Bread and Wine

Bread and Wine February 18, 2012

Jesus the Bread of Life

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"

William Barclay says in his commentary of chapter 6 this, “Now we must notice that to that question Jesus simply did not reply. This was no time to talk of things like that; life was too short for pleasant gossip about journeys. He went straight to the heart of the matter.”

²⁶ Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth; you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.

Jesus is telling these men that their eyes were turned to such simple things as bread and getting more filled up with earthly food. However our desire should be on the amazing miracles that God continues to do and worry not about earthly food, or bread, and worry only about the amazingly spiritual things that the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords does every day! Barclay echoes this point better by saying “It is as if Jesus said, “You cannot think about your souls for thinking of your stomachs.”” He is rebuking them for an earthbound point of view. They had received bread as bread and not as a gift from God.

²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

There is a story of Napoleon. Once he and an acquaintance were talking of life. It was late at night and dark. Napoleon and his friend walked to the window and looked out. There in the sky there were distant stars, little more than pin-points of light. Napoleon had sharp eyes and the friend was dim-sighted. Napoleon pointed to the sky: “Do you see the stars?” he asked the friend. “No,” the friend answered. “I can’t see them.” “That,” said Napoleon “is the difference between you and me.” The man who is earthbound is living half a life. It is the man with vision, who looks at the horizon and sees the stars, who is the great man. In Isaiah chapter 55 verse 2 says, “² Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. There are two kinds of hunger, there is a physical hunger which physical food can satisfy; and there is a spiritual hunger that physical food will never satisfy. I would also like to point out that in the original King James text of the beginning of this verse; the original language is much more defining. The King James says, “²⁷ Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life…” See here Jesus refers to the food as meat. I believe that this can be foreshadowed to Paul’s words in Corinthians 3:2 where the King James says, “² I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.” I believe that the verse in John that Jesus is simply telling us that we must continue to desire to learn more and more about the Word of God and constantly desire more wisdom and knowledge of the deep things of God.