John 6:22-40
22 On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.
25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” 32 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. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 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. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Reflection
When God brought Israel out of Egypt and into the wilderness, he miraculously provided a bread-like food for them each day called manna (Exodus 16). However, neither this manna that God provided in Moses’ time (Ex. 16:13–18) nor the barley loaves that Jesus had provided the crowd the day before (John 6:9) could ultimately satisfy. Our deepest cravings need greater Food. Too readily, we seek satisfaction from the bread of this world. When huge crowds followed him to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus used the opportunity to expose their self-centered motivation and to reveal more about the glorious nature of his mission.
Jesus provides a bread that leads to eternal life (vv. 35, 40), but he doesn’t merely make this bread available; he is this bread —the Bread of Life (v. 35). How can we obtain this life-giving bread? The only “work” to be done is to believe in Jesus (v. 29). The gospel eliminates any notion that we must earn God’s acceptance with our performance. The only thing we bring to Jesus is our need. All we offer is the acknowledgment that we have nothing to offer.
Hebrews 2:5-13
5 Now it was not to angels that God subjected the world to come, of which we are speaking. 6 It has been testified somewhere,“What is man, that you are mindful of him, or the son of man, that you care for him? 7 You made him for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned him with glory and honor, 8 putting everything in subjection under his feet.”
10 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers, 12 saying,“I will tell of your name to my brothers; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.”
13 And again,“I will put my trust in him.”
0 Now in putting everything in subjection to him, he left nothing outside his control. At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. 9 But we see him who for a little while was made lower than the angels, namely Jesus, crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
0 And again,
0 “Behold, I and the children God has given me.”
Reflection
Adam and Eve disobeyed God and forfeited much of the glory and dominion that was theirs from creation (Heb. 2:7–8). But God sent his Son to become “the last Adam” and “the second man” (1 Cor. 15:45, 47) in order to repair the situation. The Son of God left heaven’s glory and “for a little while was made lower than the angels” (Heb. 2:9). He became a man so that by God’s grace he could die in order to rescue “people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9; cf. Heb. 2:9).
As a result, he is now crowned with the “glory and honor” that our first parents lost. And amazingly, “he is not ashamed to call . . . brothers” all who believe in him. Additionally, because the Son of God shared our humanity, died, and rose again, he can and will bring us into heavenly glory (vv. 10–11). Such a bright future fills us with hope and purpose, even in days of trial and shame.
Psalm 8:3-9
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. 6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet, 7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field, 8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Jesus is the perfection of humanity, and he will bring us into his perfection on the day when he returns. Until then, ask God to keep you growing into the image of Christ as you behold him in the gospel (2 Cor. 3:18).