. . . continuing from previous posts on the believer’s relationship with God . . .
The believer’s relationship with Jesus goes beyond the most intimate earthly
relationship, even to our sustenance
as Jesus calls Himself the “bread of life”, the “living bread”, and asks us to
“feed on him”. From John 6:
“Jesus answered, ‘Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.’
“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the works God requires?’
“Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.’
“So they asked him,
“‘What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’’
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
“‘Sir,’ they said, ‘always give us this bread.’
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.’
“At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?’
“‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered. ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.’
“Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’
“Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.’” John 6:26-58 (NIV)
There it is. Jesus is the true
bread Who gives eternal life.
Notice that earlier in this same chapter John records the feeding of the
5000, by Jesus, with bread.
Coincidence?
“Some time after this, Jesus crossed to the far shore of the Sea of Galilee (that is, the Sea of Tiberias), and a great crowd of people followed him because they saw the signs he had performed by healing the sick. Then Jesus went up on a mountainside and sat down with his disciples. The Jewish Passover Festival was near.
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for he already had in mind what he was going to do.
“Philip answered him, ‘It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!’
“Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, spoke up, ‘Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?’
“Jesus said, ‘Have the people sit down.’ There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there). Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish.
“When they had all had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, ‘Gather the pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted.’ So they gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.” John 6:1-13 (NIV)
How like Jesus to demonstrate the truth for us. Jesus started by looking up to His Father in
heaven (where the Power is from), and confidently proceeded (and so should
we). The bread was “broken” (as was
necessary for His body to be broken to give us Power over sin and for
resurrection life). The disciples
distributed “the bread” (as so should we).
The people received “as much as they wanted” (as Jesus promises us
abundant life and the full measure of His joy, and everything we could possibly
need for life). The bread “fully
satisfied” them (as there is nothing, no idol, no food, that can satisfy us as
Jesus). Nothing was wasted (Romans
8:28: “And we know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to
his purpose.”) Twelve basketfuls
were left over, a basketful for each disciple who served the bread that Jesus
blessed. I am not a trained minister and
I do not want to torture the Scripture to wrestle out a meaning that may not be
there, but the similarities are striking and worthy of consideration. One thing is certain—Jesus satisfies like no
food ever will. This is because He gives
us spiritual life, eternal life. He
feeds and satisfies our soul.
I can’t help but notice the similarity to the bread God rained down from
heaven for the Israelites:
“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. On the sixth day they are to prepare what they bring in, and that is to be twice as much as they gather on the other days.’” Exodus 16:4-5 (NIV)
Exodus 16:15c-30 are the verses of God’s instructions regarding the
manna. He Perfectly and miraculously (for
40 years) Provided and He wanted the Israelites to obey Him, to be satisfied
with His Provision for each day, and to trust Him for their needs without
over-gathering.
What does eating bread do for you? It satisfies.
It gives strength and energy (carbohydrates are known as the “energy
nutrient”). Regarding the high-protein
carbo-phobic diets, why would Jesus use the analogy of bread to describe Himself
if bread is bad for us and something to be avoided? And why would he feed bread to 5000, and again to 4000? Original South Beach dieters testified that
they must keep bread out of their diet for the rest of their lives, and speak
of bread as if it is the tempter. If we
become convinced that we must keep bread out of our life, then could it be only
one small step away from keeping Jesus out too since He calls Himself
bread? That might be a stretch (the
similarity is likely unintentional), but at the very least the low-carb mantra
might cast more confusion and doubt on God’s Word for using such a “useless”
analogy. But I digress. . .
Jesus spoke to the crowds that were following
Him having witnessed or heard about the feeding of the multitudes that while
they sought Him to fill their superficial physical needs that His real mission
is to meet our spiritual need for Him and His sacrifice on the cross:
“. . . the one who feeds on me will live because of me.” John 6:57 (NIV)
Just as eating is necessary for physical life
Jesus was metaphorically teaching about the need to accept His sacrificial
death on the cross for eternal life. Jesus,
the Bread of Life, is the Source of spiritual, eternal life, which begins now.
Dear Jesus, Thank you for sacrificing Yourself to be our Bread of Life.
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