“Surrender” (John 6:26–35)

 

A Story about Bread
Feeding the five thousand is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. In fact, this is the only miracle story written in all four Gospels. Charles Spurgeon says that it’s in all four Gospels so that we won’t forget how much the Lord can do with little things that are yielded to him. This amazing miracle, feeding the 5,000 with five loaves and two fish, is the fourth “sign,” which points to the greater reality, that is: Jesus came into the world not just to give bread, but to be bread. Jesus came not to be useful, but to be precious. That’s the main point. But what does that mean?

Giving Bread
Jesus does care about bread. He cares about our daily needs. When Jesus saw a large crowd, he was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he taught them, healed them, and fed them. He fed the 5,000. But that was not the main reason he came. Jesus fed the 5,000 so that they might see the sign and believe in him, and have life. But unfortunately, the people missed the point. They believed in Jesus as a materialistic Savior. They believed that Jesus would improve their living situation, setting them free from Roman oppression, giving them peace and prosperity, making them healthy and wealthy. In short, they believed that Jesus came to give bread. And they wanted to use him for their own purposes and agendas. In Matthew 7:22–23, Jesus says, “At the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, ‘Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.’ And do you know what I am going to say? ‘You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important’” (MSG).

In today’s passage, the crowd had a great passion for Jesus. They tried to make him king by force, but without success. The next day, when they saw that Jesus was not there on the other side of the sea, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. But Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (26). Jesus knew they were seeking him and following him for the wrong reason. They were seeking Jesus because he was useful, not because he was precious.

Being Bread
In the wilderness, God disciplined his people all the way for 40 years. God had a purpose for this. He had a plan. Deuteronomy 8:3 says, “He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.” In other words, God’s plan is not simply to give bread, but to be bread. God’s plan is not just to meet our needs and help us to go on treasuring other things, but to be our treasure, our life.

Once again, in the wilderness, Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish. After this, a large crowd was following him. In fact, they were ahead of him and waiting for him. When Jesus arrived, they asked him for another miracle, saying, “Lord, give us this bread always.” “Satisfy our desires!” Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). Here, Jesus was saying, “I didn’t come into the world to meet your natural desires. I came to change your desires, to give you a new desire so that I would be your main desire, your precious one.”

Apparently, they didn’t understand it. They began to complain about Jesus, saying, “I’ve come all the way out here to see Jesus, hoping he might give me what I always wanted. But what is he talking about? The bread of life? The bread of heaven?” But Jesus stretched their faith even more, saying, “Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you” (53). What does it mean to eat Jesus’ flesh? For Jesus, eating is believing. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (36). “Very truly, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life” (47–48).

Eating Jesus’ flesh is believing in him. To be more specific, it means to believe in Jesus’ death on the cross as our only hope for eternal life. It means to believe that Jesus’ death pays in full the penalty for our sin. That’s why Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, so that we would not forget the very core of what we believe. In 1 Corinthians 11:26 Paul says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim why Jesus died. We proclaim that our problem is not about bread, but about sin. We proclaim that we have the Savior who saves us from our sins (Matt. 1:21). Jesus is the bread of life. Whoever eats this bread will have real life, eternal life (John 6:58).

Taking Bread
Jesus didn’t come into the world to give bread, but to be bread. Jesus often takes bread out of our hands so that we may learn to trust him as the true bread, the bread of life. In today’s passage, many of Jesus’ disciples thought their life would be okay with a little bit of help and improvement here and there. But Jesus stripped away their pride, self-sufficiency, and self-righteousness. He exposed their unbelief. Jesus took bread out of their hands so that they might believe and have life in him. But instead, the majority of them took offense, turned back, and no longer followed him.

There is a story about a missionary to Dutch New Guinea. One day, the missionary decided to plant some pineapples – 100 plants. They were rare and valuable to the natives. It took about three years to yield pineapples. He couldn’t wait! But when the pineapples got ripe, the missionary couple didn’t get anything. The natives stole every single pineapple! The missionary got mad. “No pineapples, no clinic!” he said. And he cut out the clinic. The next year, the natives stole the pineapples again. This time, he cut out the trade store. But the natives kept stealing the pineapples. This time, he brought a German Shepherd. It did work for the time being. But the thing was, he didn’t have a chance to talk about Jesus and learn their language. The church was empty on Sunday.

One Sunday after the service, the missionary went out to the pineapple garden and prayed: “Lord, I have fought to have the fruit from them. I have claimed them as my own. I have stood up for my rights. It is all wrong, and I realize that now. I have to give them all to you. From now on, if you want me to eat any of your pineapples, fine. If not, then that is fine too. Amen.” The natives kept stealing the pineapples just like before. But he didn’t say anything. He just kept praying and trusting God. One day, they finally came to the missionary and said, “Too-wan” (foreigner), “you have become a Christian, haven’t you? Because you don’t get angry anymore when we steal your pineapples.” He answered, “The pineapples don’t belong to me anymore. I have given the garden to God.” They answered, “To God?” They were afraid that they were stealing from God. And they stopped stealing. Then, the missionary couple was able to enjoy the fresh pineapples! And they shared the pineapples with them. Soon, many of the natives decided to become Christians. God took bread – pineapples – out of their hands so that they learned to trust and surrender.

Let us examine ourselves today. Why are we following Jesus? Are we following Jesus because he is useful, meeting our desires? Or are we following Jesus because he is precious? May the Lord Jesus Christ change our desires so that we may treasure him, rejoice in him, and be satisfied in him alone.

Lord, you are more precious than silver.

Lord, you are more costly than gold.

Lord, you are more beautiful than diamond.

And nothing I desire compares with you.