Stay till the end - Jesus, Forever Bread.

I hope you are awake, and will read and consider carefully the import of all you are about to read today.

Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But you haven’t believed in me even though you have seen me. However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them. For I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”

Surely a book could be written from these spoken words of Jesus, but let us explore “I am the bread of life.” Bread sustains life, does it not?  Think of how God provided for the Israelites while they were in the desert—he supplied them with manna, a bread which dropped from the skies on a daily basis.  "When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it."¹ During the first five workdays of the week, the people were only to gather enough for that day, because it would spoil.² On the sixth day however, they were to gather enough for two days, because no manna came down on the Sabbath. The manna supplied on the sixth day did not spoil like it did on the other days³.  The manna began about one month after the Exodus, and the Israelites ate it during the entire 40 years of the wilderness journey, until they entered the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua.⁴   How incredible was God’s provision for his children—manna for 40 years, given fresh daily! 

Jesus’ listeners certainly got the ‘bread’ reference; manna was part of the miracle of God’s sustaining grace of his children.  Here Jesus establishes himself as the Bread of Life, a reference to his being our spiritual sustenance.  Oh, people exist without Christ, but they never really live until they have met him.  Stop and think of people who have come to know Christ—their countenance is usually different, somehow brighter, once they enter into relationship with Jesus, because they feel different inside.  Recently, I wrote about several high school seniors who accepted Jesus…  one said, ‘everything feels different; I feel like I am not alone anymore.’  Since then, I saw a parent of one of the girls who told me her daughter was more at peace with herself, and nicer around the house.  Having Jesus in our lives should change us.  That is why Christ came—to change us, to cleanse us, to bring us life, life eternal.  Jesus, Bread of Life.

Rarely do I see the stark contrast of life and death so dramatically as I did today.  I was up early, studying this passage on the Bread of Life.  Before I closed my laptop, I checked my e-mail to find this note:  “Thank you very much for your messages i would like to accept Jesus has my Lord and savor please help me to know him well, My name is Joseph M___. Thank you very much i hope to hear from very soon.”  (My address book notes indicate that he is from Ghana, Africa)  What a wonderful, exhilarating, blessed way to start my day!  After responding, I went to my kitchen and made whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for my 14-year-old son, and got him off to school. 

Checking my cellphone, I discovered I had two missed calls from one of my high school students, who faithfully attends the Fellowship of Christian Athletes’ meetings I lead.  Dialing her back, she answered in sobs . . . it took some time before she was able to tell me that her mother had taken her own life this morning in their family home.  After endeavoring to console her and just love her with my words, I assured her that her dear mom was with our merciful God.  I had met her mom—a blessed woman of God—apparently her depression just gotten the best of her.  And then, I did the only thing I could do right then, and carried my dear high school girl to the Lord in prayer.  Where else could I take her, but to the Bread of Life?  He who said, “For it is my Father’s will that all who see his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.”                                                         Life eternal from he who is the Bread of Life.

Christine