Sermon File

In the Name of the Father and of the  Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

The Fourth Sunday in Lent (2025)                                                       

Jesus, the Bread of Life                                                                                        Rev. Toby Byrd

“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.” (John 6:11, ESV) 

This miraculous event of the feeding of five-thousand men, not including the women and children that were with them, is so momentous in Holy Scripture that it is recorded in all four Gospel Readings. There on a mountain top Jesus takes two small fish and five barley loaves of bread and feeds a vast multitude. When the meal was finished and all had their fill, our Lord’s disciples gathered twelve basket loaves of leftovers. Enough to feed the twelve, for days to come.

Now when we read about this great miracle usually, we see only the event itself: the feeding of all those hungry people. Rarely do we think about the implications this great feat has regarding our life as children of God. Rarely do we connect the event itself with the host of the meal, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. No, we usually say, yes, He is Jesus the Son of God and He can work miracles. It’s wonderful that He could do such things, but how does this impact our life, our faith? So, this morning let us look deeper into this great miracle and connect it with the life of Christ, let us also connect it with what this event represents regarding Christ Himself, and let us then connect it to our lives in Christ. Let us see in that bread that was distributed on that mountain top the type which points to our Lord Jesus, the very Bread of Life who came from heaven to give life to the world.

Indeed, this great feeding of the five thousand is not about the miracle, but it is more about Christ, who He is and what His life, death, and resurrection mean to us. In theological terms we call this Christology. Christology is central in Lutheran theology, because therein are set the fundamental principles of the deity of Christ and His vicarious atonement on the Altar of the Cross for the forgiveness of our sins. So, in this account of the feeding of the five-thousand we see that it is a miracle that points to Christ, to who He is, pointing to the very fulfillment of OT prophecy concerning His coming.

To get a better understanding of this truth, let us back up a little in the Gospel of John to where we hear Jesus speaking to Jews, telling them, “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,” (John 5:39, ESV) Yes, the Jews held the Scriptures to be the sacred Word of God, believing, as we do, that the inspired words of the prophets were their guide to heaven. However, they were missing one important truth, those words which showed them the way to heaven, those words that showed them it was only through the coming Messiah, Jesus Himself, that that they could obtain heaven. He was their guide and their path to heaven. But they failed to connect Jesus with the Messiah that was promised in the Scriptures. But Jesus did not condemn them for their failure. To the contrary, He said, “Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 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 5:45–47, ESV) No, their accuser was Moses himself, the one they followed as God’s greatest prophet. They put their trust in the words of Moses, but when his word was fulfilled in their very midst, they refused to believe. So, this morning, in the Gospel record of the feeding of the five thousand, we see a summary of the exodus story told by Moses.

St. John begins by writing, “After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.” (John 6:1, ESV) Moreover, he says, “And a large crowd was following him.” (John 6:2, ESV) So, like the Hebrews leaving Egypt, following Moses, crossing the Red Sea, a large crowd follows Jesus across the Sea of Galilee. There is an exodus of people following Jesus because, like the signs that Moses performed in the wilderness, the people had seen the signs of healing Jesus had performed on the sick. In these signs the people see one who has been blessed by God, although at this time, they do not know that He is God incarnate. All of this takes place on the ancient feast of Passover (John 6:4), that very day commanded by God to be memorialized by the Jews for all time as their deliverance from the wrathful hand of God who had told Pharaoh that He would require the life of every firstborn male in Egypt, expect for His people, the Hebrews. Thus, as He passed over the houses in Egypt, He took the life of every firstborn male, but as He passed over the homes of all who had spread the blood of a sacrificed lamb on their doorposts and lintel, He spared the lives of every firstborn male.

Now, like the Hebrews who followed Moses, those who have followed Jesus to the top of the mountain are fed a miraculous meal, a meal of fish and bread, bread that is likened to the feeding of the manna from heaven that God gave the Hebrews while they were in the wilderness. However, unlike God’s people in the wilderness, the people who followed Jesus do not know that their host is the true manna which has come down from heaven. The One who came from heaven to give life to the world. As participants in this great miracle, they are not aware that they are a part of the eschatological fulfillment of Scripture, that is, an event pointing to the Last Day. They do not yet know that the One who feeds them is the true Passover Lamb, who flesh is to be eaten until the end of time. Moreover, the full impact of this miraculous meal will not be made known to the crowd until the next day.

After the feeding of the five thousand, St. John tells us that Jesus withdrew from the crowd and His disciples, to be alone. He did this often to meditate with His Father in heaven. As evening drew near, His disciples got into their boat and started across the sea, returning to Capernaum without Jesus. As they sailed home a storm rose on the sea, and they were having difficulty making headway. Suddenly, Jesus appears walking on water. Seeing Him the disciples become afraid, but Jesus simply enters the boat and the storm quits, now the disciples can make headway. St. John then writes, “On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.” (John 6:22, ESV) 

Many of the people whom Jesus had fed the previous day remained where they were. But on awakening they see that Jesus is not where He fed them, so, “they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.” (John 6:24, ESV) The crowd, seeking Jesus, finds Him in the synagogue at Capernaum (John 6:59).

Having found Jesus, they ask where He had come from, but Jesus, knowing the reason they were looking for Him, says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:26, ESV) It isn’t the miracle that has led you to Me, rather it is your desire to fill your belly They had not understood the “sign” of the multiplication of the loaves, that “sign” which pointed to Jesus as the paschal Lamb, the very Bread of Life.

Therefore, He tells them, “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.” (John 6:27, ESV) 

In response, Jesus does not answer their question directly. Instead, He makes a connection between the feeding of the five thousand and the reality of who He is. He tells them, don’t eat the bread that perishes, such as the manna in the wilderness, that bread, even though from heaven, was taken in by the mouth and expelled by the body. But on the contrary, eat the bread that does not perish, the bread that nourishes the soul, the bread that leads to eternal life. This is the bread that I, the Son of Man will give you, for I am the Bread of Life, I Am the One on whom God has set His seal.

However, when Jesus says, “do not work for the food that perishes,” the crowd is confused and rather than focus on the gift of life saving bread, their ears are more attuned to the word “work.” So, they ask, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” (John 6:28, ESV) These Jews have been led their whole life by a works righteous theology, this is why they ask, “what must we do?” They fail to hear the evangelical, gospel message of the Bread of Life. Instead, the Jews think that Jesus, the Messiah, who is like Moses, is adding to the Torah, He is giving them a new commandment. So, as they have always done, they think they must be doing something for their salvation, they must conform to the Law if they are to be saved. But Jesus smashes their hope of saving themselves by their works and says to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29, ESV)

Jesus is telling them and us, if you want to serve God, then first and foremost you must believe in the One whom God has sent, you must have faith in Christ Jesus. If you want to receive the grace of God, to know how you might render satisfaction to Him for your sins, to know how to escape eternal death, then it is God’s will that you know, that is believe in His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. You must believe in Him whom He has sent (v. 29). That is, you must have faith in the forgiveness of sins won for you by the all-sufficient merit of God’s holy Son, Jesus Christ. Faith though, is a gift from God, a gift that is to be exercised in the heart of man by the Holy Spirit who sanctifies you, bending your will to God. This work of the Holy Spirit creates a transformation process in the heart of man, a transformation process that is the work of God leading to salvation. In these few words, Jesus is telling us that Christian righteousness and genuine service to God lies outside our strength, our work, or our merit. Our righteousness is an imputed righteousness given by God to those who believe in and place their salvation solely in the hands and merit of His Son, Jesus Christ alone.

Jesus, now, in two statements, reveals who He is. First, He says, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” To which the crowd responds, “Sir, give us this bread always.” We desire life, the life God gives. Please, Jesus, help us to receive this bread! Then, responding to their request, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:33–35, ESV) 

Wow! What a revealing message! Jesus is the Bread of Life. These words remind us of the words of Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount, when He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” (Matthew 5:6, ESV) All who come to Me, says Jesus, for righteousness, will be satisfied, they will never hunger again, for the bread I offer is inexhaustible, and moreover, whoever believes will never thirst for they will be given living water. We’re reminded of what Jesus said to the Samaritan woman regarding the water in the well, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:13–14, ESV)

As I said earlier, this account of Jesus feeding the five thousand is an eschatological event, an event which points to Good Friday and the crucifixion of our Lord, and ultimately to His return on the Last Day. Until that day it points to the consecrated bread we eat and the consecrated wine we drink in the Lord’s Supper, therein is the very body and blood of Christ given and shed on the Altar of the Cross which we receive by our oral eating and drinking as participants of Holy Communion. As baptized children of God each of us live under the shadow of our Lord’s cross. Nothing is more important to us than what our Lord Jesus did on the cross; giving His life that we may live for all eternity.

Scripture affirms that Christ is the Bread of Life, the One who gives life to the world. He is also the Lamb of God, the Passover Lamb who gives His body and sheds His blood for the forgiveness of our sins. He says to us, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (John 6:53–58, ESV) 

Christ is the Bread of Life that is inexhaustible, the bread He gives for the forgiveness of your sin will continue to be given until the day He returns in judgment. Furthermore, He, Himself is forever, and He will never withdraw from or abandon those who are in Him. He has said, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you,” (John 14:18, ESV) and then promising you eternal life, He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” (John 5:24, ESV) To add to these comforting words, St. Paul said, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1, ESV) If you are in Christ, standing under the shadow of His cross every day, eternal life in heaven is promised you. So, as we can readily see, eternal life in heaven is not a quality you earn or merit, rather it is a gift given by God to all who are given the gift of faith, to all who believe in God’s holy and only begotten Son, Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins and life eternal. Jesus is the source of eternal life and the very content and substance of peace and comfort on earth.

Jesus is the Bread of Life who came down from heaven to feed the souls of those given the gift of faith to believe that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of world. He is our Redeemer and Savior from sin, death, and the devil who offers His body and His blood given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, and this holy meal of His body and blood is inexhaustible and will be given to all believers until the day of His return to judge the living and the dead. Jesus is the Bread of Life, the divine loaf that never ends. In the name of Jesus. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.