A few weeks ago, our nation celebrated the fourth of July, our nation’s birthday. 249 years ago, our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, freeing our nation from British Imperial rule. It was actually on the second of July that congress voted to approve a resolution of independence, but voted to approve Jefferson’s Declaration of Independence two days later on the fourth. Writing to his wife, John Adams wrote:

“The second day of July 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.”

You can hear the religious overtones riddled throughout Adams language: It is a festival of remembrance, a “day of deliverance” which should be solemnized with acts of devotion to God Almighty. America was seen by many of the early founders to be created under the hand of divine Providence, a land blessed by God and created as a light unto the world, a place devoted to the high-minded ideals of the brotherhood of man, of justice and equality, of the freedom to pursue our God-given rights unencumbered by tyrants like King George.

But tyrants don’t only exist out there, across the Atlantic. There is a ruling power of ego, pride, and folly that sits upon the throne of every human heart.

211 years ago, yesterday, Alexander Hamilton, the former Secretary of Treasury and primary author of The Federalist Papers, the intellectual defense of the Constitution—died. He was only 47 years old. Aaron Burr, a lifelong rival, had been running for president against Thomas Jefferson, and Hamilton threw his support behind Jefferson because he believed Burr to be a terrible choice, so Jefferson became president, and Burr Vice President. His honor hurt, Burr demanded an apology from Hamilton. Hamilton refused. Burr challenged him to a duel, Hamilton accepted. And Hamilton—who could have provided so much more to our nation—died.

And these are the leaders of our nation. If the gold rusts, what will the iron do?

A society can be liberated from a wicked king, but if they are not delivered from the wickedness in themselves, they are not truly delivered. Adams’ language that Independence Day would be a “day of deliverance” is taken from the story of the Exodus, where God’s people were delivered from their slavery to the wicked Pharaoh, and formed into the nation of Israel.

But the story that Adams evoked bore with it a warning. The people of Israel were delivered from the physical bondage, but they carried a spiritual bondage with them as well. God had performed stunning miracles to deliver them and show them that He would care for them—miracles without parallel in history. And do you know how long it took for the people to begin to grumble and doubt God after the parting of the Red Sea? Three days (Ex 15:22-24). In a month and a half, they begin wishing they were back in Egypt (Ex 16:1-3).

There is something wrong in us. We need a deliverance, a redemption that goes deeper. And today, as we return to John 6, we will see how Jesus provides that.

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25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 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.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 35 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. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” 41 So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— 46 not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

• John 6:25-51

Background

Connections with Exodus

• The feeding of the five thousand miracle takes place during the time of the Passover (John 6:4)
• The miraculous multiplication of bread similar to the miraculous supply of manna, bread from heaven (which is mentioned explicitly several times in 6:31-33, 49-50).
  • “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)
  • Each of them gathered as much as he could eat. - Ex 16:18
• “The Prophet” - a reference to Moses’ promise that God would raise up “another prophet” like him in Deuteronomy 18 (John 6:15)
• The miraculous water-crossing miracle mirrors the parting of the Red Sea. The stormy waters are rough because a “strong wind was blowing” John 6:18. The Red Sea parts because a “strong east wind” blows on the sea all night “and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided.” (Exodus 14:21).
• Jesus identifies Himself with the divine name to His disciples on the boat: I am (John 6:. The name that God first reveals to Moses in Exodus 3:14.
• When the Jews ask Jesus to perform another miracle, similar to the giving of manna, and Jesus replies that He is the true bread sent down from Heaven, He is what the manna represents, that isn’t too outlandish. God commanded the Israelites to take a jar of manna, and to place it in the ark of the covenant, which was the location of God’s presence in the Old Testament. The bread from heaven is to be kept in God’s presence because, as Jesus said, it pointed ultimately to Himself: the bread of life.

In John 6:29, Jesus summons the crowds to believe in Him, and their immediate response is: “what sign do you provide that we may see and believe?” They are not convinced yet. Which, as we have already noted, is bizarre. Why would they remain skeptical?

• They have seen a miracle, they have empirical evidence. Jesus just performed a sign!
• They have theological evidence. Given all of the connections with Exodus—which they themselves at least see in part, evidenced by their belief that Jesus must be the Prophet Moses foretold of—they should know with great certainty that Jesus is worth believing in.
• And Jesus is offering something incredible: bread of life, eternal life. “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”” - John 6:49-51

Yet, they are like the Exodus generation in one more aspect:

• The Jews “grumbled” against Jesus in John 6:41, and wilderness generation repeatedly “grumble” against Moses, but Moses warns them: “Your grumbling is not against us but against the LORD.” (Ex 16:8)

Look again at the water walking miracle:

It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing - John 6:17-18

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the LORD drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. - Ex 14:21-22

That sounds like Genesis 1, doesn’t it? Where God divides the waters, makes the dry land appear in the sea. Even the presence of the wind blowing over the waters causes us to think of Genesis 1, where we are told that “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gen 1:2). The Hebrew word for “wind” is the same word for “wind” or “breath.” In the song of Moses, in Exodus 15, Moses explains that the wind that blew on the sea was the very breath of God (Ex 15:8).

So, at the crossing of the Red Sea, Exodus portrays the events like a new Genesis account, a new creation taking place—out of darkness and chaos, the wind/Spirit of God appears, and there is life. And John picks that same theme up in his gospel, which he opens with the very words of Genesis: *In the beginning was the Word…*and in the water-walking miracle we have the disciples in the chaos of Genesis 1: darkness, waters, disorder, and a strong wind blowing, and then the Light of the World shows up. What is John showing us?

Jesus has come to make a new creation, to fulfill what the Exodus pointed forwards to. In Exodus, the Israelites were delivered from physical bondage with the imagery of creation language—in the life of Jesus we are delivered from eternal bondage with the reality of creation language. Paul tells us that if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation!

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. - 2 Cor 4:6

And this is the reality that takes place in the hearts of the disciples in the boat. They “receive” Jesus; aside from Judas, this moment serves as a kind of turning point for the twelve. Just as God created the world by His Word, He has now created the reality of faith in the hearts of the disciples.

How Can One Believe?

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.

But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. - John 6:35-36

How do we come to Jesus? How do we believe?

Jesus Comes to Us

For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven. - John 6:33

For I have come down from heaven. - John 6:38

This is the bread that comes down from heaven. - John 6:50

I am the living bread that came down from heaven. - John 6:51

God stoops. But that offends us.

So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” - John 6:41-42

The Jews are offended because they remember when Jesus was a kid, and He is claiming to be from on high. But they are offended because all human nature is offended by the humbling offer of Jesus. There is nothing you do to go up—God has to come down to you. Earlier, the crowd asked Jesus what good works they must be doing to please God, and Jesus replies: ““This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” - John 6:29

In other words: There is no chance you are going to be good enough on your own; your only shot is to push all your chips onto me and what I can do to save you.

The most offensive teaching in the Bible is not what it teaches about sex, or marriage, or the nature of hell. The most offensive teaching in the Bible is that no one is capable of saving themselves. None of us are righteous. There may be varying degrees of moral goodness as society defines it—if you volunteer or give charitably you are considered a good person, at least in contrast with a bad person, someone who gambles or drinks their family’s money away.

But what about God’s standards of right and wrong? Take Jesus’ teaching from the sermon on the mount, where we are commanded not only to not murder, but to not be angry; to not only avoid adultery, but to avoid lust; to not only love our neighbor, but love our enemy. How has this week been for you?

If you aren’t a Christian here today, this is critical for you to understand about Christianity. Christians don’t view religion like an education system, where we start out at kindergarten and eventually progress through the grades till we graduate as “good people.” No, the problem is more like we have all been given a terminal cancer diagnosis, and no amount of healthy eating or exercise will fix the problem. The only hope we have is to come to the One who can heal us.

“…the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” - John 6:51

Jesus offers His flesh for the life of the world by dying for our sins, by dying for us. That’s why He came down.

But this offer pushes us away. Because if we are saved entirely by Jesus and we have nothing to contribute than that means we can’t brag about anything. We like exclusive clubs, we like hard things, because it strokes our ego. You made the President’s list, ran the marathon, graduated with honors—and those are hard things, not everyone can do it. But what if anyone could get the honor? The bumper sticker? What if anyone could show up at Ivy League alumni reunion? Then it wouldn’t be that special. And the gospel is so offensive because it is so free: anyone can get in on it. No one was good enough, except Jesus, and He died so that anyone could be brought into the family of God if they receive Him with simple, childlike faith. That means that most immature, stumbling, train-wreck who doesn’t have life figured out, who doesn’t have all their problems fixed, who doesn’t have all their addictions conquered has just as much as standing in the family of God as the most matured, seasoned, spiritual hero we can think of.

This is why life together as a Church is so critical for our faith—it takes this idea from the realm of the theoretical, into the realm of reality.

And that offends us. But God’s heart for us outpaces even our own narcissistic tendencies. Where there is unbelief, God can create faith.

All that the Father gives me will come to me. - John 6:37

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. - John 6:44

The first verse states it positively, the second negatively. How do you come to Jesus? The Father gives you to Jesus. And if the Father gives you to Jesus, you will come. God’s act precipitates your faith. And when He acts, He cannot fail. You will come to Jesus.

No one can come—it is not possible to come—to Jesus, unless the Father draws you.

It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. - John 6:45

The Father teaches you, and it is the instruction you first receive from God the Father that enables you to come to Jesus, to believe.

That’s how you believe.

How Can I Keep Believing?

For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” - John 6:38-40

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. - John 6:44

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. - John 6:37

We must move beyond doctrinal affirmations in our mind and become convinced of Jesus’ heart. Jesus is not stuck with you; He did not make a promise to love you and now that He knows more about you regrets His promise—He’ll stick to His word to love you, but He does it reluctantly. No. In eternity past, when the Father gave you to Jesus, He saw, He knew your sins. And yet He set His heart on you, to love you, to stay by your side. He will never cast you out. Your friends may. Your family may. Your spouse may. But your God never will.

“They that are coming to Jesus Christ, are often times heartily afraid that Jesus Christ will not receive them. This observation is implied in the text….For this word “in no wise” cuts the throat of all objections; and it was dropped by the Lord Jesus for that very end; and to help the faith that is mixed with unbelief. And it is, as it were, the sum of all promises; neither can any objection be made upon the unworthiness that you find in yourself, that this promise will not absolve.” - John Bunyan, Come and Welcome

"Fallen, anxious sinners are limitless in their capacity to perceive reasons for Jesus to cast them out. We are factories of fresh resistances to Christ's love. Even when we run out of tangible reasons to be cast out, such as specific sins or failures, we tend to retain a vague sense that, given enough time, Jesus will finally grow tired of us and hold us at arm's length. Bunyan understands us. He knows we tend to deflect Christ's assurances. "No, wait"-we say, cautiously approaching Jesus— "you don't understand. I've really messed up, in all kinds of ways." I know, he responds. "You know most of it, sure. Certainly more than what others see. But there's perversity down inside me that is hidden from everyone." I know it all. "Well-the thing is, it isn't just my past. It's my present too."

I understand. "But I don't know if I can break free of this any time soon." That's the only kind of person I'm here to help. "The burden is heavy—and heavier all the time." Then let me carry it. "It's too much to bear." Not for me. "You don't get it. My offenses aren't directed toward others. They're against you." Then I am the one most suited to forgive them. "But the more of the ugliness in me you discover, the sooner you'll get fed up with me." Whoever comes to me I will never cast out." - Dane Ortlund, Gentle and Lowly