I Am The Bread Of Life

I Am The Bread Of Life

Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. However, the bread from heaven gives eternal life to everyone who eats it. I am the living bread that came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; this bread is my flesh, offered so the world may live. –John 6:49-51

Shortsighted and simpleminded. That describes the crowd waiting to see Jesus, wanting him to do an instant replay of the previous day’s miracle of feeding five thousand. Their hungry stomachs sent them chasing after Jesus in hopes that he would feed them again. But Jesus could see they were shortsighted, looking only to have their stomachs filled temporarily rather than their souls satisfied eternally. They were content to settle for earthly nourishment that would last only a day rather than pursue the Bread from heaven that would last forever. They were shortsighted in their willingness to settle for mere bread when Jesus was offering himself, the true Bread of heaven, a gift of God.

At Jesus’ suggestion that he was Bread from heaven, the crowds showed that they were simpleminded as well as shortsighted. “This is Jesus, the son of Joseph,” they said. “We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (John 6:42). They simply couldn’t wrap their limited minds around the reality that Jesus was the Son of God sent from heaven, because they had seen him grow up as the son of Joseph. And when they asked Jesus, “What does God want us to do?” (verse 28), Jesus replied, “Believe in the one he has sent” (verse 29). But they were too simpleminded to think that deeply about the call of God, too hard-hearted to turn from their miracle seeking, too shortsighted to choose life everlasting over their next meal.

Can you see yourself in that crowd, wanting Jesus to fill your physical cup, to miraculously meet your immediate need? Are you promising to really believe in him if he comes through for you? Can you see that your ultimate Provider is holding out the nourishment you need for life now and life everlasting, offering you Jesus, the true Bread from heaven? Will you feast on him, or will you reject his offer of himself if he does not deliver the miracle you crave?

My ultimate Provider, I don’t want to be shortsighted and simpleminded, unable to see the magnitude of what you are offering to me in Jesus. I don’t want to be unwilling to think deeply about the implications of God holding out life to me for believing. Feed my hunger with the true Bread.

DIGGING DEEPER