Are You Hungry?
Scripture Reading: John 6:26-40
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek
Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves
and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the
food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give
you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, 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 sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we
may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate
the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from
heaven to eat.’”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not
give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread
from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me
shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall 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 by no
means 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 the Father who
sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up at the last day. 40 And 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 the last day.”
Let me begin by saying that this was the day after He had fed the five
thousand men (possibly 15-20,000 people) with two fish and five loaves. The
people were so amazed at this sign that they were ready to make Him King by
force so He withdrew Himself and went to the other side of the lake away from
the people. So, here it is the next day and the people went looking and they
find Him on the other side of the lake. Yeshua tells them from the start that
they are coming to Him for the wrong reasons. Not because they had seen
Him perform a miracle and they knew He was the One Moses had prophesied
to come but because they had eaten and were physically hungry again. They
were coming to Him to have their physical needs met, not their spiritual
needs. Basically, it was because they desired the things of the flesh and not
the things of the spirit.
Exodus 16:2-4
2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel
said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land
of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the
full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole
assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for
you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day,
that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
You see, the people complained not because God hadn't shown Himself
through awesome signs and wonders, but because of their belly. They said,
“Oh we ate so good in Egypt.” They neglected to remember that they were
also enslaved, mistreated, and beaten. They must have forgotten that they
had cried out to Him to save them from Egypt. These OT people like their NT
counterparts are forsaking the things of the spirit for the things of the flesh.
So, back to John 6, Jesus then tells them not to struggle over the food that
spoils but struggle for the food that endures to everlasting life. He's telling
them that they need to stop focusing on the flesh and start focusing on the
spirit. On what are you focusing on every day? Is it the daily physical stuff?
What’ll you wear, what’ll you eat, what’ll you get? Or is it the things of the
spirit?
So they ask Him how they should do what God wants. He tells them to believe
in Him who He sent and here's where it gets really interesting. They ask Him
what sign He's going to show them. What? By this point in His ministry He had
already done many miracles. Why, just yesterday He'd fed thousands with a
small boy's lunch and then this happened.
John 6:14-15
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said,
“This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and
take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by
Himself alone.
It was just the previous day that they had seen the sign and perceived that He
was the Prophet foretold by Moses and they were ready to make Him King
because of this sign. How quickly they forget, huh? In our Exodus reference
passage the people had just come through the Red Sea. God had just
delivered them from 400 years of oppression in a foreign land. They'd seen
the 10 plagues that had been sent on the Egyptians. They could look within
their own families to their firstborn who had been spared during the Passover
yet they were still looking for Yahweh to prove Himself. Both the OT people
and the NT people have a very 'what have You done for me lately?' attitude. It
seems that not only is Yahweh the same yesterday, today, and forever; but so
are His people.
So, the people here in John 6:31 challenge Him with saying that their fathers
ate manna from heaven. They were clearly saying so what will You give us.
Ironically, they're referencing the same passage we're using to connect this NT
occurrence to the OT. But Jesus cut through all the fluff and gets to the real
issue. Moses. They've replaced Yahweh with Moses. Jesus says that Moses
didn't give you bread from heaven. Notice that they never mentioned Moses
here but Jesus knows that it’s the real issue. Do you remember when God
spoke directly to the people?
Exodus 20:18-19
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes,
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the
people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to
Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with
us, lest we die.”
Their fathers had no problem replacing Yahweh's presence with the presence
of Moses and they had passed this down to their descendants. What they
believed Moses said became more important than what God actually said.
Yeshua explains that Yahweh's true bread from heaven is He that comes down
and gives life to the word. They ask Him to give them this bread. It's obvious
from their request that they're not really listening. He clearly said that the true
bread was He who comes down. What they should have asked was, "Who is
the true bread?" Although they didn't, Yeshua here in the NT is just as
longsuffering and patient as He was in the OT. He still spells it out for them.
Hey, it's Me! But they saw and still didn't believe. Just like their fathers did in
the wilderness. They saw so many amazing signs yet instead of going to their
heavenly Father with great joy and gladness knowing He can do all things and
so requesting what they needed. They chose to complain, and grumble and
murmur, and stand afar off from God put the barrier of Moses between them
and God. And thousands of years later their descendants are still doing the
same things. Still focusing on the same things.
John 6:41-45
41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the
bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among
yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the
prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who
has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
These people complain talking about His father and mother and questioning
His statement instead of just asking Him what He meant. If they had believed,
they would have asked for clarification. Their complaining proved that they
didn't believe. Then He explains that no one will come to Him unless His
Father draws them out. He makes reference to Isaiah 54:13 by saying they'll
be taught by God. Now some might say that's not fair. Calvinists talk about
predestination as if God is up in heaven picking a kickball team or something
and choosing to leave some people out but that's not it at all. Remember the
passage we read where they said we don't want to hear from God?
Unfortunately, too many people fall into that category. They choose not to
hear from God. I submit that since it is written that He doesn't want that any
should perish, He must be trying to draw everyone out. Some choose not to
be drawn.
Here in Florida when a hurricane is coming every broadcast outlet will be
broadcasting the warning. All your neighbors will be running around getting
ready, boarding up the windows of their houses with hurricane shutters or
plywood. All the stores will put out all their hurricane items and there will just
generally be a buzz around town concerning the hurricane. Well, let’s say
someone chooses to cut themselves off from everything for one reason or
another before the warning comes? They don’t turn on the radio or television.
They don’t look out their window to see the neighbors’ windows getting
boarded up. They don’t go to the stores at all during those few days. Now, let’
s say the hurricane hits and they suffer because they weren’t prepared. Can
they complain that they were not warned? In the same way, our heavenly
Father is broadcasting His warning to all mankind. The warning is being sent
out on all channels to come to Him and be saved.
As this passage from John 6 continues, He lays out the entire truth of the
Gospel. Yet time and time again they murmur and complain showing their
unwillingness to accept the spiritual food that leads to eternal life. If Jesus had
had a big barbecue they would have cheered and shouted and made Him King
by force. They were more than happy to receive the things of the flesh. Let
us not by like either of these groups that chose to complain and murmur in the
face of YHWH. This week let's be aware of any time we fall into that spirit of
complaining so we will be able to recognize it and cast it down. Let's labor for
the spiritual bread that leads to eternal life knowing and trusting that He will
supply your daily physical bread. Let us be aware of what it is that we are
hungering. Are we seeking God so He can give us stuff or are we seeking Him
for Him?
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 3, 2008
Scripture Reading: John 6:26-40
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek
Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves
and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the
food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give
you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.”
28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, 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 sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we
may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate
the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from
heaven to eat.’”
32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not
give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread
from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven
and gives life to the world.”
34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”
35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me
shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall 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 by no
means 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 the Father who
sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should
raise it up at the last day. 40 And 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 the last day.”
Let me begin by saying that this was the day after He had fed the five
thousand men (possibly 15-20,000 people) with two fish and five loaves. The
people were so amazed at this sign that they were ready to make Him King by
force so He withdrew Himself and went to the other side of the lake away from
the people. So, here it is the next day and the people went looking and they
find Him on the other side of the lake. Yeshua tells them from the start that
they are coming to Him for the wrong reasons. Not because they had seen
Him perform a miracle and they knew He was the One Moses had prophesied
to come but because they had eaten and were physically hungry again. They
were coming to Him to have their physical needs met, not their spiritual
needs. Basically, it was because they desired the things of the flesh and not
the things of the spirit.
Exodus 16:2-4
2 Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. 3 And the children of Israel
said to them, “Oh, that we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land
of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the
full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole
assembly with hunger.”
4 Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for
you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day,
that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not.
You see, the people complained not because God hadn't shown Himself
through awesome signs and wonders, but because of their belly. They said,
“Oh we ate so good in Egypt.” They neglected to remember that they were
also enslaved, mistreated, and beaten. They must have forgotten that they
had cried out to Him to save them from Egypt. These OT people like their NT
counterparts are forsaking the things of the spirit for the things of the flesh.
So, back to John 6, Jesus then tells them not to struggle over the food that
spoils but struggle for the food that endures to everlasting life. He's telling
them that they need to stop focusing on the flesh and start focusing on the
spirit. On what are you focusing on every day? Is it the daily physical stuff?
What’ll you wear, what’ll you eat, what’ll you get? Or is it the things of the
spirit?
So they ask Him how they should do what God wants. He tells them to believe
in Him who He sent and here's where it gets really interesting. They ask Him
what sign He's going to show them. What? By this point in His ministry He had
already done many miracles. Why, just yesterday He'd fed thousands with a
small boy's lunch and then this happened.
John 6:14-15
14 Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said,
“This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
15 Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and
take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by
Himself alone.
It was just the previous day that they had seen the sign and perceived that He
was the Prophet foretold by Moses and they were ready to make Him King
because of this sign. How quickly they forget, huh? In our Exodus reference
passage the people had just come through the Red Sea. God had just
delivered them from 400 years of oppression in a foreign land. They'd seen
the 10 plagues that had been sent on the Egyptians. They could look within
their own families to their firstborn who had been spared during the Passover
yet they were still looking for Yahweh to prove Himself. Both the OT people
and the NT people have a very 'what have You done for me lately?' attitude. It
seems that not only is Yahweh the same yesterday, today, and forever; but so
are His people.
So, the people here in John 6:31 challenge Him with saying that their fathers
ate manna from heaven. They were clearly saying so what will You give us.
Ironically, they're referencing the same passage we're using to connect this NT
occurrence to the OT. But Jesus cut through all the fluff and gets to the real
issue. Moses. They've replaced Yahweh with Moses. Jesus says that Moses
didn't give you bread from heaven. Notice that they never mentioned Moses
here but Jesus knows that it’s the real issue. Do you remember when God
spoke directly to the people?
Exodus 20:18-19
18 Now all the people witnessed the thunderings, the lightning flashes,
the sound of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the
people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off. 19 Then they said to
Moses, “You speak with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with
us, lest we die.”
Their fathers had no problem replacing Yahweh's presence with the presence
of Moses and they had passed this down to their descendants. What they
believed Moses said became more important than what God actually said.
Yeshua explains that Yahweh's true bread from heaven is He that comes down
and gives life to the word. They ask Him to give them this bread. It's obvious
from their request that they're not really listening. He clearly said that the true
bread was He who comes down. What they should have asked was, "Who is
the true bread?" Although they didn't, Yeshua here in the NT is just as
longsuffering and patient as He was in the OT. He still spells it out for them.
Hey, it's Me! But they saw and still didn't believe. Just like their fathers did in
the wilderness. They saw so many amazing signs yet instead of going to their
heavenly Father with great joy and gladness knowing He can do all things and
so requesting what they needed. They chose to complain, and grumble and
murmur, and stand afar off from God put the barrier of Moses between them
and God. And thousands of years later their descendants are still doing the
same things. Still focusing on the same things.
John 6:41-45
41 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the
bread which came down from heaven.” 42 And they said, “Is not this
Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it
then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among
yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me
draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the
prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who
has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.
These people complain talking about His father and mother and questioning
His statement instead of just asking Him what He meant. If they had believed,
they would have asked for clarification. Their complaining proved that they
didn't believe. Then He explains that no one will come to Him unless His
Father draws them out. He makes reference to Isaiah 54:13 by saying they'll
be taught by God. Now some might say that's not fair. Calvinists talk about
predestination as if God is up in heaven picking a kickball team or something
and choosing to leave some people out but that's not it at all. Remember the
passage we read where they said we don't want to hear from God?
Unfortunately, too many people fall into that category. They choose not to
hear from God. I submit that since it is written that He doesn't want that any
should perish, He must be trying to draw everyone out. Some choose not to
be drawn.
Here in Florida when a hurricane is coming every broadcast outlet will be
broadcasting the warning. All your neighbors will be running around getting
ready, boarding up the windows of their houses with hurricane shutters or
plywood. All the stores will put out all their hurricane items and there will just
generally be a buzz around town concerning the hurricane. Well, let’s say
someone chooses to cut themselves off from everything for one reason or
another before the warning comes? They don’t turn on the radio or television.
They don’t look out their window to see the neighbors’ windows getting
boarded up. They don’t go to the stores at all during those few days. Now, let’
s say the hurricane hits and they suffer because they weren’t prepared. Can
they complain that they were not warned? In the same way, our heavenly
Father is broadcasting His warning to all mankind. The warning is being sent
out on all channels to come to Him and be saved.
As this passage from John 6 continues, He lays out the entire truth of the
Gospel. Yet time and time again they murmur and complain showing their
unwillingness to accept the spiritual food that leads to eternal life. If Jesus had
had a big barbecue they would have cheered and shouted and made Him King
by force. They were more than happy to receive the things of the flesh. Let
us not by like either of these groups that chose to complain and murmur in the
face of YHWH. This week let's be aware of any time we fall into that spirit of
complaining so we will be able to recognize it and cast it down. Let's labor for
the spiritual bread that leads to eternal life knowing and trusting that He will
supply your daily physical bread. Let us be aware of what it is that we are
hungering. Are we seeking God so He can give us stuff or are we seeking Him
for Him?
Sermon by: Denise Baxley
Date: August 3, 2008