The bread of life

Read John 6:25-35

.

John 6 begins with two signs which point to Jesus as God. The miracle of the feeding of the five thousand (6:1-15) was an act of creation, demonstrating the supernatural power of Jesus through whom all things were made (Jn.1:3; Col.1:16; Heb.1:2). Then that night Jesus came to his disciples in their boat by walking on the water (6:16-21 NB in v20 “It is I” is ego eimi / I am.)

.

The crowd see the sign (14) but fail to understand it, wanting to make Jesus their king in the materialistic hope of a constant supply of free bread (26). But the one who can create bread for the body can do far more than that – he is able to feed the soul with “food that endures for eternal life” (27). Jesus is “the bread of God who has come down from heaven to give life to the world” (32-33).

.

He declares “I am the bread of life” (35,48) with the promise that whoever comes to him and believes in him will find the lasting satisfaction that materialism and consumerism can never provide (35,40). His sacrificial death is the basis of that life (51-57) and taking hold of that personally is how we feed on this living bread. That’s the true Christmas gift and Christmas feast. “Bread of heaven, feed me now and evermore.”