Last night in Bible study, the group read through a passage in John 6. This interesting passage forces us to think about Manna from Heaven in a new and unique way.
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Before this passage, Jesus had fed the five thousand (men). The people found where he was after he left the area and questioned him about more bread. The God we serve chooses to hand us bread from heaven each day. Sometimes, the bread, or manna, comes in the physical form of actual bread or food used to sustain us. God continues to provide his children with the necessary elements needed to function in the world around them. No matter how many times history repeats itself, one thing that has never changed about creation is the ability not to learn. Humanity lacks the ability to take blinders off and look at the bigger picture when trying to understand a new concept. Too often, the understanding from previous experience dictates how we interpret new teachings or new information.
Jesus was asked by the people, "What must we do to do the works God requires?" The people of the time believed that physical work was the requirement for pleasing God. Because this was their understanding, surely the man who performed miracles could tell them what they needed to know to please God in the way that would get them what they desired. David Guzik once wrote, "For these people, as with many people today, pleasing God is found in the right formula for performing works that will please God."
A very simple answer was given: “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” The answer Jesus gave to the people who asked this question (the answer also applied to us) was not to do, but to trust. We are called to put our trust in Christ, who was sent to earth to pay a debt that no mortal can pay. With the manipulated ideas and teaching over the generations, they were looking for the Messiah to be a warrior king who would come riding in on a white horse, saving the Judaic nation from the captivity of the Romans just as Yahweh led the Israelites out of Egypt. When we think of Yahweh as the ultimate parent who loves unconditionally, what does the ultimate parent want more than anything? A relationship with their children that is built on love and trust. With our trust placed in God, love grows out of that trust, and then comes obedience.
When Jesus was asked about what signs he would perform, Jesus realized the religious leaders who had gained knowledge of the miracle were among the crowd. The goal was to interfere with his ministry and scare him away. The leaders wanted to see if Jesus would reproduce the exorbitant amount of bread.
Jesus says, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world....I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." Imagine the frenzy this comment caused. The crowd "split" for lack of a better description. Some were intrigued, while others were enraged. When Jesus called himself the bread of life, he was attempting to get them to take the blinders off of what they knew and think about the Messiah in a new way. Instead of being focused on physical earthly bread, he wanted them to focus on the Son of God. The point for us in the passage is to realize the earthly desire of the flesh is only temporary. Even our physical hunger is only temporary. Our spiritual hunger can be satisfied through a relationship with Jesus Christ. Charles Spurgeon once said, "Faith in Christ is simply and truly described as coming to him. It is not an acrobatic feat but a coming to Christ. It is not an exercise of profound mental faculties but coming to Christ. A child comes to his mother, a blind man comes to his home, and even an animal comes to his master. Coming is a very simple action; it seems to have only two things: one is to come away from something, and the other is to come to something."
Jesus says, "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” Through the remainder of John 6, this statement has been a topic of debate among different sectors of Christ-followers. Many attribute this to areas that point to communion. Still, one must realize that 1) Communion has not been established yet, and 2) it would be a false teaching to say that anyone who takes communion will have eternal life because that is not the case.
Jesus foreshadows what is coming: He knew his time was approaching when the Son of God would be crucified for the world's salvation. The bread (a nourishing element for the body) was used to represent the flesh of God (the nourishing aspect of the spirit). When Jesus goes on to explain it, the religious leaders WILLFULLY take his words out of context (sound familiar in our world today?) and make him sound cannibalistic. Frustrated, Jesus responds to the purposeful misunderstanding by saying: "Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
Jesus Christ gave up his life so that people past, present, and future could have a new relationship with God, paying the cost for the world's sins. Salvation was a gift given to us, yet we forget one VERY important part that Jesus teaches during this entire dialogue: Salvation is essentially OUR responsibility. (I'm waiting for those who will come at me for that comment). Jesus paid the price to save us from our sins, which is what many believe to be the definition of salvation. This is not incorrect; it is just not the whole story. Salvation is being saved from the consequences of separation from God. This is where the responsibility lies on us for salvation: As a person, you need to be accountable for your wrongdoing, repent and turn away from sinful actions, and believe that Jesus died for your sins and rose again. Notice how the three areas of salvation are all on the part of creation?
When God formed you in your mother's womb, he chose to create you with the ability to select a relationship with him. He didn't want a world full of robots that follow him without the ability to make life choices. He wanted genuine relationships, not forced relationships. This means that when you choose to have a relationship with Christ and put your trust in Christ, you choose the way to salvation. God took care of his part, which was sending his son to pay the ultimate price. Whether or not you decide to eat the manna from heaven is up to you.
Salvation is your call. What will you choose?
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