Is Jesus Enough?

This is week two of our Bible study, Simply Jesus. And you know what, I love that the first I am statement recorded by John, I am the bread of life, is so effortless for us to get traction with, because we can all relate to food, and we can all relate to eating bread, right? It's a commonality that people have across the centuries and around the world. Some sort of staple food item that is bread-like, whether it's loaves or tortilla or non-flat bread, whatever. Most cultures have some kind of staple that is like a bread. Even in our own American history, during the Great Depression, when there was many hungry people, you could find long lines of people in bread lines, right? Hoping to get that one staple that they needed. Well, today we're going to dig into John, chapter 6. And I want to highlight, before we do that, I want to highlight just a few sound bites from John, chapter 5, because I think that they will help us make a bridge from our introduction into John, chapter 6. And so I'm just going to go ahead and put these on the screen for you. The first one is from verse 43, that Jesus said, I have come in my Father's name. And that was the point of our introduction. We were saying just that, that Jesus came in the name of his Father, and that he was sinking his own introduction with his Father's identity. Here's another great verse. It's verse 24, and this should be one that we memorize. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. I love the phrase, passed from death to life. And sometimes in Bible study, I ask you to take a phrase, put it on your little shelf, and hold it for later so that you know where it is, and you can grab it easily. Passed from death to life. The spirit of a person is made alive through belief in Jesus Christ. And the New Testament teaches us that we are dead in our sins and trespasses. It is Jesus that comes and makes us alive, all right? And so that's going to be important for us later. And then finally, the last verse I want to highlight. You guys know the saying, right? Actions speak louder than words, right? You've probably used that saying. And so I want to show you what Jesus said before this lesson. Look at verse 36. The works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. So the works that he was doing, the actions that Jesus was doing, healing sick people, bear witness. They proved his words. So as we study, we're going to pay close attention to Jesus's actions that often precede his works, but also prove his words as well. All right, we're going to study chapter 6 now. And the first thing that we meet is the narrative of the feeding of 5,000, which is a very common story. You guys, many of you have probably taught this in Sunday school, the amazing multiplication of bread to feed 5,000 people. We have lots of verses to cover before we even get to where Jesus says, I am the bread of life. His actions come first. All right, so since chapter 5, in those verses I just showed you, Jesus and his disciples left Jerusalem, and they went north into the upper area of Galilee to the Sea of Galilee. And that's the setting of this story, is at the Sea of Galilee. And there was large crowds that were gathering because of the actions that Jesus was doing, because he was healing people. That attracts attention. Now, three of the gospel writers, OK, this story is told in all four gospel accounts. Three of the gospel writers mentioned that it was a remote area. It was a desolate area. For people in that day to go out into a desolate area, they really didn't like doing that very much. So it just shows how much they were attracted to Jesus's teaching and to the healing that he was doing. So the crowd increased, and they pressed in. And some of the gospel writers tell us that the disciples came to Jesus and said, you need to send these people into town so that they can get some bread to eat. Problem is, Jesus doesn't send people away. Jesus told them to feed the people. Well, then some of the gospel writers told us that some of the disciples were calculating how much that would cost, and kind of complaining about how much that would cost, and saying it can't be done. The thing is, Jesus doesn't minister based on our calculations or our budgets, does he? And he is about to prove that. So I think it was Andrew who said there was a little boy with five loaves and two fish. And so we're going to pick up reading in our text on verse 10. This is John chapter 6, verse 10.

And so they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves. And I've often wondered if those 12 baskets served a particular purpose. I think about when we go to the drive in an order a basket of fries, it's like, well, there's 12 of you, and there's 12 baskets left over. It seems the Bible doesn't say that. I just think that maybe everybody else got fed, and then here's your lunch, too. But already in this story, we have a useful application for us. There clearly wasn't enough food for the people's needs. There wasn't enough of what they needed. And what Jesus did is he took what was available, he thanked God for what he did have, and then he began to bless other people. And that's not the point of this story, but I think it's a really good plan for us to follow. Because how many times in our lives do we clearly not have enough for the situation? We don't have enough time for what's in front of us. We don't have enough health for what we need to do. We don't have enough skill set for the task in front of us. We don't have enough house. We don't have enough food. We don't have enough money. We face this often, where we say, I don't have enough right here. So following this plan that Jesus had, I think is good for us, too, to say, well, what do I have? If I don't have enough time for the day, what do I have? Do I have one minute here? Then I should thank God for what I do have and begin to put it into service to bless people around me, trusting the results with God. Have you gotten to the end of a day like that and marveled? And you just said, I didn't think I was going to make it. I didn't think I had enough strength for this task or whatever. And yet, it is God who brings the increase. But it's that middle part right there of thanking God for what we do have. I think that that's really a great application for us. All right, let's look at the response that the people had in verse 14.

Now, again, we haven't even gotten to Jesus saying, I'm the bread of life. But people are paying attention because of his actions before his words. Also another good plan for us to follow, good pattern. So that evening then, after this all took place, the disciples got in a boat. Jesus was praying on the mountain. I'm actually going to minimize verses 15 to 21. That whole story of the storm at sea, we wrote about it in the study guide. And I'm going to gift it to you to talk about. There's some really, really good stuff in that. But I feel like we won't get done what we need to get done about the bread of life if I do that as well. So that's yours this morning to talk about. The summary is Jesus and the disciples ended up on the other side of the lake in the morning. And so we'll pick up the text in verse 24 then on the next day.

And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? They're suspecting something miraculous had happened. But Jesus doesn't feel like he needs to give them an answer to that question. So he redirects their attention to what he wants to talk about. Verse 26,

The most important thing that Jesus wanted to talk about was their motivation. Why were they seeking him? Jesus always presses into us to point out our motivation. That's one thing about Jesus. You can't play games. pointing a certain direction, he'll say, but I'd like us to talk about this, and that's exactly what he's doing there. Their motivation was to improve the circumstances of their physical lives. That's why they were seeking Jesus. He had just fed them for free, and they were seeking him to continue that improvement in their physical lives. And Jesus wanted them to recalibrate their motivation to consider their spiritual lives instead. Jesus was gently pointing out their carnality. Do you know what I mean by that? Carnal means thinking about this, what affects me, my body, life around me, the natural realm. And he was saying to them, you weren't seeking me because you sensed your spiritual depravity, because you felt like you needed to be brought from death to life. You were seeking me because you liked having your physical needs met. You really liked having a free lunch. And in verse 34, if you drop down to it, they even said to Jesus, sir, give us this bread always. So that truly was their motivation. Now, there's a reason to stop here and bring application to our lives too, because we're not different than the ancient people. We also are geared to the natural, and that often is our motivation. And I pointed that out in the study guide. Has that ever been your motivation to come to Jesus because you wanted your marriage improved, or you needed to find a better job, or you needed to know what school to go to, or you needed money or something like that? That's your motivation. Now I'm talking to God because I need these things taken care of in my life. Here's a little test for our motivation. We can kind of look at a period of our life and say, are we having any conversation with God at all until we need something? And then suddenly we're having a conversation. Suddenly we're seeking Jesus. Oh, it's happened to all of us. We can all say, yes, this week, last year, ten years ago, whatever. Absolutely, because that's who we are. And you know, there's plenty of, in all fairness to us, there's plenty of corners of American Christianity that promote that. But that's not what Jesus is promoting. Remember, we're trying to learn about Jesus in his own words, and he's not promoting that. So that's what we want to focus on, is what he's promoting. And that is what the I Am, the Bread of Life is all about, is recalibrating our thinking from the natural, the physical, to the spiritual. So let's keep moving on. In verse 25, they called him rabbi. They used that term rabbi, teacher. And then way at the end of this chapter, the very last sentence tells us that Jesus said these things in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Now it doesn't tell us how much of this conversation was in the synagogue. I just like to sort of picture this whole thing was taking place in the synagogue as Jesus was teaching, because what better place, what better setting for Jesus to make the contrast between the natural and the spiritual, to point out the spiritual things. And in verse 27 now, he's making that contrast.

There's the contrast, food that perishes, food that endures to eternal life, okay? The food that perishes is the bread, the physical bread. It's going to be stale in a day. There's no preservatives. If it's humid, it's going to be moldy. But the food that endures to eternal life is in the spiritual realm, not the physical realm of eating the bread. So he's bringing that contrast. Now I want to read that verse again and emphasize a different word, all right? Verse 27,

And then they said to him, well, what must we do to be doing the works of God? What kind of work should we do then? And Jesus answered, this is beautiful,

That is Jesus in his own words. This is the work of God. You want to know what kind of work you should be doing? The work of God is to believe, to believe that I am, I have come from the Father, to believe that I am the Messiah, to believe that I am the Son of God, to believe that I am the one that brings you from death to life. This is the work Jesus wanted them to do. This is the work he's asking us to do. It is a continual work. It is a eternal work for us is to believe. This is what faith is, to believe that Jesus is who he says he is and will provide what we need. Now for the Jews in this moment, there was one hindrance. For the people that day, remember they had a national shared history. And in their minds, remember Jesus said, on me, God the Father has set his seal on me. So in their minds, when God has set his seal on someone, he has become their leader, like Moses had been their leader. God had chosen him to be their leader in the wilderness, in another remote location. So they're thinking, all right, that's fine. You're our new leader now. And so then in verse 30, they said to him, then what sign do you do that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? And then they went on and suggested what they would like him to do in verse 31. So our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness. As it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. See, they're having a hard time discerning between the natural and the spiritual. And then Jesus says to them, he says, truly, I say to you, first, it wasn't Moses who gave you bread from heaven. It was my father. But now my father gives you the true bread from heaven. See that manna? We studied that on our way through the wilderness. That manna that God gave them, six days a week for 38 years, that was a symbol to them. That was something in the natural. It was a symbol to them of something real that was going to come. God gave them something in the natural that would show them something supernatural, something spiritual that was to come. And Jesus says here in verse 33,

I love those two words, gives life to the world. The manna gave life for a day, for a moment. But Jesus says, now I'm giving life to the world and it will last. This bread will last. And then we get to our theme verse for this session this week. Jesus spoke now plainly in verse 35,

That is our theme for this week. So let's unpack it. Okay. I am, we said last week that when Jesus said I am, he was sinking with God the father. He was using that name, name association. I am the bread of life. And this is an analogy that he is using here. It's this in the same way that the bread fills the belly and satisfies our hunger. Jesus will fill our spirit and satisfy our spiritual hunger. That's what an analogy is, an object lesson, if you will. It uses one thing to explain a different thing. And that's what Jesus was saying to us. And then the verse goes on to say two things, whoever comes to me and whoever believes in me. Okay. So those are the things that we need to do. We have a part in this. Whoever comes to me and whoever believes in me. We've said very often that God chooses us. God reaches out and chooses us. And what do we have to do? Choose him back. We have to come to him. We have to believe in him. That's our part. And it says, whoever, he's the bread of life for the world. Whoever comes to him. And what is the result when someone responds that way? Still not hunger and never thirst. Literally, I won't have to drink anymore and eat anymore. Of course not. Spiritually, I will satisfy that hunger. My spirit will be made alive and I will be satisfied in my spirit. Now, does this kind of thinking come naturally to us? No, I don't think so. Because we are grounded to this earth. Our sinful nature has grounded us to the natural. And it's not natural for us to even detect our spiritual hunger. It is God who gives us the appetite. Did you know that? It is God who gives us the spiritual appetite in the first place. And Jesus says that in verse 44. Drop down to verse 44.

Jesus says, you have to come to me. Oh, by the way, no one can come to me unless the father draws him. See, our spiritual appetite is a work of God. None of you would be in here today if God hadn't given you a spiritual appetite. God has reached out to you, revealed himself. to you. It's why you have any interest in studying the words of Jesus. God has given you that spiritual appetite. So I was thinking this week as I was processing this, okay, if God is the one that gives me a spiritual appetite, and if I know that in the natural I am just grounded to think about my to-do list and to think about what needs to be done and to worry about this and that, then what I need to pray this week is, Lord, would you give me a bigger spiritual appetite? Would you do it more? Would you give me more of that spiritual appetite? Because apparently I need it. Apparently I need more spiritual appetite. I think that that's a good prayer. So do we believe that Jesus, our bread of life, can satisfy our spirit? Here's an important takeaway for this week. Even Jesus said later on in John, in this world you will have trouble, and we understand that. We have experienced that. Experientially we can say, yep, that's true. In this world we will have trouble, okay? When our life is messy or sad or painful or anxious in the physical realm, is it possible for us in the spiritual dimension to be satisfied, to be full? Yeah. If we're going to connect the dots from Jesus' teaching, we have to say to ourselves, even when my life is messy and hard and painful, there is a possibility for me to, in my spirit, say, I'm good. I am full. Jesus has filled me, brought me from death to life, and satisfied the spiritual hunger. That is a possibility. So here's some questions I thought of to ask ourselves. Number one, are you spiritually fed and hydrated right now? Is your spirit at peace? And if not, then Jesus says, come to me. Believe in me. I will do that work, okay? If you are spiritually full, is that enough for you right now? Undoubtedly, you have all the same problems in your life that I do. Is it enough today that Jesus has brought us from death to life and satisfied our spiritual hunger? And if we say, yes, Jesus is enough, and then we're still anxious or worried about something, then what I see in this, what I need to do is tell my natural self, tell my mind, you just need a timeout. You just need to simmer down. I've heard about enough from you for right now. I just want like a half hour to enjoy being filled by God. Do you know you can tell yourself to just simmer down and say, I am full in my spirit, and I just want to like rest in that for a little bit. So stay over there for a while. We'll talk later. Right? Okay, how about this question? If there was only a one-syllable answer to this question, either yes or no, to this question, what would you say? Is Jesus enough for you today? Good girls. All right. In our theme verse also, I love that he used that phrase, whoever. Do you remember Jesus didn't send the people away when they were hungry on the hillside. He met their physical need for hunger. And he also doesn't send us away when we're spiritually hungry. He never sends people away. I want to show you back up to verse 37.

Oh, that is such a good promise. Whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. There's no qualifiers. There's nothing about what we've done, who we are, where we're at in life. It's just simple, whoever. I love that. Jesus will always respond to the one who comes and believes he is enough. Jesus will always fill our spiritual tank. He is enough. But our pride does not necessarily like dependence on Jesus. Our pride wants to say, I am enough, doesn't it? And we need to not say that to one another. I've seen that sometimes. And I know that people are doing it to try to just befriend someone. You are enough. No, you're not. I'm saying to you right now, I'm looking you in the eyes, you are not enough. Jesus is enough. We don't need to be the best version of ourselves and we don't need to love ourselves more. We need to say, I need to come to Jesus to have my spiritual appetite filled. He is enough. That sort of dependence isn't popular today. And it wasn't popular for this audience. Look at verse 41. And let's look how the Jews responded. So the Jews grumbled about him. When did you hear about grumbling before? In the wilderness. It didn't matter what kind of bread they were given. They seemed to grumble, right? And so it says that they grumbled about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven. And verse 42, they said, is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, I have come down from heaven? And Jesus answered, do not grumble among yourselves. Drop down to verse 47 for the summary of the conversation.

Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness and they grumbled and they died. He didn't say that. I just added it.

I love that phrase. I am the living bread. It implies that the bread does something. When we eat physical bread, we take it in. It does something for us. It becomes part of us. It fuels. I mean, if I was a chemistry teacher, I could explain the whole thing to you. But if we're going to exert a lot of energy, run a marathon, what do we say? I need to carb up, right? We need the fuel, right? And when we eat physical bread, it forms a union with us in a way. It's inseparable. You can't divide it out anymore. And it gives us what we need. When we come to Jesus and partake of the living bread, we also form a union. A union has been formed. The bread does something. He does something in us. Not only does he give us life, but he gives us what we need for life and godliness. He gives us the fuel that we need to do the works that God has given us to do. That's our living bread. It does something. So, just in summary, Jesus gave clear explanation that day in the synagogue. He said, I am here in order for you to pass from death to life. The work that you need to do is believe. I am here to satisfy your spiritual hunger. The work that you need to do is come to me. I am here to fuel your life so that you can do the works that you've been designed to do. I am here and I am enough. And that is the bread of life. Father God, I thank you for this clear teaching from Jesus. And Lord, I pray that you would help each one of us to make that discernment between the natural and the spiritual. And to know that you have given us a spiritual appetite. And it is through your son that it is satisfied. Not just death to life, but that living bread that does something in us, that gives us what we need. Lord God, I pray that each one of us would make use of that. Daily come to you. Lord, tell our minds, our busy minds, to just be quiet and to walk in the spirit as the word teaches us. To live by the spirit. Lord, that is our aim. We thank you that we can do that together in community. Encourage one another, Lord. And I just pray for my sisters as they discuss this now. Pray that it would be useful. And thank you for this time. In Jesus' name. Amen.