The Bread of Life
John 6:35-53
"'But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven...'"
(John 6:50-51)
Bread is such a basic food for so many that governments work hard to keep its price stable. Having lived in Iran during my childhood, I recall the great variety of and the wonderful taste of fresh bread. It was on the table in my home for every meal. When Jesus tells us that He is the Bread of Life, we all identify with the image of bread.
The people of Israel were in the wilderness for 40 years, and God provided for their every need. He covered them by day with a pillar of cloud, shading them from the scorching Middle East heat. At night to protect them from the chill of the desert and from wild animals, He provided them with a pillar of fire. And every day, except on the Sabbath, He gave them abundantly of manna, bread from heaven.
What a perfect picture of how God covers us, protects us, and fills us with all we need. Jesus is our Bread of Life. Just as you and I need bread for our flesh, we also need the Bread of Life for our hungering, wandering souls. And His name is, Jesus, Messiah.
INSIGHT
"'This is the bread that came down from heaven... he who feeds on [it] will live forever.'" (John 6:58).
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Song of Solomon 1-2
Psalm 69
John 9
John 6:35-53
35 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. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 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."
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." 42 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’?"
43 "Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. 44 "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’[a] Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. 51 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."
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
53 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.
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