Jesus - The One who Satisfies

Jesus - The One who Satisfies

I'm sure that you will agree that when you are tired there is nothing like sitting down with a good cup of tea, and a bite to eat.

After all that you have done today, you were probably ready for your tea this afternoon.

But imagine how you would have felt if you had arrived here, and there was nothing to eat.

Imagine also that it wasn't a cloudy day like today, but that the sun was blazing, just like it was a few days ago. ...You're boiling hot ...you're exhausted ...you're really hungry ...and there is nothing to eat.

In today's reading we read about a crowd who had been following Jesus, ...and I guess many of them felt just like that, ...hot exhausted and hungry.

Read John 6.1-14

So a large crowd was following Jesus ...and rather like Mary's little lamb, everywhere that Jesus went, the crowd was sure to go. Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee... and the crowd followed him. So Jesus went up a mountain... and sure enough... they still kept following.

Imagine the disciples sitting with Jesus up this mountain... and they look down, and see this huge crowd coming towards them. And Jesus says to Philip, "Where are we to buy enough bread for these people to eat?"

Well Philip works out that even six months wages wouldn't buy enough bread ...and Andrew searches high and low, and eventually finds a boy who has a packed lunch. They must have been really desperate! Rather like seventy people coming for tea this afternoon, and we can only find two packets of crisps!

I am sure that we are all very familiar with the story. Jesus takes five loaves and two fish, gives thanks for them, and distributes them to the crowd... and they were all satisfied (v12). Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and there were twelve baskets of food left over.

Now Jesus was gaining a reputation for being someone who could satisfy people's needs.

- Remember the wedding at Cana at the beginning of John's gospel ...they had run out of wine ...but Jesus turned water into wine, and satisfied their need.

- Then a little later we read about the government official... his son was dying ...but Jesus healed him, and satisfied his need.

- And then we read about the paralysed man who lay by the pool... he had been ill for 38 years ...but Jesus enabled him to get up and walk, and Jesus satisfied his need.

- And now we find ourselves on a deserted mountainside ...5000 people have nothing to eat ...but Jesus takes a handful of food ...and satisfies their need.

In fact, it was because Jesus had this reputation for satisfying needs, that people were following him in the first place (v2).

But these needs could only be satisfied on a temporary basis.

- The new wine in Cana... was soon all drunk.

- Those who were healed... eventually died.

- And, those who were fed on the mountainside... would soon became hungry again.

But there was more to the miracles of Jesus than just that. They weren't just temporary solutions to people's needs... They were also signs which pointed towards a much deeper experience of Jesus and his ministry.

_____________________________________________

'The Feeding of the 5000' was a sign (point to side chapel) ...but what was it pointing to?

Well John gives us a big clue in verse 4... He says, "It was near the time of the Jewish Passover."

(Pause)

Now at first sight this might seem like an irrelevant detail, but John mentions the Passover because he wants us to think about two other significant events which are associated with it.

The first event had happened many centuries earlier, shortly after the first Passover... God had delivered his people from the hand of the Egyptians. Moses had lead the people into the wilderness... and the people had asked him, "What are we going to eat?" (Does the story sound familiar?)

Moses told them that God would give them all the bread that they wanted (Ex. 16.8)... and sure enough God sent manna... bread from heaven.

Several years later, just before Moses died, he told the Israelites that, "the LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers." (Dt 18.15)

And so, when Jesus miraculously gave the crowd all the bread that they wanted, he was pointing to the fact that he was the long awaited prophet which Moses had spoken about.

And the crowd apparently picked up on this, because in verse 15 they said... "Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world".

(Part of Sermon 003 has been omitted here).

So 'The Feeding of the 5000' is a sign which points (point again) to Jesus being the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy ...that Jesus was the long awaited prophet.

But what else does it point to?

(Pause)

We now move ahead a year or two to a second major event which we associate with the Passover... to the Last Supper.

First, try to picture 'The Feeding the 5000'. "Jesus took the loaves, ...gave thanks, ...and distributed them to the people."

And now picture the Last Supper... "The Lord Jesus... took bread, ...and when he had given thanks, ...he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you...'" (1Co. 11.23-24)

(Pause)

You see, Jesus not only gives people 'bread from heaven', ...but he himself is the 'bread of heaven'.

He not only fills our stomachs with bread, ...but he fills our whole lives with his presence.

Jesus is the one who truly satisfies our needs... but in a way that the crowd may never have imagined.

(Pause)

Jesus went on to say: "I am the bread of live... he who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (6.35). "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever" (6.51).

_____________________________________________

The very fact that we have come to church this evening is probably because we are followers of Jesus. We believe that Jesus still satisfies our needs today.

When my daughter, Emily, was still a baby, she had a series of minor problems.

- she was born with a small hole in her back;

- she was born tongue tied;

- she had bad eczema;

- she was nearly always full of cold;

- she wouldn't bear down on her legs;

- she developed very slowly for her age;

... and the list went on.

Not surprisingly, we prayed a lot about Emily at the time... in the name of Jesus we kept bringing her needs before our heavenly Father. God heard our cries, and graciously answered our prayers. He either took the problems away, or enabled us all to cope with them.

I am sure that many others who are here this evening could also share how God has answered their prayers.

But is that the only reason why we follow Jesus? ...because we hope that he will answer our prayers?

If so, are we not like the crowd on the mountainside? ...Do we only follow him because we believe that he can give us the things that we need?

(Pause) (Quote from Leslie Newbigin omitted)

It is not that Jesus doesn't answer our prayers and satisfy our visible needs... he often does, ...but as soon as one need is satisfied, another comes along.

My daughter Emily eventually did bear down on her legs, and several months later she started to walk... but then we noticed another problem... she was very small for her age, and we are now seeing a consultant about that.

As one need was satisfied, another need presented itself.

If we follow Jesus solely because we believe that he will give us the things we need, or do for us the things we need, then we will be very disappointed.

But Jesus not only gives us what we need... he himself is what we need.

(Pause)

The beginning of John's gospel tells us that, "The Word became flesh and lived among us." (1.14) Now we also see that... The Word became 'bread'... so that he could live within us.

(Pause)

Perhaps some of you who are here this evening are a bit unsure as to whether Jesus is living within you.

You may have been coming to church for many years, ...and perhaps, like those in the crowd, you have tried to follow Jesus. ...In the past you may have brought your needs to Jesus, and perhaps you have received the answer to your prayers, ...but you may have never received Jesus himself into you life. You may not have eaten this living bread.

If you're like that, and you would like to receive Jesus himself into your life, then I am going to say a short prayer which you can silently pray after me.

It's a prayer in which you can repent of the wrong things in your life, and you ask Jesus to come into your life:

- as your Saviour to cleanse you,

- as your Lord to control you,

- and as your Friend to be with you.

It's as simple as that.

And so let us receive Jesus himself into our lives ...remembering that He said... "I am the living bread that came down from heaven".

Let us pray.

_____________________________________________

Let us spend a few moments in silence before God.

This first prayer is for those who would like to invite Jesus into their lives for the first time. Please repeat it silently in your hearts after me.

Lord Jesus Christ,

Thank you that you are the living bread,

I believe that you died ...so that I may have new life.

I repent of all that I have done wrong.

And now I ask you to come into my life,

Come in as my Saviour to cleanse me,

Come in as my Lord to control me,

Come in as my Friend to be with me,

And I will serve you all the remaining years of my life ...in complete obedience. Amen.

And now a second prayer for us all.

All praise to you,

Almighty God and heavenly king,

who sent your Son into the world

to take our nature upon him

and to be born of a pure virgin.

Grant that, as we are born again in him,

so he may continually dwell in us

and reign on earth as he reigns in heaven

with you and the Holy Spirit,

now and for ever. Amen.

Jesus - The One who Satisfies

John 6.1-14

As you know, the four gospels give us four different angles on the life, death and ressurection of Jesus. Many of the stories and events that we are so familiar with are only mentioned by one of the gospel writers. Take for example, the birth of Jesus. Only Luke records the appearance of the angels to the shepherds, ...and only Matthew records the visit of the wise men. Or consider the first miracle of Jesus, only John metions him turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana.

Some events are mentioned by two or three of the gospel writers, but the feeding of the 5000 is one of the few events that is mentioned by all four of them. It's an event, therefore, that they all agreed was of great significance.

Imagine the disciples sitting with Jesus up this mountain... and they look down, and see this huge crowd coming towards them. And Jesus says to Philip, "Where are we to buy enough bread for these people to eat?"

Well Philip works out that even six months wages wouldn't buy enough bread ...and Andrew searches high and low, and eventually finds a boy who has a packed lunch. They must have been really desperate! Rather like seventy people coming for tea this afternoon, and we can only find two packets of crisps!

I am sure that we are all very familiar with the story. Jesus takes five loaves and two fish, gives thanks for them, and distributes them to the crowd... and they were all satisfied (v12). Everyone ate as much as they wanted, and there were twelve baskets of food left over.

Now Jesus was gaining a reputation for being someone who could satisfy people's needs.

- Remember the wedding at Cana at the beginning of John's gospel ...they had run out of wine ...but Jesus turned water into wine, and satisfied their need.

- Then a little later we read about the government official... his son was dying ...but Jesus healed him, and satisfied his need.

- And then we read about the paralysed man who lay by the pool... he had been ill for 38 years ...but Jesus enabled him to get up and walk, and Jesus satisfied his need.

- And now we find ourselves on a deserted mountainside ...5000 people have nothing to eat ...but Jesus takes a handful of food ...and satisfies their need.

In fact, it was because Jesus had this reputation for satisfying needs, that people were following him in the first place (v2).

But these needs could only be satisfied on a temporary basis.

- The new wine in Cana... was soon all drunk.

- Those who were healed... eventually died.

- And, those who were fed on the mountainside... would soon became hungry again.

But there was more to the miracles of Jesus than just that. They weren't just temporary solutions to people's needs... They were also signs which pointed towards a much deeper experience of Jesus and his ministry.

_____________________________________________

'The Feeding of the 5000' was a sign (point to side chapel) ...but what was it pointing to?

Well John gives us a big clue in verse 4... He says, "It was near the time of the Jewish Passover."

(Pause)

Now at first sight this might seem like an irrelevant detail, but John mentions the Passover because he wants us to think about two other significant events which are associated with it.

The first event had happened many centuries earlier, shortly after the first Passover... God had delivered his people from the hand of the Egyptians. Moses had lead the people into the wilderness... and the people had asked him, "What are we going to eat?" (Does the story sound familiar?)

Moses told them that God would give them all the bread that they wanted (Ex. 16.8)... and sure enough God sent manna... bread from heaven.

Several years later, just before Moses died, he told the Israelites that, "the LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers." (Dt 18.15)

And so, when Jesus miraculously gave the crowd all the bread that they wanted, he was pointing to the fact that he was the long awaited prophet which Moses had spoken about.

And the crowd apparently picked up on this, because in verse 15 they said... "Surely this is the prophet who is to come into the world".

(Part of Sermon 003 has been omitted here).

So 'The Feeding of the 5000' is a sign which points (point again) to Jesus being the fulfilment of Old Testament prophecy ...that Jesus was the long awaited prophet.

But what else does it point to?

(Pause)

We now move ahead a year or two to a second major event which we associate with the Passover... to the Last Supper.

First, try to picture 'The Feeding the 5000'. "Jesus took the loaves, ...gave thanks, ...and distributed them to the people."

And now picture the Last Supper... "The Lord Jesus... took bread, ...and when he had given thanks, ...he broke it and said, 'This is my body, which is for you...'" (1Co. 11.23-24)

(Pause)

You see, Jesus not only gives people 'bread from heaven', ...but he himself is the 'bread of heaven'.

He not only fills our stomachs with bread, ...but he fills our whole lives with his presence.

Jesus is the one who truly satisfies our needs... but in a way that the crowd may never have imagined.

(Pause)

Jesus went on to say: "I am the bread of live... he who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never be thirsty" (6.35). "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever" (6.51).

_____________________________________________

The very fact that we have come to church this evening is probably because we are followers of Jesus. We believe that Jesus still satisfies our needs today.

One of the amazing truths of the Christian faith is that God is concerned with the details of our everyday lives.

From my own experience, there have been very few times in my life whe I've not had a care in the world. There is usually a list of things that I either do feel anxious about, or I could worry about if I wanted to. It might be:

- concerns about my health,

- or concerns aboutht he health of those closest to me,

- or other worries I have about my family,

- or things that concern me about the church, ...or the local community, ...or the Church of England, ...or troubles in the world.

I guess most of us here this morning have things that we are anxious about, or needs that we would like satisfied. They may be big anxieties, or they be small ones, ...they may be big needs, or they may be small ones, ...but I guess most of us have something,

But what do we do with these anxieties or needs?

Well here are two approaches that I've tried, and that don't work!

The first approach is to spend all our time thinking about it, so that it's always there at the front of our minds. However, as we do so we tend to get even more worried and anxious, ...and eventually we can't focus on anything else. This is the 'scared rabbit' approach, ...a rabbit at night sees the headlights of an on-coming car, and is so focused on them that it freeses to the spot.

I think that this is what Jesus was addressing in his Sermon on the Mount, when he said, "I tell you, do not worry about your life. ...Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life, ...but seek first God's kingdom, ...and do not worry about tommorrow".

The second approach is the exact opposite, and the one that I'm more prone to try. Here we try to forget about the problem or need. We try to push it out of our minds, and to pretend that the problem doesn't exist. This is the ostrich approach, "I don't want to think about it!"

I don't want to talk to people abouit it, ...I don't even want to pray about it, ...because if I pray about it I will have to think about it, ...and I don't want to do that, ...I just want to forget about it.

Unfortunately this approach doesn't work either. Because no matter how much I try to bury the problem, it keeps popping back into my head, and I get a sinking feeling in my gut. And try as I might, I can't forget about it.

Which approach are you more likely to use? The scared rabbit appoach, or the ostrich approach?

But there is a third approach that does work. It's simple, but it's not easy.

It's 'simple' because all we have to do is to being our needs to Jesus and leave it them with him. Just like the 5000 who were hungry, God cares about the smallest details of our lives. If something is important to us, then it's important to God, and he want's us to tell him about it, ...and then to leave the it with him.

But it's not easy to do, because it goes against the approach we are used to.

If you tend towards the 'scared rabbit' approach, you may find it easy to tell God about it, ...but you'll probably find it hard to let go, and to leave the problem or need with him. You'll want to still hang on to it, and to continue worrying about it.

On the other hand, if you tend towards the 'ostrich' approach, you may find it difficult to tell God in the first place, (because that meens having to face the problem or need).

Thats why we all need to be reminded, me included, that God cares about the smallest details in our lives, and in the lives of others, ...and he wants us to satisfy our needs.

But is that the only reason why we follow Jesus? ...because we hope that he will satisfy our needs?

If so, are we not like the crowd on the mountainside? ...Do we only follow him because we believe that he can give us the things that we need?

The problem is that as soon as one need is satisfied another comes along.

Talk about the lump on my shoulder.

As one need was satisfied, another need presented itself.

If we follow Jesus solely because we believe that he will give us the things we need, or do for us the things we need, then we will be very disappointed.

But Jesus not only gives us what we need... he himself is what we need.

(Pause)

The beginning of John's gospel tells us that, "The Word became flesh and lived among us." (1.14) Now we also see that... The Word became 'bread'... so that he could live within us.

(Pause)

Perhaps some of you who are here this morning are a bit unsure as to whether Jesus is living within you.

You may have been coming to church for many years, ...and perhaps, like those in the crowd, you have tried to follow Jesus. ...In the past you may have brought your needs to Jesus, and perhaps you have received the answer to your prayers, ...but you may have never received Jesus himself into you life. You may not have eaten this living bread.

If you're like that, and you would like to receive Jesus himself into your life, then have a word with me after the service, and I'll give you a small booklet that I'm sure you'll find very helpful.

And so let us receive Jesus himself into our lives ...remembering that He said... "I am the living bread that came down from heaven".