Bible Studies

BREAD FROM HEAVEN

by Luella Campbell
01/19/14
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BREAD FROM HEAVEN

"Then they asked Him, 'What must we do to do the works God requires?' Jesus answered, 'The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.' So they asked Him, 'What sign, then, will you give so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat."'

"Jesus said to them, 'Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.'

"'Sir,' they said, 'always give us this bread.'" John 6:28-34 (NIV).

These people were well influenced by their religious leaders and still thought and operated in the natural.

Jesus had just challenged them, 'Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you.' John 6:27a. Their response was, 'What must we do...?' thinking that there was something extra that they must add to their already burdensome performance to guarantee them an eternal existence beyond the grave.

Jesus' response took them back to the simple requirement He had persistently told them which they did not seem to hear or understand. It was not about works but about faith in Him that opened the door to what He called "life". The people clung to Moses as their model because he was the agent through whom God did mighty miracles in the wilderness and delivered them from the Egyptians.

In spite of their ancestors' grumbling against Moses and their disobedience and unbelief towards God and His miraculous interventions, these people still saw these mighty miracles as the sign that it was God who was with them and who led them to the Promised Land.

According to them it was Moses who had given them the manna which sustained them for forty years in the wilderness. He didn't multiply a few barley loaves to feed a few thousand. He gave them an abundance of manna every morning which fed millions! That was Moses' sign that it was God who was doing it. 'What can you do, Jesus, to better that?'

Already their unbelief was working overtime! Why did they follow Him across the lake in the first place, and then back to Capernaum when they didn't find Him where He had been the day before? Was it because He was feeding their souls with the living bread -- His word? No! He had already diagnosed their motive -- a free meal at God's expense! They were certainly "working" for that bread.

Providing manna for millions of people every day was a small miracle compared with the greater miracle of God coming in person to provide "bread" that would sustain them forever. But they could not see it. The life He offered them was not simply an extra-long biological life on the earth but a supernatural quality of life in union with Him that freed them from the fear, guilt and shame that drove them to hide from God because of their sin.

The "bread" of which Jesus spoke was a symbol of the bread, His word that would nourish and sustain their spirits in an unbreakable connection with Himself. Because He would do away with the barrier of sin which had disconnected them from God and left them unprotected against the judgment of God, they would reconciled to God. They would be able to live in fellowship with Him without the sacrifices and mediators they forced to go through now.

Once again their response revealed their misunderstanding of His offer. The Samaritan woman thought He was offering her a supply of water that would relieve her of the burden of carrying water from the well every day. They thought that He would give them bread, like the manna, which simply fell from heaven and saved them the labour of having to bake their daily supply.

Because their minds were locked into the natural, as we shall see, their unbelief mirrored the unbelief of their ancestors and they forfeited the opportunity to receive this "bread" and enter the fullness of the life He offered.

Have you "eaten" this bread?