With a Hungry Soul - May 29, 2016 sermon

By Pastor Greg

The kid had swallowed a quarter and it got stuck in his throat, and his mother ran out in the street yelling for help.  A man passing by took the boy by his
shoulders and hit him with a few strong strokes on the back, and he coughed
the coin out.  "I don't know how to thank you, doctor”, his mother started.  "Oh, I'm not a doctor”, the man replied.  "I'm from the IRS."

Poor woman.  She didn’t quite get what she had expected.  I believe this sometimes happens to many of us as well, especially when we come to God.  We pray for one thing, but something else happens.  For some people, this makes them angry at God or perhaps even walk away from God.  This is what happened to a large group of people who had been following Jesus for a while. They left because they didn't get what they wanted.

About a day after Jesus fed the 5,000 near the town of Tiberius, many of those same people traveled to Capernaum hunting for Jesus.  However, John indicates they were following Jesus for the wrong reasons.  First, they wanted to make Him their king (John 6:15), and now they only wanted another meal (John 6:26).  In other words, these people were attracted to Jesus but for all the wrong reasons.  This is why He has a very lengthy conversation about being the “Bread of Life”.

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.  ²⁶Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. ²⁷ But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”  ³⁰They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? ³¹ After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day.” ³⁵ Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ⁴⁰ For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” ⁴¹ Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” ⁴⁷ [Jesus replied] “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ Yes, I am the bread of life! ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. ⁵⁰ Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”  ⁵² Then the people began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked. ⁵³ So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. ⁵⁴ But anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise that person at the last day. ⁶⁰ Many of his disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?”  ⁶¹ Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining, so he said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? ⁶³ The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. ⁶⁶ At this point many of his disciples turned away and deserted him. ⁶⁷ Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” ⁶⁸ Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. ⁶⁹ We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

In this very lengthy exchange, Jesus is attempting to open the eyes of the people.  He says they need to start thinking about their eternal soul, not their empty tummy (verse 27).  He points out that the longing of their souls could be satisfied by placing their faith in Him (verse 35).  He says, metaphorically, “Eat My flesh and drink My blood” (verse 53).  He is telling these people to depend on Him for their very life – that He is the One who will sustain them.  In other words, those who recognize the deep longing of their soul will turn to Jesus.  Unfortunately, those who wanted happiness and contentment in this life wanted Jesus to be a miracle worker, not a Savior.  The sad part about this is that most of these people walked away.  They stopped following Jesus because He refused to make them happy (see John 6:66).

Are we not just like those who turned away from Jesus?  Many people today think that Jesus exists to make their life happy and content.  How many times have we prayed for these very things?  We don’t want to be sick.  We don’t want to fail our test.  We want the promotion or a better job.  We don’t want to go hungry or homeless.  We want – almost expect – God to provide all that we need so we are comfortable in this life.  We pray for things that would make a non-Christian wonder why we are following Jesus in the first place.  Why have we come to Him?  Why have we gone looking for this Jesus?  Is it so He might give us an abundant life?

Too many people merely want all of God’s blessings and ask Jesus to provide peace, happiness, contentment, and fulfilment.  But instead of giving people these things, Jesus gives Himself; as if His broken body and shed blood is what humanity really needs, not a new Lexus.

I know that sounds a bit funny but stop and think for a moment.  As God looks down upon humanity, I am sure He sees all the tragedy, the sadness, the disease, the war, and the hunger.  And since He is a loving God, the Father decides to get involved.  He chooses to address the issues facing the world.  Do you know what His solution was?  His solution was to send His Son.  Jesus came not take away the problems, but to take away our sin.  God’s answer to evil came in the form of a little baby lying in a manger.  His response to wickedness was to send that child to the cross.

This entire dialog was the Lord’s attempt to turn the eyes of the people off of this life and consider their life to come.  This is true for us as well.  Our comfort and pleasure in this life do not impact our eternal life.  However, far too often we focus on this life, never considering what we will experience in the next.  We have become like the wealthy farmer who spent his time and energy accumulating comforts in this life, yet did nothing to address his relationship with God.  “Yes, a person is a fool to store up earthly wealth but not have a rich relationship with God” (Luke 12:21).

I share this with you today as a warning to not follow Jesus for all the wrong reasons.  Do not build your relationship with Jesus on the wrong things.  It was the spirit of the antichrist who merely saw Jesus as a miracle worker, and those who were deceived walked away (John 6:66).  However, it was the Spirit of the Father that enabled Peter to exclaim “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life” (John 6:68).  So if you have come to Jesus expecting Him to give you a blessed, wonderful, peaceful, and abundant life, then you are following Him for the wrong reasons.  Our relationship with Jesus must be built upon His death and sacrifice, for this is the reason He came.  He came to have His body broken so ours would not, and to shed His blood so ours would be spared.