Lesson 94 - Junior

Memory Verse

 "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life" (John 6:35).

Notes

Looking for Jesus

After Jesus had so miraculously fed the 5000 people with five loaves and two fishes, and healed the sick, He sent the multitude away. He instructed the disciples to go to the other side of the Sea of Galilee before Him, while He remained to pray. As the boat in which the disciples were riding was tossed by the wind and waves, Jesus walked on the water to them. He caused their fears and the storm to cease.

The next day the people returned to find Jesus. The disciples had left in the only boat, but Jesus had stayed to pray. The people did not know that Jesus had gone to the disciples and was on the other side of the sea. There came other boats from Tiberias; and since the people could not find Jesus, they left in the boats to go to Capernaum, Jesus' home ([MAT:4:13]).

When they finally found Jesus, they asked Him how He had gotten there, since the disciples took the only boat and it was too far to walk around the sea. Although they had seen Jesus perform the miracles of the day before, they did not fully realize His power.

This time Jesus did not feed the people with temporal food, but He began to preach to them and to give them spiritual food. He knew why they had followed Him. It was not because He was the Son of God. It was not because they saw Him perform miracles and that they believed in Him, but because He had fed them and they were satisfied.

Everlasting Food

Jesus reproved them for thinking only of temporal things, and told them to spend their time working for spiritual things, which will last forever. Every day men and women work for the earthly things, which will spoil. They spend much time in growing, buying, and preparing food, which does not last. It is eaten and soon gone, or it spoils. Food can be kept for only a limited time by preserving, canning, or freezing it. Even so, we are told that through the processing of the food, much of the value is destroyed. Those who change the spiritual food by men's ideas, also destroy its value for men. We want the Bible as God gave it; we want it in the original form without the interpretation of men.

Jesus was talking about spiritual food, which is neither used up nor decayed by time. The supply has no limit. Down through the years, men have tasted, continued to eat abundantly, and have existed, spiritually, yet the amount Is always the same. The Word of God is not Only enduring but it gives life to those who partake of it, too. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

To Work the Works of God

Jesus said that people should not work only for their temporal food, but work to receive spiritual food. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God!" (Matthew 6:33). The people asked what they should do in order to work (to bring about or use) the works of God. Jesus answered that to do the works of God one must believe on Him whom God sent. How mistaken some people are, for one cannot work his way into God's favour or into Heaven. The admission price is the same for all people. "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast" (Ephesians 2:8, 9).

Sign Seekers

The people knew that they should believe Jesus, but asked for a sign that they might be sure that He was the One sent by God. What more could Jesus do? He had healed the sick, calmed the storm, and fed the multitudes before their eyes. Who but the Son of God could do such things? Some people, today, ask a sign from Jesus, while all around are living miracles. Every Christian is a sign of Jesus' power, and every testimony is a sign of His miracles. There are many signs, if people care to see and believe them, today as well as during Jesus' ministry. Most people are willing to receive temporal help from God, but few men are willing to receive spiritual blessings.

Manna in the Desert

The multitudes remembered how Jesus had fed them the day before; and no doubt they were looking for more bread and fish; for they told Jesus that the Children of Israel had been fed in the desert ([EXO:16:12-16]); they had been given manna, the bread of Heaven ([PS:78:24-25]). These people had failed to see the true meaning of manna. All they wanted was food to satisfy the natural hunger, but they were neglecting the spiritual food.

Jesus, the True Manna

As Jesus began to talk to the people, He showed them what He really meant to them and what He means to us today. It was not Moses who gave the Children of Israel manna, but God sent it. Yet the manna was only a type of the true bread which God sent ([JHN:6:32]). The Children of Israel had eaten the manna but in due time they had died. God now has a better bread, for the true Manna of Heaven gives life spiritual life (verses 49, 50).

The people asked for some of the bread, which would give life. Then Jesus told them that He Himself was that true Manna, the Bread of Heaven, or the spiritual food (verse 51). They could not understand. Was not this the carpenter's son? then why did He say that He came from Heaven? He had said that His flesh was the bread. How could they eat His flesh? they asked.

The Word Necessary

Jesus continued to talk to them concerning food for the soul. In John 1: 14 we read that the "Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." We call the Bible the Word of God. Jesus said that the words which He spoke to them were Spirit and life ([JHN:6:63]).

If we are to eat the flesh and drink the Blood of Jesus, we must take in all the Word of God, the Bible. We must believe it and live it. The natural food we eat gives us strength and helps us to grow. The Bible does the same for us spiritually. In order for one to have spiritual life he must believe the Bible, do what it commands, and make it a part of his life. When we eat the natural food, we chew it, digest it, and it becomes a part of our body. One could look at a table filled with food, or even carry some around with him, but unless he eats the food, it does him no good. He could starve to death by refusing or neglecting to eat. Just so, spiritually, we must make God's Word a part of us in order to benefit from it. The food (the Bible) has been prepared for us. One could stand, looking on spiritually dead while others get saved. He could even carry the Word around under his arm, and yet not have eternal life (verses 53, 58). One must obey the Bible in order to keep saved as well as to get saved. One keeps alive by eating, both spiritually and physically (verse 57).

Just as the Children of Israel gathered manna daily (Exodus 16:21), so a Christian must gather some food from the Bible each day to keep strong and alive spiritually. When one stops eating the natural food for one day, he is weaker and does not feel so good. Likewise, a Christian needs daily food. No one wants to be a weak or sick Christian.

Spiritually Dead

When Jesus said that unless you eat His flesh and drink His Blood, you have no life in you ([JHN:6:53]), He meant that you would be spiritually dead. Those who sin are spiritually dead ([1TM:5:6]); but when they pray for forgiveness and believe God, they are no longer dead but alive ([EPH:2:1]; [COL:2:13]).

Of those who heard Jesus say, "I am that bread of life," some said that it was a hard saying and they could not do as He told them to do. Even some who called themselves His disciples murmured at His sayings. May not one who reads this lesson be like them but may he take heed to the words: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light" (Ephesians 5:14).

Questions

1. Who is the Bread of Life?

2. Why was He called the Bread of Life?

3. From where was the Bread of Life sent?

4. How can we get It?

5. What will the Bread of Life do for us?

6. How often should we eat It?

7. What happens to those who fail to eat the Bread of Life?