Security

Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. - John 6.35

Now, to really understand what Jesus is saying here when he claims to be the bread of life we have to know the context.

At the beginning of chapter 6 Jesus feeds this huge crowd, the text says 5,000 men besides women and children, most scholars explain that somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-20 thousand people were present.

So, we’ve got this miracle and then right after that Jesus is teaching this same crowd who followed him to the other side of the lake, and He says that he is the bread of life.  If you’re like me (Ken), you’re probably wondering: “what is the connection?” or at least: “what is the point?”

What is the point of this miracle?  Why does Jesus do this and then call himself the bread of life?

Well, I think the answer is found in John chapter 6 verse 4: The Jewish Passover Feast was near.

It’s this little detail that John gives us that opens this whole thing up.

Like us today, when major holidays or festivals would come around the ancient Hebrews would study the significant passages related to that holiday.  So when the passover feast would come around they would have been studying and reading through all the passages in the Hebrew Scriptures about the passover in their synagogues.

There is one miracle in particular related to the passover in the Old Testament that shows us exactly what Jesus was trying to explain with this miracle and by claiming to be the bread of life.  If you have some time, read Exodus 16.1-16, if not, I’ll summarize for you.

Right after the Exodus, Israel finds itself in the desert and they are all grumbling and complaining about having enough food to eat. In fact, they were kind of bemoaning the fact that GOD had taken them out of Egypt where it seems that they could just sit around eating entire pots of meat.

So, instead, GOD provides for them bread in the morning and quail in the evening.  I love this part: at the end of the passage in verse 15, the text reads: When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was.  

Do you know what the word Manna means in Hebrew?  It means “what?”  They had never seen anything like this before, so they didn’t know what to call it, so they started calling it “what?”

I can just image the Abbott and Costello routines going on:

What did you eat for breakfast today?

What?

(Louder this time.) What did you eat for breakfast today?

What?!

(Even louder this time.) WHAT DID YOU EAT FOR B-R-E-A-K-F-A-S-T TODAY?!?!

WHAT!!!

This bread symbolized for them GOD’s provision for their needs.

So, this passage would be fresh in their minds as Jesus does a very similar miracle.  Jesus calls down bread from heaven and provides just enough bread for everyone to eat.  When Jesus feeds all of these people, he is intentionally pointing people back to GOD’s provision of manna in the desert.

Then John tells us that when the crowd finally catches up with him again, he says "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” - John 6.35

There was this belief that had arisen by the first century that when the messiah finally did come he would do a bunch of the same miracles that Moses had done.  One of the key ones being bringing down manna from heaven.

The common belief of the day was that there was this storehouse of manna in heaven, that GOD had opened up during the era of Moses, and that the storehouse would be re-opened by the Messiah.

There was this prophecy in a really significant Jewish writing that said: “The treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years.”

So, what is Jesus claiming through all of this?

(By the way, I think Jesus chooses to use bread as the imagery here because it’s far more poetic to say that you are the bread of life rather than the quail of life.)

To really understand what Jesus is claiming you have to know that for the ancient world, and really for many in our world today, if you had bread you were secure, it means you will live to see another day.

We don’t live like that here.  We have so much food it’s ridiculous, for them food is about survival and security, for us food is about enjoyment and pleasure.

So, when Jesus claims to be bread, he is claiming to be security. Notice what he goes on to say...

36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day." - John 6.36-40

So when he claims to be the bread-messiah he is saying that he offers more security than physical bread.  He offers a secure and final provision for freedom from sin and death.

I think there is a strong connection with John chapter 1 here.  In John chapter 1, the apostle John, the author, got the chance to say: Look the preeminent one, the Word, the one who spoke the world into being, the one who sustains the world, the true form is here: what else are you looking for?”

I think it’s in this passage that Jesus gets to say: “Look, I’m the bread of life, I’m the one who offers you security, not Rome, not physical bread, not the security of your borders, it’s me: what else are you looking for?”

Jesus explains that all who take of the bread of life are secure, he will lose none who the Father has given him.

So today I will simply ask: Where is your security found?  In you job?  In your possessions?  In your bank account?  Or is it found in Christ and Christ alone?

- Ken Lippold