BREAD OF LIFE
"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.'"
~ John 6.35
Jesus had just fed an enormous crowd of over 5,000 people with a few loaves of bread and fish. There were even multiple baskets of leftovers!
The crowds had pursued Jesus across the lake and quizzed Him about what He was doing. Jesus correctly surmised their motive for coming after Him. They were after more freebies. If Jesus had fed them yesterday, surely He could feed them again. Like so many people since that time, they followed Jesus in order to gain some sort of tangible benefit.
Yet, Jesus didn’t come to bring some temporary, and ultimately meaningless, relief to the drudgery and needs of the day. He came to do the will of the Father, and bring eternal life to all those who followed after Him and sought the will of the Father.
Just as God sent manna in the wilderness to help sustain the Hebrews (Exodus 16), God had sent His Son, who is the Bread of Life that brings eternal life.
Do you pursue Jesus? Why do you pursue Him? Are you hoping He might provide some sort of quick fix to your financial woes? Hoping he might fix your marriage? Hoping He might get you a new job or a raise? Those are important needs, and God is concerned for you about those needs, but ultimately, His desire is to bring wholeness to your brokenness, rescue you from your separateness from Him because of your sin. He wants to give you the Bread of Life that you might enjoy a relationship with Him for eternity.
Have a seat at the table. Partake of the Bread of Life today.
Prayer
Jesus, You are the Bread of Life. Thank You for sustaining me each day. Thank You for providing for me eternal life. Help me each day to partake of You, not just in moments of need, but in moments of joy and moments of the mundane . . . the regular, day-to-day activities that don’t register on the highs or lows for the day . . . moments where You reveal Yourself and sustain me. Amen.
Feeding of the 5,000 (1590)
by Hendrick de Clerck
(oil on canvas)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
In this painting, de Clerck has depicted Jesus at the moment He is blessing the fish and loaves in order to feed the 5,000+ crowd.
Surrounding Jesus are the disciples who seem to be engaged in a hurried conversation, wondering how Jesus planned on feeding so many people with so few provisions.
The little boy, wearing a beautiful green frock, gladly bears his basket of fish and bread, seemingly thrilled to be a part of the drama about to unfold. Jesus, with a loaf of bread in his left hand and his right hand raised in the posture of pronouncing a blessing, has His eyes uplifted to the Father, seeking His Father’s power and will to feed the crowd.
Jesus has a blue tunic, a symbol of his royalty, and His beautiful red outer tunic is draped gracefully over His shoulder and across His lap. A halo of light surrounds His head indicating His divinity.
The crowds seem oblivious and ambivalent to the miracle taking place. Children are playing and wrestling. A mother nurses her child. A child plays with a puppy while another man pets a dog. Men and women sit and lounge about carrying on lively and animated conversations to pass the time. Some seem to be huddled about wondering how they might feed themselves and their families at this late hour.
The Sea of Galilee and Capernaum are in the background, as are the ships that have brought Jesus to this shore.
Jesus is providing for the needs of the crowds, even when they do not realize that He is concerned with their needs, much less convinced of His ability or desire to provide for those needs.
Despite the frenetic activity surrounding Jesus, He sits serenely in the center of it all, about to unleash the power of Almighty God and feed this great crowd. He will feed them in this moment and sustain their physiological needs at this hour, yet they will be hungry again in just a few hours. However, as the Bread of Life who brings eternal life to all who would trust Him and follow after Him, Jesus stands ready to feed them for eternity.
Feeding of the 5,000 (1590)
by Hendrick de Clerck
(oil on canvas)
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria
In this painting, de Clerck has depicted Jesus at the moment He is blessing the fish and loaves in order to feed the 5,000+ crowd.
Surrounding Jesus are the disciples who seem to be engaged in a hurried conversation, wondering how Jesus planned on feeding so many people with so few provisions.
The little boy, wearing a beautiful green frock, gladly bears his basket of fish and bread, seemingly thrilled to be a part of the drama about to unfold. Jesus, with a loaf of bread in his left hand and his right hand raised in the posture of pronouncing a blessing, has His eyes uplifted to the Father, seeking His Father’s power and will to feed the crowd.
Jesus has a blue tunic, a symbol of his royalty, and His beautiful red outer tunic is draped gracefully over His shoulder and across His lap. A halo of light surrounds His head indicating His divinity.
The crowds seem oblivious and ambivalent to the miracle taking place. Children are playing and wrestling. A mother nurses her child. A child plays with a puppy while another man pets a dog. Men and women sit and lounge about carrying on lively and animated conversations to pass the time. Some seem to be huddled about wondering how they might feed themselves and their families at this late hour.
The Sea of Galilee and Capernaum are in the background, as are the ships that have brought Jesus to this shore.
Jesus is providing for the needs of the crowds, even when they do not realize that He is concerned with their needs, much less convinced of His ability or desire to provide for those needs.
Despite the frenetic activity surrounding Jesus, He sits serenely in the center of it all, about to unleash the power of Almighty God and feed this great crowd. He will feed them in this moment and sustain their physiological needs at this hour, yet they will be hungry again in just a few hours. However, as the Bread of Life who brings eternal life to all who would trust Him and follow after Him, Jesus stands ready to feed them for eternity.
Playlist Daily Highlight
Take the time to listen . . . really listen to the words of this song. Reflect on them. Let God’s spirit speak to you in this moment.
