Jesus the Bread of Life

 

Chapter 6         Jesus the living bread

  

6v1-15        Feeding the multitude   the fourth sign

6v16-24      Calming the storm         the fifth sign

6v25-31      Exposing materialism

6v32-58      Asserting His Deity

6v59-71      Delineating choice

 

Feeding the multitude      v1-15

 

Once again the writer follows the same pattern and presents a miracle followed by discourse.  Action, then explanation is the key to understanding.  What was enacted was “out of this world”, and must have an extra-terrestrial import.  He uses bread, the most basic and common need of man to say that, just as bread (food of any kind for the body) is vital to physical life, so Christ is vital to our spiritual life.  We see that the bread in terms of spiritual food is used many times in the chapter.

 

6v32  “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven…the Father giveth you the true bread.”

6v33 “The bread of God is He which came down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.

6v35 “I am the bread of life.”

6v48 “I am the bread of life which came down from heaven”. 6v50 “…this the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.”

6v51  “I am the living bread which came down from heaven; the bread, which I give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world…  if anyone eat this bread, he shall live forever.”

6v58  “This is the bread which came down from heaven.”

 

He is the true bread (vital spiritually just as bread is vital physically); He is the bread of God-He is enough to satisfy God, He will be enough to satisfy us!  So the main topic is bread, necessary for life; since we are tri-partite beings, of body soul, and spirit, we need feeding of the soul and spirit as much as for the body.  Christ is the spiritual food of the soul and spirit.  As food nourishes the body, so spiritual food nourishes the soul. 

 

The main thought of this chapter is that food for the body is transient (for time only); food for the soul is eternal.  N. B. the references to “eternal” and “for ever” in the verses.

 

6v27 “The meat that endures to everlasting life.”

6v35 “… he that cometh to me shall never hunger.”

6v50 “This is the bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die.”

6v51 “…if a man eat this bread he shall live forever.”

 

Again, He says four times over, “I will raise him up at the last day”- 6v39, v40, v44, and v54.  This bread is eternal in character and has eternal results.  Whatever you truly take into your soul of a spiritual nature will last forever.  Spiritual life eternal life (which is defined in chapter 17 as knowing God) will go on endlessly.  There is one truly important feature of this spiritual food which separates Christians from all non-Christians.  The food is not His teaching only, nor the doctrine only as with other world leaders and teachers; the food is Christ Himself, in living, vital communion with Him.

6v33 “The bread of God is He which has come down from heaven.”

6v35 and v48 “I am the bread of life.”

6v53  “Except you eat His flesh and drink His blood, you have no life in you.”

6v55 “…my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed…he that eateth and drinketh dwelleth in me and I in him.”

There is nothing more personal or intimate than eating and drinking, so the lesson is clear.  Just as our physical food becomes part of our bodies, so Christ becomes part of our souls. The central lesson of the chapter is an expansion on what He says in 6v27, “Labour not for the meat that perisheth, but for the meat that endureth unto everlasting life.” We should give more attention to our spiritual food than to the physical.  Jesus Himself was the living example of that-John 4v31; His disciples said “Master eat”- His reply was, “My meat is to do the will of Him that sent me and to finish His work.  Again, in the temptation in the wilderness, He said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every spoken word of God.” There is an interesting aside in verse 4, where it says that “the Passover, a feast of the Jews was nigh.” This imagery gives colour to the whole story.  At the end of chapter 5, Jesus had said “Moses wrote of me.” Here is one of the prime portions of Moses writings-namely the Passover.  What is the lesson of the Passover?- from Exodus 12, concerning the lamb-“ Take it… keep it…kill it…eat it.”  What was slain for their redemption was to become part of them.  Exodus 12v14 says “This day shall be a memorial for you.  Ye shall keep it a feast unto the Lord throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever.”  Not only back then, but in every generation this became part of their lives. There were three foods the children of Israel were commanded to eat- Exodus 12, the Passover lamb- this typifies Christ in his death; Exodus16, the Manna of which an estimated 4500 tonnes every day was required to feed them-this represents Christ in His provision for our lives now; Joshua 5, the Old Corn of the land-this represents Christ in His resurrection and exaltation. Christ in His life, Christ in His death, Christ in His exultation.   Christ in the Old and New testament scriptures, symbolised and revealed for the spiritual food of His people-every part of them being food for our souls.

 

The entire Bible, which is already been stated in Chapter 5, to be a testimony to Christ becomes our food.   This is what is spoken of as “the Lord’s table” in 1^st Corinthians 10, the table spread on a daily basis, shared by every believer for spiritual food- close fellowship with the Lord, bringing us into the enjoyment of Divine things. The chapter begins with the Lord feeding the multitude, so He does not deny the need for material food. But the clear lesson of this chapter is that He is the bread of life, and the spiritual need is greater. The question this chapter raises is what is my priority?  Is it the material or is it the spiritual? We spent plenty of time on the physical. Do we need to spend more time on the spiritual?

PERSONALLY, CORPORATELY, WILLINGLY, REGULARLY!

 

As much as He wanted to be alone with His disciples, the multitude followed Him, and what a multitude it must have been!  It was Passover and Jerusalem increased in population at this annual feast.  This Passover was special for one had come who was performing miracles, just as it was predicted the Messiah would.  Excitement had reached fever-pitch, is it possible Israel are to be soon freed from their occupying enemies?  They came, without thought of necessary food, men, women and children.  They had to be fed, Jesus asks Philip “Whence shall we buy bread that these may eat”?  Jesus was putting His disciple to the test, as He does with us today, for He knew what He would do.  Again the theme of the omniscience and omnipotence of Christ.  Philip’s answer was to be expected, the wages of a man for two hundred days would not cover this!  Andrew ventured there was a lad who had five barley loaves and two small fishes, but “…what are they among so many?” 

 

The disciples were looking at their limited resources, they were not looking to the Lord whose resources were infinite.  This was a big test for these men, as it is for us.  How many projects fall for lack of faith and understanding of who He is?  This is reminiscent of Moses when God sent him to confront Pharoah-Exodus 3-4.  He went on with excuse after excuse as to why he could not do it.

3v11 Who am I?... The Lord replied, “I will be with thee.”

3v13 “What shall I say?”…say “I am hath sent you.”

4v1 “They won't listen to me”… What is that in thy hand?”

4v10 “I am not eloquent.”…”Who has made man’s mouth?”

 

No excuses, just do it.  “Make the people sit down”.  The Lord of the earth is about to feed a multitude with just 5 barley loaves and 2 small fishes!  We remember that Elijah multiplied flour and oil daily to feed the widow and her son.  Elisha multiplied 20 barley loaves to feed 100.  Now Jesus feeds 5000 from 5 barley loaves.  Barley harvest is the first of the crops in the springtime, and becomes the provision for the feast of unleavened bread.  This miracle previewed that feast as the Passover was drawing near.  Jesus uses this miracle to declare He is the bread of life.  The miracle of the loaves points backward to the Old Testament images as in the manna in the wilderness, and the Feast of first fruits. It also points forward to the great Millennium, when there will be plenty for all. The people were made to recline on the tender grass and He feeds them all.  So lavish was the supply that 12 baskets of fragments were gathered up.  12 is symbolic of all the people, as in the twelve patriarchs and the twelve tribes.  There is a notable aside in v12-“Gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost.”  There are two points here-the Lord will not have waste, despite the overflowing surplus; also it symbolises that none of His people will be lost-John 17v12.