But we’re going to start really with John, chapter 6, verse 34. Verse 34. Halfway through the reading, where the crowd says, sir, always give us this bread. Then Jesus declared, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. It really matters what we feed on. I came across the case that went to court in 2008 of Pringles. You know, Pringles crisps, Procter and Gamble that make Pringles? They went to court to try and avoid paying vat. And in order to avoid paying vat, if you remember, they had to argue that Pringles weren’t crisps. They’re the manufacturer. And they said there is so little that is natural in what we have made. Not only is it an unnatural shape, but it’s less than 50% potato. Well, they won the case. And Pringles, the judge said, should be considered cakes or biscuits. It says on the packet, Pringles Crisps. But anyway, it was overturned a year later. But I thought it was quite worrying when the manufacturer says that their food is so processed that it shouldn’t be considered crisps. There’s more unhealthy junk food out there probably than ever before. But there’s also a huge movement, and you don’t need me to tell you this in our culture to return to a more healthy diet, unprocessed, simple foods, a balanced diet. And a few days ago, I don’t know if you saw these headlines, apparently, drink a glass of milk a day and reduce your likelihood of bowel cancer by 17%. My favourite headline last week was this. It was last Monday or Tuesday for all coffee drinkers. Maybe you saw this, you heard this. Drinking coffee in the morning, not in the afternoon, has to be in the morning. Drink coffee in the morning reduces mortality, but by 16%. I mean, I thought mortality was a sort of 100% thing, but apparently not. It matters what we eat and drink. In fact, eating in our culture has almost a spiritual significance. And that’s exactly what Jesus says in our Bible passage tonight in John chapter six. It starts, and we didn’t read it, but it starts with probably Jesus most famous miracle of all, the feeding of the 5,000. John tells us there were 5,000 men there, so there must have been many women and children as well. And they were far from shops and it was too late in the day. And Jesus took five loaves and two fish and multiplied them, and. And the crowd, we’re told, ate all they wanted. Verse 11. They were verse 12 satisfied. In fact, they were so satisfied, they couldn’t eat it all. There were 12 basketfuls left over. Verse 13. It was more than they needed. Hold onto that thought for a minute or two. We’re going to come back to that. So it’s no wonder the crowds followed Jesus. No wonder they wanted to make him their leader. Here was somebody who could magic up food for them whenever they needed it. Why wouldn’t they follow him? So when Jesus slips away from them, they go after him. And the next day, as we pick up our reading, they cross the Lake of Galilee to the town of Capernaum, and they find him. And they say in verse 25, Rabbi, when did you get here? We didn’t see you leave. And Jesus answered, very truly, I tell you, you’re looking for me not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. All of you think of a really, really good meal that you’ve had recently. Maybe it’s Christmas Day, Christmas lunch. Some of us had it in the tiger, courtesy of Jonathan and Rosemary. And it was a feast, really was. And, you know, with a great meal, you sort of. You’re enjoying it. You’ve probably got a bit too much on your plate, so after a while, you just sort of stretch a bit and you take a deep breath a little bit longer. Maybe you release a notch in your belt or you undo a button or two, but there comes a point, probably at that meal where you just have to admit defeat and you push the plate away from you. And I saw it happen on Christmas Day. People on my table pushed their plate away from them and said, oh, I think I’ve had enough. That was it. And that was it in John chapter six, the day before the feeding of the five thousand. But the crowd had missed the point. They’d eaten all they could. They’d pushed their plates away, There was basketfuls left over, but they’d missed the point. And Jesus is saying to them, don’t you realise that was a sign? That was a ginormous signpost? Jesus doesn’t just give food. He’s saying, I am food. I am the bread of life. That satisfies you, that is more than you need, that fills you up. And there are lots of things in life that promise satisfaction to us. They promise that if we have this or that, that life will be complete, will be satisfied, will be full. And I know that’s true for you, because it’s true for me. And we get those things. And they do. They Fill us for a time. They satisfy us for a little while. And those things change over time as we grow, don’t they? You know, if I had those clothes, if I had that phone, if I had that relationship and if I got those results in my exams, if I had that job that I really want or that promotion, that lifestyle I see online or in the magazines, if I had it, I’d be satisfied, then that would be enough for me. That’s life. So we work for it, we buy it, we wear it, maybe we sacrifice for it, perhaps over many years, and then we get it and we enjoy it. But has it satisfied us forever? Fully? Has it made our lives utterly complete? Now we’re always eating, always eating, always eating, but never satisfied. And it’s not just today. It’s always been like that. It was true. In Jesus Day, I came across the words of Lord Byron. Do you know Lord Byron, the romantic poet? He was probably the first international celebrity and influencer. He travelled all over the world. He had every experience. Millions of people followed him, not online, but in the newspapers. And this is what he said as he looked back on his life. He said, drank every cup, heard every trump of fame, drank early, drank deep, drank draughts, which common millions might have drunk, then died of thirst because there was no more to drink. He said, I had a thirst and I tried everything and I couldn’t quench it. He once said, I think I’ve had 10 happy days in my whole life. But I wonder, is that so very different from today? You know, the influencers, the celebrities today, they have everything, don’t they? Fame and fortune, the lifestyle. But again and again we see it ends in tragedy, doesn’t it? An early death. There’s a food that leaves you empty. And Jesus says there’s a food that satisfies. C.S. lewis, the Christian apologist, the academic. He said, if we find ourselves with the desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world. It’s not surprising that we feel a sense of hunger for something more. We were. We were made for Christ. We were made to find our satisfaction only in Him. He set things up so that we don’t find satisfaction in anything else. Because he loves us and wants us for himself. But instead of feeding on him in our hearts, we try to quench our thirst or satisfy our hunger with all kinds of things, things that will never satisfy us. We’re like the person in the. In the kitchen. Maybe this is you or me at night, looking for something to Eat. Is that you? The biscuit, the slice of ham, a piece of cheese. But nothing really satisfies you. Here’s what Augustine wrote, the church leader in Africa 17 centuries ago as he looked back on the huge hunger in his life when he was a young man. It was a prayer really. He said, o God, you made us for yourself. And our hearts are restless until they find their rest in you. Maybe that’s you tonight. Maybe there’s somebody here that’s you. You’re restless, you’re hungry. You’ve achieved everything. You’ve got the lifestyle that everybody would love, but you feel hungry and you’re trying to fill it up. Or maybe you’re not even wanting to think about it. Maybe even the thought of thinking about that is so anxiety making, you don’t want to go there. Jesus says there is a food that satisfies. There is a food that satisfies. That doesn’t depend on outward circumstances. It is available to every one of us. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. I wonder if that’s you. Deep down hungry. Deep down hungry tonight. Where Jesus is offering himself to you today. And he promises that if you feed on him, if you come to him, you’ll never be hungry, you’ll never hunger again. Let’s think a bit more. There’s a food that leaves you empty. And there’s a food that satisfies. Second, there’s a food that spoils and there’s a food that endures. Some people here weren’t born in 1996. Many of us had been 1996. John Major was Prime Minister of this country. The Bill Clinton was President of the United States. The film the English Patient had been released. Remember the English Patient? Not many, but a few. And a lady called Karen hanrahan went into McDonald’s and bought a hamburger and she didn’t eat it. And 29 years later, it still hasn’t gone mouldy. There are videos of McDonald’s hamburgers on YouTube. Maybe you’ve seen them. And they go on for years. They go on literally for years without going mouldy. In case any McDonald’s lawyers are watching. It’s not just McDonald’s hamburgers. All burgers do this. And Kevin Hargan, I don’t know if he’s here, but he’s our resident food scientist, he would confirm. I hope that after three or four days, a burger, if it’s small enough, it just dries up. And if it dries up. It can’t go mouldy. I wouldn’t recommend eating it. But we know what Jesus means when he says, do not work for food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life. There’s a food that spoils and a food that endures. You see, the crowds were following Jesus because he had given them physical food, bread and fish, fish burgers. And they were too easily pleased. Believe in me, Jesus says, and you have true bread. Then give us a sign. Give us a sign and we will believe. Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, as it’s written. He gave them bread from heaven. Do you remember the manna in the wilderness, back as the Israelites were coming from Egypt into the promised land. For 40 years, every morning, flakes of manna, like dew appeared on the desert floor morning by morning, sustaining a whole generation for 40 years. And maybe the crowds are thinking, well, compared with that Jesus, three million people in the desert, 40 years, every day. You’ve just done 5,000. It’s a one off. What can you do? Jesus, give us a sign. They’d misunderstood it completely. The manna was a signpost. It pointed to Jesus. It’s as if he’s saying, don’t you get it? Moses never gave you bread from heaven. I’m the bread from heaven. My Father gives me to the world. I always have been the bread. I was the bread then, I am the bread now. Why spend your life working for bread that spoils? He’s not saying we don’t have to work. He’s not saying having a job, earning money isn’t important. Of course it is. But he’s saying these things. Well, they’re given to us to meet our needs, God’s way of providing for us. But they’re only for this life. They can’t give us life with a capital L. They can’t take us through death into eternity. They can only delay death day at a time. The manna lasted a day and then it’s spoiled. Do you remember that? They couldn’t bag it up and stick it in the freezer for the next week. It was one day at a time. And the food in our fridge, well, it will keep us going day by day, but it won’t last forever. It can’t give us life forever. But there is a food that can give us the life of God, that will go on beyond the grave into the resurrection will never end. And better, Jesus says to pursue that food that lasts for eternal life, that starts now and continues after death. Better to pursue that food, because every one of us is feeding on something in our lives. We are all depending on something to give us life. There’s food that leaves you empty. There’s food that satisfies, there’s food that spoils, and there’s food that endures. And lastly, there’s food we must earn, and there’s food we’re given. Some meals you have to earn beforehand. Have you had one of those meals? Maybe you worked really hard all day, you missed your lunch, you go home and there’s a plate of food and you sit down and you think, that’s just what I want. I’ve earned that. Have you said that to yourself, I’ve earned that? You put in the work and you’ve earned it. And then there are some meals that you didn’t earn them before, but you have to pay for them afterwards. Do you know those meals? Someone offers you a second slice of chocolate cake and you think, oh, I know I shouldn’t, but I’m going to, and I’ll pay for it tomorrow in the gym. I’ll burn off those calories. It’ll be all right. You pay for it before, you pay for it after. But there are meals that are just free. They’re a gift. And I think one of my favourite meals, probably one of Katie of my best meals, was a gift from a friend. And it was a lovely restaurant in the West End, one we would never have gone to ourselves, but it was all paid for. It was the kind of restaurant where the waiter opens the menu for you. He’s been to one of those, and he takes the napkin which is within reach, and he shakes it and puts it on your lap. I thought, are you going to start chewing my food for me as well? But whatever we wanted to eat or drink, it was ours. We just had to ask for it. It was all paid for. All we had to do was receive it, enjoy it. And in John 6 we see, yes, there’s a food we got to earn, but there’s a food that we are given and we just have to receive it. Do not work for the food that spoils, Jesus says, but for the food that endures to eternal life. What must we do to do the works that God requires? The crowds say, what have we got to do? Jesus says, the work of God is this, to believe in the one he sent. That’s all you got to do. Receive. They went to a lot of effort to get bread. They had chased Jesus all over the place. Here was a free supply for the rest of their lives. So no wonder they searched for him. And when they find him, what have we got to do to keep the blood, to keep the bread coming? How quickly they had forgotten the meal the day before. What did they do then? What work did they have to do then to get that meal? If you’ve got a Bible, just flip back a page to verse 10, what had happened? Verse 10. Jesus told them to sit down. Actually, it means sit back, sit back, relax. They spread out on the grass, they lazed, they kicked back and they received. They didn’t do anything. I guess they just put their hands out. Jesus is saying, don’t you remember? Don’t you get that that’s all you have to do to get the bread of life. That’s all you need to do to find that satisfaction that never fades, that life that never spoils, but carries you through into resurrection life for eternity. All you need to do is receive it. The work of God is to believe in the One he has sent. It’s not even a work, really. It’s just a response. Does that mean it’s not worth anything, the fact you don’t have to do anything? Does it mean it’s not important that you just receive it now? It’s the most important thing. It’s the most valuable thing, what we need more than anything else and what God wants to give us more than anything else. And so he’s made it as easy as he possibly could, as simple as he could. He says, just receive it. You don’t have to do anything. Verse 40. My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life. And I will raise them up at the last day. To feed on the bread of life is to come to Jesus and to trust him. And ETI and Laura have done that. And in their baptism tonight, they’re going to receive the sign of Christ’s death and resurrection and the washing and the new life that they have in him. And God the Father delights to direct all who want to know him to come to Jesus to find life satisfaction and a future. Everyone who wants life, God says, come to Jesus. That’s where you find it. There’s a food that leaves us hungry, and there’s a food that satisfies. There’s a food that spoils and a food that endures. There’s a food we must earn, and there’s a food we’re given. And every one of us here tonight is feeding on something for life. We’re looking to something to give us life. And Jesus, the bread of life, invites you and me tonight to feed on him, to come to him in our hearts and to ask him for life. And the only thing that will stop you and me from receiving this life is unbelief is refusing to come to Him. It’s not our sin that will stop us receiving this life because Jesus died for that. It’s not that we might be we’re too hungry or. Or too thirsty and he can’t satisfy that our hunger is too deep. No, he promises to satisfy the deepest hunger. 12 basketfuls left over, more than we need. It’s not that it’s too hard to get that life. All we have to do, he says, is come to my son, come to Jesus. He is the bread of life. If we come to him, you and I will be received ourselves because Jesus has come to do the Father’s will. What does the Father want? He wants to give life to everybody who comes to Jesus. He won’t turn anybody away. Come. Come to him tonight if you have never done so before. Come to Jesus, the bread of life, who gave his life for you on the cross, that you might feed on him and know the life of God yourself that will satisfy you now and forever into eternity. Jesus said, I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Next week we’re going to look at the next of the I am sayings of Jesus. I am the light of the world. I’m going to invite the band to come up and be ready to lead us in our next song. And as they do, I’d like to lead us in a prayer. Let’s close our eyes and we’ll pray. Lord Jesus Christ, you are the living bread, the bread of life. You gave yourself for the life of the world. And we come to you tonight at the start of a new week. And we ask that you would feed us and share with us your everlasting immortal life. We thank you that you’ve promised that those who come to you, you will never turn away will give us eternal life now and raise us up at the last day. So hear us, Lord, we pray, and answer us for your name’s sake. Amen.