The bread of God

TODAY'S SPECIAL: John 6:22-35

TO CHEW ON: " ' For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' … and Jesus said 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.' " John 6:33,35

The crowd is determined to not let this wonder-working rabbi get away—this man who can turn a meager five loaves and two fish into a meal for five thousand. The following morning when His boat is empty, they hunt him down eventually finding Him across the lake near Capernaum.

A discussion follows about how God sent daily manna to their forefathers, and how can they do the work of God? Jesus answers that they do the work of God by believing in Him.

When they further press Him to name a work He will do to impress them even more, He makes the startling claim: " 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst' " - John 6:35. He is pretty much saying, I am that miracle, that greater work. Come to Me, believe in Me and you'll experience something that's even better than wilderness manna.

How was Jesus the bread of life for them? How is He this for us? He explains it in the rest of John 6:

• He is the source and means of our eternal life, accomplished through His death:

" ' And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life' " - John 6:33.

and

" 'I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread that I shall give is My flesh which I shall give for the world' " - John 6:51.

• This is a spiritual eating and drinking, enabled and available by the Holy Spirit even after Jesus returns bodily to heaven:

" ' What then if you should see the son of Man ascend where He was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words I speak to you are spirit and they are life' " - John 6:62-63.

How do we eat this bead in our daily lives? A sidebar article in my Bible states:

"Feed on Jesus the Bread of Life. Do this practically through regularly celebrating communion and reading the Word of God" - Leslyn Musch, Truth-In-Action-Through John - New Spirit-Filled Life Bible, p. 1483 (emphasis added).

As we do these things—regularly read the Bible and remember Jesus' death as we eat the bread and drink the wine of the Lord's Supper—we will discover that like the physical manna, this spiritual food:

- Is there for us as we make room in our lives to gather it.

- Still needs to be gathered regularly. Just like we don't do well if we eat irregularly, so we don't flourish spiritually with hit-and-miss feedings.


PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please sharpen my appetite for You, the bread of God. Amen.

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Unless otherwise noted all Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.