Tag: bread of life

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John Devotionals

What Jesus wants to give us

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled…

I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.” (John 6:26, 35)

Why do we seek Jesus? Why do we come to him? Do we come to him for solely for what he can give us? Or do we come to encounter him? To know him?

Certainly Jesus wants to meet our needs. But the thing he wants to give us more than anything else is himself. Because he is the only one who can satisfy the hunger and thirst in our souls.

And the good news is that when we knock on his door, he will always open it to us. And as he himself said,

…the one who comes to me I will never cast out. (37)

Jesus, I come to you today, not simply for what you can give me. I want you. I long to know you more. Thank you for always opening the door to me.

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John Devotionals

That I might have life

Jesus answered, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.”

“What can we do to perform the works of God?” they asked.

Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.” (John 6:26-29)

Jesus, the people came to you for bread as if bread was the most important thing, as if bread was the thing that truly gave life.

But Jesus, I come to you hoping you will give me yourself. Because you yourself are the source of life.

You gave your life for the world on that cross, your flesh crucified, your blood shed for our sins. For my sins.

And by giving yourself on that cross and dying in my place, you gave me life.

But this life-giving doesn’t stop at the cross, does it? I first got that life by coming to you and believing in you for my salvation.

But I’m continually receiving life from you by coming to you and believing you every day. I need to be constantly coming to you and feeding off of you.

You have the words of eternal life. They give me life as I face the challenges of the day. They encourage me. They lead me. They give me wisdom. They correct me when I start going on the wrong path.

But you not only give me your words. You give me your grace when I fall. Even now I’m feeding off what you did on the cross for me.

And by what you did on the cross, I now have access to your power. The same power the Father used to raise you from the dead is now in me.

Power to overcome temptation. Power to overcome Satan’s attacks. Power to deal with difficult people. Power to deal with anything I face in life.

All this was bought for me when your body was broken and your blood shed at the cross.

But again, most of all, you give me yourself, walking beside me every moment of every day.

So Jesus, I come to you today and ask, “Please give me yourself. You’re all I need.”

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John Devotionals

What are you seeking

John

I asked the question last week, “What are you seeking?”

We see this theme again in today’s passage.

At the start of this passage, many people were seeking for Jesus. Why? For healing. (John 6:2)

Then in verse 24, they went seeking for Jesus again. Why? To get more bread from Jesus.

And so Jesus tells them, “Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal of approval on him.” (John 6:26-27)

In short, “You’ve missed the point of the miracle. The point of the miracle was not to fill your stomachs. The point of the miracle is that I’m the life-giver. Don’t seek physical food. Seek me, the giver of life.”

But the crowd didn’t understand his words. Their words “Give us this bread that leads to eternal life” echoes the Samaritan woman’s words, “Give me this water that leads to eternal life so that I won’t get thirsty. ” (4:15)

And so Jesus says,

“I am the bread of life…No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.” (6:35)

That verse is the key to everything that Jesus says afterwards about “eating his flesh” and “drinking his blood.”

To come to Jesus is to “eat his flesh.”

To believe in him is to “drink his blood.”

Put another way, Jesus is the only one who truly satisfies our soul. Nothing else will truly satisfy.

And so Jesus says,

“The one who eats my flesh (comes to me) and drinks my blood (believes in me) remains in me, and I in him.” (56)

That word “remains” is the same one we saw when Andrew and John “stayed” with Jesus in chapter 1. And it is the same word we see in John 15, when Jesus commands us to remain in him.

True satisfaction comes in coming to Jesus, believing in him, and remaining in him.

But that’s hard for a lot of people to hear. It’s hard for them to accept. It’s offensive to them.

Many people willing to accept Jesus as a good man or a good teacher. But they do not accept him as the one we must come to, believe in, and remain in if we want to find life.

That’s what the Jews struggled with. And when they saw what Jesus was really saying, many left him.

Jesus wasn’t just saying, “Come to me and I’ll give you healing and make your life happy.” He was saying, “I am the one you need. Don’t chase these other things. Seek me. I am all you need.”

Do you believe this? Are you pursuing Jesus? Are you saying, “I want to be with you. I want to learn from you. I want to join in your work and touch this world?”

Or are you merely seeking personal happiness?

What are you seeking?

Jesus asks us the same question he asked the disciples.

“You don’t want to go away too, do you?” (67)

May we be like Peter and say,

Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. (68-69)

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John John 6

The One who gives offense

John

I wonder what it is exactly that gave the Jews offense as they listened to Jesus.

It’s very possible that they simply didn’t understand what Jesus was saying and were taking his words literally, instead of figuratively as he meant them.

Namely, when Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. (John 6:53-56)

Taken literally, it would be abhorrent to anyone, but especially to the Jew who had been taught from childhood that to eat anything with blood in it was strictly prohibited.

But of course, Jesus wasn’t speaking literally, he was speaking figuratively as I pointed out in the last blog.

To “eat his flesh” is to come to him, and to “drink his blood” is to believe in him. And if you come to Jesus and believe in him, you will never be spiritually hungry or thirsty again (John 6:35).

At any rate it is possible that the Jews were offended by what he said because they took it literally.

But it’s just possible that they took it as Jesus meant it and were offended by it. It’s possible they understood that Jesus was saying that he was the only way to eternal life.

Even today, people say, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” (John 6:60)

When Christians say that Jesus is the only way to God, people often get offended.

And so I hear some Christians, and worse, even some Christian leaders waffling on the issue at times.

“Well, I’m sure that Jesus didn’t really mean he was the ONLY way. I’m sure there’s an out somewhere.”

But Jesus meant what he said. Apart from coming to him and believing in him, no one will ever see eternal life. There will only be judgment and eternal punishment waiting for those who reject him.

Jesus told the Jews,

The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63)

There are different ways to interpret this verse. (We looked at one yesterday).

It’s possible, though, that Jesus was telling these Jews who were trying to work their way into heaven through the Law:

“All your efforts are meaningless. You can’t do enough to earn your way to heaven.

“In fact, apart from me, all your efforts are like filthy rags before God. Only the Holy Spirit can give you life.

“And he will only give you life if you come to me and believe in me.”

He then said, “All that I have been saying are spiritual words, and if you’ll just accept them, they’ll give you life.”

But as many people do today, many of the Jews rejected them and walked away from Jesus.

And so Jesus asks us what he asks the disciples,

You do not want to leave too, do you? (John 6:67)

May our answer be as Peter’s,

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.

We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God. (John 6:68-69)

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John John 6

“Working” for true bread

John

This is one of the more powerful passages in scripture, but it is also a somewhat difficult one.

After Jesus fed the 5000, they wanted Jesus to become their king, and so he left. When they found him, Jesus admonished them,

I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. (John 6:26-27)

In other words, the only reason you’re seeking me is for physical reasons, not for spiritual ones.

I gave you physical bread, but don’t make what’s temporary your priority in life. Instead, work for the food that gives eternal life.

The Jews then said, “What should we do to do the works of God?”

Perhaps, they expected him to say, “Well, memorize the scriptures. Keep the ten commandments, and make sure you keep all the other laws as well.”

After all, that’s the kind of thing they heard all the time.

But Jesus told them something totally unexpected. He said,

The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. (John 6:29)

In other words, “The only thing you can do to obtain eternal life is to put your trust in me. Eternal life doesn’t come from keeping God’s law. It comes from putting your faith in me.”

I’m sure this must have bothered the Jews to hear this, and so they asked for a miraculous sign to prove what he said, pointing out that Moses gave the Israelites manna in the desert as a sign to them that he was God’s servant.

But Jesus responded that it wasn’t Moses that gave the Israelites bread, but God.

He then taught them that the manna was a mere symbol of the true bread that would come into the world and give people, not a life that was temporary, but eternal life.

His next words, though, truly stunned them.

I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. (John 6:35)

This by the way is the whole key to the passage. Jesus isn’t talking literally. He isn’t literally a piece of bread. And just because you come to him and believe in him doesn’t mean you’ll never have to eat another meal. All of this is spiritual.

To “eat his flesh,” is to come to him. To “drink his blood,” is to believe in him. And if you come to him and believe in him, you will never be hungry or thirsty for God again.

You see this theme throughout this passage.

He told them that their problem was they had seen him, the true bread and did not believe in him. But all the Father gave him would come to him.

He said if you look to the Son and believe in him you’ll have eternal life (John 6:40).

That everyone who listens to the Father comes to Jesus (John 6:45).

That he who believes has eternal life (John 6:47).

He then pointed out that if you eat physical bread, you’ll eventually die, but if you eat this spiritual bread, if you come to the one who gave his life for the world on the cross, you will live forever (John 6:51, 58).

He goes to say that if you do not come to him (eat his flesh) and believe in him (drink his blood), you do not have eternal life.

But if you do, you will be raised bodily when Jesus returns and you’ll live forever (John 6:53-54).

And if you come to him and believe in him, you will remain in him, and he in you (John 6:56).

Finally, he concludes by saying that physical food in the end counts for nothing because it can’t give eternal life. His words, on the other hand, will impart eternal life if you’ll only believe them. (John 6:63)

What can we get from all this? If you want true satisfaction in life, it only comes in a relationship with God.

And the only way you’re going to have a relationship with God is by coming to Jesus and putting your faith in him and his work on the cross.

Have you done so?

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Exodus

Bread of life, light of the world

Bread of the presence
Jeremy Park, Bible-Scenes.com

Okay, I admit it.  These passages are very dry.  Do we seriously need all these details? 

I guess the Israelites did; they had to make these things, after all. 

But for the rest of us in the 21st century…well, I can hardly wait until the action starts rolling again.

Anyway, the symbols here do remind me of two things that Jesus said of himself.

Coincidentally or not, he made these statements in the exact same order as Moses did in the book of Exodus. 

Namely, he called himself the bread of life (John 6:35) and the light of the world (John 8:12).

The bread of the Presence was to be placed on a special table in the tabernacle at all times.  It was a reminder that God was ever present with the Israelites, leading them and taking care of their needs. 

Not only that, it reminded them that he was the one that provided bread from heaven that helped them to survive in the desert. 

But God was also pointing to Jesus, who is the true bread from heaven that gives life to the whole world.  (John 6:32-40) 

Just as bread helps give us physical life, Jesus gives us spiritual life. Anyone who looks to him and believes in him will have eternal life.

The other symbol was the golden lampstand.  It was to continuously be burning from evening to morning, and was a symbol of how God was to be their light. 

He was their light in the darkness as he led them out of Egypt and through the desert by means of the pillar of fire. 

But he was also their spiritual light who showed them the way of righteousness and holiness. 

In the same way, Jesus is the light of the world. 

Jesus shines his light of truth and life in the darkness of this sinful world, and the darkness has not been able to overcome it.  (John 1:5) 

As Jesus said,

He who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.  (John 8:12)

So many people in this world stumble around in life, searching for meaning to their lives. 

But it is only in Jesus that we find our true meaning and purpose in life.

As he shines his light in our lives, we start to see the direction we need to go, and we see the purposes for which he created us. 

After all, if we’re looking for meaning in life, who better to ask than the one who made us?

Are you seeking life beyond what is here on earth?  Then go to the bread of life.  The person who goes to Him, will never be spiritually hungry again.

Are you stumbling around in the dark, looking for meaning in your life? 

Look to the light of the world.  Only in him is the light of life where meaning and purpose is found.