Bread That Never Runs Out

Crowds chased boats and rumors across the Sea of Galilee, but Jesus answered with a question that still stings: why are you here? We unpack the moment He redirects people from chasing another meal to discovering the Bread of Life, the only source that satisfies soul-deep hunger. Along the way, we trace the storm, the sudden arrival on a new shore, and the scramble of boats from Tiberias to Capernaum—then pause to hear how motives, mercy, and faith collide.

We explore the tension between visible needs and eternal nourishment. Jesus refuses to be reduced to a vending machine for miracles and invites us to a richer table: “Do not labor for the food that perishes.” With Isaiah’s charge ringing—why spend on what cannot satisfy—He reveals the Father as the true Giver and Himself as heaven’s bread. The crowd reaches for manna nostalgia; Jesus points to a Person. Belief becomes the work, trust becomes the doorway, and life becomes more than getting through the day.

Mercy threads through the teaching with the “sure mercies of David.” David’s failures didn’t end his story; grace shaped it, and the promise of a forever King rose from that same line. If God could restore a fallen king, He can steady us when our appetites, guilt, or exhaustion win the hour. We talk about assurance—those who come will not be cast out—and the hope that stretches to the last day when He raises up His own. This is more than a theology lesson; it is a reordering of desires. Pray less only for fixes and more for His heart. Seek the Giver over the gifts. Trade frantic hunger for a steady feast in Christ.

If this conversation stirred something in you, follow and share the show, leave a review, and invite a friend who’s hungry for more than another quick fix.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

Mercy To David, Promise Of Messiah

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

SPEAKER_02 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

SPEAKER_01 0:20

Just look at how merciful I was towards David. And David, you can see the hand of God on David for his whole life, but then he had a couple of really bad trips and falls, adultery and murder. It's not very good for a leader of God to get caught in, but God in his mercy still restored him and kept him going. In fact, he promised that on the throne of David, one would reign forever and ever. Pointing to the Messiah, pointing to Jesus.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

You don't need to be the perfect Christian for God to work through you and to fulfill his purpose. David is a fantastic example of this. Despite David's missteps in some choices he made, there was still a beautiful twist in the story. God restored him and even chose David's lineage to bring the Messiah into the world. Today, Pastor Carl invites you to explore the amazing journey of discovering God's plan for your life. All God wants is for you to repent and turn away from your sins. That's precisely what David did. And now, here's Pastor Carl.

Tracing Boats And Crowds Across Galilee

Why Are You Here

Food That Endures To Eternal Life

Believe In The One God Sent

Isaiah’s Call And Sure Mercies

True Bread From Heaven Revealed

I Am The Bread Of Life

Assurance, Resurrection, And Eternal Hope

John’s Witness And Your Next Step

SPEAKER_01 1:34

And so he's in the boat, the storm stops, and all of a sudden they're at the place they were going. They were going to the other side of the lake, and uh they were only three or four miles into the lake, and I don't know how long the lake is, like 20 miles or something, but it instantly they're at the other side. Reminds me of the was it Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch? And Philip was like running like crazy, and he had like super powers as he was filled with the Holy Spirit. And he's asking, What are you reading? And he's reading about this passage in Isaiah, and the guy says, I don't understand. Could somebody teach me? I can teach you. So they pulled over and he taught them, and and eventually got to the place where the Ethiopian eunuch said, What's preventing me from getting baptized? There's a lake over there. Nothing. If you proclaim, if you believe that Jesus Christ is who he said he was, and you declare it with your with your mouth, then you shall be saved. So let's go get you baptized. He baptizes him, takes him out of the water. They probably hug and celebrate, and instantly Philip was taken away and dropped off somewhere else. These are amazing stories. And the same sort of thing happened in this instance where they were taken to the other side of the lake. Now let me show you again, based on some of the other gospel writers. Um, this is where they were, they and they got caught in the storm. Jesus caught up with them, and all of a sudden they ended up at Gnesrit. They were actually going to Capernaum, but they ended up at Geneshret, which happens to be another name for the Sea of Galilee, and there's a Shinneret or something like that in the Old Testament, which is a base of this name, which is what they called the old, the lake in the Old Testament. Anyway, lots of neat little trivia there. But he ended up at this place where some people found him and they came to him. And and uh so he he did some more ministry work there, and and they did end up over in Capernaum later on that day. Are you following where we're going? It's there are a lot of moving parts when you look at what happens in these situations. Well, here's what John focuses on. On the following day, when the people were standing on the other side of the sea, saw that there was no other boat there except the one which his disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered that boat with the disciples. His disciples had gone away alone. However, the other boats, okay, let me stop there. Uh, the way it's written in the King James is kind of hard to understand. But there are people that came from Capernaum looking for Jesus because they heard that he went across the sea to the other side. Uh, and we'll see how they they they entered this in verse 23. The people that were still on the other side the next day, uh they knew that the only boat that had come there were his disciples, and they saw the disciples getting in the boat the night before, but Jesus hadn't, so they're kind of waiting around to see what happened to Jesus. Then in verse 23, however, boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had uh ate bread, and and the Lord had given thanks. And when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, that he got that they also got into the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. So Tiberius is in the midst of this too. So a group of people from Tiberius got wind that uh Jesus was over here healing people, so they got in boats and went across the way. When they got there, they realized Jesus was no longer there, and the people were there said, Well, there was only one boat here yesterday, and that had the disciples and Jesus. But uh we saw the disciples get in and go across last night, but Jesus he just kind of disappeared, so we don't know where he is. So there they don't know where anybody is, but they knew that they were on the way to Capernaum. So everybody that came from Tiberias, which the lake was named after, which is the the town that was named after the Caesar, you know, decades before. Now they're on this side and they're gonna make their way over to Capernaum. All this for miracles, all this to be touched by the Lord. And the struggle, as we see in the next few verses, continues to grow. Why are they coming to follow after Jesus? Again, this was the most popular time that he had. People were coming out of the woodworks to come see Jesus, to come be touched by Jesus, to be changed by Jesus, at least to have their needs met by Jesus. And so they head to the other side. The people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples. They got in the boats and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. In verse 25. And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said, Rabbi, when did you come here? When did you get here? Because we heard that you you weren't in the boat, but the the guys were in the boat, and you can't just walk around the lake that fast. I mean, going across the sea in the boat is a much quicker way to do it. But we heard you weren't in the boat, and well, you know, all these questions and and and not understanding what what Jesus is doing. But Jesus is is beyond these these questions. Jesus is going to start hitting some heart issues. Okay, you you found me. I don't need to answer why I'm here, but I'm here. But why are you here? Why have you come? In verse 26, Jesus says, Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. A lot of them, the boats that came from Tiberias, picked up a lot of folks that were uh that were had eaten and brought them across to Capernaum. So there were part of that group, many of the people that were fed the day before, miraculously, and they wanted more. Why? Because they were hungry again. I I want you to meet my need because I have a need again. We we all get hungry every day, uh, many times a day, right? And we want that need to be filled, and and there's certain needs that our flesh elevates above other needs. And Jesus is starting to turn things around a little bit. Stop focusing on your fleshly needs. I know what you need and I will provide for you, but there are greater needs for you to focus on, more eternal needs, a greater vision that you need to understand. Gain the mind of Christ, understand the heart of God and what we want to do here. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. He's basically saying, I've got something for you that won't, you know, wear off in a couple of hours. I I've got life that's eternal, and you know how long eternal is it's forever, it's not temporary. And what I have for you will be given you if you understand. And the Father, God the Father has placed his seal on me. I'm not saying this of my accord, I'm here to serve because the Father has sent me to serve. And then they said to him, Well, what should we do that we may work the works of God? Because we we'd like to do some of this stuff. We'd we'd like to labor for things that last eternally. And they're not quite getting the direction that Jesus is going, but he answers their question. He says, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent. And this kind of turns everything around because everything we ever knew of is based on the things that we do, the works that we do. And it's true. Actions have consequences in this world. You know, if we work hard, we we receive the fruit of our hard work, and there are aspects of that that are true. If you work to buy some food, you're provided that food, and you even have to work to put that food together to prepare it, to eat it, and to be satisfied by it. But then there's always more work to be done. And those aspects are true about our lives, but the fact is that at some point we realize that we fall short of what we're able to do. And some of us we realize that it's it's more and more difficult to work. It's more and more difficult to provide that food, it's more and more difficult to provide that food. So God invented TV dinners, right? That's that's what microwaves are for, right? No. But did you understand where we're going? We are weak and we don't realize it a lot of times. And especially when it comes to eternal matters, when it comes to the righteousness of God. The God in the Old Testament told us to be holy, for I am holy. If your righteousness does not surpass that of the Pharisees, you will no means, by no means, enter into the kingdom of heaven. And even the righteousness of the Pharisees falls short of the righteousness of God. So it's impossible for anybody in their own strength to be right with God. And he's trying to plant this thought in them. It's not about what you do, it's about in whom you trust. It's about who you know, it's about what you believe. And it is hard work to trust and to follow after God, isn't it? It's the work of God that you believe in Him whom He sent. Believe me, trust me, grow in me, serve me, surrender to me, allow me to work in and through your life and give you that eternal rest that you are seeking for. Well, when he said this other thing about um do not labor for food which perishes, you would think that some of them would have remembered something that he said, that the Lord said in Isaiah, giving uh prophetic words to the prophet Isaiah 55, uh starting at verse 2, it says, Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good. Let your soul delight itself in abundance, and you're incline your ear, and come to me here, and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the sure mercies of David. The everlasting covenant is the new covenant that he is talking about. The new covenant says that you can't fulfill the old covenant, so I'm gonna do it for you. And all you need to do is believe me, trust me, follow me, surrender to me. And it doesn't matter what you've done, just look at how merciful I was towards David. And David, you could see the hand of God on David for his whole life, but then he had a couple of really bad trips and falls, adultery and murder. It's not very good for a leader of God to get caught in, but God in his mercy still restored him and and kept him going. In fact, he promised that on the throne of David one would reign forever and ever, pointing to the Messiah, pointing to Jesus. And those same mercies that that he showed to David, he shows to us. And some in the crowd should have realized that this is what he was referring to. Don't spend money for what is not bread. I mean, you need this physical bread, and yes, I supply your physical needs, but uh I'm taking you to a deeper level, a higher level, a spiritual level. I am the one you need. Come and invest in me. Therefore, they said to him, What sign will you perform that we might see it and believe you? What work will you do? So now they just can't believe for the sake of believing. They need to have some sort of sign again. But what has Jesus been doing in healing people all around them? He's been working the works of the Father and showing who he was again and again and again. And they're asking for another sign so that they would believe. Well, they came up with an example here in verse 31. Our fathers ate the manna in the desert, as it is written, he gave them bread from heaven to eat. That's a good sign. Do what Moses did, he gave us some manna. Can you do that if you're the prophet of Moses? And Jesus is, you know, shaking his head. You're not getting it. Well, let me continue. Maybe you'll understand this. Then Jesus said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. Wow, that's an offensive statement. Moses was everything. What do you mean he didn't give us the manna? He was in, he was, he led him out into the wilderness and and he gave him manna to eat. And you know, how can you say he didn't? Did you not read the Old Testament? What what what do you mean? And he says, My father gives you the true bread from heaven. My father gave our ancestors the bread in the wilderness. Moses was my my man. He he was my representative, but he didn't work that miracle. God the Father worked that miracle, and he gave instructions on what to do with it. And as the Father gave that manna in the Old Testament, he is now giving true bread from heaven, the true manna. That manna pointed forward to manna that was to come. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. And y'all wonder how many of them were starting to put two and two together, or they're just getting more confused. I just don't get it. What is he talking about? We just want something to eat, Jesus. Can you just give us something to eat? I want to give you something that's so much better than just regular bread. I am the bread of life. Well, he tries to explain it some more. Verse 34. Then they said to him, Lord, give us this bread always. And this too reminds me of the woman at the well. Hey, you got this water that's that that's good for everlasting life, and I never need a drink. Give me some of that water. And you know, she said it with a little sarcasm, but it's like, if I had some water like that, that'd be great. But of course, there is nothing like that. So, but but I'll humor you. Give me that water. And they're saying probably with the same sort of attitude. We want this bread always. We'd love to not have to eat all the time. I mean, how many of us preparing meals kind of gets in the way of the rest of your life, doesn't it? You have to spend all this time just to prepare a meal, and then you eat it and it's gone, and you have to do it again and again. If I could eat something that I'd never have to eat again afterwards, that would make a lot of sense. But that's still thinking physically, that's still thinking in this world situation that we're in. It's not thinking eternally, it's not getting the message that Jesus is trying to give to them. And Jesus says to them, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have not seen me, and yet you do not believe. I've said it and I'm saying it again. I'm declaring these two things to you, but you're not, you're not getting it. You're not believing it. For for one reason or another, you want to continue to go in your own way, in your own path. I'm revealing your need for a savior. I'm revealing your sin to you. I'm revealing these things, but you just want this, but you don't want this. You want things from me, but you don't want me. Does that make sense? And isn't that a problem that we run into a lot? I mean, I frankly, a lot of the prayers I pray are about the needs I have in the here and now. And I want to pray more. Lord, show me your heart. Lord, what's going on in this situation? How how do I see this, what's going on in this instance in the eternal perspective? You know, what are you doing to lead people to yourself? And how are you involving me? And am I getting off track? Uh help me to focus in on you. So he says, You've seen me and yet you don't believe. Yet, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will by no means cast out. There will be a group of people that do understand the gospel message and will be changed forever. Their perspective on life will change so that their life here on earth will look different than it ever has before, and it will last forever and ever. We will be changed, we will meet the Lord in the air, or or we will pass from this life and then see the Lord face to face. These are the big picture things, and eternity is so much longer than our life here on earth. And there are those that the Father knows will come, and those who do come, who do believe, I will by no means cast out. Oh, you messed up a little bit here the other day when you didn't tithe enough. Or you you kind of got mad at the guy who cut you off in front of you. Yeah, you you don't make it. No. Those who have come to Jesus by faith, believing in the finished work of the cross, that his blood covers all of our sin. He does not cast us away. We trust him, we walk with him, we realize that we are a work in progress, but he is doing that work to conform us to his image. Are we yielding to that? Are we walking with him? And even when we rebel a little bit, we've already been sealed in him, and he keeps us going and growing in him. That's an encouraging word. That's an encouraging word. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. As a man, I emptied myself, I've become a man. When he's still a hundred percent God, he's living life as a man. And his life as a man, he could go and do all these other things, but he's chosen to submit himself to the will of the Father, just as he intends for us to be able to do. That life that he is living is a life that he tends for us to live. Not my will, Father, but your will be done. So he's come not with his own agenda, but from the agenda of heaven, to be the Lamb of God that would take away the sin of the world, to be the bread of life that sustains and changes for eternity, that is nutrition for our souls, for our spirits. He does provide for us physically, but our spirit, our soul, that provision to that is more important than anything else, because we will live forever. There would be a resurrection of the dead at the end, that uh those who trusted in the Lord would be resurrected and would rule and reign for him with him for a thousand years during the millennium reign. And at the end of the millennium, those who had been who had died outside of the faith, who rejected the Lord from creation until you know this point, they would be resurrected, given resurrected bodies, and thrown into the lake of fire forever. We are not only physical beings, but we are spiritual. Spiritual beings in our souls are going to live forever. But are they gonna live eternal life with Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life, life is in him, or will we reject him and eternally live in death, condemnation? It's our choice. But when we come to him to believe in him and to be changed by him, he will by no means cast us out. He says, Come, come. This is the will of the Father who sent me, that all that he has given me, I should not lose anything, but should raise it up at the last day. And that's interesting way that that was written there too. This body of believers, this entity, I will raise it up on the last day. It's made up of all the believers, and he's talking about all of them being raised up at one time. In verse 40, he gets more specific. And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life, and I will raise him up at the last day. Will he be raised up for eternal life with the Lord forever and ever? That's what eternal means. If you believe the Son, you will have it. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whoever believes in him will not perish, but have everlasting life. I trust that's where you are today. That you know Jesus. And if you don't know him, or maybe you think you know him, but you're not quite sure, the Lord is waiting for you to come and say, Reveal yourself to me. Show me who you are, show me if I'm right with you. And a big key is recognizing that it's not my works that cause me to be right with God, but it's Jesus who makes me right with God.

SPEAKER_02 24:07

You've been listening to Pastor Carl on Come On Up. We're in the book of John. John had been a simple fisherman before meeting Jesus. He was actually a disciple of John the Baptist before realizing that John the Baptist was just paving the way for Jesus to enter the scene. There were so many examples for John to observe, where Jesus made something out of nothing. He fed the 5,000, he brought about a boatload of fish when there had been no bites all night. These miraculous happenings were all around them, and John couldn't help but be enamored by Jesus Christ. What about you? Has the newness of knowing or following Jesus worn off? Are you apathetic about what God's doing in your life or how he's working and how he's trying to speak to you? Keep that spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. John lived a full life devoted to the Lord, and even though he was persecuted and tortured, he never swayed from telling people about the hope and faith he had in Jesus. After all, he had lived with Jesus for three and a half years and had learned much about the heart of God. A way for you to keep learning about the heart of God is by joining us on Sunday mornings at Smoky Mountain Cinema in Waynesville for Bible study. We also have a faith film night the first Monday of every month. We offer quality Christian entertainment that challenges your faith and spurs good conversation. Learn more at themountaincross.com or search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. That's all for today. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.