John 6 - Bread from Heaven!


32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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 the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
Yesterday we talked about the danger of reading the bible literally.  We see this again today when Jesus says, "I am the bread of life".  When the Jewish people heard this they were confused.  The only bread from heaven that they experienced from God was the manna that came in the wilderness when they were led by Moses.  Jesus was again using an earthly analogy to convey spiritual meaning. In this case he was the bread that had come from heaven to feed God's people with something the world could never give them.  
But some of the people could not get past thinking about it literally. Jesus was trying to teach them if they believed in him they would be fed with the bread of life which would lead to eternal life. It is not entirely surprising to him that some could not believe as he says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them."
Jesus goes even further when he says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” This was even more difficult for the disciples to understand and they said, "This is a hard teaching, who can understand it."  Some of them them deserted Jesus. When he asked his disciples if they would leave too Peter says, "Where else can we go you have the words of eternal life."  This is not the last time Peter will blurt out an answer.
Do you believe Jesus is the bread of life?  While there are many satisfying things on this earth, Jesus is the only One who can feed us in a way that we will never hunger or thirst again.  Jesus feeds our soul with the bread of eternal life that comes from God alone.   

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