They went outside and asked, "What is it?" That's exactly what the word "manna" means—"What is it?" They were just walking around, saying, "What is it? Manna, manna, manna." Moses instructed them to eat it, and so they did. For 40 years, God provided manna miraculously every single day for them to eat. Every single day.

So they said to Jesus, "You want us to believe in you? Okay, here's a baseline. Moses gave our fathers bread. I want you to give us bread from heaven, better than what you did yesterday." They pointed out that yesterday, that little boy gave Him five barley loaves and two fish, so He had an advantage. They wanted Him to provide miraculous food right there on the spot. They said, "Just do it, and we'll believe in you if you show us this sign."

Then Jesus said, in verse 32, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you"—notice this—"my Father gives you the true bread from heaven, that which satisfies the soul." You see, every one of those people who ate manna in the wilderness, they all died. They were sustained through their many years of life, but they all died.

Jesus said, "Moses, he didn't give you the bread. I, my Father, gives you the true bread which is from heaven." In verse 33, he explains, "For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." He says, "I am the very thing that you're asking for, the very miracle that you're seeking. I am that miracle. I am the bread of life."

Just like the woman at the well in John chapter 4, when she heard about living water, she said to Jesus, "Give me this water so I don't have to come out here and draw any longer." They hear from Jesus when he says, "I am the bread of life that gives life to the world." In verse 34, they said, "Lord, give us this bread always. Give it to us."

So he says in verse 35, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger." Coming to Jesus is synonymous with partaking of him. "He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst." Therefore, coming to Jesus and believing in Jesus is synonymous with partaking of him, the bread of life, the living water.

Now, what does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life? The very same word that Jesus is speaking here was very offensive to the people he spoke to. As he goes on in John chapter 6, if you read it later, you will find that the people were very stumbled by this idea of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. So much so that in John 6:66, it says, "Many of his disciples followed him no longer." They were stumbled by this.

"What are you calling us to, cannibalism? Vampirism? What are you asking for?" Jesus, they processed it in a very literal way, and they were offended by what he was saying. Obviously, Jesus is speaking metaphorically.

What is the metaphor that he's giving here? What is the central truth? The central truth is this: He, Jesus, is the essential element in giving life to dead sinners. Just like food sustains physical life, how many of you are planning on eating something today? You're probably even already thinking about it right now, wondering, "Oh man, when's he going to be done?" You're planning on it; you're thinking about eating. Physical food sustains physical life. You have to have it.

Got to have it. It's essential. Jesus is the essential element in promoting, supporting, and sustaining spiritual life. Physical food perishes, meaning that we will perish physically. Spiritual food is only found in Jesus, and it endures into everlasting life.

You see, there is no power in me or in you to promote, support, and sustain spiritual life. We are all completely spiritually bankrupt. That's why Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5, says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Blessed is the person who recognizes their poverty of spirit and understands that in and of themselves, they cannot make themselves spiritually alive. But Jesus is the essential element in making people alive spiritually.

The communion table, which we come before on a regular basis, is a reminder of this important reality. Food and drink are the perfect illustration of this because we need them to live, and we need the life of Christ to live spiritually. We don't need this little cracker that we're going to distribute in a few minutes or this little cup with some grape juice in it to sustain spiritual life. These are just tangible, physical reminders that we can hold, see, smell, touch, and taste. They remind us that Jesus is what is necessary to promote, support, and sustain everlasting spiritual life.

If you're here today and you sense a famine of spiritual life, a spiritual starvation, it's an indication not that Jesus is insufficient, but that you've not been coming to Him. It's an indication that you've not been believing and trusting in Him because coming to Him is synonymous with eating, and believing in Him is synonymous with drinking.

So, if you are experiencing spiritual starvation, it's because you're not coming before His table. You've got to come before Him regularly. If we skip a meal, we know it. If we skip two or three meals, we definitely feel it. Our body starts to let us know. Yet, we need to come before the Lord with the same sort of regularity.

Of consistency and regularity, we come believing and trusting in Him, getting to know Him through His Word, through worship, through prayer, and through fellowship. There are many different avenues provided in the Scriptures, even fasting. Fasting from a physical meal—what's the purpose of that? Do you realize that fasting from a physical meal is to bring this flesh under your control? Paul says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 9: "I beat my body that I might bring it under my control." The goal is for it to do what I want it to do, so that it does not master me, but I master it.

You see, a lot of us are mastered by our flesh. It tells us when to eat, when to sleep, and all the different things that we should want and desire. Fasting brings it under control. It says, "You're not going to master me; I'm going to master you." Eating this cracker and drinking this juice is not sustaining spiritual life, but it reminds us who the sustainer of spiritual life is. That's why we do this. This is why Paul, in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, says, "For as often as you eat this bread or drink this cup." It is something we should do with regularity because it reminds us of the essential truth: Jesus is the sustainer of our spiritual life.

Now, some may say, "Well, you only do it once every seven weeks here." That's right, but this isn't the only place where people in our church partake of communion. They are partaking of communion at the women's retreat right now. Some partake of communion in their small groups or in the men's Bible studies. There are opportunities, and all it is is a reminder that Jesus is the essential element for promoting and sustaining spiritual life. We need Him constantly. This is just a time where the family gets to gather together for that as one.

Before we partake in remembrance of Him, who is our spiritual sustenance, I want to recognize one final important note from this passage of Scripture in John chapter 6. You see, John 6 is often held up as a principal passage by those who lean towards the sovereignty of God in salvation. I know that over the last month or so, we've talked a lot about this here on Sunday mornings at Cross Connection because in Romans chapter 8, there was a lot about the sovereignty of God and the responsibility.

John chapter 6 is often exalted as a very important passage for the sovereignty of God. As I've stated many times before, I wholeheartedly affirm the sovereignty of God, but I maintain that there is a balance in the Scriptures between the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Oftentimes, that balance is found in the very same text; they are just joined together.

I encourage you, as you read through the Bible, to look for verses that seem to support or affirm the responsibility of man. In those same passages, look for another verse that affirms the sovereignty of God. These concepts often go together in the Scriptures, one way or the other.

Notice here in this passage both the responsibility of man and the sovereignty of God as it relates to the concept that Jesus is the sole support of spiritual life. Look at verse 35 again. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." What do we see there? We see our responsibility. To be spiritually satisfied, we need to come to Jesus. We need to trust in Him and put our faith in Him.

Look at verse 36. Jesus said, "But I said to you that you have seen me, and you do not believe." There was a whole multitude of people gathered there, and they said, "Show us a sign, and we'll believe in you." He responded, "I am the sign, and yet you don't believe. I've shown you the sign, and you don't believe." But you have a responsibility. You need to come to me. You've come to me, but now you need to believe in me to be supported spiritually.

Look at verse 37. "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out." God's sovereignty is so clear. All whom the Father gives to me, says Jesus, they will come to me, and those who come to me I will in no wise cast out.

Why? Verse 38 explains, "For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me." I will receive those who come to me because it is God the Father's will, and I have submitted my will to Him. Therefore, I receive them because God the Father wills that I would receive them.

What is the Father's will? This is the will of the Father who sent me: that of all He has given me, I should lose nothing, but I should raise it up at the last day. There in verse 39, we see God's sovereign will and plan. All that He has given to me, I will receive them, and I will lose none of them, but will raise them up on the last day.

Now look at verse 40. Verse 40 is an exact restatement of the same essential truth of verse 39, just said in a different way. If verse 39 presents this essential truth from God's sovereignty, then verse 40 presents this same essential truth from man's responsibility. Look at verse 40: "And this is the will of Him who sent me." These are the same words as in verse 39. This is the will of Him who sent me: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at that last day. Everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him represents man's responsibility, and I will raise him up at that last day.

You see, these things are joined together: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of man. Throughout the Scriptures, we see this. God has provided sufficient spiritual sustenance in Jesus Christ, but we are called to come to the table. All that is needed for life and godliness is found in Him, but we are called to come to the table.

Perhaps today you are here and you've been looking into the things of Christ. You have seen the Son exalted, lifted up in this church or maybe somewhere else, and yet you've not put your faith in Him. Jesus says, "Come, come to the table." Coming to Him is feeding upon Him; believing in Him is drinking of the living waters that He gives, which manufacture in us everlasting life, a spring unto everlasting life through us.

In just a few minutes, we are going to partake of the cracker. The bread is just a reminder of this truth: that Jesus is the sustaining power for spiritual life.

Why? Because His blood was shed for us to deal with the heaviness of our sin against God. He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might be the righteousness of God in Christ.

As we distribute these crackers this morning, I want you to hold them as we're worshiping the Lord and just remember that Jesus is the sole promoter and sustainer of eternal life, of spiritual life. It's found nowhere else; He is it. As we come to Him and believe in Him, we have life. Amen?

Let's worship Him. Amen.