Pastor Shane Krause
Jesus watches the multitudes walking away from him. He turns to the Twelve—he turns to us this week—and he whispers, “You do not want to leave me too, do you?” May the Spirit give us the wisdom to answer, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.”
As Jesus concluded his Bread of Life discourse, many said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” and walked away. Read carefully. They did not say the teaching was hard to understand. The meaning was clear enough. Jesus was teaching that the only chance to enjoy eternity in heaven is through a close connection to him. He is the only bread that gives eternal life. That isn’t hard to understand, but it is hard to accept. Eating this bread means reordering our lives so that Jesus is by far our highest priority. It means loving the Blesser infinitely more than his earthly blessings. It means realizing that Jesus is the only thing we really need. If we had nothing but him, we would not lack anything that ultimately matters.
The Only Food We Really Need:
Physical food is a blessing from God without which we would literally wither away and die. That is why Jesus lovingly and miraculously fed thousands of followers with only five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet, while physical food is a good thing, it is far from the greatest thing God provides us. The greatest blessing God provides is spiritual food. The best thing God gives us is his Son, the bread of life. Without that spiritual food, we wither and die in a much worse way.
I Am the Bread of Life: I Am the Bread of Life: The Only Food We Really Need
