The
crowd of seeking sinners had stayed on the other side of the lake.
They realized that only one boat had left to cross over to the other
side and Jesus wasn’t in it.
While
Jesus was absent from the crowd, He came to His disciples walking on
the water to illustrate to us that we too come to Jesus through His
shed blood and draw closer to Jesus by walking on the water of His
Word anointed by the Holy Spirit. Then
some boats from Tiberias landed
near
the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had
given thanks. Once the crowd realized that Jesus nor His disciples
were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search
of Jesus. Vv23-24 These
sinners were seeking Jesus because He had fed them physical bread to
satisfy their hunger. When
they found Him on the other side of the lake, they asked Him, “Rabbi,
when did you get here?” v25 They
called Him Rabbi indicating that they saw Jesus as a religious leader
but they did not see Him as the promised Messiah. Jesus didn't answer their question directly. Instead, He responds to their spiritual need.
Jesus
answers them, “I
tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw
miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to
eternal life,” which the Son of Man will give you. On Him, God the
Father has placed His seal of approval. Vv26-27
Jesus
had multiplied the bread and the fish to feed this crowd physically.
Now He will use this miracle to reveal to the crowd that He is the
Bread of Life sent down from heaven. This crowd was following after
Jesus for a free meal, but Jesus will now feed them spiritual food.
Bread is the staple of life in the natural. The spiritual bread of
the Anointed Word is also the staple of our spiritual life. A person
can survive a long time on bread and water. God
supplied the Israelites with bread and water to sustain them through
their journey through the wilderness of sin in route to God’s
Promised Land, just as He supplies the spiritual water of the
Anointed Word to sustain us through our journey in the wilderness of
earth which is full of sin until we reach the Heavenly Promised Land.
The
bread and water of life – Jesus and the Holy Spirit – keeps our
spiritual life surviving. Jesus wants this crowd to crave the
spiritual food of His Anointed Word more than physical food that
spoils. Physical
satisfaction is fleeting, but the Word of God that believers feed
upon is
eternal and will never die. God’s
Word does not change because He and
the written Word are
Truth. The Word Incarnate – Jesus – brings spiritual life. Jesus
on the cross labored and shed His pure blood so we could have
spiritual life. His death brought our dead, fleshly lives to
spiritual life when we receive and believe in Him. Jesus
wants this crowd of
seekers to
labor for that which endures and is supplied by God – the Living,
Anointed Word of God. Matthew
5:6: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.” There
is no spiritual life or satisfaction in sin.
God
put the seal of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus and the written Word. He
has also sealed us as His own through the Bread of life – Jesus –
and the water of life – the Holy Spirit. Jesus gave life to the
world by giving His holy,
spiritual
life! When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, He said to Satan,
“man
does not live by bread alone, but
by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.”
(Deuteronomy
8:3; Matthew 4:4; Luke 4:4) God
said this in the Older Testament and Jesus repeated it in the New
showing that He is that Bread as the Living Word of God. In other
words, the written Word brought to life in Him. As the Word of God
satisfies our souls, when we do the Word of God we please
God
just
as Jesus did. God said He was well-pleased with His Son because He
only did what the Father spoke. Jesus
keeps His spiritual bread coming as long as we hunger and thirst for
it. New life comes through the unending supply of His Word supplied
by the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus,
the Bread of life was born in the House of Bread (Bethlehem).
His life didn’t start in Bethlehem. He was with the Father and the
Spirit at
creation before anything was spoken into existence. He is the Word of
God in the beginning and the Word of God in the end. Jesus
satisfied our spiritual hunger and thirst with His spiritual bread
and water that preserves our eternal life.
When we come to know Jesus, we embrace the Word of God. He is the
embodiment of the Word of God and
the
Way,
the Truth
(whole)
and
the Life.
The
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are never in disagreement. They work
together as One with one will and one purpose. When
the Body of Christ does the Word, we grow more like the Godhead and
walk more in oneness. Sin brings division but walking according to
the Word of God brings unity.
Showbread
in the Older Testament
To
tie the two testaments together, I will use the showbread on the
table of fellowship in the tabernacle. God
instructed Moses to construct a table in the Holy Place of the
tabernacle for the showbread. There
were 12 loaves on the table that only the high
priest and the
priests could eat. Two
groups of six – 6 being the number of man. Twelve
is the number of Divine Government. The
two groups of six represent all of God’s people.
This
bread was referred to as the bread of the Presence. (see
Exodus 25:23-30; Leviticus 24:5-9) This
bread
was to be before God at all times. The
table of Presence and the showbread were a picture of Jesus, the
Bread of God’s Presence who
is
before the presence of God from the beginning, throughout His time on
earth and through all eternity.
This
showbread was to
be eaten “by
Aaron and his sons, who are to eat it
in a holy place, because it is a most holy part of their regular
share
of the offerings made to the Lord by fire.” Leviticus 24:9 The
high priest and his sons the priests are the only ones who were to
eat this bread. Believers in Jesus, our Great High Priest, are to
also eat the bread of the Word for spiritual life. Every Sabbath, the
priests would put fresh bread upon the table before the Lord. This
bread was dedicated to the Lord making it holy. Then
the priests would eat the unfresh bread so none of it would be wasted
or fall to the ground because it was holy to the Lord. In
like manner we too are to eat the holy Word and dedicate ourselves to
the Lord. The twelve loaves of showbread reminded the Israelites that
they lived in God’s presence and are to be dedicated to Him. God
will give the Body of Christ fresh bread also through
revelation knowledge. There
is always more we can learn and understand in the Word of God.
Desire
for Eternity
God
puts the desire for eternity in our hearts. Ecclesiastes
3:11-14: He has set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot
fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is
nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live.
That everyone may eat and drink, and find satisfaction in all his
toil – this is the gift of God. I know that everything God does
will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken
from it. God does it so that men will revere him. Only
God can satisfy our desire for righteousness. He did so in Jesus. On
the cross, Jesus made atonement for the sins of the whole world and
then imputed His righteousness to us. Jesus satisfied our desire for
righteousness and eternal life. The bread that sustained the
Israelites during their wilderness journey could not give them
eternal life. Jesus, the spiritual Bread sent down from heaven did. Alleluia to the Lord!
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