Jesus, The Resurrection and the Life

The Resurrection and the Life

John 11:17-27

Easter 2020 is different from every other Easter of my life.  

The year 2020 is different from every other year. Of course, every year is unique, but this year has been touched by the Coronavirus.

If we look back in the Bible to the time of Noah, we will see that prior to the flood everybody was carrying on with business and the practicalities of life. Jesus told us about those days when He said:

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away... (Matthew 24:38-39 ESV)

This is exactly what we were doing until the Coronavirus came and changed everything. We were carrying on with business as usual. Now, we are waiting for things to get back to normal.

Life has interruptions. The Coronavirus has interrupted life on a global level, but in each of our lives, there are interruptions that take away our business as usual. 

Death is one of those interruptions. It changes everything. The death of a loved one leaves an empty place that will not be filled in this life, and we all must at some point face our own mortality.

I want to take a moment to consider an interruption that occurred in the life and ministry of Jesus. We find the account in John 11. Jesus had friends named Mary, Martha and Lazarus. They were siblings who lived together in Bethany, which was a town about two miles from Jerusalem. When Jesus ministered in Jerusalem, He stayed with Mary, Martha and Lazarus in their home.

John 11:1 tells us that Lazarus was sick. Jesus was ministering some distance away when the sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was ill. Jesus stayed a while longer where He was. Saying to His disciples:

This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. (John 11:4 ESV)

After two days, Jesus told His disciples that Lazarus had died and said:

... for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. (John 11:15 ESV)

Nothing was unexpected for Jesus, but from a human point of view, this was an interruption. Jesus left where He was ministering to go to the place where Lazarus was. John 11:17 tells us that when Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. 

When Lazarus’ sister Mary reached Jesus, John tells us:

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35 ESV)

I want to focus on the first thing Mary said when she saw Jesus. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

From Mary’s point of view, death was final. From our human point of view, death is final. No one is seeking a cure for death. We are seeking a cure for the Coronavirus. We are seeking a cure for cancer. But all that stops at death. 

Jesus is sensitive to our sorrow and the trouble death represents. Look at John 11:33 where it says, “He (Jesus) was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.”

Jesus knew that He was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He was not troubled over Lazarus as much as He was troubled over the human condition. We know this because Jesus had said earlier, “I am the good shepherd ... I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15 ESV) Jesus was concerned enough about the human condition to give His own life to save us.

Death is a great sorrow. It is the greatest of interruptions. God tells us in the Bible:

... it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment. (Hebrews 9:27 ESV)

Most of humanity carries on with business as usual even though we all know that we have an appointment with death. For many, this is because there is nothing anyone can do about it anyway. There is no cure. Some express the attitude reflected in the Bible when Solomon says:

... man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be merry. (Ecclesiastes 8:15 ESV)

Solomon reached this conclusion because as he says:

No man has power to retain the spirit, or power over the day of death. There is no discharge from war, nor will wickedness deliver those who are given to it. (Ecclesiastes 8:8 ESV)

God gave Solomon great wisdom so that Solomon could explore these subjects for us, and what he found is recorded for us in Ecclesiastes, the most depressing book of the Bible because of the inevitability of death. Solomon points out to us what we all know and what many of us try to ignore as we carry on business as usual. “No man, or woman, has power to retain the spirit,” i.e. to prevent death.

Why am I being so depressing on Easter, a day of great joy?

Because to experience the joy, we must understand what we have been saved from, and because there are those who still do not understand the importance of the resurrection. 

Jesus is sovereign over death. Regarding His own death Jesus said:

No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father. (John 10:18 ESV)

So, if Jesus is sovereign over death, why did He let Lazarus die and why did He weep?

As to why He let Lazarus die, we have already read the reason Jesus gave. He said, “for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.” (John 11:15 ESV) As for why He wept, it was for the same reason He wept over Jerusalem when He said:

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Matthew 23:37 ESV)

People are slow to accept the truth about Jesus. As soon as we mention the resurrection, we lose some. In their minds, a resurrection cannot happen. Resurrections are the stuff of fairy tales.

The disciples and Mary and Martha had a hard time believing in a resurrection. Mary and Martha said the same thing when they saw Jesus. They both said, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Death was final in their minds. Martha even expressed that she expected a resurrection on the last day, but she was not looking for a cure for death.

It is at this point that Jesus says the most astounding thing. He says:

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25-26 ESV)

John tells us a number of “I am” statements Jesus made. Such as, I am the good shepherd, I am the bread of life and I am the true vine. These statements are comparisons of two things of different kinds in order to illustrate a truth Jesus is trying to teach. However, when He says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” He is stating reality as it is. 

Apart from Jesus, there is no life. If you do not have Jesus, you are dead even while you live. Please do not hide from this truth by burying yourself in “business as usual.” The Coronavirus interruption is a good reminder that we cannot cure death, but Jesus is the cure for death. God did for us what we could not do for ourselves. He cured death. This is why 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 says:

"Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:54-57 ESV)

Jesus said He had authority to both lay down His life and to take it up again. He is the only one who has this authority. 

For those of you who say that resurrections cannot happen, I would like you to consider the empty tomb. Just because you have never seen a thing does not mean it could not have happened. Those that were there wrote about it, were changed by it and died testifying to it, and yet since you were not there, you maintain that it could not have happened. The historical fact of the matter is that it did happen, and each person must decide whether to ignore it or embrace it. 

The biggest interruption of business as usual the world has ever seen happened on Easter morning 2000 years ago. Because of this one event, nothing will ever be the same again. Death has been cured. Life has been given to all who will believe.

Jesus rose from the grave defeating death and the grave once for all.

He is alive and because He lives, we can live also.

Do you believe this?

If you do, stop and tell Jesus right now that you receive Him as your Savior and wish to receive His gift of life.

If you try to ignore the truth of the resurrection, when death interrupts your life, you will be confronted once again by this mighty truth.

He is risen!

Jesus: The Good Shepherd

John 10:1-21

This Sunday, April 5, 2020, is Palm Sunday. It is the day we remember the Triumphal Entry, the day that Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey. The people celebrated His coming with shouts of: “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!” (Matthew 21:9)

At the time of His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus knew that His time was fulfilled. He knew that He was going to the cross to die for the sins of the whole world. And yet He went willingly. He was not forced or coerced.

The human conflict that brought about His death on the cross had grown over the 3 years of His public ministry. The spiritual conflict that brought about His death on the cross had been going on from the garden of Eden when Adam and Eve sinned.

We tend to think in terms of human events. The Triumphal Entry of Christ into Jerusalem was an event in the history of the nation of Israel. It was an event in the life of Christ. And it was also an event in the eternal plan of God that had been foretold by the prophets and as such it was necessary that it take place. 

That day in Jerusalem the children were crying out in the temple, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” This offended the chief priests and the scribes. According to Matthew 21:16, they said to Jesus, “Do you hear what these are saying?”

Jesus made it clear that this too had been foretold by God. Quoting Psalm 8:2, He said, “Out of the mouth of infants and nursing babies you have prepared praise.”

God foreknew and foretold the battle that was going on for the hearts and souls of men and women. Ephesians 6:12 tells us that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood. And, as insulting or demeaning as it may be, God likens us to sheep. As much as we like to think of ourselves as mighty warriors and invulnerable, the Bible tells us things like, “All we like sheep have gone astray...” (Isaiah 53)

The good news is that God also says in Psalm 100, “We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3)

In the conflict of the ages, the battle for the souls of men and women, we have a shepherd. Psalm 23 speaks of this shepherd and says, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” 

Jesus has many roles. On Palm Sunday, He entered Jerusalem as a king and was greeted as “the Son of David,” which was a designation pointing to His right to the throne. At the same time, He entered as King, He also entered as the shepherd of His people, and the Lamb of God as well. All of these designations point out different roles He fills as Savior and God and King. These are not divisions of His person, they are offices and roles that He takes on to work our salvation, to lead us, and to protect us in the battle.

My purpose today is to look at how Jesus, as our shepherd, protects and guides us in the battle. 

The events of the Passion week are the point in time and space where our salvation was won. The war still rages, but the outcome has already been decided. Our salvation is secure. Jesus will, at some point in time, return, and at some point, there will be no more battles. However, God is still working. We are told that at the current time God is working so that “the fullness of the Gentiles” will come in (Romans 11:25). 

During this time, God is at work and His purposes are being fulfilled. The events of Palm Sunday and the Passion week were no accident. Neither are the events of today. God was, is and always will be in control.

In His conflict with the Jewish leaders, Jesus spoke saying:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber. (John 10:1 ESV)

This statement was made some time before Palm Sunday. Jesus said this to the same people who objected to the praise He received. In this statement, Jesus is addressing the escalating conflict between Himself and the Jews. The Jews believed that since they possessed and also taught the Law of Moses, they were the teachers and shepherds of Israel and of the people of God. Jesus had told them earlier:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?

(John 5:39, 46-47 ESV)

According to Jesus then, although the Jews possessed and also taught the Law of Moses, they did not believe it. So, now in John 10, He is making the point that there are those who try to enter the sheepfold by a way other than the door.

In John 10:7, Jesus clearly states that He is the door. Both the door and the sheepfold represent protection. 

The sheep in the sheepfold are safe. The thief and robber tries to get in by some other way.

This is the history of the Church. Many of Paul’s letters were written to combat those who tried to worm their way into the Church and draw a following after themselves. We have the same thing happening today. Even at this very hour.

I will take some time on this, although I would rather not. But we have in our present day a situation where some are working to draw a following after themselves. There are those who are capitalizing on the Covid19 outbreak and the fears that accompany it to say that this is the time of the Lord’s return, and they are upsetting the faith of many. Let me give a brief answer to such things. I trust that this answer points us to the door of the sheepfold.

 In Matthew 24:6, Jesus says, “And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet.” Please note that this verse says that these things are not the end, and that Jesus encourages us not to be alarmed. Now consider Luke chapter 21 verse 11. In this verse, Jesus talked about earthquakes, famines, pestilence and persecution as normal events on earth. Other passages of Scripture speak of evil growing from bad to worse. These things are not signs of the end. However, in Luke 21:29 Jesus says, “Look at the fig tree and all the trees.” In the same way trees tell us the season by leaves and fruit, there is something that will do the same for us. The trees are the nations. Consider the Old Testament prophecies concerning the Day of the Lord, and many have to do with the nations. In Luke 21:29, the fig tree, in particular, represents the nation of Israel. There are a lot of things listed in Luke 21 that represent the persecution of the Church and the progress of evil on the earth, but these things are not the end. Luke 21 verses 9 through 18, in particular, are not talking about signs of the end. Rather, these verses are talking about the evil we are to expect. Then in Luke 21 verses 20 through 24, Jesus talks about Jerusalem. This is a sign that tells us the season. Verse 24 tells us that Jerusalem will be trampled underfoot by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. This is also consistent with what Romans 11:25 tells us about the fullness of the Gentiles coming in. The signs and shaking of the heavens in Luke 21:25-28 will frighten the whole earth and cause panic. But we are told to watch the fig tree. In our day, the fig tree has come out in leaf, i.e. Israel has become a prosperous nation once again. This is also pictured in Ezekiel 37 as the valley of dry bones with flesh and yet no breath. Israel has not accepted their Messiah yet. Israel accepting their Messiah is represented in Ezekiel by the breath entering the bodies resurrected from the valley of dry bones.  We are told in Romans 11 and in other places that this will happen. However, the signs of the times are not pestilence, wars, and earthquakes or the stars. The signs of the times are Israel and the nations. Gog and its multinational alliance that is preparing to invade Israel and take spoils just like it speaks of in Ezekiel 38, these are the signs we can clearly see today. This is why 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 says, “We ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.” Sensationalism abounds and many seek to profit from the fears and uncertainties we all have. But like 2 Thessalonians 2:3 says, “Let no one deceive you in any way.” Two verses I would encourage you with:

“But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day to surprise you like a thief.”

1 Thessalonians 5:4 ESV

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 ESV

The preaching that the Coronavirus is the beginning of the end is another way of getting into the sheepfold by a way other than the door. Certainly, Christ’s coming is near. We see indications of His soon return in the fact that the long dead and forgotten Israel is a nation and has been for over 70 years now. But God has told us clearly that we are not destined for wrath, so we have no reason to fear. Evil times will continue to grow worse. Many Christians have died and continue to die for their faith. Pestilence, war, earthquakes and famine will continue to the end. These are nothing new and they should not upset our faith.

Turning to Jesus for salvation is always urgent for every person for the simple reason that not one of us is guaranteed tomorrow. End times or not, no one knows when his or her life will end and he or she will have to stand before God.

Let’s return to the words of Jesus in John 10:5. He says:

A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers." (John 10:5 ESV)

We all should consider this. Ponder what this might mean. 2 Corinthians 13:5 says:

Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! (2 Corinthians 13:5 ESV)

We all must consider who or what we are following. Who are we listening to? 

Jesus said:

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. (John 10:11-15 ESV)

There is one Shepherd. The elders of the Church are called to be under-shepherds, and they are only good as far as they imitate Jesus. And they only do this by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit. The Apostle Paul said, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” (1 Corinthians 11:1 ESV) We should all seek to be imitators of Christ.

When Jesus entered Jerusalem that day, He entered to lay down His life for us, His sheep. No church, no prophet, no teacher and no shepherd can save you except Jesus. He is the Good Shepherd. Follow Him. Listen to His voice. In Psalm 23, the Psalmist wrote, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We see and understand more of what this means when we see Jesus laying down His life for His sheep. We know that since He was willing to lay down His life for us that we need fear no evil - not the Coronavirus, not the tribulation, no not even the end of the world.

If you have not done it already, come to Jesus, “the Shepherd and Overseer of your soul.” (1 Peter 2:25)

Jesus: The Bread of Life

John 6:25-58

Jesus worked lots of miracles. John records just a few of them. In John chapter 4, John tells how Jesus healed a royal official’s son from a distance. And then in John chapter 5, John tells how Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. This last one, the man who had been an invalid for 38 years, Jesus healed on the Sabbath. Because they considered healing on the Sabbath to be breaking the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Jesus. Jesus answered:

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” (John 5:17 NIV)

The Jews, understanding that Jesus was saying He was equal with God, became zealous to kill Jesus.

All this attention because of His work and His teaching caused huge crowds to follow Jesus.

In our day, Jesus gets even more attention. His name is known around the whole world. Places do exist where the name of Jesus has not been heard, but they are few. In the English-speaking world, His name is used as a swear word. All over the world, information about Jesus has been twisted, lied about and changed. For example, Muhammad changed many of the facts about Jesus’ life in the Quran so that the person represented in that book and in the minds of his followers is not the Jesus of history. While the Jews of Jesus’ day persecuted Jesus by trying to kill Him, His persecutors today try to kill Jesus by teaching lies, discounting His claims and/or denying His existence and deity. Because of the huge crowds Jesus draws and the attention He attracts, many are offended by Jesus.

The fame of Jesus’ name makes it inevitable that large numbers of people gather to see what it is that Jesus has to say. 

John 6:2 says:

...and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. (John 6:2 NIV)

People were drawn to Jesus because they saw the signs he performed. Today, it is no different. Jesus is doing great things in our world and it draws attention. For this reason, it is important for us to consider what Jesus had to say to the crowd that was attracted by His miracles.

John 6 tells the story of how a very large crowd was fed by Jesus with just 2 fish and 5 loaves. They had 12 baskets of leftovers from what had started out as a boy’s lunch.

After the meal, Jesus withdrew to a quiet place to pray, and the disciples got in a boat to cross the lake. The crowd saw that Jesus did not get in the boat with His disciples, but during the night Jesus walked on the water out to the boat where His disciples were fighting a storm.

The next day the crowd searched for Jesus and finally found Him with His disciples on the other side of the lake. They started asking Jesus, “How did you get here?” John tells us:

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” (John 6:26-27 NIV)

In these words, Jesus points out a problem in the reason that many people have for seeking Jesus. This problem was present in the people of His day and it is present in us today. 

Jesus says, “...you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”

With these words, Jesus shows that He knows and understands the human heart. These people were seeking Jesus not because they saw and understood that He was God, but they were seeking Him for what they could get for themselves. James talks about this same attitude existing in the Church when he says:

What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. (James 4:1-3 NIV)

Jesus was trying to warn the Jews of His day, and us as well, of this human tendency. 

Jesus pointed out the problem in their hearts and urged them to work for the food that endures to eternal life. He was addressing people who had sought Him out. These were the ones who came to hear what He had to say. And yet they were seeking Him with wrong motives.

They took the bread that Jesus had given them to be a sign that Jesus was going to be like Moses, and establish the nation. They were looking for a Messiah who would restore the fortunes of Israel; they wanted a Savior to make Israel great.

The Messiah will rule on the throne of David, and Jerusalem will be the capital city of the world, but not yet. What they did not and still do not understand is that the prophecies concerning the suffering servant and that the Messiah would give His life as a ransom for many had to be fulfilled first. Because they did not and still do not understand or believe all that the prophets said about Jesus, they were looking and are still looking for the Messiah they want.

They wanted a Messiah who would provide them with a nation, with prosperity and with the things of this world. This is still what the Jews of today are looking for, and it is the kind of Messiah that many invent for their own convenience in our world today.

But Jesus will not be put in our boxes. He has not come to fulfill our dreams. John 6:15 tells us that those in the crowd that had eaten His bread planned on making Him king by force. They wanted a Jesus they could control.

Jesus was trying to change their focus and wake them up when He said:

“Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27 NIV)

Jesus is pointing to the kingdom of God. He taught much on this, telling us to store up treasures in Heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and telling us to seek first God’s kingdom and His righteousness. When the crowd heard Jesus telling them not to work for food that spoils, they asked:

“What must we do to do the works God requires?” (John 6:28 NIV)

Jesus responded:

“The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29 NIV)

This is a simple statement and yet the crowd challenged it. They understood that Jesus was talking about Himself so they said:

“What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30-31 NIV)

With this statement, they show that their hearts are fixed on this world. They were drawn to Jesus because of the miracles He had performed. The day before they had seen Him feed a large crowd with a boy’s lunch. They had been planning on making Him king, and now they were saying, “What sign will you give?”

In response to this, Jesus gives a lecture. As lectures go, it is short. You will notice that from John 6:35 through John 6:58 they do not ask Jesus any more questions. They grumble about Him and argue among themselves, but they do not address Jesus directly.

In this lecture, Jesus teaches that He is the bread of life. He is the true bread given by God for the life of the world. Jesus teaches several facts about this bread.

The first fact that He teaches is found in John 6:35:

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35 NIV)

The fact is that Jesus is the true bread of life.

Jesus is not talking about physical bread or drink as we can see by the verbs He uses. He says, “Whoever comes” and “whoever believes.” In these words, we learn how we are to “eat” this bread. We are to come and we are to believe.

Jesus points out something about this fact. He points out that even though the crowd had seen Him, they did not believe.

In verses 38 and 39, Jesus makes it clear that He will never turn anyone away who comes to Him. He also makes it clear that it is the Father’s will that none of those who come will be lost. However, even though the crowd had followed Him because of His miracles, even though they had heard His teaching, they still did not believe.

The truth of the matter is that, left to themselves, no one will ever believe. Jesus has demonstrated that even living in the very presence of the Son of God was not enough for people to believe. He also says in verse 37, “All that the Father gives me will come to me,” and then in verse 44, He says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.”

In the Bible, in the book of Lamentations, it says:

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. (Lamentations 3:22 NIV)

God did not send Jesus into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. (John 3:17) This is why Jesus also taught.

“And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” (John 12:32 NIV)

Jesus is the bread of life, and it is only by lifting Him up, showing Him to people, that people are saved. No other miracle, presentation or argument has the power to save. As the hymn writer said:

My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

Many have come claiming to teach in God’s name and claiming to have been sent by God, but anyone who does not lift up Jesus and teaches others to discount or change the truth that is revealed about Jesus in the Bible, the only historically verifiable record we have, is not from God.

In John chapter 6, especially in verse 45, Jesus teaches that a person knows Jesus by listening to God and being taught by Him. And then in verse 46, He teaches that the only way to know the Father is through Jesus. 

Jesus is the bread of life because He is our only connection to God. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is our high priest. He is the only mediator between God and man. Without Him, there is no life.

Physically without food we die, and spiritually there is no life apart from Jesus. Jesus states this a number of times in John chapter 6. To look at this fact, I want to focus on John 6:53.

“Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53 NIV)

Because of this statement, many of the people who had been drawn to Jesus stopped following Him. They questioned how Jesus could give His flesh for people to eat. And they said they could not accept it (John 6:60).

In answering their objections, Jesus made this statement:

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63 ESV)

They were viewing eating and drinking as a physical act. Jesus had shown earlier that He was not speaking of physical bread when He had said that what is required is that one comes and believes. 

People still make the mistake of thinking that we must physically eat and drink. Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to teach us our absolute dependence on Him for spiritual life. He said, “This bread is my body broken for you,” and “This cup is my blood shed for you.” Some teach that if one does not eat and drink the communion, they cannot be saved. They attach saving value to receiving or taking communion. However, look again at John 6:63.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” (John 6:63 ESV)

We eat of the bread of life by believing in Jesus. We drink His blood by faith. Physically there is nothing we can do for our salvation. Our spiritual life comes only by coming to Jesus and believing in Him. Jesus described Himself as the bread of life to help us to understand that there is no spiritual life, there is no connection to the Father, there is no knowledge of God apart from Jesus.

I want to close by reminding us of the words of Jesus:

"This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." (John 6:29 ESV)