The Bread of Life

John recorded this miracle of Jesus near the sea of Galilee shortly before Passover, “And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.” At least some of those 5000 who witnessed the miracle said this: “This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world.” So impressed were they that they wanted to “take him by force, to make him a king.” That night his disciples crossed the sea in a ship, but He walked across the water. Some of the multitude were confused the next day as to how He got there, and when they found Him “on the other side of the sea” they said to Him, “Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” His response was a rebuke, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.” It seems that overnight their attitude changed from awe to greed as they desired to have more of this free bread. He encouraged them, “Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed…. This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” The bread they had received the day before seems to have got them thinking about what happened to the children of Israel and caused them to decide Jesus’s miracle was pretty small compared to the manna that had been provided: “They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” In other words, I think they were saying, “Well, you gave us bread for one day which was nice. Moses gave the Israelites bread every day for forty years. How about you give us a sign like that?” He seemed to be going along with their request in His initial response, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. To this they eagerly replied, “Lord, evermore give us this bread” (John 6:10-11, 14-15, 25-34). Their greed got the best of them as they imagined getting free bread every day of their lives. They had not the spiritual eyes or ears to understand that what He could offer them was so much more than physical bread.

               Eventually Jesus responded to their suggestion that He provide a lengthier miracle like the manna given to the children of Israel. He remarked, “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.” There wasn’t much they could argue there. Despite the fact that the miracle of the manna did eventually end, it is still a symbol of what the Savior can provide. I think if these Jews could have looked past the physical nature of the bread received they could have understood the spiritual life the Savior was offering. The children of Israel received manna from heaven every day for forty years. That is a long time! And the Jehovah who provided that for so long can also provide us with spiritual manna forever. The message for us I believe is that the Savior’s grace and goodness and help will not run out. Here is how He put it: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst…. I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:35, 49, 51). His nourishment and strength and power will not run out for us. The story of bread coming to the Israelites miraculously every day should remind us that He can provide us individually every day with what we need, if we believe in Him. I love His summary of what “work” we have to do to receive this spiritual nourishment: “This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.” As we work to believe in Him, we will have all that we need from Him so that we symbolically “never hunger” and “never thirst.”