Thursday, March 15, 2007

John 6:30-40 (The Message)
The Bread of Life
30-31They waffled: "Why don't you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what's going on? When we see what's up, we'll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"
32-33Jesus responded, "The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world."
34They jumped at that: "Master, give us this bread, now and forever!"
35-38Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don't really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don't let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.
39-40"This, in a nutshell, is that will: that everything handed over to me by the Father be completed—not a single detail missed—and at the wrap-up of time I have everything and everyone put together, upright and whole. This is what my Father wants: that anyone who sees the Son and trusts who he is and what he does and then aligns with him will enter real life, eternal life. My part is to put them on their feet alive and whole at the completion of time."

Because of the way Jesus teaches and the miracles he does a lot of people have started to follow him around. In this passage from John, the people are asking Jesus to show them who they are. They have read about how Moses fed people in the desert with bread that came from heaven. It seems like the people are wanting Jesus to do that same sort of thing.
Jesus turns this question around. He tells the people that God, in fact, is offering them bread from heaven and that it gives life. If you heard that there was bread from heaven would you want a piece? These people did.

Imagine their confusion then, when Jesus says “I am the Bread of Life.” He did not literally mean that he was a loaf of bread and that everybody was going to get to bite into him. What he did say is that when you believe in him, or join with him, that you will not be hungry and thirsty, in a spiritual sense, ever again. It is not food and water that helps us have true life, but it is God.

Jesus tells the people he has come to do his Father’s will. And what is that will? It is to make everything right, to make people whole, and give people real, eternal life.

Do you ever feel empty?

Are you spiritually hungry or thirsty?

Ask Jesus to be the bread that keeps you full.