John 6:31-35; 47-58
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat. ’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst…
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever
The manna in the wilderness, even though it was a shadow of the true bread to come, was bread of God from Heaven. The reason the fathers ate that bread and still died is because their faith and their desire didn’t go beyond their bellies. In other words their faith and their desire didn’t go beyond the things of this world, they didn’t see beyond, by faith, the true Bread that would give endless satisfaction and eternal life.
This morning as we prepare to take this bread and this cup, ask yourself, “Does my desire go beyond the things of this world?” Would you be satisfied if everything in your life was “right” but your were lacking Christ? Ask yourself, “Does my faith go beyond what I can see?”
Those who think of nothing higher than this world are dead. Christ is the true Bread of Life and the true Bread from Heaven those who come to Him will not hunger and whoever believes in Him shall never thirst. He has invited us to this table so that we would remember this, and look to Him by faith. Let us pray.
Heavenly Father, we are thankful for a spot at this table. A place that we do not deserve. We thank You for the grace and mercy and peace that You have given us in Jesus through Your Holy Spirit. We ask that You would capture our wandering eyes; that we would see You for who You truly are. And that even through this meal, Your grace would always satisfy us. We ask this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
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