Jesus Gives Us Spiritual Food and Drink
Today’s passage: John 6:25–40
Focus verse: Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
In Day 8, we read that Jesus offered the Samaritan woman living water to drink. Now he wants to feed the people life-giving bread. In the same way we need water to live, we also need food, our daily bread.
Let’s review. Jesus teaches and feeds a massive crowd of over 5,000 people, which we covered in Day 24. Jesus’s disciples leave, and he walks on water to join them on Day 25.
The next day, the people don’t see Jesus and search for him. They eventually find him on the other side of the lake. Since they watched his disciples leave without him, they ask him how he got there.
He doesn’t answer them directly. Instead, he criticizes their intentions. They’re not seeking him because of his miraculous power but because he fed them. Their concern is for their physical needs and not their spiritual condition.
“Don’t strive for food that spoils,” Jesus says, “but work for food that lasts. My food, my daily bread, leads to eternal life.”
“What must we do to do the work of God?” the people ask.
“The work of God is to believe in the One God has sent.” It’s that simple. Jesus doesn’t give them an extensive list of things to do.
He doesn’t even give them a brief list. In fact, the one item he gives them is so easy that it doesn’t even seem like work. They merely need to believe.
This confuses the people. They ask for a sign. They’ve already forgotten the miracle meal where Jesus multiplied the food. Or did they not perceive it as a miracle at all?
Jesus reminds them of God giving the people manna—bread sent from above—to eat when they were in the desert.
The crowd wants this bread too.
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus says. “If you come to me, you’ll never go hungry or be thirsty again. Just believe, and you’ll live forever.”
The message of Jesus is easy: believe in him. All we must do is believe Jesus is the bread we need for life eternal.
Questions:
Do you believe in Jesus, that he’s the bread of life?
How should we live this out?
Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, for being the bread of life. May we believe in you now and for the rest of our lives.
[This devotional is taken from the reading for Day 26 in The Ministry of Jesus.]
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Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront a status quo faith and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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