Sunday, January 11, 2015

Bread is the Staff of Life


John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

I read an interesting article today about how caught up in the material world we can become that we miss the spiritual reality. God told Moses to have the table for the bread of the Presence built for the tabernacle and stacked with twelve loaves as a way to remind Israel of His gracious provision for all their needs – Exodus 25:23-30. Whoever are this bread found that while it could sustain life for a time, it could not make anyone live forever. Israel needed a different type of food to find eternal life. This bread, we see in John 6, is Christ Jesus Himself. He has just fed the 5,000 and responds that the people ought not to look for temporary physical food like bread that perishes, but for the spiritual food that lasts forever, the food that God has commissioned the Son of Man to give to His people.

John 6:27-29 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him. Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

At this point, the crowd asks what works they must do to get this bread (v.28), which reflects the Jewish belief that the Law is the bread that God gives. They are asking about the works of the Mosaic law they must do to find eternal life. Christ explains that what is the only things to be done is now works of the Law as traditionally conceived; rather, they must put their trust in Him. Jews in that day believed the Messiah would miraculously bring manna when He came, and Jesus does not dispute the assumption. He is the real life-giving manna – the bread of God who satisfies the true hunger of the soul.

John 6:33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Jesus is the fulfillment of the bread of the Presence under the old covenant. Christ is far better than the former bread, for anyone can be spiritually sustained on Him by faith; that is, all who are willing may trust in Him alone for eternal sustenance and receive life that can never be taken away. And Jesus will never cast out anyone who truly puts their faith in Him. The old English proverb that “bread is the staff of life” is never truer than when it is used to refer to Jesus. His life given for the sins of the world is the staff that upholds us, and only those who trust in Him alone can find eternal salvation. We are to spiritually feed on the Bread of Life by faith daily that we might be sustained by Him and persevere.


John 6:40And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”


In Christ, Brian

2 comments:

Larri said...

Great post, Brian!

God keeps putting these verses of faith about relying on Him in my heart, so I appreciate you sharing.

As I read Psalm 91 today, I realized if I dwell in Him, the Most High, he will be my refuge...it's a wonderful promise, though conditional. I have to choose to dwell. I can say He is mine, but to step out in faith is when I claim it as truth.

Happy Sunday! ツ

Brian Ray Todd said...

Thank you Larri for the thoughtful comment. I was thinking about this today; As we dwell and are spiritually fed in Jesus, we find contentment walking in step with the Spirit and security in the refuge of God's hand with love, joy and peace. But yes, the choice and whole-heartedly step out to claim that faith is ours alone. It is not the light of belief in Christ that hinders us, but the deception and detraction of darkness in the flesh, the God-rejecting world-system and the devil that tempts, lures and draws our attention from that truth, refuge, true happiness. I love your words: "He is mine." Blessings.