Reflections from October 21, 2010

Two of the miracles that John writes about are in chapter 6; Feeding 5000 men and walking on water. We said that the miracle of feeding 5000 shows that Jesus is the bread of life. Jesus emphasizes this when He says in John 6:51, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever, and the bread I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."
Bread was a very important part in Israel's worship. During the celebration of Pentecost, two loaves of leavened bread were offered as sacrifices. In the tabernacle, and later in the temple, the Levites placed twelve loaves of unleavened bread before the Lord each week to symbolize God's presence with the twelve tribes of Israel.
Throughout the Exodus, God sustained His people by sending manna from heaven each morning. It was this manna that Jesus was recalling when He called Himself "the true bread from heaven", or "the bread which came down from heaven", and the "bread of life". Symbolically, Jesus is the heavenly manna, the spiritual or supernatural food given by the Father to those who ask, seek, and knock.
However, it's also interesting that Jesus' "bread of life discourse" was given during Passover, also known as the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Passover celebrated the deliverance of Israel from slavery in Egypt. On the night before leaving Egypt, the Israelites made unleavened bread, as they had no time to let their bread rise before taking flight.
Here in John, Jesus had just feed at least 5000 people, an event that led directly to the bread of life discourse where our scripture today comes from. Clearly, He was indicating that He was God's provision for the people's deepest spiritual needs. Just as God had provided for His people as they came out of Egypt, so Jesus had provided physical food for the 5000 and was ready to provide spiritual nourishment and life to all of them as well.
When you thank God for your meal at breakfast, lunch and dinner, don't forget to thank Jesus for giving of Himself to provide the bread of life to us, giving us everlasting life.

Blessings to all