Quite frequently, as I invite people to church, I hear people say, “I’m not religious, I’m spiritual.” I’ve never really heard anyone give a good definition for what it means to be spiritual. But what I think these people are trying to express is that they are on a search for spiritual things. There is a spiritual hunger they are trying to fill.
For 2,000 years people have been expressing their opinions about who Jesus was, and what he came to accomplish. Listen carefully to what Jesus said about himself. In John 6 Jesus reveal s that “He is the bread of life.” Jesus is the source of absolute satisfaction. If you “eat” of his bread, you will never be hungry.
In John 6:35 - “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry.”
Jesus is the master of teachable moments. The day before Jesus spoke these words about being the bread of life, he had fed over 5,000 people miraculously with five loaves of bread and two fish.
The next day the crowd is looking for Jesus. The people wanted Jesus, but not for the right reasons. They were looking for another free lunch. Jesus uses this stetting to try to teach them about something more important than lunch.
Jesus identifies one of our biggest problems: Hunger.
We all know what it feels like to be physically hungry. But our hunger in life is much deeper than our need for the next meal. Our greatest hunger is spiritual. This hunger is what drives all of life. It impacts our search, our ambition, our goals, and our direction in life. We will do just about anything in our search to satisfy this hunger, and it gets us into a lot of trouble.
John 6:27 - Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.
In other words, most of our pursuits in life are for things that are temporary. It’s like food. All food has an expiration date. It’s only good for a little while. Jesus is saying instead of putting all your focus and energy into the search for temporary fulfillment, and temporary satisfaction, we should focus on the food that endures.
What Jesus communicated to the crowd was that he does not give the bread of life. He is the bread of life. He is what completely satisfies us.
Jesus came to meet a need in our lives that we cannot meet ourselves. We must see that only Jesus can completely satisfy our spiritual hunger.
Travel to almost any country and sit in any restaurant and they’ll serve you bread. Bread is a staple. It the poor have nothing, they have bread. If the rich have everything, they have bread. Bread is not a regional food nor a national dish. No country claims to be the exclusive source of bread. It may be in the form of a tortilla in Mexico (my favorite) or a bagel in New York City, but bread is available everywhere. So is Jesus. Jesus is available to satisfy.
No matter who you are, where you are from, where you have been, or what you have done, Jesus is available to you. He longs to have a relationship with you. He desires to satisfy your life with a new life that is only found in Him.
Jesus can only be the bread of life for you if you receive him. I can be starving and walk down the bread aisle at the grocery store, but that doesn’t satisfy. There are people who know about Jesus, but they haven’t received Jesus as savior and Lord.
Today’s Challenge: How do we receive this bread that completely satisfies? It comes through faith. We must believe. We experience the grace of God as we believe that Jesus is God and that he paid the penalty for our sins on the cross. We do this as we receive him as our savior and Lord.
