January 16The Bread is He

John 6:31-33 “Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, 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 he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
 
SURELY Jesus’ “5,000 Feast” was a sign he is the Messiah. Some believed God would deliver to them their daily bread in the new kingdom as He did during the 40 years Desert Journey. They know their ancestors ate daily. Won’t they eat in a similar way as God’s Messiah leads them as Moses did?
   But they did not understand the Scriptures. When they say to Jesus, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” They referred to Moses as the giver. But Moses had explicitly written that God was the one who gave the bread. Exodus 16:4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “I will rain down bread from heaven for you.” To know God and the ways he reveals himself to us, we must read the Bible carefully. Furthermore, we must credit God as our sole source of all we have. Yes, we have knowledge and ways to produce and distribute enormous quantities of food. But consider that the land, plants, water and technology originate with the Creator.
   Then Jesus teaches, “I tell you the truth.” so the Jews will know.   But still his words are a radical truth that many today still cannot consume. How did the Jews hear? “The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” We all must hear, “The bread of God is he.” Bread is a person. Bread was in heaven. Bread has come to earth. Bread gives life to the world. Bread is One who is Life. The Lord’s truth requires our ears to open. Our minds must awaken. What we hear we are to learn.
   Jesus’ words are the truth of God’s will to move the Jews’ minds from the past of Moses and the limited dispersion of mana. God’s will is for the Jews to look into the future to see Jesus is the Messiah, whose life will feed them forever. Heaven’s bread is not manna on the ground. Heaven’s Bread is life staked to a cross, buried in a tomb, risen forevermore. Heaven’s Bread is enthroned at the right hand of God Almighty.
   Our Lord did not feed physical bread that day. He fed His profound, life-changing, eternal truth. The Jews needed a hunger for God’s Bread.         
   How about you? Does Jesus’ truth stir your appetite? Does he fill you? Are you filled with his salvation?
 
Prayer: Lord God, I hunger to listen to your truth.