Sermon Text: John 6

That You May Believe: John 6

Opening

• Good to see everyone this morning for the new year!

• If you are visiting us, make sure to fill out a connection card in the lobby

• We continue with our new series: That You May Believe

  • This series is focused on the writings and life of the apostle John

  • Last week we covered the first half of John chapter 1

Gospel of John Series: The Word Made Flesh

• Word and Witness (1-4)

• Signs of Life (5-11)

• Turning Point (12)

• The Upper Room (13-17)

• Passion and Resurrection (18-21)

• The 7 "I Am" Sayings

Birds Eye View of John 6

People want what Jesus gives, but they do not want to submit to who Jesus is. The question isn't "What can Jesus do for me?" but "Will I accept who He really is?"

Key Thoughts

1. Deja Vu

2. No Expiration Date

3. All In

1st Key Point: Deja Vu (vv. 1-15)

John 6:1-15 NIV

Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), [2] and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. [3] Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. [4] The Jewish Passover Festival was near. [5] When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” [6] He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do. [7] Philip answered him, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” [8] Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, [9] “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” [10] Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). [11] Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish. [12] When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, “Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.” [13] So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten. [14] After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” [15] Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.

Déjà Vu

• Déjà vu (French for "already seen") is the intense, fleeting sensation that a new experience or situation has been lived through before, despite knowing this is impossible

  • I have felt this before many times throughout my life

  • You feel like you played this exact scene/moment of your life before

  • It is said that over 60% of people have experienced similar things

John 6 is another Déjà moment in scripture

• I thought of the Spider-man meme used in one of the movies

  • They run into different versions of themselves, arguing over who's the real Spider-Man

  • But when I think of the Old and New Testaments, they're both showing a version of God revealed in Scripture

• What I mean by this is, we’ve seen this in scripture before

  • If you've been following our lessons on studying the Bible, you've heard me talk about scriptural hyperlinks

  • Biblical stories throughout Scripture are constantly pointing back to something before them

  • You've had to watch the "previously on" episode to fully notice it

  • Now, this doesn't mean you can't get God's message and teaching — but knowing the whole Bible helps you marvel at God's incredible plan for us

Key Points

Jesus is redirecting Israel around Himself

• Context: Near Passover (v.4) — not accidental. Jesus is redefining the Exodus story

  • Reference: deSilva - The Passover setting activates the entire Exodus typology — deliverance, wilderness, provision, covenant. John is framing Jesus as the new Moses delivering a new Israel

• 12 baskets = 12 tribes

  • Reference: Pillar Commentary (Carson) - The twelve baskets (κόφινος, kophinos) likely correspond to the twelve tribes

• Only miracle (besides resurrection) recorded in all 4 Gospels — this matters

• A first-century Jewish audience would immediately connect this to Moses

  • Reference: Jewish NT Commentary (Stern) - The crowd's response — "This is the Prophet" (v.14, cf. Deut 18:15) — is a direct messianic identification.

• Cross-reference: 2 Kings 4:42-44 — Elisha multiplied loaves. Jesus is greater than Elisha

The "I AM" Statements

• Later in the chapter Jesus says "I am the bread of life" (v.35) — 1st of 7 great “I AM” declarations in John

• This is one of those hyperlinks a Déjà vu moment in Scripture pointing back to Exodus 3:14

  • You have Moses encounter God through the burning bush

  • In fact, the same greek word used in the Septuagint “egō eimi” is used in verse 35

  • Jesus isn't just using a metaphor, He's claiming the divine name

  • Reference: TDNT on ἐγώ εἰμι (egō eimi)

• All Seven: Bread of Life (6:35), Light of the World (8:12), the Gate (10:9), Good Shepherd (10:11), Resurrection and the Life (11:25), the Way, the Truth, and the Life (14:6), the True Vine (15:1)

  • All “I Am” statements

  • All communicating this has happened before with God of the Torah

What Does This Mean For Us?

• We can’t ignore these powerful passages declaring who Jesus’ is like a deja vu encounter

  • This is not some weird, fleeting feeling

  • This is showing us the power of Jesus

• And when we think this way, we will approach Scripture, our prayer life, our relationships, and our evangelism differently

• Like Colossians 3:23 BSB (Berean Standard Bible) says — “Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, for the Lord and not for men…”

  • When we grasp the magnitude of encountering God in our daily discipleship, it is hard not to give everything

Questions to Consider

• How often do you judge God’s ability by your unanswered prayers?

• When you pray, are you defining the encounter by your need or by God’s nature?

2nd Key Point: No Expiration Date (vv. 25-33)

John 6:25-33 NIV

When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” [26] 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. [27] 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.” [28] Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” [29] Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” [30] So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? [31] Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” [32] Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Key Points

• The crowd finds Jesus the next day, following Him because of their appetite and not for spirituality

• Jesus calls them out: "You're looking for me because you ate the loaves, not because you saw signs" (v.26)

• We often come to Jesus for what He can DO (fix my marriage, heal my body, bless my finances) rather than for who He IS

• Jesus begins to make some incredible comparisons to their actions

The Shift: "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life" (v.27)

• Jesus makes the comparison to their worldly appetite vs godly desire to eating food that spoils

  • I hate discovering I ate something that turned out to be spoiled

  • I remember making some toast and buttering it up. I made some coffee, grabbed everything for my quiet time. Took a bite of the bread and thought it tasted funky. I went to look at the loaf and immediately felt sick, it was completely moldy. My piece was only slightly moldy, but I didn't catch it because of the lighting in my kitchen.

• Food that spoils will never have the ability to be long-lasting

  • And the same is true for desires that are not rooted in Christ

  • They only last for a moment and then fade away, leaving us ultimately empty and needing more

  • And worse, if we keep living on them past their expiration date, we end up causing even more harm to ourselves

• But what Jesus comes to bring is food that never spoils!

  • What He possesses is something the world is searching for

• Imagine eating your favorite food and it never gets old or never spoils

  • Imagine watching your favorite sports team and they never lose

  • Imagine having a job that pays you more than you're worth and sees your value

  • Imagine a romantic relationship where they never hurt you and meet all your needs

  • Imagine having kids that never embarrass you, never struggle, and listen to your every word

  • Imagine having parents that never embarrass you, never make you struggle, and listen to you!

• I think you get the point

  • We understand these thoughts are outlandish

  • But then why do we chase them?

  • Why do we put our faith in them?

  • And why do we keep coming back to them?

What Does This Mean For Us?

• Society offers hope with an expiration date

  • Only satisfies short term

• Jesus Offers a hope that lasts forever

  • No expiration date

  • Which means we should be more drawn to Him than all the other things we know will not lasts!

Questions to Consider

• What are you hoping for right now?

• Are you chasing dreams or goals that have an expiration date?

• What does unspoiled faith look like for you?

3rd Key Point: All In (vv. 51-71)

John 6:51-71 NIV

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” [52] Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” [53] Jesus said to them, “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. [54] Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. [55] For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. [56] Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. [57] Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. [58] This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” [59] He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. [60] On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” [61] Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? [62] Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! [63] The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. [64] Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. [65] He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” [66] From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. [67] “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. [68] Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. [69] We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” [70] Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” [71] (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

Jesus turns up the heat:

• "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (v.53)

  • The Greek shifts to a more offensive word for eating

    • Reference: φάγω (phagō) — eat, to τρώγω (trōgō) — gnaw, chew, munch — more intense, more visceral, more offensive

    • TDNT on τρώγω: Used for animals munching or humans crunching raw food

• Jesus deliberately chose the most graphic verb here

  • He wasn't softening His message rather intensifying it.

What was the response?: They Walked Away When Truth Become Hard

• The “many” were NOT enemies. NOT Pharisees. DISCIPLES.

  • People who were supposed to be the most invested!

• Granted "This is a hard saying…" (6:60) / "Many turned back." (6:66)

  • The teaching was weird and incredibly hard to understand

    • There were no hyperlinks to anything like this in scripture

  • Reference: deSilva - The offense wasn't just theological — a Jewish teacher claiming to be from heaven, superior to Moses, demanding people "eat his flesh"? Scandalous on every level

• But does that matter? If Jesus says it, does that settle it for you?

• Peter does something remarkable

  • Much like getting out of the boat in Matthew 14:22-33, he takes a risk

Peter's Confession

• Jesus turns to the Twelve: "Do you want to go away as well?" (v.67)

• And Peter says: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed and have come to know that you are the Holy One of God." (v.68-69)

• The risk was absolute trust: He was All In

  • Peter and the twelve trusted Jesus

  • They didn’t need to understand everything

• Notice what Peter does NOT say:

  • "Jesus didn’t mean that."

  • "We agree with your choice of metaphor."

  • “This is what the people need to hear right now.”

• He says: "There is nowhere else to go."

  • That is true faith. Not comfort. Not convenience. But a settled conviction that Jesus alone has life.

• This hyperlinks back to every bizarre direction God gives his followers

  • Abraham — sacrificing his son despite being promised he would father many nations

  • Moses — challenging Pharaoh with a staff and his brother, then walking through the Red Sea with slaves

  • Joshua — singing worship songs while marching around Jericho as military strategy (Joshua 6)

  • Gideon — reducing 32,000 men to 300 to defeat an innumerable Midianite army (Judges 7)

  • Naaman — a powerful foreign commander told to wash in an insignificant river (2 Kings 5)

  • Ezekiel — lying on his side for over 400 days (Ezekiel 4)

  • Hosea — marrying a prostitute

What Does This Mean For Us?

• What are you waiting for?

  • Are you holding back?

• The only way to live Discipleship is ALL IN

  • You can’t live with one foot in and one foot out

  • Jesus demands our everything (Luke 14:33)

• You can’t take a half leap

  • You either jump or you don’t

  • There was no back up plan for the twelve. This was it.

Questions to Consider

• Is there anything that would get you to turn way?

• Would your response be like Peter’s?

• Do you have a back up plan?

Conclusion

1. See Jesus for who He is: “I am the bread of life.” (6:35)

2. Trust in His wisdom: “Whoever comes to me will never go hungry…" (6:35)

3. Remain in Jesus when it's hard: "Do you want to go away as well?" (6:67)

There is no alternative source of life. And the only safe answer is Peter's:

"Lord… to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."