Tuesday, July 7th, 2009

John 6:30-35
So they said to him, "Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus then said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." 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.


We will meditate on this section of verses under three headings: the request for a physical sign, the explanation of a spiritual need, the fulfillment of that spiritual need.

First, the request for a physical sign. Jesus had just recently fed a massive crowd, and showed Himself to be empowered by God. He had shown Himself to be the Son of God. So much so, that the people were going to take Him by force to establish the Messianic kingdom on earth. Christ, knowing this escaped on a boat because this was not His kingdom. He then made it clear that the people were seeking physical rewards and riches, as well as this physical kingdom, and that this is not the important thing to seek, rather, eternal life and the heavenly kingdom.

Whether the men that were asking for this sign had witnessed the feeding of the 5000, or just wanted another sign on top of this, we cannot be sure. But the one thing that we can be sure of is that these requests were merely a walking by sight, and a looking for physical advantages rather that spiritual advantages.

Second, the explanation of a spiritual need. Because of their request for a sign like the manna in the wilderness, Christ here draws reference back to Moses and the manna in the wilderness wanderings. He implies that the bread that Moses gave was only physical bread that fulfilled a physical need. He shows that what they want is not the physical bread like the manna, because that wasn't the point, rather, their their true need is to have bread that truly satisfies, the bread from heaven, which ultimately is the Lord Jesus Christ. This bread that can satisfy does not come to fill our bellies, but comes to fill our souls. This bread is life-giving bread.

Third, the fulfillment of that spiritual need. Jesus then clearly tells them that if they want to be truly satisfied, they need to have the true bread, or the bread of life. This bread, if they eat it, will ensure that they are never hungry again, because it will satisfy their deep spiritual need. He also adds that as we eat, we become thirsty, and just as Jesus told the Samaritan women in chapter 4, that He is the living water, He mentions here that He will satisfy their thirst as well.

So then what we have here is the claim that in order to be truly satisfied, we need to feed upon the bread of life, and the living water, that is to say, Jesus Christ, who was sent by the Father from heaven. Nothing should or could satisfy us in any fulness, except the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an appeal for us tonight to remember that Jesus Christ was the true Adam, the second Adam, who fulfilled all righteousness, and as He showed that His food and drink were His Father, we should make God our food and drink. We should only be satisfied in God and God alone. All this stuff in the world, food, clothing, shelter, should only drive us to worship and praise God. We should be moved by His goodness to worship Him and rely upon Him more and more, we shouldn't squander His gifts on our own pleasures. His kingdom is truly spiritual.

Let us meditate on the fact that God is truly the only thing that can satisfy us and that the only way we can know Him is through Jesus Christ. So let us feed upon Christ as the true bread of life, and the true living water, and take our sustenance from Him.