This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Jesus fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fishes. Excitedly they pursue Him – seek Him out - but Jesus knows they are only after another miraculous meal.
By focusing on the loaves instead of the compassion and power of the One who fed them, the crowd completely misses the point of the miracle of bread.
If they would only believe in the Person, He could do so much more for them than provide lunch.
Jesus attempts to turn their attention to the greater possibilities He offers - Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.
In this highly symbolic language, Jesus asks them to pursue Him with the same vigor that caused them to run around the lake seeking another free meal.
Pursue the Teacher. Take Him into our very being. Allow Him to get down inside of us, change our lives!
There is such harmony in this story of the loaves. As we seek bread to nourish our physical bodies for a day, we pursue Jesus to eat of the Bread of Heaven and change our lives forever.
This is the work of the student of Jesus. Seeking the daily bread of His presence and allowing His teaching and His power to come inside of us!
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.
While this may even seem somewhat confusing to us - Denny I think your thoughts hit the point in great ways.
ReplyDeleteI think he said these things in such symbolic ways to sort of weed out those who wanted only the physical bread - and or those still wanting to make him a physical king to reign in the physical Jerusalem.
While we today have physical blessings in Christ, the real gems are those spiritual blessings - and life eternal!
Often those who would want the ability to multiply the loaves and fishes and thinking of other, not themselves. So much hunger, so much illness in this world. If only we could take this ability of the Teacher and feed them all. But then, perhaps without those powers we could feed just one child - or one family. I think He has given us the example of how to live. We must in turn reach out to others. It's not just the miracle - it's the desire to do His work.
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