Monday, August 3, 2015

The true bread of life: Who is Jesus part 1


Jesus answered them and said, 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. 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.

  Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.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.

 Then Jesus said unto them, 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. Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.

 For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.

 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

 Jesus therefore answered and said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. 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.

 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  John 6: 26-52

In the gospel of John Jesus gives us an autobiography of Himself in seven statements of who He is. Some have referred to these lessons as the “I am” statements; they include the bread of life, the gate, the shepherd, the vine, the way, the truth, and the life. Consider with me for a moment this statement of the bread of life.

Wheat has been called the staff of life in recognition that it is easily the most sustainable food source at man’s disposal. Fruits, vegetables, and animal flesh have a very limited shelf life but wheat can be stored for decades. Any food source may help man survive but it is wheat that made it possible for man to become more than nomadic tribes. In the story of Joseph it is stored wheat that not only saved Israel from death during the seven years of famine, but also made Egypt into an empire. For modern man bread is just one more item we pick up in the grocery store but for those who were listening to Jesus that day bread was the definition of the ability to sustain life.

For the context of Jesus statement and the ensuing debate about Moses and Messiah we should know that this same crowd to which He was speaking are those who were present when two fish and five loafs feed five thousand. Jesus had departed from these men because He knew they intended to take Him to Jerusalem and make Him king. This was the determination of men as to who Messiah was to be and what benefit He was to be to them.

The modern church would do well to consider the wrong thinking and attitude of this group. Their own carnal desires and how their carnal thoughts of how things should be caused them to be blind and eventually reject the gift of God standing before them.

We often speak of Gods blessings as health, wealth, favor, and all that these things entail but these things are only a shadow of the true blessings. Those things which we receive from our Father that are perishable may be needful in the short term but the true blessings are those things we will bring with us in the resurrection; love, life, oneness with God, righteousness, holiness of such things there shall never come an end.

Jesus tells these men that they must not follow Him because of the miraculous bread that filled their stomachs. Jesus is the true sustainer of life so He is the true bread. Jesus by His teachings and example shone forth a light into men’s darkness but this is not the bread. He is the bread; his very life essence for lack of better terminology is what we have been given. The call to by faith be joined to Him and the Fathers life is the offer of true bread. They were looking at a manifestation in man’s flesh of the life of the Father because Messiah and the Father are one.

These blind followers scorn Jesus as a man and would rebuke Him that if He makes claim as Messiah then they should receive from Him as the Fathers received bread from Moses. Jesus quickly corrects them that Moses gave nothing but the Father in heaven was the source of all that was done through Moses; just as the life in Messiah was not from a carnal providence but came down from heaven.

The manna only served to sustain the body for a season but it could not sustain life. When we become one with the life of Jesus we become one with the life of the Father. In like fashion Jesus bore the death of Adams inheritance in us to the cross where it was judged and found its end. So we have died in Him that the old man who’s so called life was found in sin is done away with. We have consumed His body which was killed and His blood which was shed that we should become one with His life through the Spirit.

This is a life that cannot die even if the body is destroyed. This is why Jesus is the bread of life.

 

 

 

 

 

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