In a 2014 National Geographic article, there was a discovery made where in a cave in Egypt, there was evidence showing a meal that was prepared with a circular loaf of bread that was being shared that had evenly divided score marks. The article accounts where for thousands of years, human history has always shared food amongst each other. In scripture when food is shared it’s a sign of friendship and brotherly love. It’s a way for each of us to assemble ourselves together in unity by the way of bread; just as Jesus did. In a more modern sense, as in 1902, an Antarctic expedition led by Robert Falcon Scott’s had the men prepare a for both the shortest day and the longest night of the year with loaves of bread. Hefty provisions had been brought on board which included forty-five sheep which were frozen until they had the feast. When the meal took place, the cold, the darkness, and the isolation were forgotten for a while; and Scott wrote "With such a dinner we agreed that life in the Antarctic Regions was worth living." Then there was the landing on the moon where the astronauts participated in Holy communion with bread and juice as to remember what Christ tells us, “Do this in remembrance of me!” Factually, John Wesley, the co-founder of Methodist Church had increasing suggestive and also advised churches throughout the America’s that communion, the taking of the bread and juice or wine, should be practiced as much as possible, which he participated it at least once a week. Indeed friends, when we speak about bread, we are speaking about not only an age-old tradition, but a understanding of God’s purpose and divine instructions where the living bread, God himself, is more than just our desires to be met and satisfied.
In starting our journey today we are going to look further into what the Living Bread is and means for us today. I will start a little earlier in scripture in John chapter 6 in verse 24. We are at the point where Jesus had just preformed the well-known miracle of taking 5 barley loaves and 2 fish the day prior and fed thousands of people to where they were satisfied. The next day they searched for Jesus and they wanted to know where He was at and how did he get here. Jesus response was rather disturbing to the people. 26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Jesus was not impressed by any means of their enthusiasm. He knew the hearts of man and the reasoning behind their indulgence. It’s painful to God I know when we seem more interested in God to give us bread to satisfy our physical hunger, ease our material difficulties and increase our earthly comforts as to truly desiring and experiencing God in His spirit. This begs the question. In a world of introverted, narcissistic modern-day religious ideologies, how impossible is it to steer away from statements like “God! What’s in it for me?” “Will it save my own skin?” “Will I be entertained?”; and these are just to name a few. The world is about “I” with a capital I. When Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty,” is this a goal to be believed or something of fantasy? In this statement alone we are hearing that God’s presence is always right before us, yet we don’t see God at times! Look at it this way; We witness babies being born; people’s illness’s being healed without human understanding; rain that falls from the sky that weights literally tons and yet it floats in a cloud; we see relationships being rebuilt; we see animals that make nests to sleep in and yet they never attended college or school to learn to build them. God is everywhere! The living bread is something we Christians should know and love more than ever in todays world as it’s the life source of all that we have and believe in! Jesus tells us starting in verse 47 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down out of heaven, so that anyone may eat from it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats from this bread, he will live forever; and the bread which I will give for the life of the world also is My flesh.” Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Notice God has set His seal!
In 1935, the mayor of New York, Fiorello LaGuardia, dismissed the judge one evening at night court in one of the poorest ward of the city so that he could take the bench in his place. There was a case that came before him where a tattered old woman was charged with stealing a loaf of bread where she claimed her defense was her daughters husband deserted her and she was sick and her children was starving, so she stole bread to feed them. The shopkeeper refused to drop charges and the mayor gave his judgement in sentencing her to $10 or ten days in jail for the crime. However, while he was announcing his sentence, the mayor reached into his pocket and pullet out a brand new $10 bill and said, "Here's the ten-dollar fine, which I now remit, and furthermore, I'm going to fine everyone in the courtroom fifty cents for living in a town where a person has to steal bread so that her grandchildren can eat. Mr. Bailiff, collect the fines and give them to the defendant." In total, Forty-seven dollars and fifty cents was turned over to the women. It’s a sobering reminder friends that this magnificent and culture driven world, even in 1935, cannot ignore the responsibility that each of us have to not ignore those less worthy of our attention while staying true to what God has given each of us which is the living bread to depend on. We would charge a woman a crime to feed her grandkids but let others go free for something far worse. We reject people to pray in public or in schools to the God of the universe, yet the world condemns them for following a principle that is not socially acceptable. The world claims to condemn molestation, pornography and rape, yet we see and hear of it existing. Why? The root of the problem man feeds on things that are not eternal, not the living bread of God. WE are NOT seeking the living bread as we should! Jesus tells us For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” This friends is our Living bread which we can rest assured in that no heavenly food given to us from God will ever spoil and we will always be fully satisfied.
In closing, In order to truly live by the living bread, we must first be taken by Jesus; not by being satisfied with the bi-products of being a Christian. If we seek God to provide better material things, increasing wealth, shorter working hours, gadgets to lesson our workload and even add more to our leisure time by having more fun—then we are not seeking the living bread. We should desire spiritual gifts to use to make a difference; Be given power to overcome self-doubt, anger and selfishness towards others.; Be stronger in resisting temptation and to master areas in our lives that prevents us from growing in Christ’s likeness.; Have inner peace, love, joy that the world cannot provide. Next, we must be broken to realize the wholeness does not come from us or the world, but healing is only found in the brokenness that we possess. With Christ we pull our brokenness away from the darkness and lay it under the light of Gods blessings. Then we must be given away to others. We are not to be hermit Christians but be used by God’s purpose to fulfill His desire to do exactly what each of us are called to do which is to spread the Gospel of Christ to all people. We are to use the living bread and spread it to others. One of my favorite verses, Matthew 4:4 says “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God!” The worldly views, points and opinions have no purpose towards what God has intentionally planned for His creation.
There’s lots of bad bread out there—half-baked social and political dough—which does nothing for the soul. Lost humanity needs good bread, the bread which came down from heaven. And what a privilege it is for Christians to become the embodiment of Christ in our broken world, daily embracing the mystery of being taken, blessed, broken, and given away. Believe in the living bread my friends which endures to everlasting life. It feeds the deepest center of human existence, the spiritual self, and continues to satisfy. This food friends cannot be earned but is freely given to those who actively believe, not passively in the Risen Christ. Don’t be caught up in the legalisms of the world, slaves to the flesh! Rest assured the food that our Heavenly father provides is the ‘true bread’ that is from the creator of all the universe, the great I AM, the Alpha and Omega. Nothing can compare to it! Amen.