But if you would, if you could turn with me in your Bibles to John chapter six. John chapter six. In our passage this morning, we begin what is one of the longer passages in John that record Jesus’ preaching. Preaching was central to Christ’s mission. In fact, if you want to know what Jesus’ earthly ministry looked like on a day-to-day basis, Do not first think about him as a miracle worker, or as a healer, or as any of the other things that he did. Jesus was first and foremost a preacher.

At the very beginning of his earthly ministry, Matthew tells us in Matthew chapter four, after the temptation in the wilderness, in verse 17, it says, from that time, Jesus began to preach. As he begins his ministry, from that time Jesus began to preach and say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew chapter 11, verse one tells us that now it happened. When Jesus had finished giving instructions to his 12 disciples, he departed from there to teach and preach in their cities. And in fact, a few verses later in Matthew 11, verses four and five, Jesus pointed out that his preaching was the proof of who he is, of his being the Messiah. In Matthew 11, verses four and five, it says that Jesus answered and said to them, go and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have the gospel preached to them. John wanted to know if he was the Messiah, if this Jesus was the Messiah. And one of his pieces of evidence was that the poor have the gospel preached to them.

In Mark’s gospel, we read that after a long day of his ministry in Capernaum, In Mark chapter one, starting in verse 35, early in the morning, so the next day, after a long day of his traveling around and ministering, the next day while it was still dark, Jesus rose up, went out of the house and went away to a desolate place and was praying. And Simon and his companions searched for him and they found him and said, everyone is looking for you. And he said to them, let us go elsewhere to the towns nearby so that I may preach there also. And catch this, for that is what I came for. Jesus himself says preaching is what he came for.

And we see in Luke’s gospel, Luke chapter 4, in his hometown, in the synagogue there in Nazareth, he explains to them in Luke 4 verse 18, the spirit of the Lord is upon me because he anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. And he goes on and explains the other things that he does, and he says, today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing. Again, one of the evidences that he is the Messiah, that he is the Son of God, he is the one they were waiting for, is that he’s been anointed to preach the gospel.

And over and over again, we see Jesus emphasize the importance of his preaching in Luke chapter 8. Verse one, it says, it happened soon after that he was going around from one city and village to another preaching and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom of God. All the way up until the very last week of his life before the crucifixion. In Luke chapter 20, verse one, we see that it happened on one of the days While he was teaching the people in the temple and proclaiming or preaching the gospel, the chief priests and scribes came up to him. Jesus was a preacher. We have many of his sermons recorded for us. We know many of them in Matthew, the Sermon on the Mount, one of his probably most famous in Matthew 5-7. But then there’s also when he preached sending the disciples out in Matthew 10. When he preached the parables about the kingdom in Matthew 13. When he preached of faith like a child in Matthew 18. And then the Olivet Discourse, Matthew 24 through 25. Those are all sermons of this preacher, Jesus.

And then we’ve seen already in John’s gospel, in the last chapter, in chapter five. where Jesus is preaching to the Jewish leaders, the Pharisees and the scribes, that he is equal with the Father. That was a sermon. He was preaching to them. We’ll see the upper room discourse later in John, starting in chapter 14. But here today, in our text before us this morning, in John chapter 6, we see another of Jesus’ most famous and beloved sermons. It’s in this sermon that Jesus reveals himself as the bread of life.

If you want to see the value that John places on the preaching of Jesus, over the signs of Jesus, just look at John chapter 6. In John chapter 6, we have two signs and one sermon. In the sign of Jesus feeding the 5,000, John dedicates 14 verses. And in the sign of Jesus walking on the water, John dedicates 7 verses. But when it comes to Jesus’ sermon, John dedicates 40 verses, verses 26 through 66. So I think we can see that John wants us to focus in on Jesus’ preaching in this chapter.

And John’s approach in his gospel was to record Jesus’ miracles or signs very briefly, and matter of fact, as we’ve already seen, and really without any explanation of what happened. He just says that’s what he did. For example, as you remember, in the sign of the feeding of the 5,000 in the beginning of John chapter 6 here. In verse 11, Jesus then took the loaves and having given thanks, he distributed them to those who receded. The five loaves he distributed to 5,000 people. He just did it. There’s no explanation of what that looked like or how he did it. He just distributed them.

Then John describes Jesus walking on the water. walking on a stormy sea on top of the water. In John chapter six, verse 19, he says, then when they had rode about 25 or 30 stadia, sorry, or three to three and a half miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat, and they were frightened. Yeah, he was just out for a stroll and he happened to come by the disciples three miles out in the ocean. He just did. No explanation or really description, just Jesus came walking on the sea.

Moving on. That’s how John talks about the miracles, the signs, because he doesn’t want us to get distracted from what’s really important. He almost hurries through the accounts of Christ’s miracles like, yeah, these other things happened, but let me tell you about the good part, the preaching. Let me tell you what he said. And that’s because while Jesus’ miracles and his signs reveal his power, it’s really his words that correctly define who he is. Jesus is no mere miracle worker or circus sideshow or someone there to entertain people with what he could do. He’s the Son of God. He is the Messiah.

His miracles only authenticate who he really is and show that his message is true and that it’s from God. But signs and wonders are not enough for salvation. As Jesus explains later, there were many who saw the signs and went away unchanged. In John chapter 12, verse 37, though He had done so many signs before them, they still were not believing in Him. He had done so many signs before them, But they still didn’t believe because miracles don’t save you. Romans chapter 10 tells us faith comes from hearing and hearing from the word of Christ. It’s his word that saves us. Believing his word. The word of Christ is why he’s really here. He came to save his people from their sins, and that only happens by hearing and believing his word.

This crowd that Jesus miraculously fed is a perfect illustration of that. Even though these people never questioned his power and ability to do these things, in fact, they knew that he could. That’s why they came back to him. Hey, you remember when he provided all that bread for us yesterday? I bet he can do it again.” But they were either indifferent to or hated his preaching.

So the question for us this morning is what do you make of his preaching? What do you make of Jesus’ preaching? What we see in our text this morning in the preaching of Jesus is the opening of Jesus’ sermon on the bread of life. We’ll cover a few verses this morning, verses 30 through 33, and it really sets the stage for what Jesus goes on to very accurately and in depth explain to them about Him being the bread of life. And what we see in these verses are, first of all, the unbelieving, the bread seekers. And then secondly, we see the bread giver. And lastly, we see the bread, the true bread from heaven.

So allow me to read our verses this morning in John chapter six, verses 30 through 33. This is the word of the Lord.

So they said to him, What then do you do for a sign 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, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

The first thing we see here is the reason for this sermon, and that is these unbelieving bread seekers. If you remember, these seekers had been looking for Jesus after he performed the miracle of feeding them the day before, and they couldn’t find him on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, so they cross over to Capernaum and they found him. And when they find him, Jesus rebukes them. Back in verse 26, Jesus answered them and said, truly, truly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 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, set his seal.

Then after Jesus’ rebuke to them for seeking him for the wrong reasons, seeking him only to fill their stomachs, they ask what they must do. What must we do to do the works of God? And Jesus answers by saying, this is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. Jesus responds to them with the gospel. Simply believe in him. Believe in him whom he has sent. Believe in Jesus. That’s what they needed to do.

And now, after Jesus gives them the gospel, they respond in verse 30. And they say to him, what then do you do? for a sign that we may see and believe. What work do you perform?” Now, you might have thought that the feeding of the 5,000 was enough. In fact, it was enough because when they saw it, they realized that he was the prophet that Moses promised, and we saw that in verse 14. So what they saw was enough for them to realize. But despite the miracles that they’d witnessed, they still respond by saying, prove it. Prove it again. They’re demanding Jesus’ credentials in response to his claim to be sent from God. Prove you’re sent from God.

Well, who else has fed you like this? Who else have you seen feed 5,000 people with five loaves of bread? Who else have you seen turn water into wine? Who else have you seen raise the dead and heal the sick and the lame and all the things that he’d been doing? Do it again. Prove it. What have you done for me lately?

And these people’s foolish demand demonstrates their hearts, their hard-heartedness and their self-centered arrogance. As Jesus says in Matthew chapter 12, verse 39, an evil and adulterous generation eagerly seeks for a sign. And yet no sign will be given to it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. This seeking and demanding a sign is an indication of their evil and adulterous heart.

And Paul says of people like this, unbelievers, he describes them in 1 Corinthians 1, verse 22. He says, for indeed, Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom. They want what satisfies their flesh, what satisfies their curiosity. You couldn’t find a better example of these verses than this crowd in John 6.

And the way that these questions are asked show that they’re not legitimately interested in who he is. They don’t actually want to know if he’s from God. These are hostile reactions to Jesus’ rebuke of them. What then do you do for a sign that we may believe you? What work have you done? Who do you think you are? Do something to prove yourself to us. All in response to the gospel. All in response to Jesus telling them they need to believe in Him. This is what you must do. Believe in Him whom He has sent.

Who do you think you are? Because the gospel makes no sense. It makes no sense to our human hearts and minds. This is exactly how it works. This is how everyone responds to the gospel unless God opens their eyes and their ears to truly see and hear. This is the reaction of a hard-hearted, depraved, unregenerate person.

because the gospel is offensive. What do you mean I need to believe in Jesus as my savior? Savior from what? I’m a good person. Well, I may not be perfect, but I’m better than some people. Who do you think you are to tell me I’m not a good person? This is the typical response.

of the children of darkness to the gospel. If you don’t believe me, go down to downtown Lakeland and simply ask people if they’re good enough to get into heaven. Trust me, we do it every month. And this is how people react. This is how unregenerate people react.

when God doesn’t open their ears to hear the gospel. When you burst someone’s bubble about how good they think they are, this is exactly what you get. Prove it. Who are you to make a claim like that? Who are you to tell me what to believe?

But this is exactly what they need. The gospel, the good news, and you don’t have any good news without bad news, without the bad news of our sin and the consequences of it. There is no good news. The gospel just becomes, oh, oh cool, Jesus loves me, that’s great. I don’t blame him, I’m pretty great. He ought to love me. Look how good of a person I am, who wouldn’t love me?

But nobody can be saved unless they understand what they need to be saved from. And yes, that is offensive to us, but it’s necessary. And when Jesus told these people that they needed to believe in him in order to do the work of God, that is exactly what he was telling them, that they needed him, that they needed a savior. because they were not good enough on their own to save themselves. Their keeping the law would never do it.

What must we do to do the works of God? And they expect him to say, well, keep the Ten Commandments and keep all the laws and the rules and all the things that the Pharisees and the leaders of the Israelites tell you to do. That’s the work of God. And he shocks them by saying, believe in me. That’s what you must do.” And they hated that message. It’s so simple and they hate it. And they respond by saying, prove it. Give us more bread.

Verse 31, our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven to eat. Here they quote from the Old Testament to try to show their theological authority on the matter, or so they think. And there’s several places that this is mentioned in the Old Testament. I read the account from Exodus earlier. It’s recorded again in Numbers, but it’s also mentioned for the people to remember in Nehemiah chapter 9 and in Psalm 78. And in Psalm 105, because the people were supposed to remember God’s provision for them.

And you can see that they’re starting to understand what Jesus has been getting at this whole time, that he is superior to Moses, as he said to end chapter five. And if he’s superior to Moses, as his words and his tone are suggesting here, Well, shouldn’t his followers get the same privileges as Moses’ followers? They should get some free bread too, right? I mean, Moses did it every day. Why can’t Jesus do it every day? I mean, if he’s greater than Moses, he ought to be able to do what Moses could do, right? Prove it. Make us more bread. Right now. You can really start to pick up the mood of this conversation.

And that’s the unbelieving bread seekers. And next we see Jesus’ response by pointing them to the true bread giver. In verse 32, Jesus then says to them, truly, truly, I say to you, Jesus’ attention getting phrase there, Moses has not given you the bread from heaven, but my father gives you the true bread from heaven. Oh yeah, Moses gave it to us every day. Don’t you remember? Why can’t you do it? And Jesus says, yeah, sorry guys, Moses didn’t give you or anyone else bread. Moses wasn’t the one who gave you bread.

As one commenter, D.A. Carson, comments, Jesus is persuaded that far too much attention has been lavished on Moses and far too little on God himself, the ultimate supplier of bread from heaven. It wasn’t Moses that gave you bread. Remember what it said? Exodus chapter 16, verse 4, then Yahweh said to Moses, behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in my law.” The whole point of the bread was to point them to God as the provider and the one whom they should follow. Moses never provided anyone with bread. It was God.

And just like with the sign Jesus showed them, They missed it. They missed the whole point of what it pointed to. The man in the wilderness pointed to God, and they saw Moses, even though he wasn’t the one who did it. Jesus was the one who provided the bread, and that pointed to who he was. And they want more bread. He is the same bread giver that provided in the wilderness. He is Yahweh who spoke to Moses. He is the God that Moses worshiped. And he’s here in human form standing before them. And not only that, not only is he the provider, Jesus goes on to teach them that he’s the bread. He’s the bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” Notice he doesn’t say, he gave you the true bread. He says, he gives you. He is giving you the true bread because he’s standing before you. It’s happening now. The Father was currently giving them the true bread from heaven.

As Jesus will say later in verse 35, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never hunger, and he who believes in me will never thirst. Jesus is the bread, and he’s standing before them. And he’ll go on to explain what this all means in the rest of the chapter, and we’ll cover those verses in the coming weeks.

But lastly this morning, we come to number three, the true bread from heaven. Not only is Jesus one with the Father who is the bread giver. Jesus is the bread himself. He says in verse 33, for the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Life in John’s gospel doesn’t just mean your physical, temporal life. You’re living and breathing every day. The type of life that the manna sustained in the wilderness. This is spiritual and eternal life. That the true bread from heaven gives. And this bread is given to the world. The manna was given to Israel. This bread, Jesus Christ, is given to the world. God offers salvation through Jesus Christ to all who believe.

And Jesus keeps pointing them back to himself. He showed them what the signs point to, and they missed it. They just want more signs. And he says, no, you don’t need another sign. You need me. You need Christ. Jesus provides the true bread from heaven and He is the true bread from heaven. He is what you need. And He’s always available to His people. He’s ready and able to save all who come to Him. And Jesus didn’t come to bring manna or to satisfy material expectations or wants of these people. He came to save His people from their sins. He came to preach the gospel.

So the question we began with is what do you make of Jesus’ preaching? Do you believe in Him whom He has sent? Do you see your need for Him? Does He satisfy you? Is He enough? Or do you only see in Him the good things that you think you want in life? He came to give true life to the world. Have you come to Him yet for true life? If not, you need to come to Him today. Do not leave here today without talking to somebody about knowing and trusting in Christ.

And this is just the beginning of Jesus’s sermon on being the bread of life. Jesus had fed 5,000 people with five loaves and two fish. It was a sign that pointed to himself as not only the provider, but as the provision. As we’ll go on to see in the rest of this sermon, In verse 35, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will not hunger. In verse 41, I am the bread that came down from heaven. Verse 48, I am the bread of life. Verse 51, I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This is the point. This is what the miracle of the loaves and the fish was all about. was pointing very specifically to the fact that Jesus provides. That’s why the disciples each picked up a full basket and no more. Jesus is enough. He provides what we need. And his message is that when you come to him and see him as your provision, as the bread of life, you won’t live for the temporal, natural things anymore. He’s worth so much more, and He provides so much more.

So what does that look like in our life? If you have come to Him for salvation, what does that look like, that He’s the bread of life for us? Listen to how Pastor John Piper helped explain Jesus’ message here.

Listen to how he explained this. When your eyes are opened and you see Jesus Christ as the crucified and risen son of God, and you taste and you know that he is the bread of life and you eat, that is, you believe, what is the result? Something about everything changes. It has to. The food that perishes no longer dominates your mind. Christ dominates your mind as the supreme treasure.

And if things look bleak, you remember, I’m going to live forever. So you go to work now, not dominated by the desire for the bread that perishes or the fear of losing it. You go to work knowing Him. and trusting Him, and treasuring Him, and being satisfied in Him. Because your heart is set on making much of Him in every aspect of your life and your vocation. You keep eternal life before you, snacking on the bread of life, and that won’t make you a lazy worker. It won’t make you a shoddy worker. It won’t make you a gloomy worker. You’ll bring zeal and excellence and joy to your work because you know Him. You trust Him. You treasure Him. You aim to make much of Him.

And you know that everything you do in His name and for His glory, from cleaning the bathroom to running the boardroom, Everything you do will be rewarded forever and ever in eternity. You won’t be driven by upward mobility or a big pay or positions of power or the desire for the weekend or the passion for retirement. He will be a feast for you when everything else fails. That’s what it looks like to live as though he is the bread of life that satisfies. that everything in your life is for Him, and that He is enough, and no matter what happens, I’m gonna live forever with Him. And so whatever I do, I’m gonna make much of Him, because He is all that I need.

He is enough, He will be a feast for you when everything else fails. Hallelujah, what a Savior.

Let’s stand and close in a word of prayer.

Our God in heaven. We are blown away by the preaching of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We thank you for who you are. We thank you for what you provide for us, your goodness, your grace, your mercy, our salvation. Lord, you are a great Savior. Help us to remember all that you do for us, that you are all we need, that we don’t need to live for the temporal and perishing things in this life, because everything we do is for you, and that you will provide all that we need, and you’re more than enough. God, we thank you. We praise you and we pray all of this in Christ’s precious name. Amen.