THE BREAD OF LIFE
JOHN 6:30-35
JOHN 6:30-35 NKJ
30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
35 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.
Jesus had just fed at least five thousand people. Some have thought the five thousand number only applied to the men and did not count the women and children. In any case, feeding that many people with five loaves and two fish was a straight-up miracle. Couple that with the fact that they took up twelve baskets of leftovers.
So in our verses for today, the people are excited. Jesus can feed everyone. No one ever has to go hungry again. Even though Jesus had just fed them, they are asking for more. They were asking Jesus to do what Moses did, give them manna, or bread, from heaven continually.
Jesus flipped the script a bit on these seekers of free bread. He told them that He had better bread for them. Bread from heaven that would give life to the world. This bread was better than what Moses gave. With the bread from Moses, you would get hungry. But with Jesus' bread, you would not hunger.
They were all in until they realized that Jesus said He was this bread. That He would give himself to anyone who would believe in Him. Jesus declared that when they received Him, the spiritual hunger was over.
APPLICATION:
There is a spiritual hunger and thirst in all of mankind. It is part of what defines us. And we look in a myriad of places to satisfy that hunger. We look to money, achievement, relationships, power, sex, and the list goes on. But it never is enough. There is still that hunger, still that thirst.
But when we turn to the Lord, our bread from heaven, our spiritual hunger is satisfied. He connects us with our Maker, and we realize we were made to be in union with God.
Of course, there is more to growing and developing in our life as believers, but we have found the answer. Jesus, the bread from heaven. Jesus, the bread of life.
PRAYER:
Dear Lord, I acknowledge that You are the bread of life, and I receive You as my answer. Thank You for coming for me and the world. Thank You for satisfying that hunger in my heart.