Stones to Bread
1. Jesus Said No to Stones & Yes to Being the Living Bread
When Jesus was baptized, God declared, “This is my Son, whom I love, with him I am well pleased.” After his baptism, the Holy Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. This was all part of God’s plan to prepare Jesus for his ministry and mission. This temptation was to prove Jesus’ faithfulness and obedience. To prove that He is the Lamb worthy to be slain to save the world.
Satan knew very well that Jesus is the Son of God. The issue was what kind of son Jesus will be? Will He be a self-serving or an obedient son? Will He be faithful to the work the Father has sent Him to do? Will He doubt God’s care, provision, and protection? Will He take matters into his own hands instead of trusting God?
Satan’s goal was to tempt Jesus to use his sonship and divine power for his own interests and needs. “If you are the Son of God …” which means, “Since you are the Son of God …” use your power to take care of yourself. Satan was trying to create doubt and undermine Jesus’ confidence and trust in God the Father. The devil tried to prevent Jesus from taking the path of self-denial, humility, and powerlessness that led to the cross. “Since you are the Son of God, why should you suffer like that?” What a victory it would have been for Satan if he could have prevented Jesus from fulfilling his mission? But fortunately for us and the world, Jesus said no to all this, and He said yes to the Father. He said no to the stones, and yes to being the Bread of Life.
In the first test, Jesus is tempted to put his physical comfort and self-gratification first, before his calling and his commitment to God. Since you are the Son of God, why should you suffer? Be a miracle worker, turn these stones into bread, and satisfy your own needs. Jesus said no to self, and yes to self-sacrifice and self-denial. He said yes to being the bread that will be the life of the world.
Next, the devil wanted Jesus to test God. Since Jesus is the Son of God, God will surely fulfill his promise to protect him. Jesus had a choice. Instead of believing God’s promises, he could test God by forcing God to act and prove his love. Or, He could trust and obey God, and so stay on the path of suffering, scorn, rejection, and death. Force God to save him now or trust that God will resurrect him and glorify him after the cross.
But there is more. Since you are the Son of God, why should you remain hidden in obscurity? Do this and reveal yourself. Get public acclaim. Win fame, make your name. Can you imagine what would have happened if Jesus did this? The angels would have come and carried Jesus safely down. Many people would have seen it because they were at the temple. Jesus would have had instant acclaim, fame, and glory.
But Jesus said no to all this. He said no to doubt and yes to believing and trusting the Father. He said no to acclaim and fame, no to glory and pride. He said yes to humility and becoming a slave; yes to the risk of being scorned and rejected by the world. Jesus knew that a far greater, incomparable glory awaits him than anything this world can offer.
In the third temptation, the devil tried to seduce Jesus with power. He tempted Jesus to grasp the power, which is his as the Son of God but to do so without going to the cross. Jesus had a choice. Option 1 — Get instant power over the world’s kingdoms by violating the first commandment by worshipping someone other than God. Obtain the crown without enduring the cross. Option 2 — Accept powerlessness, remain on the path of suffering, take up and endure the cross, and obtain all the power and authority in heaven and earth. Thank God Jesus said no to power and exalting himself, no to earthly treasures and worldly empires, and said yes to suffering, heavenly treasures, and God’s kingdom. Because He said yes to the cross, He is now the Lord of the universe, the Lord of all, the King of kings.
Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, Jesus was tempted to doubt the Father’s Word and disobey the Father’s will. Like Israel in the wilderness Jesus was tested with the same trials — not trusting God’s care; testing God; worshipping idols and not God alone. Unlike the disobedient first Adam, the new obedient Adam, the Son of Man, said no to his self-interests and yes to Father. Unlike Israel, the unfaithful son of God, Jesus the faithful Son of God, said no to the easy path, and said yes to the cross.
And so Jesus was perfectly obedient to the will of the Father. By obeying and trusting the Father, by remaining faithful to the Father’s purpose, Jesus proved to be perfect as the Father is perfect, to be holy as the Father is holy. And therefore, He is qualified and worthy to be the Lamb that was slain and sacrificed to save us. Therefore, He is the Bread of Life that gives life to the world.
2. Jesus Is the Bread of Life
Each Sunday this Lent, in our journey to the cross, we have carried small rocks into worship with us, and at the end of each service, we have laid them at the foot of the cross. The stones are messy and they leave dirt and stains on our hands and clothes. Sin is like that. It is messy. Sin is unattractive, and it leaves its ugly mark on our lives. That's the nature of sin. At the base of the cross is a heap of stones. Our stones. Our sins. They represent our hatred, our gossip, our pride, and our prejudice. They represent our disobedience, our failures, our fear, and our idols.
On the cross Jesus did business with those stones. Jesus, the Bread of Life, changed our stones of sin into the Living Bread. On the cross He carried our stones and He took them away. His broken body became the living bread that gives life. His spilled blood became the living water that gives life. When we come to Him and believe in Him we receive the living bread and the living water. And we will never go hungry and never be thirsty. We have received the new, eternal life because Jesus is the Bread of Life.
Today as we come to the Lord’s Table I want us to read slowly, reflectively, and prayerfully through John 6:26-59 to see how Jesus is the Bread of Life from heaven and how at the cross He took our sins away, turned our stones of sin into bread that gives us new life, eternal life.
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. 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.” Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 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. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
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. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 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. 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.”
So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 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’?”
Jesus answered them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 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— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 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.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
We do not literally eat the flesh and drink the blood of Jesus. The bread is not the actual body of Jesus and the wine is not his actual blood. We eat and drink when we come to Jesus and believe in Him, when we look to the Son and believe in Him. When we come to Him and believe in Him, He comes and abides, lives in us, we abide in Him, and He gives us life.
The bread we break is our fellowship with the body of Christ. His body was broken for us — on our behalf and in our place — so that our bodies don’t have to be broken. So that we can have life. When we take the bread and eat it, we remember and we believe that the body of our Lord Jesus Christ was broken unto a complete forgiveness of our sins.
The cup of wine we drink is our fellowship with the blood of Christ. His blood was spilled for us — on our behalf and in our place — so that our blood doesn’t have to be shed. So that we can have life. When we take the cup and drink it, we remember and we believe that the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ was shed unto a complete forgiveness of our sins.
On that night when He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” This is the body of Christ broken for you and me.
In the same way, He took the cup and said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” This is the blood of Christ poured out for you and me.
During our time of silent and personal prayer — Come forward with your broken hearts and leave your stones at the cross. Then receive the bread and the cup. When we eat the bread and drink the cup we believe and receive his grace and forgiveness. We have been crucified with Christ and now we live with Him. We rejoice and give thanks. Jesus has turned our stones of sin into eternal life because He is the Bread of Life. For you, the body of Christ. For you, the blood of Christ so that you will live forever. Praise and thanks be to God.