What Are You Eating Right Now?
Sunday, June 25th, 2006John 6:22-71
22 ¶ The next day the crowd that stood on the
other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one,
and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but {that} His
disciples had gone away alone. 23 There came other small boats from Tiberias
near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they
themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. 25
When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him,
"Rabbi, when did You get here?"
26 ¶ Jesus answered
them and said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you
saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 "Do not
work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal
life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has
set His seal." 28 Therefore they said to Him, "What shall we do, so
that we may work the works of God?" 29 Jesus answered and said to them,
"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."
30 So they said to Him, "What then do You do for a sign, so that we may
see, and believe You? What work do You perform? 31 "Our fathers ate the
manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO
EAT.’" 32 Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it is
not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives
you the true bread out of heaven. 33 "For the bread of God is that which
comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said
to Him, "Lord, always give us this bread."
35 ¶ Jesus said to
them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he
who believes in Me will 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 the one who comes to Me I will certainly not 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 "This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has
given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 "For this is
the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him
will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day."
41 ¶ Therefore the
Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, "I am the bread that came
down out of heaven." 42 They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son
of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come
down out of heaven’?" 43 Jesus answered and said to them, "Do not
grumble among yourselves. 44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who
sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. 45 "It is
written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who
has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. 46 "Not that anyone
has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. 47
"Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 "I
am the bread of life. 49 "Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness,
and they died. 50 "This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that
one may eat of it and not die. 51 "I am the living bread that came down
out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the
bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh."
52 ¶ Then the Jews
{began} to argue with one another, saying, "How can this man give us {His}
flesh to eat?" 53 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 yourselves. 54 "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has
eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. 55 "For My flesh is
true food, and My blood is true drink. 56 "He who eats My flesh and drinks
My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 "As the living Father sent Me, and
I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of
Me. 58 "This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the
fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever." 59 These
things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
60 ¶ Therefore many
of His disciples, when they heard {this} said, "This is a difficult
statement; who can listen to it?" 61 But Jesus, conscious that His
disciples grumbled at this, said to them, "Does this cause you to stumble?
62 "{What} then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was
before? 63 "It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing;
the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. 64 "But there
are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who
they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. 65 And He
was saying, "For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to
Me unless it has been granted him from the Father."
66 ¶ As a result of
this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. 67
So Jesus said to the twelve, "You do not want to go away also, do
you?" 68 Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have words of eternal life. 69 "We have believed and have come to know
that You are the Holy One of God." 70 Jesus answered them, "Did I
Myself not choose you, the twelve, and {yet} one of you is a devil?" 71
Now He meant Judas {the son} of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was
going to betray Him.
Here’s a quick
observation of the passage:
The people were following Jesus because of the loaves they ate and because they
were filled (v.26). Jesus said to them that He is the bread of life (v.35). The
people on the other hand grumbled and argued with each other. The people
understood Him that they should partake of Him (v.52). Eventually, many of the
“disciples” left him and were not walking with Him anymore (v.66).
Reflections:
How many times in our life have we slipped in
the error of thinking that our Christianity would do great things for us? It’s
like meeting all that the formula requires and we get the answer that we want.
Serve and obey the Lord, attend church, get active in discipleship, read
Christian books and so on. Then the answers to our prayers. Good grades,
successful career, nice car, beautiful house, lovely girlfriend and so on. A
lot of times, I seek the gift and not the Giver. I’m guilty of running after
the pleasure that physical life could offer.
It is so hard to
believe the Lord. “I can satisfy you,” says the Lord. “I am everything you
need” but we would respond to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we
may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?” (v.30). We’re still after
what he will do for us before we believe. Again the Lord would lovingly point
us back to Him. And we would grumble, “How can we be satisfied with You?” We
would argue, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” (v.60). We
won’t believe Him and His words (v.64). Others might have opted to do things on
their own and leave the Lord and/or the faith altogether.
What would be your
response if the Lord invites you and tells you to have faith in Him? What will
you do if He asks you to find joy and satisfaction in Him?
There are two things
that our friend taught us about this passage. First, the Lord is our main meal
for our spiritual nourishment. In the Jewish culture, bread is the staple food.
The Filipinos have the rice. In our spiritual journey, the Bread of Life is our
main sustenance. We might feed our whims with what this world could offer but
it will not satisfy the void in us. We could also feed on Christian literature,
devour great preaching, supply our hunger with hymns and Christian music and
nibble on fellowshipping with other believers. They are good but they won’t
satisfy.
Second, the Word is
the complete meal. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. He
who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him”(v.55-56).
But I would add a
third point. He is the perpetual meal. The human tendency is to get tired with
a food that is taken over and over again, even if it is our favorite food. We
want variety. In the spiritual life, it is just the Lord. In His infinitude, it
is quite unimaginable to say that we could get tired of Him. Lamentations
3:22-23 says “The LORD’S lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His
compassions never fail. {They} are new every morning; Great is Your
faithfulness.” Everyday the Lord offers fresh joy. There is always a new hope.
Every morning His grace and mercy is new. Everyday there is always fresh
insight from His Word. Our communion with the Lord grows sweeter everyday, if
treasured dearly in our heart. You become variable in your focus and you get
more hungry and unsatisfied.
What are you nibbling
on right?
