Thursday, January 12, 2017

CHRIST OUR LIVING BREAD



“I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. (John 6:51)
                                                                                                                    
One of the timely miracles that Jesus did after preaching to the people is to feed them. In John 6, Jesus fed 5,000 people with only 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread after which even a lot was gathered as waste. When you provide people with food, they can even make you King. No wonder today, even Christians are signing agreements with the devil because of physical needs.
On two occasions, Jesus miraculously fed thousands of people in the wilderness, similar to when God provided manna from heaven for His people in the desert. The day after Jesus first fed the people, many returned, hoping for more food (John 6:26). Instead of performing another sign, Jesus claimed that He Himself was the Bread – the Manna that had come down from heaven. He had come from heaven into the wilderness of the world, where people are spiritually strangling themselves with man-made doctrines and understanding (John 6:41-42,52). He said that whoever would come to Him would never hunger nor thirst again.
In the early Jewish culture, having bread was essential for survival. There was constant supply of bread in varieties available at the local market. In fact bread, is a very important basic diet in every nation.  Simply put: without bread, there was no life. Just as bread is the essential element in the human diet, Jesus says that He Himself is the foundation for spiritual life. “I am the Bread of Life” is another way of Jesus saying: “Without Him, you cannot live. Those who come to Him will never again be hungry. Those who believe in Him will never again thirst. Through His death, we live. Without the manna, the Israelites would have perished in the wilderness- they survived on bread (and quail). Similarly, without Christ – the bread in your life, you cannot survive this wretched earth. You will be a living dead.

Today
John describes many people turning away and rejecting Jesus after the “Bread” speech (Jn. 6:41-43). Many today also find it too hard to accept that Jesus is more than just one of the religious teachers amongst the many beliefs. Yet, Jesus’ words remain true. Whoever eats the bread that He gives will live eternally. Some of us claim to have eaten this bread (accepted Jesus) yet we are starving to death because of unbelief. We have options to Jesus because all our relationship with Him is about our physical needs that do not last.

‘Jesus the bread of life’- the meaning
In John 6:35 Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; he that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes in me shall never thirst.” What does this statement mean?
1)    by equating Himself with bread, Jesus is saying he is essential for life.
2)    the life Jesus is referring to is not physical life, but eternal life. Jesus is trying to get the Jews’ to think in the spiritual realm. He is contrasting what He brings as their Messiah with the bread He miraculously created the day before. That was physical bread that perishes. He is spiritual bread that brings eternal life.
3)   Jesus is making another claim to deity. This phrase “I AM” is the covenant name of God (Yahweh, or YHWH), revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). The phrase speaks of self-sufficient existence, which is an attribute only God possesses. It is also a phrase the Jews who were listening would have automatically understood as a claim to deity. Without him, we can do nothing. Whatever we ask in his name, the father will do it for us and no other name.
4)   notice the words “come” and “believe.” This is an invitation for those listening to place their faith in Jesus as the Messiah and Son of God. Coming to Jesus involves making a choice to forsake the world and follow Him. Believing in Jesus means placing our faith in Him that He is who He says He is, that He will do what He says He will do, and that He is the only one who can. He is the source of our survival in this faithless and wretched earth- Where good has become evil and evil has become good! A lot of us believe Jesus with our lips but our hearts are far away. We hear the word but live contrary. We are only church-goers still full of filth and darkness instead of light. Unbelievers even judge us rather than seek counsel from us.
5)   there are the words “hunger and thirst.” Again, it must be noted that Jesus isn’t talking about alleviating physical hunger and thirst. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” When Jesus says those who come to Him will never hunger and those who believe in Him will never thirst, He is saying He will satisfy our hunger and thirst to be made righteous in the sight of God. Matt. 6:33 says “seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things shall be added unto you. What are you seeking from the Lord all these while? Is it money, wife, husband, Job, etc.? Whatever it is, seek righteousness first and you will receive more than you want.

The Bible also tells us that there is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven because we’ve all sinned (Romans 3:23) and the only thing our sin earns us is death (Romans 6:23). There is no one who is righteous in himself (Romans 3:10). Our dilemma is we have a desire we cannot fulfill, no matter what we do. That is where Jesus comes in. He, and He alone, can fulfill that desire in our hearts for righteousness through the Divine Transaction: “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Christ died on the cross, He took the sins of mankind upon Himself and made atonement for them. When we place our faith in Him, our sins are charged to Jesus, and His righteousness is charged to us. Jesus satisfies our hunger and thirst for righteousness. He is our “Bread of Life”.

If Jesus is your bread of life, what next?
We cannot live that sinful life anymore. We cannot pretend anymore. We cannot live for our selfish gain anymore but a life full of holiness and righteousness (2corin. 5:17). Even in our physical hunger and thirst, He will provide for us as was done for Elijah (1kings 19:4-8). Our lives should be in transformation as Eph. 4:25-5:3.

Jesus is coming again (Acts 1:11). This time not to do another miracle to feed 5,000 people with 2 fishes and 5 loaves of bread, but to judge (2corin. 5:10, Rev. 20:11-15). In Matt. 24, all the signs to characterize His second coming is happening. Are you ready?

Take the ‘bread of life’- Let holiness and righteousness be your life and you will have eternal life. Amen!

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