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The Claims of Jesus Christ

2 - The Bread of Life

At the beginning of John chapter 6 we read the story of how Jesus miraculously fed more than five thousand people.  Andrew, one of Jesus’ disciples, found a boy with five loaves and two fishes, but he didn’t think these would be much use for such a great crowd.  They were though, as he and the others where soon to find out! Jesus made the people sit, and then in a miraculous way made that boy’s small lunch enough to feed them all.  And not only that, there were twelve baskets full of pieces left over as well.

It was all so wonderful that the people recognised that here was someone who was more than a mere man.  Was He the Messiah - the promised redeemer? Jesus realised that they were going to try to make Him a king to deliver their nation from the Romans.  That was not His plan, though.  He had not become man for that.  So He slipped away into the hills to pray to his heavenly Father.  When He had gone and didn’t seem to be coming back, the disciples got into their boat and started for the other side, but there was a terrible storm.  Sudden storms often blew up on the Sea of Galilee and things looked bad for them.  Then, amazingly, Jesus appeared walking on the water and saying to them, “It is I, do not be afraid” (verse 20).  John then records, “Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading” (verse 21).

John’s account continues: “The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realised that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone.  Once the crowd realised that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.  When they found Him on the other side of the lake they asked Him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’” .

Now notice what happened.  Jesus did what He nearly always did.  He went straight to the point.  He didn’t answer their question, which was merely an inquisitive one, but He went to the heart of their thinking.  He told them they were only looking for Him because He had miraculously given them something to eat.  They were looking for material things, material gain and satisfaction.  He told them that it was not the food that perishes they should work for, but the food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man would give them.  The “Son of Man” was Jesus Himself.

“But what should we do to do the work that God requires?”, they asked.  Jesus said they must believe in Him whom God had sent, and that was, of course, Jesus Himself.  Then they started arguing again.  “What miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe you? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness.  As it is written (in the Old Testament Scriptures) ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’.”   The swift reply of Jesus was that that manna perished.  It was not the true, living bread.  He was the true bread from heaven.

Then Jesus went on to explain more fully that He was the Bread of Life.  If they were not to be hungry and thirsty spiritually, they must believe in Him.  Later he was even more pointed.  He said that they must “eat His flesh and drink His blood.” You may well think, “What strange, almost revolting language to use.” Jesus knew it was, and He did it deliberately, speaking as He often did of spiritual things in a way that made people take notice.  Now Jesus obviously did not mean His words to be taken literally.  He was standing there before them and such an interpretation was impossible.

So what was He saying and what is He saying to us today?  First, Jesus was saying that there was something more important than physical food or even earthly life.  In many countries bread is the basic food.  If it is not actually bread, it is something like it made from wheat or some other cereal.  In some countries rice is the basic food.  This doesn’t really matter as far as what Jesus was saying is concerned.  The word used for “bread” was commonly used to mean food generally.  Jesus was saying that the life men really need is eternal life, the life of God: to be partakers of God’s nature.  The food that feeds that kind of life is Jesus Himself.  Believing in Him is the only way to receive this life.  Jesus was saying that He alone is the way to God.  If we do not believe in Him and take Him into our lives, we shall never know what it means to have eternal life and we shall finally perish.  We are hopelessly lost without Him.

What does it mean, though, when Jesus said that they were to “eat of His flesh and drink of His blood?” (verse 54).  As we said just now, it was obviously not meant literally.  It is not just a question of believing with your mind.  Jesus has to be received right into your life.  He becomes your “Bread of Life.” It is believing with all your heart that the body of the Lord Jesus (his flesh) was given for you on the cross, and that his blood was shed there to redeem you from your sin.  Then, this new, spiritual life that is given when you accept Christ as your Saviour needs feeding.  Think of it like this: when you eat food it has to be chewed, digested and turned into the various types of nourishment that give strength and activity to your body.  It is just the same when you believe in the Lord Jesus and take Him into your life.  He becomes your continuing “Bread of Life” who through the Scriptures and by his indwelling Spirit sustains you and helps you to grow as a Christian.

When you read the Bible, you have to act on what it says.  That is as good as saying you have to digest and obey the commands, which the Bible gives.  It means, too, believing his promises, making them your own and living by them.  Likewise you must deliberately and willingly love Jesus, trust in Him, rejoice in Him and always obey the inner voice of his Spirit in you.  So this is what it means to “eat His flesh and drink His blood”; it is continually trusting in the power of the death He died for you and the blood He shed for you.

I do pray that, if you have not already done so, you will really take Jesus into your own life, truly believe in Him, and then love, trust and obey Him day by day.

Click here for part 3.