Communion Part 7 - The Bread of Life - hungry to know more?

Following on from Communion Part 6 - Communion this post was to be the last in the seven part mini-series.

Today I'm going to use the Amplified Version of the Bible; so let's get underway!

John 6: 1 - 15; "After this, Jesus went to the farther side of the Sea of Galilee - that is, the Sea of Tiberias.  And a great crowd was following Him because they had seen the signs (miracles) which He [continually] performed upon those who were sick.  And Jesus walked up the mountain side and sat down there with His disciples.

Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was approaching.

Jesus looked upon then, and seeing a vast multitude was coming toward Him, He said to Philip, Where are we to but bread, so that all these people may eat?  But He sad this to prove (test) him, for He well knew what He was about to do. Philip answered Him, Two hundred pennies worth {Two hundred pennyworth [denarii]: The denarii ["penny"] was the average day's wage of the working man} of bread is not enough that everyone may receive even a little.

Another of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, There is a little boy here, who has [with him] five barley loaves, and two small fish; but what are they among so many people?

Jesus said, Make all the people recline (sit down). Now the ground (a pasture) was covered with thick grass at the spot, so the men threw themselves down, about 5,000 in number.

Jesus took the loaves, and when He had give thanks, He distributed to the disciples and the disciples to the reclining people; so also [He did] with the fish, as much as they wanted. 

 

When the had all had enough, He said to His disciples, Gather up now the fragments (the broken pieces that are left over), so that nothing may be lost and wasted.  So accordingly they gathered them up, and they filled twelve [small hand] baskets with fragments left over by those who had eaten from the five barley loaves.

When the people saw the sign (miracle) that Jesus had performed, they began saying, Surely and beyond a doubt this is the Prophet Who is to come into the world! 

 

Then Jesus, knowing that they meant to come and seize Him that they might make Him king withdrew again to the hillside by Himself alone."

Like most men and women, the Galileans who listened to Jesus on that day approaching Passover and witnessed the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, (seeing too the surplus of broken pieces enough to fill 12 baskets) supposed that their needs as human beings were limited solely to their physical requirements.  They were, in consequence, very ready to accept Jesus as a political Christ, who would be the purveyor of cheap food and establish and economic utopia, for that would render that task of satisfying these physical needs less labourous.  For the wrong intentions and the wrong motive they accepted Him as "that prophet that should come into the world", the prophet like Moses, who fed the hungry Israelites in the wilderness with manna that came down from the sky.

But in their enthusiasm they would have done more than that - "they meant to come and seize Him that they might make Him king".  From this fate Jesus escaped - at once "withdrew again to the hillside"; for had he consented to their wish, He would have completely frustrated the purpose of His mission.  He had not come primarily to satisfy men's material need but their deep-seated, if not always recognised, need for forgiveness, without which they could not enjoy eternal life.

The Galileans would not readily abandon their hope that Jesus might be enthroned  - not that He might establish the spiritual reign of God - but that He might bring into existence and earthly paradise.  When they discovered that Jesus had disappeared from the eastern shore of the lake, they took the first opportunity, provided by the late arrival of some boats of recrossing the lake again and meeting Him at Capernaum.

Jesus had earlier cut the ground from under the feet of Nicodemus by disabusing his mind of any idea that God's kingdom could come without the conversion of its would be subjects:

John 3: 5, 6 & 7; ''Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.''

It is not surprising then that when the carnally minded Galileans caught up with Jesus at Capernaum in answer to their question "Rabbi, when camest thou hither?" Jesus struck at their materialistic aspirations:

 

John 6: 26 & 27; "Jesus answered them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you have been searching for Me, not because you saw the miracles and signs but because you were fed with the loaves and were filled and satisfied.

Stop toiling and doing and producing for the food that perishes and decomposes [in the using], but strive and work and produce rather for the [lasting] food which endures [continually] unto eternal life eternal; the Son of Man will give (furnish) you that, for God the Father has authorized and certified Him and put His seal of endorsement upon Him."

Jesus points out that their belief in Him was, in reality, unbelief; it was based upon a complete misunderstanding of the miracle that He had wrought.  To them it was not a sign of His divinity, but evidence that He possessed some magical power of supplying men's physical necessities.  They were seeking Him out, He told them, not because they had seen in the miracle a sign by which they could discover who He really was, and the nature of the work He had come on earth to perform, but merely because they "did eat to the loaves, and were filled".

Jesus points out to the Galileans that it is a spiritual hunger for imperishable, life-giving food that He has come to satisfy; he explains that it was to accomplish this task that He had been "sealed" with His Father's authority.

By now the Galileans were becoming a bit more inquisitive:

John 6: 28 - 31; "They then said, What are we to do, that we may [habitually] be working the works of God? [What are we to do to carry out what God requires?] 

Jesus replied, This is the work (service) that God asks of you: that you believe in the One Whom He has sent [that you cleave to, trust, rely on, and have faith in His Messenger].

Therefore they said unto Him, What sign (miracle, wonderwork) will You perform then, so that we may see it and believe and rely on and adhere to You? What [supernatural] work have You [to show what You can do]?  Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as the Scripture says, He gave them bread out of heaven to eat."

Only those who accept Him as the giver of that imperishable, life-giving food can ever do the works that God would have them do  - faith in Jesus in the essential preliminary of such works.  But the Galileans are unwilling to receive Him as the divinely accredited provider of this kind of food without evidence of a "sign" similar to that given my Moses when the Israelites could actually see the manna descend form heaven.

Jesus refuses to comply with their request for such a sign and continues to teach:

John 6: 32 - 35; "Jesus then said unto them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, Moses did not give you the Bread from heaven [what Moses gave you was not the Bread from heaven], but it is my Father Who gives you the true heavenly Bread.  For the Bread of God is He Who comes down out of heaven and gives life unto the world.

 

Then they said unto Him, Lord, give us this bread always (all the time).

 

Jesus replied, I am the Bread of Life. He who comes to Me will never be hungry, and he who believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Me will never thirst any more (at any time)."

Jesus explains that this bread which alone can permanently satisfy the spiritual hunger and thirst of men, cannot be had merely by the asking, as their request "Lord, give us this bread always" seemed to suggest that it could.  It is only available for those who are drawn by the Father to His Son, who see the Son to be what He really is and who commit themselves unreservedly to Him in faith.

Jesus continues:

John 6: 36 - 40, 47 - 58: "But [as] I told you, although you  have seen Me, still you do not to believe and trust and have faith.  All whom my Father gives (entrusts) to Me will come to Me; and the one who comes to Me I will most certainly not cast out [I will never, no never, reject one of them who comes to Me].

 

For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will and purpose but to do the will and purpose of Him Who has sent Me.  And this is the will of Him Who sent Me, that I should not lose any of all that He has given Me, but that I should give new life and raise [them all] up at the last day.

 

For this is My Father's will and His purpose that, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in and cleaves to and trusts in and relies on Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] at the last day.

I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, he who believes in Me [who adheres to, trusts in, relies on, and has faith in Me] has (now possesses) eternal life.  I am the Bread of Life [that gives life - the Living Bread]. 

Your forefathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and [yet] they died.  [But] this is the Bread that comes down from heaven, so that [any]one may eat of it and never die.

I [Myself] am this Living Bread that came down form heaven. If any one eats of the Bread, he will live for ever; and also the Bread that I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh (body).

Then the Jews angrily contended with one another, saying, How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?

And Jesus said unto them, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, you cannot have any life in you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood [unless you appropriate His life and saving merit of His blood].  He who feeds on My flesh and drinks my blood has (possesses now) eternal life, and I will raise him up [from the dead] on the last day. 

For My flesh in true and genuine food, and My blood is true and genuine drink.  He who feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood dwells continually in Me, and I [in like manner dwell continually] in him. 

 

Just as the living Father sent Me and I live by (through, because of) the Father, even so whoever continues to feed on Me [whoever takes Me for his food and is nourished by Me] shall [in turn] live through and because of Me.

This is the Bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the manna which our forefathers ate, and yet died; he who takesd this Bread for food shall life forever."

It was not possible for Jesus to make this heavenly food, which as we know was in fact Jesus Himself, universally available, until He had offered Himself in sacrifice.  The bread had to be broken before it could become the food of all who would receive it; and His blood had to be shed before the ransomed could receive its life-giving properties. 

 

The distribution of this food could only result from His redeeming death - Jesus spells out above the vital connection between His giving the real bread and the offering of His own flesh and blood in sacrifice.

True nourishment, which brings eternal life, is possible only for those who accept His sacrifice, who are incorporated by faith into His body, who are crucified with Him that they may live with Him, and who abide in Him because He abides in them.

But how does Jesus abide in us and we in Him?  Later in his earthly ministry, just before his sacrifice, Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them and going back to his Father; but for the anxious and bemused disciples he promised that he would not leave them comfortless and would send them a helper - the Holy Spirit:

John 14: 1, 17, 18, 19  20; ''And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [Helper], that he may abide in you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not. neither knoweth him; but ye know him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.''

John 14: 26; ''But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whithersoever I have said unto you.''

 

This Comforter, the Holy Ghost would provide them with a new spiritual form which would enable them to become secure in Jesus, just as Jesus was in God - ''I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you''.

 

As we read above Jesus had earlier cut the ground from under the feet of Nicodemus by disabusing his mind of any idea that God's kingdom could come without the conversion of its would be subjects:

John 3: 5, 6 & 7; ''Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.''

 

Following his atoning 'Passover' sacrifice and victory over death on the cross, Jesus once more assured his apostles that even though he was about to leave this earthly, physical realm of the flesh  and return to his Father in the spiritual realm of heaven, in his absence he would not leave them without help:

 

Acts 1: 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9;   ''And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye heard of me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.  But ye shall receive power, after [when] that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.''

 

And sure enough, at Pentecost, just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit came to his apostles:

Acts 2: 1, 2 & 4;  ''And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord [purpose] in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.  And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.''

 

This ''speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance'' reinforced what Jesus said (below) would happen when his believers were baptised in the Spirit; that is 'born again' in a spiritual form through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit and reinforces His instructions to Nicodemus in John 3:5 (above) that "he must be born again":

Mark 16: 16 & 17; ''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned [condemned], and these signs shall follow them that believe ; in my name they shall cast out devils [demons]; they shall speak in new tongues.''

This speaking in tongues accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the first Gentile converts at Corinth when listening to Peter preach the Gospel:

Acts 10: 44, 45, 46 & 47; ''While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost, fell on them which heard the word.  And they of the circumcision [The Jews] which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?  And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord.''

 

Paul explains the importance of the Holy Spirit for both Jew and Gentile alike:  

 

Romans 8: 15, 16 & 17a;  ''For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ;''

 

''The Spirit of adoption'', the Holy Spirit gives the believer a status in God's family as an (adopted) son/daughter.  ''Abba'' (Aramaic) is used here to denote the intimate name used only by members of the family.  ''Joint-heirs with Christ'' conveys the promise that we as members of God's Spirit filled family of believers shall all share in our inheritance together.

 

This Spirit of adoption is really very, very important; for me it is the crux of the status of our relationship with God going forward:

Romans 8: 2, 8, 9, 10, 11;  ''For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  So they then that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

 

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised Christ up from the dead shall also quicken [give life to] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.''

 

"...he is none of his" suggests that any who lack the Spirit are not part of God's family.  ''Quicken your mortal bodies'' means that members of God's family will receive a new physical form by the in filling (''dwelleth in you'') of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to overcome death, just like Jesus.

 

At the beginning of this blog post we read about the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, which along with the miracle of turning water into wine, are first and foremost signs, an acted parable of the spiritual sustenance which is always available to the believer as the result of Jesus' sacrifice.  Moreover, that sacrifice is not a material offering akin to the animal sacrifices which pre-figured it, but a personal, conscious offering of a willing victim in the realm of the eternal spirit. 

 

So, for me, in the Holy Communion, there is no magical participation by the believer in the physical flesh of Jesus, only what should be an ever-fresh expression of humble gratitude and a celebration at the spiritual benefits  as a result of His horrific atoning sacrifice and His glorious resurrection; the ultimate benefit for all those who believe in, cleave to, rely on and totally trust in God's Messenger, our Brother, our Lord and the Bread of Life is a personal relationship with Him and our Father which will last for ever and ever and ever and ever ...