I am the bread of life

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 gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. ²³ Other small boats came 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, looking for Jesus. ²⁵ And 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 some of the loaves and were filled. ²⁷ Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” ²⁸ Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish 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 are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? 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; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have indeed seen Me, and yet you do not believe. ³⁷ Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will 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 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

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

Today’s text says: Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What are we to do, so that we may accomplish 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 are You doing as a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work are You performing? 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; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty.”  When God provided manna for the Israelites it was more than just to sustain them physically. It was also to teach them to depend on Him. After being enslaved in Egypt for so long, the Israelites had learned to be dependent on the Egyptians for their provision and their direction. God wanted them to learn to depend only on Him and to seek Him early each day. The manna was a foreshadow of Christ.   

When Jesus taught us to pray saying: Give us this day our daily bread, it refers to more than our physical provision, which God will surely supply. In Matthew 6:26 Jesus says: “Look at the birds of the sky, that they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather crops into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more important than they?” Jesus says: “I am the bread of life.” The daily bread we ask for is the portion of Him that we need for the day. In Matthew 6:34 Jesus says: “Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.” We need a fresh portion of Jesus for the unique things we will encounter each day. What got us through yesterday might not help us through today. Jeremiah 29:11 says: ‘I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’  In John 5:19 Jesus says: "Truly, truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself, unless He sees the Father doing it. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” In John 12:49 He says: “I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak.”  If we will seek Jesus each day, He will fill us with the bread of life. He will speak the things that the Father is speaking and lead us in the path of the prosperity that God has planned for us.

Jesus says: “Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that of everything that He has given Me I will lose nothing, but will raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”  Amen. Thank You heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and precious Holy Spirit. Give me this day my daily bread. Amen.