The Bread of Life
For Meditation
John chapter 6 begins with the famous story of Jesus feeding the 5000 on the mountainside. After the miraculous picnic, Jesus slips away, but the crowd eventually finds him and confronts him with a series of questions in verses 25-35. They keep asking about bread, but Jesus keeps pushing them to look beyond their physical appetites to recognize the spiritual appetite they carry within.
So much in Scripture addresses our physical appetites as way to get at what’s going on inside our hearts. Adam and Eve let their physical appetites overcome their desire to submit to God and his will. Esau was willing to sell his birthright for a bowl of soup- His immediate appetite became more important than God’s demand and call. After being rescued from slavery in Egypt, the Israelites immediately started complaining about the food. They despaired over the idea of losing a meal, or having to eat manna day after day.
Scripture is telling us: there is a sin is at the heart of all our physical appetites. Independence. A refusal to trust. A refusal to admit our total dependency on God. A refusal to acknowledge God as the Ruler and Sovereign of our lives. A fixation on our physical appetites over our spiritual appetite for God.
And Jesus comes to us and says: I am the Bread of life. He is the one who is able to give us a deep and satisfying life that flows out of our relationship with God. As Martin Luther put it, "Jesus himself will be the Donor, the Baker, the Waiter, the Brewer, yes the Cook, and also the Dish and the Plate that gives us the imperishable food.... we cannot give ourselves this food; we must obtain it from the Son of man.”
John 6:16–21
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
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.