Jesus- The Bread (Day 18)

...Then they asked him, "What must we do to do the works God requires?"

Jesus answered, "The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent."

So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."

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. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And 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. For 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."

At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?"

"Stop grumbling among yourselves," Jesus answered. "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world."

Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"

Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever." [John 6: 28-58]

Whoa. Who knew the Bible talked about cannibalism, huh? What was Jesus thinking talking to Jewish people like this? This is not very seeker-friendly. Was he somehow unaware of the food standards set down in the torah? If he was advocating an active rejection of the old covenant law, he was a strange rabbi indeed. So, what do we do with Jesus' instruction to eat of his flesh (the bread)?

This passage in John, like so many other things Jesus said, was a metaphor. If he had meant it literally, we would have found the disciples consuming his flesh after his crucifixion, but instead, they buried him, clearly showing that they understood this passage to be a metaphor as well. Jesus uses the same one in the book of Luke when we see the Last Supper scene.

So, what makes Jesus "the bread"? Why does he describe himself as bread and not rice or some other sort of food?
Bread is a staple food in Hebrew culture. You cannot have a meal without some form of bread. It is not a meal luxury. It is a necessity. Jesus is the same. Feeding off him is not a luxury for the few. It is a necessity for ALL who want to find life.

In his declaration to be the bread of life, Jesus is not only showing his necessity. He is also leading the people from a physical picture to a spiritual picture. Just a short time before in the same chapter of John, we find Jesus physically feeding and refreshing a hungry crowd with an unexplainable basket of never-ending bread. He accuses them later of coming back to him only because he fed their stomachs. He wants them to look beyond what they can see physically and understand what He is really showing them in the miracle of the bread. He is showing them hints of his heavenly origin (who else has that kind of clout with God? :-)) and asking them to believe that He is greater than every wonder of the Old Testament. In other words, "you thought the manna was the best of God's bread from heaven, think again. People who ate that still died. I am the greater manna. I give eternal life, not just temporal life while you're wondering through the desert."

Why the comparison between the manna the Israelites received from heaven and Jesus, the bread of life?
Jesus knew his audience. He knew the value they placed upon God's intervention in their history and the zeal with which they shared the testimony of that intervention with their children. God the Father feeding the Israelites in the desert with a mysterious bread that fell from heaven was a miracle beyond measure. that the Israelites treasured as part of their identity with their God. They did nothing to earn the manna. This was not a case where the Lord provided them with the ingredients to make the bread on their own. The manna fell ready made with the morning dew, just enough of it to last the day (unless it was the Sabbath- then there was enough for two days.) It was a great sign of God's provision and sustaining mercy to the Israelites, even though they continually disobeyed.

Yet, Jesus is reminding us in this passage that the manna metaphor can only go so far. Those who ate manna day-after-day still died. Their bones were still scattered throughout the desert. The life it gave only sustained until the flesh of man perished. Here is where Jesus is different. The life His flesh gives to those who eat of it is eternal. It feeds the soul and spirit in a way the manna never could have. The people of Israel who ate the manna were being given a picture of a Savior who was to come, a Savior who would not only provide for their physical needs, but would bring life to their dying, disobedient souls.

While the manna may help us understand Christ as the bread, truly, Christ is helping us in this passage to understand the manna as a picture that proceded Him. He does not point to the manna. The manna points to Him. (John 6: 32-33) While His audience wanted to see Jesus' perform a more impressive miracle than the manna, one that would showcase His power as messiah, Jesus essentially says they are missing the point. He Himself is the miracle that is greater than the manna.

What does it mean to "feed on Jesus' flesh"?
This conjurs up a rather unpleasant picture for me of a predator feeding on the carcass of its prey. It brings up a rash of images that include vultures, hyenas, lions, and pirhanas. Yet, I don't think that's the right image. I think we need to go back to the manna metaphor. The Israelites were fed off the bounty of heaven. The manna sustained them. They did nothing to earn it or make sure it would be there the next day. They just had to trust and believe that God would bring it. If He didn't, they would surely starve.

This metaphor, in many ways, reminds me of another title Jesus ascribes to himself which we will study next week- Jesus as "the vine". Just as the branch is sustained by the life of the vine, those who "eat the flesh" of Christ are sustained by the life that is only found in Him.

Tomorrow, we will look at a bit more at Jesus as the bread. There's a lot to think about with this one! I'd love to hear your thoughts!