Who is this Man?

Well, good morning church, you may be wondering yourself, why are we

singing typically what's a first Advent Christmas song in

October?

The reason is because the message of today is,

who is this man?

This man being Emmanuel, the one who was promised, the King of Israel, the

King of his people, he's come.

And we celebrate, we worship, not just on a particular occasion that's marked in

our English calendar, but instead, that which is before us in Holy Scripture.

And we worship this King, we worship this Emmanuel.

Again, today's message is, who is this man?

And it's based upon Luke chapter 9, so if you have a Bible, please turn to the 9th chapter of Luke.

And when you have that, please do stand for a reading of God's work in Luke chapter 9, starting in verse 7,

hear ye the word of the Lord this morning.

Now Herod the Tetrarch heard about all that was happening, and he was perplexed, because it was said by

some that John had been raised from the dead, by some that Elijah had appeared, and by

others that one of the prophets of old had risen.

Herod said, John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear

such things?

And he sought to see him.

Now on their return, the apostles told him all that they had done.

And he then, he took them and withdrew apart to a town called Bethsaida.

When the crowds learned it, they followed him, and he welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom of God and

cured those who had need of healing.

Now the day began to wear away, and the twelve came and said to him, send the crowd

away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging, and to get provisions.

For we are here in a desolate place.

But he said to them, you give them something to eat.

They said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we are

to go and buy food for all these people.

For there were about 5 ,000 men.

And he sent the disciples, had them sit down in groups of about 50 each, and they

did so.

And had them all sit down, and taking the five loaves and two fish, he looked up to

heaven and said a blessing over them.

Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples he sent before the crowd, and they all ate

and were satisfied.

And what was left over was picked up in the twelve baskets of broken pieces.

Now it happened that he was praying alone, and the disciples were with him.

And he asked them, what do the crowd say that I am?

And they answered, John the Baptist.

Others say Elijah, and others that you are one of the prophets of old has risen.

Then he said to them, but who do you say that I am?

And Peter answered, the Christ of God.

This is the word of the Lord.

You may be seated.

Father, we do come to you in the name of Emmanuel, the Lord Jesus Christ, our blessed Savior and King,

our Redeemer and our Purchaser.

We ask, Lord, that you would help us in this time, in this moment, to lay aside our

earthly cares and our worries.

Father, we thank you for your provision that has been with us, to bring us to this place of worship even today.

We thank you, Lord, that despite the trials and temptations of this past week, you have

been faithful, you have been good, and you have promised to deliver us, and you shall deliver us.

And we pray, God, that you would help us to see the beauty and majesty of your Son, even today,

so that our hearts may be encouraged, that we may receive the word that you've given us for

today, and that we may live a life worthy of the calling by which you've called us.

All for the glory of your namesake, in Jesus' name we do pray, amen.

Again, as we sung, O come, O come, Emmanuel, Emmanuel being the

designate name that God had gave to His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, that points us

to who this man truly is.

Jesus, as He is going into the regions of Israel, He's doing

the impossible.

He is demonstrating His divinity by many miraculous works.

He heals the sick.

He opens the eyes of the blind.

He opens the ears of the deaf.

He makes that the lame should walk again, and He even raises the dead.

Remember what is the undercurrent of Luke's theme, of this gospel theme, and it is

the breaking in, the ushering in of God's kingdom into this broken world.

And Jesus is the centerpiece of God's kingdom.

He's the King who is coming, and He's invading this world.

The incarnation of Jesus Christ is God's coming into the world at the fullness of time,

born of the Virgin, to live the life that you and I could not live.

No one on the face of this earth can live a perfect, holy,

and blameless life.

Why?

Because we are sinners.

Every single person here has sinned.

The Bible puts it this way in Romans chapter 3, verse 23, all have sinned and fallen short of the glory

of God.

You and I are under the same condemnation of sin.

You and I have a similar and like nature.

You and I have similar even like predispositions towards sin.

What then is our lot?

What then is our hope?

Friends, our hope is in the one that God has sent.

Our hope is in this Jesus, who even the ruler of Israel of this time, Herod the

Tetrarch, heard all about what was happening in Israel in verse 7.

It says that as he was hearing these things, these reports about this Jesus, he was

perplexed.

Can I tell you that Jesus is a man that when you read of Him and you learn of Him, He leaves

many people perplexed.

Unfortunately, we had to cancel the event that we had for this upcoming week, a

conversation about sacrifice and with a Muslim and a Christian.

What's of interest is when you examine Islam, for instance, and some of the other world

religions, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, all of them

have an opinion on Jesus.

In fact, even the Quran itself, the holy book of the Muslim faith, says much

about Jesus.

So perplexing is this Jesus of Nazareth, is this Jesus of history,

that even all the world's great religions must come to a point of decision

about Him.

Who is this man?

If you ask the Muslim, who is this man?

They will say, peace be upon him, he is a great prophet.

If you ask a Hindu, who is this man, this Jesus?

They may also say, he's a great teacher, maybe he's even divine.

If you ask a rabbi or a Jew, who is this teacher?

You might get one of two answers.

He was either one, a troublemaker, a false teacher, or he was a

rabbi filled with great wisdom.

Friends, today we ask you the same question, who is this man?

Herod heard of this man, and he was perplexed.

It says, because it was said by some that John had been raised from the dead,

and by some that Elijah had appeared, and by others that one of the prophets of old had risen.

You see, so perplexing was the reports coming from Jesus, and about

Jesus, that people didn't know what to make of him.

Who is this man?

Is he John the Baptist?

Is he Elijah the prophet?

Is he maybe some other Old Testament prophet risen from the grave?

Herod says this, he says, John I beheaded, but who is this about whom I hear

such things that he sought to see him?

If you're following in the notes, I want you to write this, Herod the ruler kept hearing reports about a man performing many

miracles.

You see, Jesus was able to get a lot of attention because of the miracles that he was accomplishing and doing.

Remember that the things that Jesus is doing in his ministry is a

microcosm of what he will do at a grand scale.

So the gospel of Luke is all about God's kingdom coming into the world.

Jesus is the one ushering in God's kingdom, and the things that he is doing on the earth in this

particular time in redemptive history is a foretaste of what will happen at a grand scale

at the end of the age, when the Lord Jesus returns in glory and makes all things new again.

He will indeed heal the sick, so that as the Bible says in Isaiah 33, that no resident

will say I am sick.

He will indeed raise the dead as his promise, even in that sacred

prophetic book of Daniel in chapter 12, which says that all of the dead will be raised, and

those who are to inherit the kingdom will shine bright as the sun.

Truly, this Jesus is accomplishing the very work of the kingdom,

and this was a threat to the rule of King Herod.

I want you to write that in there, which was a threat to his rule.

You see, Herod wasn't so much interested in inquiring about this Jesus because he wanted to learn more and be

subject to the new king of Israel, but rather because Herod in his mind

is the true tetrarch, which means ruler.

He is the true king, and who is this who claims

to be the king of Israel?

Who is this who can be a possible contender to my power, to my

rulership?

Herod was not keen on having anyone threaten his right to rule, and at

the heart of human conflict between man and God is that

very subject.

Who has the right to rule?

You see, in the Garden of Eden, what was at stake there wasn't just the eating of a simple fruit

from a tree, but rather who gets to set the rules by

which we live?

Because God said in that precious garden, of all the trees you may eat, for they're all good and

pleasing to the eye, but of one you shall not touch, and one you shall not eat, God

made the rules.

And Satan comes in, that ancient serpent, and he says, no.

Did God actually say, did God really say?

He questioned God's right to rule, God's right to set the standards of right and wrong, just

like today.

Today, if you look at the world and you look at the culture, what is even good today?

What is even bad?

These things are now so subjective in the culture that essentially there is no good and there

essentially is no bad.

Who gets to set the standard of right and wrong?

The Bible tells us who that is, and it is Yahweh, the God of creation, the God of Israel.

He sets the standard.

And what is at stake here is God's sovereign right to rule.

And man is always questioning that and pushing back, and here it is no different.

He hears that there may be one who will take away his rulership, his right to rule, and Jesus truly is

the one who takes the legal right to rule, because He's the promised

Messiah.

What implication does that have for the believer?

Dear brothers and sisters, you do not have the right to rule your life as you please.

You are under a head.

You are under a ruler.

You are under a king.

Jesus sets the standard by which we are all to live by.

And so, we see what comes next in this narrative in Luke chapter 9,

is that Jesus goes to this neighboring towns

and says in verse 11, when the crowds learned it, they followed Him and He welcomed them and spoke to them of the kingdom

of God and cured those who had need of healing.

Jesus continues His prophetic ministry and His healing ministry.

He begins to proclaim the kingdom of God.

Remember, Jesus is the very king of that kingdom.

He is the one who can cure those of need.

And He goes on to say in verse 12, now the day began to wear away, and the twelfth came and said to

Him, send a crowd away to go into the surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging and to

get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.

How fascinating is this?

Let's set the stage for a moment.

Put yourself in this picture.

You go to see Jesus.

You hear Him proclaim the message of the kingdom of God.

You begin to see His miraculous works and He's healing the sick.

I don't know about you, I often wonder what would my

reaction be had I been one of these?

Had I been fortunate enough to live the time of Jesus and see up close

firsthand His miraculous work, His ministry, hear His voice, see His

face, what would I do?

And I hope that my inclination would be the one that I have today, which is I wouldn't want to leave His sight.

I would be so enamored.

Imagine, you know, maybe some people here, especially the younger folks, I have a niece who, pray for her,

she's a big Taylor Swift fan, okay?

And all she does is play Taylor Swift songs and music, and she so much so that apparently there was a movie that came out and she wanted to

go see it, and she took my daughter with her.

Please pray for her, she's also becoming a Taylor Swift fan.

And when you're obsessed with someone, when you're a fan of someone, when you're enamored by someone, you want to hear, you want to see, you want

to have a close presence to this individual.

In the same way, Jesus, He demands that you come

and see and partake in His presence.

And the disciples, understanding that the crowds, hey, these crowds, they're not going to go anywhere.

So we need to send them away to the shrine villages, to the countryside to find lodge, we need to get provisions, because we're in a

desolate place, we can't provide for these folks.

Now these disciples are being very logical, they're being very astute, they are being

very reasonable to a degree, but

what's missing is their faith.

Notice again what Jesus is doing, He is healing the sick, He's preaching the kingdom of God.

There is nothing natural about God's kingdom, it is supernatural.

God's kingdom is over all the kingdoms of the world,

and it doesn't function in the same way or in the same metrics or in the same economy

as our kingdoms here on the earth.

Where the world sees desolation, God's kingdom through Jesus Christ

sees an opportunity.

In the same way as Christians, we ought to have the same mindset.

When we see desolation, when we see that where there is no resources, we know there's only one who can make

up those resources, and it's Jehovah Jireh, it is the Lord, our provider.

He always makes a way even in desolate places, He makes a way even in the deserts, He

makes a way even when there seems to be no way, why?

Because God's kingdom is not like ours, God's kingdom is not like man's.

Epiphasis of Jesus and the apostles continue to teach the kingdom, why don't you write this in there if you haven't already, and

healing the sick.

You see, Christ was undeterred by all the political forces that were beginning to conspire against Him.

He was undeterred by the location or terrain of His ministry or the

obstacles in His way.

Jesus faithfully preached God's kingdom, and He demonstrated the

power of the kingdom by not only proclaiming it, but also demonstrating it by

healing and meeting the needs of the people He was ministering to.

We see how Jesus meets the needs of people, even in the next several verses here,

starting in verse 12 and then 13.

Again, verse 12 says, now the day began to wear away, and the 12 came and said to Him, send the crowd away to go into the

surrounding villages and countryside to find lodging to get provisions, for we are here in a desolate place.

But He said to them, you give them something to eat.

They said, we have no more than five loaves and two fish, unless we're

to go and buy food for all these people, for there were about 5

,000 men.

Look at the obstacle.

Look at what seems to be a complete impossibility according to the mindset of man, according

to man's thinking, according to man's kingdom.

Clearly we don't have the resources.

Clearly, Jesus, unless you're going to give us a lot of money, we're not going to be able to meet the needs of these

people.

But I love what Jesus says.

As the apostles give Him this scenario, hey, we got to send these folks away.

Jesus says this, you give them something to eat.

He puts the onus back on them.

Why?

Because the disciples, again, were looking at life through the prism of man, through the

lens of operating in that which is

possible.

But Jesus operates in the realm of impossibility.

Jesus operates even in the most difficult of circumstances, He always

makes a way.

Jesus always makes a way.

So here you have an impossible task, brothers and sisters.

I want you to write this, the apostles had to feed a multitude of 5 ,000.

And it says 5 ,000 men, which probably means that only the men or the heads of the households were

counted, and then you could think that there were maybe women and children that far

went beyond the 5 ,000 that were actually there.

And what do they have in order to meet the needs of these 5 ,000 men?

Five loaves, two fish.

Five loaves, two fish.

The apostles were eager to get rid of the needy and hungry multitudes, no doubt.

They too were likely hungry and tired and thinking of their own needs and how

they themselves would have enough food and lodging.

Jesus then gives them an impossible task.

He says, you feed them.

Beloved, when we are faced with similar

critical spirits, for instance, why doesn't this get done?

Or who's going to do that?

The answer Jesus likely gives is,

you do it.

You do it.

You see, it's a critical spirit that arises in us that makes us, when

we look at circumstances, we look at situations that may seem difficult or impossible, well, who's going to get that done?

Who's going to do this?

Jesus looks at us and He beckons us, you do it.

You do it.

You do the impossible so that you may demonstrate faith in the God

of the impossible.

Now, what do we usually say?

We will answer kind of like the apostles here, like the disciples, but how?

Jesus beckons us to place our faith and confidence in Him.

Will God ever give you a task that's too difficult or impossible for you to handle?

Some people would say no.

I would say yes.

Let me ask that question again.

Will God ever give you a task that you yourself cannot handle or do?

And the answer is yes.

I have this wonderful quote from Henry Black, it'd be in the book, Experiencing the Spirit of the Power of Pentecost Every Day, and he wrote

this.

He says this, will God ever ask you to do something that you are not able to do?

The answer is yes all the time.

It must be that way for God's glory and kingdom.

If we function according to our ability alone, we get the glory.

If we function according to the power of the Spirit within us, God gets the glory.

He wants to reveal Himself to a watching world.

Will God ever ask you to do something that you cannot do?

Yes all the time.

Why?

So that we can rely on His power, His grace, His sufficiency, not our own.

The apostles and the disciples in this day were likely looking at themselves and looking at their own deficiencies, their

own needs, their own wants, and they saw this impossible task we can't do, we don't have enough.

Yet they forgot who it is that they were walking with.

They forgot who it was in whose presence they were in, the very presence of God, the very

presence of Yahweh and human flesh.

If Yahweh could feed the multitudes of Israel in the wilderness, surely He could feed the

multitudes that were hearing the message of the kingdom being preached in Israel.

This Jesus is able to feed the many with a few.

And so what does Jesus do?

Verse 14 says again, there were about 5 ,000 men, He said to His disciples, have them sit

down in groups of about 50 each, and they did so, and had them all sit

down.

In verse 16, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them,

that He broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples to set before the crowd.

What does Jesus do here?

He understands that He has very few resources to share, but He knows

from whose hand all goodness and resources flow,

from the Father.

You see, when we are in need, brothers and sisters, our response should be that of Jesus.

Jesus does not look to the world for answers.

He doesn't look to that which is in man's kingdom, but rather He looks up to God's kingdom.

He goes to the source of all good things, even the Father Himself.

His eyes lifted up, these baskets going up in the air, and Jesus proclaims the

sufficiency of God, and He prays and blesses the food.

And it says again in verse 16, and taking the five loaves, He looked up to heaven and said a blessing over them.

In times of need, in times of impossible task, from where does our help come?

What does the psalmist say in Psalm 121?

From where should my help come?

He says, I shall lift up my eyes, I shall gaze upon the mountains, from where should my help come?

My help is from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.

Is anything too difficult for God?

Is there anything too hard for Him?

When you're faced with the impossibility of life, look to heaven,

gaze upon the maker.

Because Yahweh, the one who created those fish, the one who created

the very grain by which that bread was made, is able to multiply by His own

sovereign will and decree.

God is able to do the impossible, even in the midst of impossible circumstances.

Jesus uses, again, the hands of a few, the hands of His

disciples to bless the multitudes.

He uses the small to make a big impact.

He uses the impossible to demonstrate that He is, again, the God of the impossible.

Nothing is too hard for Yahweh, nothing.

Now what happens here?

In verse 16, again, He takes the bread, He blesses it, and then He broke the loaves and gave them to the

disciples to set before the crowd.

And verse 17 says, and they all ate and were satisfied.

And what was left over was picked up, the 12 baskets of broken pieces.

Jesus does the impossible, He feeds the multitudes, and they were all, I

want you to write this in the notes, and they were all satisfied.

They were all satisfied.

Jesus, with very few resources, looking to the Father for blessing,

receives it, imparts it to the multitudes, imparts it to the crowd, not just so they get a little bit of a snack,

not just so that it can maybe subdue a little bit of the hunger, but rather, He gave them

so much that they were satisfied, satisfied.

You ever had a meal where you just, you just had enough?

You know one of my favorite things to do is I love going to a Brazilian steakhouse, okay?

And you get more than satisfied there, and you get the little ticket, you flip the green or the red.

And my thing is always green, it's always green, I'm always ready to go.

I won't say no to a good meat, okay?

And as they come, they'll carve and they'll bring, and it's just more, and more, and more, and probably more than I should.

But it reminds me of the blessing that's promised to God's people, that He provides a cup for you,

that it's not just filled enough, it's not just filled to the brim, but it overflows.

It overflows.

And that's the blessing of God in the life of His people.

He doesn't just give them just enough to get by.

He gives them enough to be satisfied.

That's our Jesus.

That's the God of the impossible.

That's the God of scripture.

He gives you more, and He blesses you in abundance.

You see, sometimes we are afraid of talking about an abundant life that Jesus speaks about in scripture, because

we don't want to get lumped in with all those crazy prosperity folks.

But folks, I tell you, the gospel brings a measure of prosperity in the Christian life.

Not always material, not always in money or resources, but He promises in

abundance and a blessing for His people.

He promises to bless us, not to harm us.

And even in the midst of persecution, even in the midst where the world hates you, and wants to kill you,

wants to defile you, Jesus says, I will still bless you.

Even in the midst of those difficult trials, because He's the God of the impossible.

And so the Bible tells us and reminds us in Psalm 104, in Psalm 45, that

Yahweh is the God who opens His hands and He satisfies the need of

every living creature.

He opens His hands and He satisfies, and Jesus is that very Yahweh who in this

moment is opening His hand and He's satisfying the needs of every single person in that

crowd.

So they have enough to be satisfied.

That speaks of God's blessing in our lives.

And you, beloved, have you ever felt that deep longing in your soul to be satisfied?

Every single human being lives with this innate desire to be filled and to be

satisfied, yet only that we find that it is fleeting.

It's a fleeting desire.

Because even after you eat in that great buffet or that Brazilian steakhouse, inevitably a couple

hours later, you'll be hungry again and you'll have a need and a want.

So many in this world turn to things that cannot truly satisfy.

They turn to things such as pornography, addiction, alcohol, relationships

to find the soul's longing for satisfaction.

Yet, it always turns up to be empty.

Jesus here does the impossible.

He takes the five loaves and the two fishes, He multiplies the elements to meet the needs of the crowd,

demonstrating the great power and compassion that He has for His people.

And again, He doesn't just feed them a little.

He gives them enough to be satisfied, demonstrating that only He alone has

that which can make man truly satisfied.

Jesus is the one who can satisfy the longing of every human heart.

He does so in such a way that we must ask this question,

who is this man who can satisfy the

needs and the wants of the crowds, who can satisfy the desire and the longing of every human

heart?

Who is this man?

And verse 18, the question comes up again.

Now it happened that as He was praying alone, the disciples were with Him.

And He asked them, what did the crowds say that I am?

And they answered Him, John the Baptist, but others say Elijah, and others

one of the prophets of old has risen.

What's of interest here is that the most consequential question of the ages,

the question that troubled the very heart of Herod the ruler, the question that puzzled the multitude, and

the question that every man must answer, Jew, Gentile, Christian,

Muslim, Hindu, Jew, atheist, agnostic, every single person must

come to this point and to this question, who is this man?

Who is this Jesus of Nazareth?

The crowds also perplexed, confusing Him for a prophet or for

John the Baptist.

Interestingly, you have to consider why were they confusing Him with John the Baptist?

Why were they confusing Him with a prophet?

What were their expectations?

Again what's of interest here is that, for me, why would they conflate these two men?

One is because again, they don't have, this is a world before television, before social media, people have only

mostly get their information by hearsay, they hear about someone, they don't always get to see

that somebody, which is why Jesus was able to amass great crowds was because people were hearing about Him, they

wanted to see with their eyes who this man was.

Often, most of them didn't see John the Baptist, so they're wondering, okay, is this the same guy?

Is this the guy that was out in the wilderness, who was baptizing, who was proclaiming the same message?

Why?

Because John the Baptist and Jesus had the same message, the kingdom of God, and to repent because the

kingdom of God was near.

They hear the message, the same, and they wonder, is it the same messenger?

But no, this one, this Jesus, is greater than the one who came before Him.

He's greater than John the Baptist, so much so that even John the Baptist, the last

of the Old Testament prophets, when he sees this Jesus amassing upon the, coming upon Him at the Jordan,

he says, behold the Lamb of God who taketh away those sins of the world.

He says, this man is one who I am unworthy to even approach, I could not even tie

the very strings of His sandals.

This man is different.

John the Baptist knew that Jesus was different.

Jesus was not John the Baptist.

He was not Elijah, because the Elijah that was prophesied to come was in fact John the Baptist.

This one is greater, is what John the Baptist said.

This one is different.

Jesus is not just a prophet of old, rather when He asked then His

disciples, but who do you say that I am?

Peter confesses the great confession of faith, that he is the Christ

of God.

Who then is this man who heals the sick, who feeds the poor, and who raises

the dead?

I want you to write this in your notes.

He is the Christ of God.

Christ, meaning Messiah, Christos in the Greek, Mashiach in the Hebrew.

He is the anointed one, the promised one, the one that was promised in the Old Testament

to be the King and Savior of His people, who would be God with us, Emmanuel,

who was the one spoken of in Holy Scripture, whose time and origin is from long ago, even from the days of

eternity, that this Jesus was indeed different.

He is the Christ of God.

Again, when asked by His disciples, they respond with the revelation that only God the Father could give, that the man

standing before them was indeed the foretold Messiah sent from God.

And folks, today we must confront the same question, who do we say

Jesus is?

Who do we say that He is?

There's only one truth in living Jesus, not a multitude of Jesuses.

And so when you're confronted with other religious groups, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, atheists,

Muslims, agnostics, Hindus, Jews, they all have a concept of who the man is.

But who is this man?

The Bible teaches us who this man is.

The Bible says in John 1, verse 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the

Word was God.

And all things came into being through this Word, and in verse 14 it says that this Word became

flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory

of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth.

This Jesus is God in human flesh.

He is the Incarnate One, so much so that when the angels declare the Emmanuel that has come into this

world, the Emmanuel meaning God with us.

And when it says in John 1, chapter 1, verse 14, that He dwelt among us, that word means to pitch a tent

in the Greek.

He tabernacled, He pitched a tent before us.

This Emmanuel is God with us, God pitching His tent amongst

humanity.

This Jesus is indeed God.

He is the Son of Man and the Son of God, true man and true God,

and you must know Him in order to have eternal life and to be truly

satisfied.

I want you to turn in your Bibles to John chapter 6, how we'll close our teaching this morning.

In John 6, Jesus has fed the

multitudes, but now in John 6, He speaks

of a different kind of bread.

In the beginning, in verse 47, notice what the Lord Jesus says,

"'Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.

I am the bread of life.'".

Let me stop there for a moment.

If you doubt for a second who Jesus is, and if you doubt for a moment the divinity of

Jesus Christ, know this, that in the Old Testament, when Moses was confronted with God

in the burning bush, how does the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob address

Himself as?

When Moses asked a critical question, "'What am I to say to Pharaoh?

What is your name?'.

And the Lord, speaking from the burning bush, says, "'I am that I am.

Say unto the children of Israel that I am has sent you.'".

In the Greek New Testament, Jesus uses this very same phrase, the

Greek being egoimi, and He uses it often to describe Himself and His attributes and

His characteristics.

Jesus says, "'I am the way, the truth, and the life.

I am the good shepherd.

I am the door.

I am the bread of life.'".

If there's any doubt who this Jesus is, He is indeed the great

I am.

He says, "'I am the bread of life.

Your fathers ate 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 give for the

life of the world is my flesh.'".

Jesus points to Himself as the very source

of life, not just physical life, but now even spiritual life and nourishment.

Who is this man who can say such words?

The Jews in verse 52 begin to dispute among themselves, saying, "'How can this man give

us His flesh to eat?'.

Again, they're operating in the flesh.

They're operating in the world of possibility.

How can this man say these things?'.

So Jesus said to them," in verse 53, "'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.'".

These words were so powerful that they were used against Jesus at His very

trial, when He was brought before the Sadducees and the Pharisees, when He was brought before

Herod.

They said, "'This man is a blasphemer.

He's a blasphemer because he said we must eat of His flesh and we must drink His blood.'".

This was a clear violation of the Old Testament law, if taken literally.

And many folks today still don't understand what Jesus was actually referring to.

Roman Catholics, for instance, believe that this is a reference to the Eucharist.

This is a reference to the elements changing in substance to become the actual body and

blood of Jesus.

But this is not a reference to the Lord's table.

There's some connection there for sure, but it's not what He's primarily addressing here because He had not yet instituted the Lord's Supper.

But instead what He's pointing to is that He is in Himself

the bread of life by which we must all spiritually eat and partake in

order to have life and sustenance and to be satisfied.

Jesus goes on to say in verse 54, "'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.'".

What's the point of all this language here?

It's the language of intimacy between God and His people, that Jesus doesn't just want to be

near you, He wants to be in you.

You are not just to be around Jesus, you are to be in Jesus.

You are to consume Him as He is that bread of life, as He is true food and

true drink.

He's the only one who can truly satisfy.

And Jesus can satisfy you, and I want you to write this in the notes, because He is true

food and true drink by being the only source of

eternal life.

Friends, there is no other way by which we can be saved.

There is no other way by which we can be made right with God but through Jesus Christ.

He exclusively is the only way to the Father.

For as the great I am, He said these words, I am the way, the truth, and

the life.

No one comes to the Father except by Me.

He is exclusive yet He is also inclusive in

that He says to men, women, and children of all ages and of all

backgrounds, of all nationalities, of all skin colors, come to Me, all you who are

weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest, yes, even rest for your souls, beloved.

This Jesus can satisfy.

This Jesus is Jehovah Jireh, our grand provider.

He offers true spiritual bread, manna from heaven.

He offers true free water, water bubbling up to eternal life.

Now, what is required of you, old man, now that you know who

this man is, the Christ of God, He beckons you

to repent, turn from sin, trust in Him and in His

perfect and complete finished work so that whoever may believe in Him has

present tense, not just maybe possibility in the future, but you could have eternal

life now.

And if you believe on Jesus, you eat and you partake of Him spiritually.

And every week that we gather as saints, we not only believe this, but we also practice it

in the Lord's Supper where we believe that we encounter the true and spiritual

presence of our Lord Jesus Christ and the elements.

We come to this table today eating and drinking the elements of our Lord and receive the spiritual

presence of our Savior because what precedes this table, this bread,

this wine is the bread and the wine of heaven, even the Lord Jesus

Christ who beckons you today to trust in Him unto eternal life.

Let me pray.

We thank You, O God, our Redeemer.

We thank You for giving us Jesus, the one

who in the midst of the multitude with very little to offer and give as

resources is able to multiply, is able to do the impossible.

We thank You for this Jesus, O Father, who does the impossible in

saving wicked humanity from their sins.

We thank You that we worship You and know You and see You through faith.

Father, we do come before You asking that You grant us even more measures of faith so we may behold His

glory and behold His beauty as the one who alone can satisfy the

desire and the longing of the human heart and of the human soul.

O Lord, may we depend upon You.

May we lean on You, not our own understandings, so that in all Your ways You may

make us straight.

Father, forgive us for we fall short.

Help us, Lord, in this week to come to feed on the spiritual riches of

Christ, to gaze upon Him in His Word, to meet Him in prayer, to see Him

in that secret place so we may be strengthened in the inner man and receive true

spiritual food, true spiritual drink through the great I Am, even the Lord

Jesus Christ, to whom be glory, power, and dominion both now and forevermore.

Amen.