I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Jesus graciously fed a great multitude of 5000 hungry people with 5 small barley loaves and 2 tiny fish, but the truth He wanted them to know was far deeper. He was showing us that earthly food will satisfy our physical needs and our earthly body temporarily, but He came down to earth from heaven to provide us with heavenly food that would satiate our spiritual needs and our eternal souls…forever. Jesus first compared Himself to bread by calling Himself the Living Bread, but continued by making the astonishing statement that He came, not only to provide us with bread to satisfy our bodily needs, but He made it crystal clear that He is the spiritual nourishment that will satisfy our spiritual needs. And He went further, saying that if anyone eats of this bread, they will live eternally. In this passage, Jesus already knew that He would be rejected, and He was starting to hint at the coming…where He would offer His life as the ransom price for the sin of the world. He was starting to signal the truth of God’s Word. That He was to be the sacrificial offering, whose broken body and shed blood is the only spiritual food and drink that fallen man can acquire to gain life eternal. His sacrificial death on the Cross paid the price for our sins. Believing in Him is the food our soul requires to live forever. The Bread of Life that came down from heaven is Jesus Christ. Surely this truth should rejoice our soul through time and into eternity. It should prompt us to carry forth this truth to the next generation and all who will listen.
Spiritual Steve 