Bread of Life

Read Jeremiah 12

Read John 6

Wow! A miraculous provision of food from so many people! Certainly it must have been amazing to see Jesus take 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish and feed 5,000 men, and additional women and children too! And to have some left over!

No wonder the crowd was amazed. Surely we too would have reacted as they did. We can easily relate to their desire to make Jesus king.

But the problem is, Jesus desires to be more than just a bread machine, and more than just a political and societal power. To put it on human terms - the crowd was thinking small, but Jesus was thinking much bigger.

Jesus didn't just want to be a bread machine because he already was (and still is) the very bread of life. He tells us that he is "bread" come down from heaven. He says some amazing things, like, "Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (v. 54).

This is a difficult teaching for the people to accept, and so some stop following him. Peter points out, however, that Jesus has words of eternal life. This is why to this day we cherish the words of Jesus, and all the Scriptures--that is, the whole Bible, God's Word.

Now, there is some debate in Lutheran circles whether John 6 refers specifically to Holy Communion or not. If it does, we have some complications with v. 53 (surely, someone who hasn't communed isn't automatically condemned!) But on the other hand, believing what Scripture says about Holy Communion elsewhere, we see that so much of John 6 fits beautifully.

Maybe the key to understanding this is when Jesus says that the "work" God requires of us is to believe in the One he has sent, namely, Jesus (v. 29). You see, by faith we partake of Jesus, the Bread of Life. By faith we rejoice to hear God's gracious promises and trust in his mercy, goodness, and strength every day. And then, when we approach the table of the Lord's Supper we certainly eat and drink the body and blood of the Lord in an even more literal way. Surely we can take comfort in the words "Given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins."

We don't need Jesus to be a bread machine king, because he is so much more. Certainly he provides for all the needs of this body and life, but even more importantly, he gives us the food of eternal life! How can we not rejoice and find great comfort in these words that we hear/read again: "⁵⁵For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. ⁵⁷As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread^c]">[c] the fathers ate and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever."

Thanks be to God!

Ask Yourself:

Do I, by my life or my prayers, treat Jesus as if he were a mere bread machine?

Do I trust Jesus to provide for the needs of the body? Of the soul?

Pray:

Lord Jesus Christ, Bread of Life, we give you thanks and praise this day that you became obedient to death, even death on the cross, and by dying you gave your body and shed your blood for us. Help us to repent of our sins and find comfort in your gracious promises, that we might partake of your body and blood and have life everlasting. Amen.

Study with me tomorrow,

Pastor Jon