Bread of Life

August 12, 2018

John 6:35, 41-51

John’s gospel tells us who Jesus is through “signs,” the meaning of which are then explained.  In John 6: 1-21, Jesus feeds five thousand people beginning with a boy’s lunch, five barley loaves and two small fish.  After everyone eats and is satisfied, twelve baskets of leftover pieces are collected.  This sign means that Jesus is the Bread of Life or the Bread from Heaven.  In this week’s lesson, we learn more about what that means, especially as it relates to the manna given to the Hebrew slaves escaping from Egypt long ago.

In both instances, we learn that, though the physical bread is the sign, the most fundamental element is developing a trusting relationship with God in Christ, a trust that will follow even to the death.  We read in Deuteronomy 8 that the lesson to be learned from the manna is that “one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”