Title: He is the Bread
By Pastor Lohn Johnson
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Text: Exodus
16:14-15 14 And when the dew had gone up, there was on
the face of the wilderness a fine, flake-like thing, fine as frost on the
ground. 15 When the people of Israel saw it, they said to
one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it
was. And Moses said to them, "It is the bread that the LORD has given
you to eat. John 6:35 5 Jesus said to them,
"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and
whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
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I. My dear
friends in Christ, This video is the necessary background for our text:
[Video: Prince of Egypt – Parting of the Red Sea]
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A. “Wow!
God that was great.“ So, God, You've
created the dry ground with the wall of water to the right and to the left
for Israel to walk through. You've swept the Egyptians who pursued into the
sea.
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1. So, God before that You made the plagues—the
blood flowing, the flies bothering, the hail destroying, the frogs
inhabiting, the animals dying, the locusts devouring, the gnats pestering,
the boils hurting, the darkness blinding. So, God, You’ve sent the angel of
death throughout the night as the firstborn died.
2. So, God, You've caused Egypt to give their gold
and silver and clothing. You’ve plundered
the Egyptians for Israel.
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B. So, God, what are you
going to do next? The people of
Israel are in the wilderness, and they’re grumbling. It’s like they
were saying, “So, God what are you going to do next? It better be
good” they imply.
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1. Yes, they’re not in Egypt anymore, where their
faulty memories saw them having lots to eat including loaves of bread and
pots of meat.
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a. That’s what
they say to Moses, though they conveniently leave out the part where they
were slaves. They fail to mention the hard labor and the cruelty of Pharaoh.
They fail to mention the part where Pharaoh decreed that their newborn sons
must be murdered.
b. No,
they’ve conveniently forgotten all the bad parts about Egypt, and they’re
focused on the food they used to eat.
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2. Well,
okay. People get tired, worn out, burnt out and don’t think clearly. So
after years of wandering around the desert, I can understand it if the gripe
count starts to climb. But this isn’t after years of wandering in the
desert. The people aren’t worn out from years of wandering. The Red Sea
is recent history—it’s weeks not years.
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a. But rather
than rely on the Lord, they adopt a short-sighted,
what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitude and grumble: "Would that we
had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt,..." So
soon after the Lord’s mighty miracle at the Red Sea, they’re convinced that
He’s going to let them die.
b. We
note a few things about the Israelites, because they’re uncomfortably way too
much like sinners today…like us today. For one thing, they’re incredibly
short-sighted—like we are. Rather than remember God’s mighty saving acts, we
forget all of that as we face our current crises.
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C. And then
God does the next thing. He sends the “Bread from heaven.”
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1. When it
first appeared they asked "What's this stuff?" And
thus came the name, manna. Manna simply means "what is this?"
At first it was okay. It kept their tummies from growling; it nourished
their bodies.
2. But after a
while they grew tired of it. It was the same all the time. It wasn’t “big”
enough. It wasn’t a spectacular miracle. So the grumbling
returned. They had forgotten God’s mighty saving acts.
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II. In our
Gospel Lesson Jesus meets people with the same attitude.
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A. Just the
day before, Jesus had fed more than five thousand people with only five
loaves and two fish.
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1. But that
was too plain and ordinary. Had He smacked His hands together and caused
lightning to flash and through that caused a smorgasbord of food to appear
before all the people, that would have grabbed their attention. But
breaking off pieces of bread and fish to have His disciples give to the
people? Even though it was a miracle, it's not that exciting to
anyone.
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a. But
Jesus was never one to incite drama. He healed the sick not with
wild waves of His hands, but quietly. He did not create loud
thunderstorms; but He stopped the thunder and told the winds to be
still. Even the dead He raised with plain, ordinary words.
b. Let's face
the fact that with Jesus, what you get is not a flashy, exciting
miracle-worker, but a plain, simple, ordinary Man sent by God to save those
who are lost.
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2. We must
realize mankind’s appetite for miracles is never satisfied. Faith based on
miracles needs miracles to keep it going; and when the miracles cease then
faith ceases too.
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a. And
Remember that because we’re infected too. Don’t think you aren’t. If you had
been on the hillside and on the receiving end of Jesus’ multiplying the
bread, you would have wanted a repeat performance. Or maybe something more.
Something bigger. Perhaps bread isn’t enough. Or maybe a miracle just for
you, your own little personal miracle.
b. So you
would be hooked, too. You’d look for more and greater and more glorious. Your
list would become endless. Our vending machine who art in heaven. But that’s
not the way of Jesus’ giving. He is not only the bread giver, He is the Bread. He is the “bread of God”
that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
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B. To turn
them around He tells them that He is someone better than Moses and gives
something better than manna.
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1. God sent
manna to the Israelites every day for forty years; and yet remarkable as that
miracle was, it was only to point to the greater miracle of God sending His
Son to earth.
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a. To
demonstrate His godhood, Jesus performed miracles and fed 5,000 with five
loaves of bread and two fish; but this, too, was only to point to the greater miracle of Him being sent from God to save.
b. He came to
do what is required for the salvation of the world. He will live the perfect,
obedient life. He will suffer God's judgment on the cross and die for the
sins of the world. As Jesus provided food for a multitude, He has won
salvation for the world by His death and resurrection.
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2. He’s the
long-awaited Savior. He’s come to deliver them from this sinful world. Jesus
tells them to forget about the bread and fish--He's not here to be the daily
meal ticket.
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a. He tells
them that He is the Son of Man, come with God the Father's approval to give
them everlasting life. He’s come to deliver them to the Promised Land of
heaven. What great news!
b. But they
don’t like the way Jesus is going about saving them. They want Him to be
different. They want the flash, the spectacular.
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III And
this same Jesus speaks to you today. Maybe as inconspicuously as this: A
story is told of Sadhu Sundar Singh, a converted Sikh, who became a Christian
missionary in India many years ago. Singh was distributing Gospels in India
and he came to some non-Christians on the railway train and offered a man a
copy of John’s Gospel. The man took it, tore it in pieces in anger and threw
the pieces out of the window.
That seemed to be the end of the story, but it so happened, there was a man anxiously seeking for truth walking along the line that very day. He picked up a little bit of paper as he walked along and looked at it. The words on the bit of paper were in his own language. They said simply, “the Bread of Life.” He didn’t know what that meant; but he inquired among his friends. One of them said: “I can tell you; it is out of the Christian book. You must not read it or you will be defiled.” The man thought for a moment and then said: “I want to read the book that contains that beautiful phrase, the Bread of Life.” He bought a copy of the New Testament. He was shown where the sentence, “I am the Bread of Life” was. As he studied the gospel, light flooded into his heart. He not only became a follower of Jesus Christ, he became a preacher of the gospel in India. “That little bit of paper through God’s Spirit was indeed the Bread of life to him, satisfying his deepest need.” (3) |
A. Like that
He speaks to you not with flash and drama, but with words you understand;
words that may not excite your senses but which put His Spirit to work within
you. Like most people we are tempted to seek the dramatic. You will not
find that here. But you will find Christ; or better said, he finds you through His ordinary means of
grace--His Word and Sacraments.
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1. "I
forgive you all your sins," you heard Christ say earlier through the
mouth of His servant. Nothing flashy; just the plain truth that God is
merciful to you.
2. He’s called
you to be His own in Holy Baptism—made you His own child—nothing flashy just
water and the word.
3. "Take
and eat..." you will hear in a few minutes; "Take and drink
for the remission of your sins..." Not delicacies to excite
the tongue, but plain, simple bread and wine for your mouth and with it,
Jesus' flesh and blood for your salvation.
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B. And All
that we do here week after week, after years and years, may seem to be pretty
mundane and boring. But It's just like manna in the desert.
It's bread from heaven. Nothing too exiting to the senses.
Nothing too dramatic.
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1. But in and
through it Jesus is here, and with Jesus, you get an ordinary Savior--one who
spread out His arms and died for you; one who made you His own in the plain,
simple water of baptism.
2. Likewise, the Lord tells you that the Promised Land
is coming. In the meantime, He bids you to a daily feeding of His Word.
He calls you to a frequent partaking of His Supper. He calls you to these
things because that is where He gives you forgiveness, life and salvation.
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C. You and I
will still be tempted to grumble that His Word and Sacraments are just too
mundane.
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1. But in
spite of our grumbling Christ the Bread from heaven still comes to you, but
there is no mighty rushing wind, ...nothing but the sound of the church bells
ringing and the organ music playing.
2. And still
God calls us to rise up in the morning and come to God’s House for Christ is
here--here in the Word for your ears, here in bread and wine for your mouth.
Here to give out forgiveness.
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CONCLUSION:
Yes, Jesus is set here before you. He is the Bread of Life. The people of old
complained over and over about the manna as time went on. And so do we. It’s
the same thing Sunday after Sunday. The same hymns. The same creeds. The same
Scripture readings. We use the same words in church year after year. Many out
there have turned away from the same food on their plate each week. But
friends, God gave manna to the people then. He gives the Bread of Life to you
today. It’s not steak and pie. It’s bread. Our church service will not draw
in those who want excitement in their worship, but if you want Christ--if you
want what God gives, --then you are in the right place.
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