The bread of life
“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” John 6:5.
Jesus already knew what he would do for those who followed him (John 6:6). He crossed to the other side of the Lake of Galilee to spend quiet time with his disciples. However, the people followed him because of the miracles he performed (John 6:2). When Jesus saw the crowd, he had compassion on them and decided to feed them miraculously to teach them a spiritual lesson. After witnessing the miracles, the people concluded that Jesus must be the prophet Moses had spoken of (Deuteronomy 18:15).
“Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.” (John 6:15). The people followed Jesus not because they wanted to hear his teachings, but because they saw in him a king who could feed them all the food they needed without working for it. However, the people searched for Jesus and his disciples and found them. They came to him and asked how he had gotten there. Jesus told them, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” John 6:26, 27. The people asked for a miraculous sign so they could believe him. John 6:30. They forgot or ignored the extraordinary way Jesus fed them the day before. Consequently, they reminded Jesus that Moses had fed them manna in the desert and asked him, “What will you do?”
Jesus, however, wanted to give the people spiritual food, not merely physical nourishment. He reminded them that Moses did not provide manna in the desert; the Father who sent Jesus into the world was the true provider (John 6:32). The one the Father sent is the “bread of life” that gives life to humankind (John 6:33). Because the world was dead in sin, Jesus came to give people new and perfect human life. “For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all you have given him.” John 17:2. Jesus fully revealed God’s love for humankind and showed that God is the only source of eternal life. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” John 17:3.
To be continued in the next blog.