Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life…
John 6:35a
A group of hopeful Jews has begun following this Son of Man from place to place looking for signs that He IS the Messiah of the One God. Now we turn to a sign Jesus shows to five thousand followers in a remote place where He provides bread and fish from the lunch packed for one young man.
Miracles & Signs by Jesus
- The Lord once again makes clear His purpose in Jerusalem.
John 5:
“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. – John 5:39-40
What Scriptures? The Jewish Scriptures, of course. And the proofs religious leaders demand will undermine their own earthly authority if Jesus produces such convincing miracles.
Yet like the Prophets the Jews recognized, including John the Baptist, Jesus also points to our natural disobedience of God from these same scriptures.
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.
Once again Jesus offers us a choice between obedience and turning away from God, not between signs or disbelief.
46 “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Exodus 16:
2 And the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness:
וַיֹּ֤אמֶר יְהוָה֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה הִנְנִ֨י מַמְטִ֥יר לָכֶ֛ם לֶ֖חֶם מִן־הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם וְיָצָ֨א הָעָ֤ם וְלָֽקְטוּ֙ דְּבַר־יֹ֣ום בְּיֹומֹ֔ו לְמַ֧עַן אֲנַסֶּ֛נּוּ הֲיֵלֵ֥ךְ בְּתֹורָתִ֖י אִם־לֹֽא׃
Exodus 16:4 WLC
4 Then said the LORD unto Moses,
Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.
Note the significance of the sign of the bread:
Genesis
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. – Genesis 3:19 KJV on consequence of man’s sin of disobedience to the Lord God
And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God. – Genesis 14:18 KJV
And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Matthew 26:24-26 NKJV
Communion – Bread from Heaven
The Apostles will later understand a communion with Jesus witnessed after they depart from Jerusalem with Jesus a second time.
A mountainside overlooking the Sea of Tiberias, Galilee
- John 6: 2 A huge crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was performing by healing the sick. 3 Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with his disciples.
The men numbered about five thousand. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and after giving thanks he distributed them to those who were seated.
14 When the people saw the sign [the feeding of 5000 with five loaves of barley bread and two fish] he had done, they said, “This truly is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 6:14 CSB
How would we follow the Messiah?
15 When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force, to make him a king…
These disciples of the big crowd of ‘believers’ were no different from us. We prefer to lead the Lord, to have Him follow us our way. Jesus perceives how some would make Him an earthly King of the Jews. (Even the Apostle Judas had hoped for this.)
The Lord walks away from the crowds and the next day miraculously reappears on the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
Capernaum, Galilee on an opposite shore of the Sea
- John 6: 23 Some boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
26 Jesus answered [those who crossed the sea and found Him in Capernaum],
“Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled…
“This is the work of God—that you believe in the one he has sent.”
30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
We have already rejected the signs
Then Jesus said to them,
“Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven,
but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
John 6:32-33 NKJV
It’s nearly the Gospel of John 3:16 restated, but here Jesus clearly states that some of the Jews have rejected the Messiah just as most of the world will reject eternal life.
And Jesus said to them,
“I am the bread of life.
He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
John 6:35 NKJV
“… 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day…
57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.”
Bread from Heaven – מָן
When we encounter the miracles of God, when our eyes open to see the Son of God come down from heaven we still ask, “What is it?“
58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.
He who eats this bread will live forever.”
59 These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.
60 Therefore many of His disciples… [followers, that is, in addition to some of the Apostles] questioned Jesus and many later turned away.]
More signs to the Apostles
Some of the Apostles witnessed signs privately away from the crowds. One of these had already taken place between His sign of the bread to the five thousand and preaching about it in the synagogue at Capernaum.
On the Sea of Galilee
- … Darkness had already set in, but Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A high wind arose, and the sea began to churn. 19 After they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea. He was coming near the boat, and they were afraid.
Do you fear the Living God?
Do you honor the Son?
20 But he said to them, “It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
What next?
Jesus concludes this current teaching about the Father sending the One Son by asking the Apostles about the Spirit of God.
What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?
It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.
The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.
John 6:62-63 NKJV
They will see the ascension of the Son of Man, risen from Sacrifice of crucifixion and death!
The Apostles, some who had witnessed the Voice of the Father and the Holy Spirit descend on Jesus, will receive the Spirit. They witness Jesus’ words of life.
Will you with ears to hear and a heart open to receiving the life of the Spirit receive the Word – the truth and the life of Jesus?
For He IS the bread which came down from heaven to satisfy forgiveness of our sins and fill us with the Good News of eternal life.
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