DAILY REMINDER – Today, November 6’s Bible reading is John 5-6.
NEXT DAY REMINDER – Tomorrow, November 7’s Bible reading is John 7-8.
May God bless you with the reading of His WORD.
JOHN MOMENT – (06NOV19) “I
am the bread of life. Your
ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died. But here is the bread that
comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die” (John 6:48-50).
Introduction
[“God replied to Moses, ‘I am who i am.
Say this to the people of Israel: I am has sent me
to you.’ God
also said to Moses, ‘Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the God of your
ancestors—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob—has sent
me to you. This is my eternal name, my name to remember
for all generations’ ” (Exodus 3:14-15).][1]
The Bible tells the story of
a man name Moses who had escaped the wrath of the Egyptian Pharaoh after
killing an Egyptian taskmaster for beating a Hebrew slave. He fled to a place
called Midian, got married and tended to his father-in-law’s flock.[2] One day, as he watched over
the flock, he saw the strange sight of a bush that was on fire but failed to
burn. Upon checking out this bizarre event, God called out to Moses from the
burning bush. Moses answered the Lord and was obedient to Him when God told him
to take off his sandals for, he was standing on Holy Ground.[3] The Lord informed Moses
that He was aware of the suffering of His children, the Israelites, and had
heard their cries for help. Therefore, God was going to respond, and Moses
would be the deliverer chosen to free God’s people to a prosperous land where
they would have plenty of milk and honey.[4]
Moses, feeling incompetent to take on such a task,
questioned God by asking, “Who am I?” He did not think of himself worthy to go
before the great Pharaoh on behalf of God to lead the Children of Israel to
freedom. But God reversed Moses’ question and instead of concurring with Moses’
self-doubt, God told Moses to tell the Children of Israel that I AM is who sent him and that He bears
that name forever.[5] So Moses’ “who am I”
question turned into God’s “that I AM”
confirmation, for just as Moses was watching over his flock, God had been
watching over the Children of Israel in Egypt. He had come to deliver them from
the Egyptian prey who sought to destroy their hope in Him being their Shepherd
as they thought that they had been abandoned by God. The Lord was about to
teach His children that He was their Deliverer, Provider, Protector, and
Redeemer – all the qualities of a Good Shepherd.
Similar
to the Moses’ story with God declaring that He was the “I Am,” the Gospel of John begins with describing Jesus as the Word,
who was with God in the beginning of creation, and exclusively records all of Jesus’
seven “I AM” statements used to
explain the divine traits of his Father being manifested through Him.[6] Just as the Children of
Israel were able to experience God’s unique care, provision and protection
while they were in the wilderness, Jesus came to show man that God has not
changed and that His love and concern for the human race is evident through His
wondrous works and sacrifice. Through Jesus seven I AM statements found in John’s Gospel, one will find that Jesus,
being identified with God, embodies the great love that man would never fully
understand of their Heavenly Father and yet, they experience it every day for
Jesus is and always will be the great I
AM.[7]
I AM the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
[ Jesus replied,
“I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be
hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)][8]
Moses is believed by
most Jewish and Christian scholars to be the author and compiler of the first
five books of the Old Testament known as the Pentateuch, located in most Christian
Bibles and the Jewish Torah.[9] Moses
details the Children of Israel’s miraculous deliverance from the Egyptian
Pharaoh and their brutal slave masters in his second book of the Pentateuch
titled Exodus. In Exodus 16, Moses tells the story of the Israelites’ stay in
the Desert of Sin that rested between
Elim and Sinai.[10] One may find
the desert’s name quite revealing for what they were guilty of when they
complained against Moses and Aaron for having brought them to a place where
food was scarce.[11] Ultimately,
their sin was not against Moses and Aaron, but against God.
Despite their murmuring, God
was merciful and gave Moses instructions to give to the Israelites concerning
Manna, bread from Heaven, that He would send down six days per week, so that
they may be fed. They were to go out each day and collect enough only for that
day except for the sixth day where they would double their collection in
preparation for the Sabbath.[12] Even though
the Children of Israel were receiving physical food from Heaven, this was
symbolic of the future spiritual food that would come down from Heaven, sent by
God, so that His children would have nourishment for their souls.
Unfortunately, just as the Israelites were in the Desert of Sin as they
complained against the servants of God, many did not understand Jesus’
figurative speech due to them spiritually residing in a desert of sin.
John’s Gospel tells the
story of Jesus having miraculously fed a crowd of five thousand men with a
boy’s lunch of only five loaves of bread and two small fish.[13] Jesus, being the Provider
that He is, not only cared about people’s spiritual needs, but met their
physical ones as well. In so doing, He showed God’s amazing love for His
children, but He also knew their hearts and that they were coming because of
the food that He had provided for them earlier. Jesus later explained to that crowd
that it was important not to work for physical food, but to ensure that they
would receive the spiritual food from Him which would last for eternity.[14] Was Jesus advocating for
people not to take up employment to feed their families? No! One can be assured
that Jesus believed in hard work for he was a carpenter prior to entering His
ministry.[15] Jesus was referencing man’s
obsession with material things that would one day be destroyed versus the
things of God that would never have an end. People are often worried about
having the fanciest house, the nicest car, name-brand clothes, the largest bank
account – all of which will not matter when it comes down to eternity.
Jesus wanted the people to
understand that He was the Bread of Life that they needed in order to be filled
spiritually. Many souls, including Christians, are being starved spiritually
and do not realize it. Jesus was offering himself as their daily bread just as
the Children of Israel feasted daily on Manna while in the wilderness. Jesus
was and still is the Spiritual Manna sent by God from Heaven for those who will
accept Him and may be experiencing their own unique spiritual wilderness. The
Jews erroneously thought that Jesus was speaking of cannibalism and spoke
against Him just as the Israelites had done with Moses and Aaron. This
disrupted their thinking just as when He had healed a man on the Sabbath Day.
Instead of seeing the mighty works of what Jesus was saying, they were caught
up in complacency – unwilling to change their mindset because it disrupted
their status quo.[16]
Jesus’ words were too much
for them to comprehend. The Jews were trying to comprehend spiritual things
with their flesh and the flesh desires the sinful things of Egypt just as the
Israelites had longed for the provisions they once had. They could not discern
that Jesus was their deliverer who could lead them out of bondage and into new
freedom for He is the Bread of Life, which is the Word made flesh. They chose to avoid and ignore the evidence
of who He was.[17] Just as humans need food
daily for the nutrients it provides, those who spiritually wish to sustain
themselves must feast on the Word daily as well, so they will not be
spiritually depleted. Anyone who feasts on Jesus will never go hungry nor thirst,
for His Word will sustain them.
A. Overview of Divine Qualities
as the Bread of Life.
a.) Oneness with the Father
aa.) Jesus is a Provider who
gives provision and leads His children out of the wilderness of sin just as God
showed that He was a Provider for the Children of Israel, while in the
wilderness as they wandered due to sin. Jesus being God was subordinate to the
Father being the Bread sent from Heaven to feed mankind.[18]
b.) Incarnate nature
bb.) Jesus is the Bread from
Heaven and the Living Water that spiritually feeds and quenches His children’s
thirst just as God fed the Children of Israel manna from Heaven and provided
them with water from a rock.
c.) Transcendent qualities
cc.) Jesus is the Deliverer
who rescues the sinner from the captivity of sin just as God was the only One
who could deliver the Children of Israel from Pharaoh’s captivity.
d.) Redemptive works
dd.) Jesus is the Word that
became flesh so that His children can feast on Him day and night where they
never have to become spiritually famished.
B. Application
a.) The Word of God was given so
that the believer could know who He is and that His son, Jesus, was given as
the Bread of Life to all who would believe. Those who wish to be spiritually
fed must feast on God’s word daily to gain the spiritual nutrients needed to
thrive in the Spirit. Faith is the prerequisite to quench the hunger and thirst
that is given by the Bread of Life and the Living Water.[19]
[1] Exod. 3:14-15 (New Living Translation)
[2] Exod. 2:11-23 (New International Version).
[3] Exod. 3:4-5 (New International Version).
[4] Exod. 3:7-8 (New International Version).
[5] Exod. 3:13-15 (New International Version).
[6] Jeannine K. Brown, "Creation's Renewal
in the Gospel of John," The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 72, no. 2
(April 2010): 276,
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/89161375?accountid=12085.
[7] D. A. Carson and Douglas J. Moo, An
Introduction to the New Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich: Zondervan, 2009), 257.
[8] John 6:35 (New Living Translation).
[9] Yonatan Moss, "Scholasticism, Exegesis,
and the Historicization of Mosaic Authorship in Moses Bar Kepha's On
Paradise," Harvard Theological Review 104, no. 03 (2011): xx, doi:10.1017/s0017816011000241.
[10] Exod. 16:1 (New International Version).
[11] Exod. 16:2-3 (New International Version).
[12] Exod. 16:4-5
[13] John 6:8-11 (New International Version).
[14] John 6:27 (New International Version).
[15] Mark 6:3 (New International Version).
[16] John McKinnon,
"Contemporary Church Problems Illuminated By The Gospel Of John," Compass
45, no. 1 (Fall 2011): 31,
http://ezproxy.liberty.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.liberty.edu/docview/886432931?accountid=12085.
[17] Ibid., 32.
[18] Carson and Moo, New Testament, 262.
[19] McKinnon, "Contemporary
Church Problems," 33.
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