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 SHARE LIGHT: Jesus Reveals Himself to Us 

Day Three

Jesus Is the Bread of Life

Scripture Reading: Exodus 16:4-8, 31-35

Today’s Focus: John 6:35 (GNT)

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty.”  

The Israelites, under the leadership of Moses, have left Egypt through an amazing number of miracles resulting in a decimated Egypt and liberated Israelites. God opens the Red Sea and begins to provide for their daily needs. But Israel, not unlike the rest of us, has a short memory. When a moment of crisis arises, they begin to accuse God of not caring and not providing what they need. 

What Israel did not realize, and often neither do we, is that daily challenges come into our lives to help us learn to trust in God and rely on him for what we need. There were likely over 2 million Israelites in the wilderness and they couldn’t run to the grocery store for their food supply. And so, as their store of food diminished, they began to complain, and not just complain but wish that they had never left Egypt. They wanted to go back to the “bad old days” because at least they had food.

However, God’s plan for this group of people was for more than making sure they had three square meals, as important as that was. God wanted to teach them to trust him to satisfy their temporal and spiritual needs. These were the people through whom God would work to reveal to the world the One who would come to meet the deep spiritual hunger that resides in each person’s heart—the bread of life.

It is in the context of another food crisis that Jesus introduces himself as the bread of life. More than 5,000 people are gathered to be near Jesus, to witness his miracles and hear his teaching. Once again, the crowd is hungry and there are no restaurants available. Jesus is given five loaves of bread and two fish and miraculously feeds everyone until they are full and there are 12 basketsful left over! 

The next day they want some more. This desire for temporal bread allows Jesus to talk to them about the difference between their physical longing and their greater need for spiritual food.

Jesus answered, “What God wants you to do is to believe in the one he sent.”

They replied, “What miracle will you perform so that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, just as the scripture says, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

“I am telling you the truth,” Jesus said. “What Moses gave you was not the bread from heaven; it is my Father who gives you the real bread from heaven. For the bread that God gives is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they asked him, “give us this bread always.”

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “Those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never be thirsty (John 6:29-35 GNT).

Reflection

Think of a time when you have been very hungry. What was foremost in your mind? Have you ever experienced that kind of hunger in a spiritual way? What do you think Jesus means when he says, “those who come to me will never be hungry”? What can you do for those who are spiritually hungry in our world? Ponder this question for a while.