Title: Jesus, the Bread of Life
Contents
Bible text: John 6:35-51
Jesus, the Bread of Life
Introduction
We rejoice at Christmas. Because God gave us the best gift, the Son of God, to be born as a baby into this world. We celebrate Christmas to commemorate its birth. We sing praises on Christmas morning because it is the most important event in human history that Christ came in human flesh to dwell on this earth. Simply put, Christmas is important because it is the birthday of Jesus. So who is Jesus? It would be nice to have Jesus answer this question himself.
The sermons on the Advent that we will now be preaching will come from the statements Jesus made about who He was. We have already read the words of Jesus in the New Testament, “I am the bread of life” earlier in this worship service. Bread refers to the most basic material for human life. We all know that if we refuse to eat, we will soon die. Therefore, we cannot help but depend on bread. But Jesus is not just bread for the flesh, He is more than that. You should know that Jesus is talking about two activities by calling Himself the Bread of Life. That is, Jesus came to us in the flesh, and the other is that we come to Jesus to be saved.
1. Jesus came to us.
The coming of Jesus is a divine revelation and brought about reconciliation between God and man. We all love the story of the birth of Jesus. Imagine a straw manger and sheep, cattle, donkeys, goats, and camels. We envision mothers and fathers, shepherds who humbled themselves, and babies lying in a manger. But in reality, the scene is more than just a sentimental picture of a pretty baby. The scene of the birth of Jesus shows the heart of God the Father above all else.
The birth of the baby Jesus shows that God can become human beings like us. In a medical drama, there is a scene in which a white doctor sympathizes with the difficulties of a black doctor. This scene will help you understand that Christ came to us in the flesh to become like us humans. The black doctor said in that scene, “No matter how hard you try to understand with all your heart and with all your heart, you will never understand me as black as you are white, just as you, a man, cannot understand how your wife, who is a woman, feels. ” said the tree.
That baby, lying in a manger 2000 years ago, reminds us that God knows how we feel. Baby Jesus wept and sniffed when he was hungry, wet diapers, staggered as he learned to walk, and learned to say words and phrases. As he grew up, he experienced the joys and difficulties of life that he experienced everyday, and he suffered betrayal, abandonment, and suffering. Jesus is identified with us. That's the good news.
The baby lying in the manger showed the way to God. You've probably asked some Gugub people for directions to a specific place. But at that moment, two, three, or four people must have answered to show you the way. Who did you listen to then? There are many voices in this world that speak of ultimate things, arguing with each other and reaching our ears. But the Christian faith reminds us to listen to the voice of Jesus.
The Gospel of John begins with a grand introduction: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1) Jesus is the incarnation of God and the ultimate expression of God. He can tell us who God is because He is from God. He also came from God, so he can show the way to God. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we saw his glory” (John 1:14). The baby born in Bethlehem shows us the way to God. This is the good news.
The baby in the manger proclaims joy to the world. We do not live in happy times. Perhaps this recent study of humor sheds light on this tragic truth. Humor is humor without humor or joy. They make people laugh by being sarcastic, using pongja, and sarcastic. For many people, life is grim, pointless and hopeless. But it is the message of Christmas that Christ gives hope and joy even in times like this and makes life meaningful, purposeful, and enjoyable. A baby born in Bethlehem brings joy to the world. This is the good news.
Mary's baby makes us one with God. In the 16th century, the German emperor was given a very expensive piece of pie. He owes a million dollars to a banker who works internationally, and one Christmas day the banker ate the pie and the million dollar debt was forgiven. The birthday of the Son of God That first Christmas was God's Christmas pie to us. God is saying that our sins can be forgiven in the greatest and clearest way possible. He wants friendship and reconciliation. The baby born in Bethlehem unites us with God. This is the good news.
2. Jesus calls us to come.
Jesus, the Bread of Life, calls us to salvation. The gift of life requires acceptance of the gospel by faith. Jesus tells us to believe in ourselves. He tells us to believe in Himself as the Bread of Life. (John 1:12) It is an accurate statement that you can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink. Any parent knows that he can put food in front of his child, but he cannot make his child eat. (Some bribes work sometimes, but not always.) Whose friend do you want to be? You can't be friends with that person until they accept you as a friend. The same goes for your relationship with Jesus. Jesus was born as a baby in Bethlehem to be friends with us. But he does not force us to be friends. The relationship with God that we can have as Christians is possible when we accept Jesus as our friend.
3. Jesus invites us to drink His life and blood (John 6:47-58)
Participation in the Lord's Supper is by no means an act of cannibalism, it is a symbol. The concept of drinking Christ's flesh and His blood can be traced back to the historical context of a time when animals were sacrificed to false gods. Some of the sacrifices offered to the gods were not burned on the altar, but were given in part to the priests and to those who came to worship, and by eating them they thought they were eating the gods they worshiped, and they were to be filled with their gods. I believed I could. We don't do these things. We participate only knowing that it represents the flesh and blood of Jesus.
Perhaps the following illustration will help you understand the call Jesus called to eat his flesh. Suppose you are given a book. You have a gut feeling that you will like the book because its author is your favorite author. But instead of reading it right there on the spot, you put the book on the bookshelf. You are well aware of the effect this will have on you. Until you read it, the joy, information, inspiration, and help you get from reading it will remain external. But one day you will read the book, and then it will be yours. You will only know what it is by reading it, and only then will you know that you will be helped by the insights it provides. Only after reading the book will your life be enriched by it.
So is Jesus. If Jesus is only in the holy pages of the Bible, He cannot give you the nutrients or basic substances you need in your life. You must eat the bread of life to be saved.
conclusion
Who is the baby in the manger? He is the bread of life. Jesus came to give us true, meaningful, abundant, and full eternal life. Would you like to come to him today? Will you accept his love? Will you eat His flesh, drink His blood, and have an abundant and eternal life?