When I was a kid, I ate a million peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I love bread.
When Jesus miraculously multiplied a little lunch to feed thousands of people, He multiplied bread and fish. Some of the consumers of the magic meal, while chewing on the fish and bread, must have thought, “Let’s do this again tomorrow.”
The day after they miracle, they were searching the seashores of Galilee for Jesus. When they found Him, He told them they were looking for the right person, but for the wrong reason. He said they were working hard for physical and temporal food, but they were missing the meal that would nourish their ‘lasting life.’ (John 6: 27).
When He spoke of working hard for the wrong kind of bread, they asked, “What kind of work could we do that would be pleasing to God?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:29, NIV)
A little irritated, they asked Him to prove himself by repeating yesterday’s miracle. Some suggested He do it every day, like God did for forty years in Moses’s time.
Jesus told them again that they were looking for a temporal meal, but they should be going after is spiritual bread from God. “OK,” they said, “Give us some of that bread.” He replied, “I am the bread of life,” he said. (John 6:35 NIV) Just as the manna came from heaven in the days of Moses, Jesus came from heaven.
‘Manna’ means ‘What is it?’ Jesus is trying to bring them to the point where they see who He is and what He is, the ultimate life-giving manna from God.
Some murmured, “We know his family,” … “How can he make the claim he came down from heaven.” They missed the fact that God delivered His Bread of Life through the portal of a human womb.
God gave His Son to give us something more permanent and more satisfying than mere existence. He doesn’t want us to settle for the physical things alone.
Life Spark: Work hard for whole-life bread. (John 6:22-42)
Life-challenge: Go without one meal today, and when you think of hunger, thank God for Jesus, your whole-life bread.