Sermon - Laetare 2019 - John 6:1-15

The past few weeks this Lent we’ve been considering how the Christian life is a battle that we’re engaged in. We’ve discussed how Jesus goes to battle for us against our enemies of sin, death, and the devil, thus triumphing over them in His crucifixion on the cross. We’ve also considered how we are engaged in this battle daily; facing temptations, our sins, this world, and even the devil himself; we are at war. 

This war is no little skirmish that will be soon ended either, but it’s a daily battle which won’t come to an end until we die. Something we often take for granted in long wars has nothing to do with fighting the enemy, but it’s nonetheless crucial for us to claim the victory: nourishment, food, daily bread! Without sustenance, our enemy doesn’t even need to fight us, because we will simply starve ourselves and die without even having to pick up a sword. 

Our Lord who goes before us into battle knows this important detail, and so He feeds us. While He has provided for us manna, bread, and fish, needed to support our bodies, the fact is that “man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” Thus Jesus today nourishes us with heavenly manna, bread that has come down from heaven, this bread goes beyond satisfying the needs of the stomach and it satisfies our hungry hearts. Truly I say to you, Jesus is our living bread from heaven.

Now, don’t get me wrong, earthly nourishment is a great gift from God. After Jesus had ascended the mountain, He “lifted up His eyes, then, and saw that a large crowd was coming toward Him, Jesus said to Philip, ‘Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?’” Jesus was concerned about these people and looked after their physical needs. The Lord was concerned with His people, the Israelites, such that the Lord declared “At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread.” As they wandered in the wilderness for forty years, their clothes didn’t wear out nor did their feet swell in pain from walking.

God abundantly and generously provides for all the bodily needs of His creation. “The eyes of all wait upon Thee o Lord and You give them their food in due season. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.” The bread and fish Jesus provided exceeded what the people could even consume, “When they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten.”

God cares about us as well today and He provides the food needed for us to live. It’s only by the hand of the Lord that our food crops continue to sprout forth from the soil and put on fruit, without the Lord’s providence our crops would all fail and the animals would all die or become diseased. So everytime that you eat a bite of food, or take a sip of water, remember that it’s only because the Lord cherishes you, therefore give your thanks to Him.

But as great as this earthly food is which nourishes our bodies, the greater bread is the bread of heaven.  This earthly food we eat shall all rot, the waters we drink upon the earth will dry up. So we must not be so comfortable with the earthly food that we consume, as if it’s all that there is. 

“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” Afterall, the Israelites “ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” All of the Jews who ate of the bread and fish on the mountain, they died too! All of us who eat food to our fill everyday, we will also die! Even if you eat healthy, you watch your calories and sugars and fats and gluten and whatever, you will still die.

But the bread that Jesus feeds you this day, “the bread that comes down from heaven, you may eat of it and not die.” This bread of heaven is Jesus Himself, this bread that He gives for the life of the world is His flesh. Jesus on the cross gave His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. This bread is the only bread that will nourish your soul so that you might endure beyond the battle of this life. In fact, without this bread of heaven you will lose the battle on this earth and perish eternally.

Jesus gives to you this bread of life right here in this sanctuary. Firstly, you eat the bread of life by faith when you believe that Jesus the Christ is your Savior who has fought the battle on your behalf and given you salvation. What’s more, the bread of life is distributed to you as you sit here and listen “to every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” 

Finally, it’s no coincidence that the feeding of the 5000 is so similar to the last supper when Jesus institutes the Lord’s Supper. Listen to it! “Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.” Or during another Passover week, Jesus reclined with His disciples, and “Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” The similarities are uncanny! When you eat and drink of the bread and wine of the altar, you are really eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus; you’re eating the bread of life! 

So do not take this bread of life for granted, dear Christian! The sacrament of the altar, the word of God, faith in Christ Jesus, these are all most necessary for you to partake of and be sustained in this prolonged battle against the devil. Do not think that you can fast from the bread of life that Jesus offers to you, for without this food you will starve yourself and perish before you even begin to fight against Satan.

So the big mistake that many a Christian makes is to believe that your earthly provisions, your earthly bread, are sufficient for your battle against Satan. Consider your heart! How challenging is it for you to skip church or sit here but not pay attention? How difficult is it to skip reading the Bible and saying your prayers at home? Not tough at all! In fact, the flesh says it would be better if you spent less time in prayer and scripture, and more time feeding your belly. 

We have a much more difficult time giving up our desires of the flesh than we do our needs of the spirit. Work comes before church, pleasure comes before church, leisure comes before church, family comes before church, dinner comes before church, everything comes before church because we’ve mistakenly assumed that the bread and fish on earth are more important than the bread from heaven.

So today we are starving for the bread that comes from heaven. The absurd thing about starving is that after a certain point, a starving person stops feeling hungry. So the same thing happens with we who are starving for the bread from heaven: many who have been without this essential nourishment don’t even feel hungry for it. Us included, we may not hunger for this bread of life even though we’re weak and wasting away. But know this, so long as you are in the flesh and live here on this earth, you have no greater need than to be fed the bread from heaven, the crucified and risen flesh of Jesus.

So all around us, the people we pass in the grocery store or walking down the street, our neighbors and our friends, our distant relatives and our closest kin are starving for the bread of life and most don’t even know it. So many people’s lives are void of meaning and value, they run from one pleasure high to the next, trying to hide the fact that they don’t even know why they’re alive. 

Depression, drugs, alcohol addiction, meaningless lives, loneliness, obesity, anorexia, social media addictions, a mass exodus from church, pornography, it’s obvious that the people around us and among us are starving for the bread of life. They, WE, try to feed ourselves with barley bread and fish, vain pleasures, but still we starve and grow weaker by the day. But the food that shall nourish your whole being, body and soul, is right here. The bread that comes down from heaven is here distributed for you to eat to your fill and satiate your starving spirit. 

If you’re wondering what you can do to help those around you? Here it is. Feed God’s people the bread of life. Share with them the Gospel. You have exactly what our world needs even though they don’t realize it! So feed yourself and everyone else! Spare no expense! There’s more than enough to go around! Jesus is the bread of life who will sustain us through this long-fought war with the devil.