Jesus the Bread of Life
John 6:22-71
The day after the miracle of the feeding of 5000, the people come back seeking Jesus. Not finding him there they cross the Sea of Galilee and find him in the Synagogue at Capernaum. Jesus rebukes them for seeking him for the wrong reasons and needed to seek him as the source of eternal life by simply believing in him whom the Father has sent.
The people in effect tossed the gauntlet down by asking Jesus to prove that he was God and referred back to the time of Moses, when Moses caused Manna to come down from heaven. Jesus then offers them something better by stating that he was the “Bread of Life”, the true bread that results in eternal life. He attempts to elevate the feeding of the 5000 of physical food to the spiritual level.
The Jews grumble at this teaching, because they simply see him as an ordinary man, able to perform miracles yet not accept him as God. Jesus replies that they will not believe in him unless the Father draws them. We have in the chapter the synergy between divine sovereignty and human responsibility.
How does God draw mankind to Jesus? It’s thru the scriptures, the Word of God, and the working of the Holy Spirit, by taking the scriptures and convicting us of sin, righteousness and judgment. The other side of the coin, is that we need to respond to it by “feeding on Jesus”, that is receiving him by faith as our Savior (Eph 2:8-9 and Rom 3:19-26).
After this teaching, many of those who had been following him, turn away and no longer walked with him. Jesus asks Peter, would he also turn away and Peter replied “no”.
In the area of salvation, and the church, and worship and personal conduct, there is no “plan B”. Jesus is God in the flesh. He is the way, the truth and the life and that we must turn to him in faith by repenting and believing in him as our Savior.
Behold, today is the day of salvation.