Jesus, the Bread of Life : Not a Grocery Store

After little became much and Jesus fed all those hungry people, Jesus crossed a big lake to get to a different town. (He crossed the lake by walking on the water actually.)

Those people who had experienced that all-you-can-eat miracle meal chased after Jesus to the other side of the lake. “Hey! He must have gone this way? Let’s go!”

When they finally found Jesus, they said, “When did You come here?”

But Jesus could see right through their not-really-innocent question. Jesus answered them, “You’re just looking for Me because I fed your bellies yesterday, and now you want more. Don’t work for food that disappears when you swallow it, but instead work for Food that springs up to eternal life.”

The people responded, “What work is that? What work can we do for God?”

Jesus told them, “The work God wants you to do is to believe Me, the One He sent to you.”

Then those who were just thinking about their bellies said, “Okay then, what miracle will You do for us so that we’ll believe You? Our ancestors got manna every day in the wilderness! It says in the scriptures, ‘He gave them bread from Heaven to eat!’” (Oooooh! That question smells fishy, doesn’t it? Even though Jesus already told them they shouldn’t be thinking about their bellies, they are trying to sneakily make Jesus feel like He should give them food again. That really stinks. But Jesus knows what’s going on, and He’s not going to give in.)

Jesus said, “It’s not Moses who gives bread, but My Father gives TRUE bread from Heaven. And that bread IS the One who God sent down from Heaven to bring Life to the world.”

The people were still not getting it. “Okay, then give us that bread all the time!” the people said.

Jesus just kept at it, “I AM the bread of Life. Whoever comes to ME will never be hungry or thirsty again. But you HAVE seen Me, and still don’t believe. I came down from Heaven to do My Father’s will, not My own.”

The people who were already grumpy toward Jesus got angry when they heard this. “How can He say, ‘I came down from Heaven’? We know who His mother and father are; He can’t be from Heaven.”

But Jesus knew what these people were thinking and He said to them, “Don’t complain about Me to each other. I AM the bread of Life. Your ancestors who ate manna in the wilderness, they all died. But this bread that I am talking about, if anyone eats it, they will never die. I AM the living bread that came down from Heaven. My body is the bread that I will give so that the whole world can live.”

The people were shocked! Some people said to each other, “How can this man give us His body to eat?” (Jewish law didn’t even let them eat meat from a pig, much less a person!) They huffed and puffed and scowled. They didn’t like what Jesus said.

Jesus told them, “Unless you eat My body and drink My blood, you have no life in you. But whoever does eat My body and drink My blood has forever-Life, and I will raise them up on the last day. My body is REAL food and My blood is REAL drink.”

The people weren’t sure what to think. Maybe they were thinking, “Okay, Jesus, that’s going a bit too far. Let’s just go back to talking about loving your neighbor. And if You want to do some more miracles, that’d be great. We just wanted some more bread to eat. But we don’t understand this talk about eating people.”

A lot of people were really offended by what Jesus said. They were so offended that they left.

Think about it…

We know now that Jesus didn’t mean they should eat His skin and bones. But that Jesus was going to give His life — His body and blood — and die on a cross so that we could have LIFE. But these people didn’t understand that. And Jesus knew that they didn’t understand. So, do you think Jesus is going to chase after the people leaving and explain what He really meant? Is He going to let them think that He meant they should eat His skin and bones? They are thinking bad things about Him based on a misunderstanding. Do you think Jesus needs to clear it up? Nope.

As we’ve mentioned before, God wants a Family who all see with Heaven-Eyes, not people who only understand with their brains. And not people who like to hang around God’s Family for food and friends. Jesus is NOT a grocery store and NOT a fan club.

Jesus Knew that for people to really have True Life, they had to be drawn and taught by Father Himself. So Jesus purposely told them something SO confusing and hard to understand, that it would draw one of those lines in the sand.

Jesus told them, “The Spirit is the one who gives Life. The flesh, human nature is of no help at all!”

A lot of people left Jesus that day.

Once things were quiet, Jesus said to His 12 chosen followers, “You don’t want to leave Me, too, do you?”

Peter didn’t hesitate, “Lord! Who would we go to instead? YOU have the words that bring forever-Life! We believe and know that You are the Holy One sent from God!”

That’s what Jesus was looking for! People who see with Heaven-Eyes! Peter probably didn’t “understand” what Jesus meant about eating His body any more than those other people. But Peter could see with Heaven-Eyes what really mattered.

And notice that Peter didn’t say, “You have the words that my mind understands.” Or, “You say all the right words, Jesus.” And Peter didn’t talk about the food, or about the other amazing miracles. He said, “YOU have the Words that bring life to my deadness, Jesus. I’m sticking with You.”

So the ones who stayed with Jesus were the ones who could see, “Jesus, You have the words that light me up. YOU have the words that fill me with forever-Life!! No one else could ever do that! You are the guy! Your Words make me alive. Even the Words that I don’t quite understand yet. Your Words make my heart sing and shout ‘AMEN!’ Yes! Your Words touch my heart, so I’ll never be the same. Speak! Even when I don’t understand everything, I just want to hear You Speak, Speak, Speak to me, Jesus!”