Jesus Revealed Pt. 6 - Jesus Satisfies Like No OtherSampl

The Bread of Life - Part 2  

Thoughts on the Passage

First, the people continue to go back to the physical.
They grumble about Jesus' comments. They understand He is talking about coming from God; that is good. They get that. However, they immediately talk about knowing who Jesus’ father and mother is – He cannot have come from heaven! They understand, but they refuse to believe.

So Jesus goes in a second direction. You cannot understand this – unless you are listening to God.
This is really tough. Now Jesus says their deafness to Jesus speaks of their deafness to God the Father. If they listened to the Father – they would have come to Jesus and received eternal life.
(Note – this is a picture that we need to understand. At times we talk to people and try to convince them about Jesus. If they are not listening to God speaking into their hearts, it is a lost cause. The person must first be listening to God. If they listen to God (through the Spirit of God), then they will recognize Jesus. Jesus makes sense. Otherwise, Jesus makes no sense to them.)

Third, Jesus compares Himself and the manna God sent.
The Israelites died in the wilderness, even though they ate the bread (manna) from heaven. The manna could not give them life. It could not get them out of the wilderness. It could not get to their destiny – Canaan. It could not give them eternal life. Jesus is different. His bread – His Body – gives eternal life. The death of Jesus will release eternal life.

This seems a big jump, but Jesus has gone from just the manna to the whole tabernacle worship system. Nothing in the desert saved them. The manna did not save them. The worship system did not save them. The death of a lamb every year did not save them. Everyone died in the wilderness. Now, these people cannot get eternal life by looking back at Moses and the things he did either. Eternal life comes only through Jesus.

Application

Two things. 

First, am I looking at trying to convince people that Jesus is the answer? We need to look for people willing to listen to the Spirit of God. They cannot get eternal life unless they come to Jesus – and they will only come to Jesus if they listen and obey the voice of the Spirit.

Second, remember Jesus will push us to think eternal and not get stuck in the physical. Do not look to physical systems to give us life – even good systems. They will never do it. Life is found in Jesus. 

Time to Pray

Father, this is one of the most important things found in the book of John. Learning that You will draw all people to Jesus and that there is no other way to eternal life. Our willingness to follow the voice of Your Spirit defines if we receive life. Today, I ask that You give me a soft heart to Your Spirit. I want to hear clearly. I want to understand clearly. I want to be diligent to obey what I hear from Your Spirit. I know it will always lead me to Jesus. I know it will always lead me to things that are eternal. I know it will always stretch my faith and my understanding – because it pushes me to the spiritual and the eternal. That takes so much more work to go there. Still, it is what releases life and that is what I want. So give me a heart to hear and receive Your Spirit’s instruction. In Jesus’ name, Amen.