Deuteronomy 8:1-3 “Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. 2 And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. 3 So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.”
Matthew 4:3-4 And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If You are the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.”
The five thousand whom Jesus fed miraculously had followed Him hoping to be fed again. But Jesus had a lesson for them. (John 6:27-30) “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” 28 Then they said to Him, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” 30 Therefore they said to Him, “What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do?”
They referred to Moses whom they thought was the giver of manna from heaven. Note their words and Jesus reply (John 6:31-34) “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” They were looking for physical food from the prophet that Moses predicted would come, (Deuteronomy 18:15-20).
After further complaints on their part, Jesus said in John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” And in John 6:58 “This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”
We understand the need for physical food, often referred to as “daily bread,” to be essential to physical health, growth, and longevity. So the metaphorical use of bread as the spiritual food needed for the health, growth, maturity, and eternal life of the spirit within each individual should be understood as a necessity also. Few of the Jews understood the need for anything but caring for the physical. The idea of digesting an individual sent from heaven seemed not only impossible but repulsive. Therefore many turned and would follow Him no longer. (Note: Jesus often used paradox in His teaching.)
A student will “consume” books of knowledge and words of a teacher about a subject of interest. We each have listened to, read, studied, meditated upon, and digested the information used in our occupations, hobbies, and entertainment. So, how then do we handle the “bread of eternal life” brought down from our Father in Heaven?
There was a process that caused Israel to know God by teaching the words of Moses and the people meditating on them, “digesting them,” each Sabbath day. The king of Israel was to write his own copy of the law, keep it with him and study it daily so that he would not sin against God or the people. (Deuteronomy 17:14-20) We are remanufactured to be as God wants us to be. Paul points out that we are His workmanship, “reworked” in Ephesians 2:10. The process is simply studying, “devouring,” the words of Jesus and applying, “digesting,” them to make them part of our lives.
In Colossians 3:10 Paul writes of the workmanship of the new man in Christ by saying he is renewed (literally “regrown”) in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him. That renewing knowledge is the Living Bread of Life, the words of Jesus, brought down from Heaven.
Peter understood the need for the spiritual food as shown by the discussion in John 6:67-69. Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
Do you hunger for Living Bread from the Living God which will cause you to Live Eternally?