The Bread of Life
Introduction
I love making bread! There is something therapeutic about kneading the dough and seeing the yeast at work as the mixture rises. Then there is the amazing smell wafting through the house as you bake the loaf, as well as the pleasure of sampling warm bread fresh from the oven. It takes time and effort to make bread, but it’s delicious and satisfying. However, all too soon the loaf is eaten and hunger returns.
In John chapter 6 we read a story about bread. Jesus is speaking to a large crowd of people from Galilee. The Galileans were mostly peasants who tilled the soil and worked hard to produce enough food to feed their families. This crowd would have known the hard work involved in producing bread from scratch, as well the effort it took to catch enough fish to go with it. Yet here we see Jesus miraculously producing enough food from five small loaves and two little fish to feed thousands of men, women and children.
No ordinary picnic
- Why does the ‘great crowd’ follow Jesus to the far side of the Sea of Galilee? (v 2)
- What do you think is Jesus’ motivation for the question he asks Philip? (v 5)
- What do we learn from Philip’s and Andrew’s responses to this situation? (v 7, 9)
We’re told that this event took place near the Feast of the Passover. The Passover was an annual reminder of the time when God used Moses to rescue his people from their slavery in Egypt. And through all their time of wandering in the desert, day after day, God fed them miraculously with bread from heaven. Now Jesus was miraculously feeding them with bread. Just who could this man with such extraordinary powers be? Could he be the prophet that Moses spoke about in Deuteronomy 18:15?
Jesus – no ordinary man!
- What do verses 12 and 13 demonstrate about the way Jesus provides?
- What do the people conclude about Jesus after this miracle? (v 14)
- What do the people want to do? (v 15)
This was no ordinary picnic; and this was no ordinary man! The man who healed the sick now provides so much to eat that the leftover food fills twelve baskets. Jesus provides food in abundance. So the people decide that this miracle worker would make a great king. Surely with his powers, he could rule over them and rescue them from the tyranny of the Romans. But Jesus knew this is not God’s plan for him, so he withdrew to a mountain by himself.
Jesus was God’s King. But as God’s King he would be nailed to a wooden cross to die. By his death, he would rescue people – not from the Romans, but from their slavery to sin and death. This would be the greatest miracle of all.
Reflection and prayer
Later in John 6, Jesus returns to the topic of bread, but this time it is spiritual bread – bread that truly satisfies; bread that gives life forever.
- Read John 6:35. Where is this bread to be found?
- What does Jesus promise to all who come to him?
Spend time giving thanks that Jesus is our great rescuer, our abundant provider and our eternal King. Pray we will never underestimate how much he has done for us, is doing for us and will do for us.
Praise God with songs of Jesus!
I am the Bread of Life (Suzanne Toolan); Daily Bread (Jobe and Barrett); Breathe (Smith); Is He Worthy (Life in 3D).