I am the bread of life - Give us this day our daily bread

John 6:22-42 from the daily reading in the One Year Bible

The next day the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there, except one, and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. ²³ There came other small boats from Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. ²⁵ When they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”

²⁶ Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” ²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?³¹ Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. ³⁷ All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. ³⁹ This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

⁴¹ Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” ⁴² They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”

In today’s text it says:    “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”  So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’”  Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”  Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”  Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe.”     Keep in mind that these people, who Jesus said were among those who saw and partook of the miracle of the loaves and fish, are asking for a sign. How often do we too, who have seen and experienced miracles of God, still ask for a sign, so that we may see and believe?  The people refer to the manna which was provided in the wilderness. Here’s the thing about the manna God provided. The people were instructed that they needed to go out early each morning to get the manna. It would not be available in the heat of the day and what was leftover would no longer be good the next day. Jesus taught us to pray saying: “Give us this day our daily bread.” This is not a reference to manna, but rather to the bread that Jesus spoke of in the text saying:  “it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” …  “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”   The daily bread that we are to ask the Father to give us, is not just for our physical nutrician and sustainance, it is a revelation of the true bread, Jesus, which we need every day. Like the manna, if we don’t seek Him early, what we need may not be available when we need it in the heat of the trouble of the day. Like the manna, what sustained us yesterday may not be what we need today.

In Matthew 6:25-34 Jesus says:   “For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,  yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith! Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”    Each day will have its own trouble, so each day we need to seek the kingdom of God first. It is more though than just prioritizing God; making Him first. In today’s text it says:  The Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.”  They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”   They were not able to discern or understand what Jesus was saying to them because they were hearing and perceiving through their natural ears and minds. 1 Corinthians 2:14 says:  A natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.   If we are to understand; comprehend and so be able to be physically and spiritually sustained by the daily bread of life, we need to seek it and see it from the perspective of the kingdom of heaven. Jesus taught us to pray: “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”  If we are to pray that prayer and to be those who are the fulfillment of that prayer, seeing and bringing the realities of heaven to earth; we must first see them and know them in heaven.

‘Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.
Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.’  May I seek and see Your kingdom from the perspective of heaven so that I can understand what to expect on earth.  ‘Give us this day our daily bread.’  As I seek You early each day, may I receive the revelation I need for that day, knowing that yesterday’s manna will not sustain me through this day. Prepare me now for what is to come in the heat of the day.  ‘And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.’   Amen.