JOHN 6:31-59 JESUS THE LIVING BREAD OF LIFE
“Jesus said to them, ‘I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst. ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I AM THE LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’”
THE HOLY SEGUE
All the stories in the Bible were written for a purpose. It may be through a parable or an actual event, Bible stories are written to point out the truth or to give way to the truth. In this case, Jesus said these things after He fed the 5000 men at the Sea of Tiberias, which I would describe as a "holy segue," for His forthright declaration of who He is. He performed such a great miracle so that He can back up His claim that He is indeed the "BREAD OF LIFE."
ETERNAL LIFE TO THOSE WHO BELIEVE
Jesus, the Son of Man who came from heaven, gave up His heavenly thrown and His very life for the sake of all humanity. He came to earth and humbled Himself so much that He even became one of us. He was human, born of the Spirit but birthed by a woman. Philippians 2:7-8 says that, "Have this mind among yourself, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the FORM OF GOD, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but HE EMPTIED HIMSELF, by taking the FORM OF A SERVANT, being BORN IN THE LIKENESS OF MEN. And being found in HUMAN FORM, He humbled Himself by becoming OBEDIENT TO THE POINT OF DEATH, even DEATH ON A CROSS."
Jesus came as an act of obedience to the Father's will. He says, "For I have come down from heaven, NOT TO DO MY OWN WILL BUT THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME" (v. 38). Now, I can only imagine the conversation that they had in heaven while the Father is showing Jesus His destiny - His gruesome murder and dreadful slander at the Cross. Imagine having to die for sinful people who would never deserve grace and mercy on their own? Imagine having to go through endless conflict, judgment, insults, disrespect, unbelief, and hostility from the very people He needs to die for? But even then, "at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6,8).
IT IS GOD'S WILL TO SAVE US ALL
“‘And this is the WILL OF HIM who sent Me, that I should LOSE NOTHING OF ALL THAT HE HAS GIVEN ME, but raise it up on the last say. For THIS IS THE WILL OF MY FATHER, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise Him up on the last day.’”
It was God's definitely plan to save us all from the wrath of God. It was His plan to forgive us from all of our sins, to discredit all the works of the devil, and to free us from the consequences of our unrighteousness. He does not want anyone to perish, especially that ones whom the Father sends directly to Him. Like a good shepherd, He won't allow His sheep to stray away off course. But the only way to get this intimacy with God is to believe in Christ Jesus and to stay faithful in following Him through out our lives. He does not expect us to be perfect, but He just wants us to come to Him for forgiveness whenever we do fall short.
PRAYER
Jesus, You are indeed the Bread of Life. You are the only One I need in this lifetime. Thank You for coming down to earth and for not withholding Your life for us. You know how much we needed a Savior and You did everything to make sure we'll have one. We can just imagine the pain and suffering that You had to go through for us. And even until today, we know we still fail You and keep nailing You on that Cross. Forgive us, O Lord, from all our sins and unrighteousness. Jesus, bring us back to the right path and to life everlasting. We want to be with You. Save us from our own devils and make us new in Christ Jesus. In His Name, amen!