In the sixth chapter of the Gospel According to John, we read
that Jesus had compassion on a large crowd of people, and He fed them. In those times, the size of the crowd was
counted by the number of men, which was 5,000.
If we estimate that there was at least one woman or child for every man
present, then we can conservatively say that Jesus fed more than 10,000 people
on this occasion. John tells us that
Jesus’ disciples told Him they didn’t have enough money to by food for such a
large multitude, but Andrew found a boy who had five loaves of barley bread and
two fish.
Jesus had the people sit down, and He gave thanks for the
food. After that, He gave everyone as
much as they wanted to eat. When they
were finished eating, there were twelve baskets full of leftovers.
Later, the disciples set sail for the opposite side of
the Sea of Galilee without Him. However,
they ran into rough weather. Jesus
followed them, walking on the water.
After He joined them, they were instantly transported to their
destination. The next day, some of the
people sought them out because they wanted more free food. After they located Jesus, they asked to see
more miracles, but Jesus knew that in their hearts they were just looking to
get another free meal.
Jesus began to teach them that they should be interested
in heavenly things, not just in getting their earthly needs met. They could not understand what He was telling
them because they were looking at it from a human rather than a spiritual
perspective. People today still have trouble understanding this
passage, for the same reason:
When they found Him on the other side of
the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Jesus
answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you,
you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and
were filled. “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food
which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on
Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” Therefore they said to Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work
the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has
sent.” So they said to Him, “What
then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do
You perform? “Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is
written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat’” Jesus then said to
them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you
the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out
of heaven. “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven,
and gives life to the world.” Then they said to
Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
Jesus
said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to
Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. “But I
said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. “All that the
Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly
not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will,
but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me,
that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last
day. “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son
and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on
the last day.”
Therefore
the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. “No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last
day. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall be taught of God.’
Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. “Not
that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen
the Father. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal
life. “I am the bread of life. “Your fathers ate the manna in the
wilderness, and they died. “This is the bread which comes down out of
heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. “I am the living bread
that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live
forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My
flesh.”
Then
the Jews began to argue with one another, saying, “How can this man
give us His flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son
of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. “He who eats
My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the
last day. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He
who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the
living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he
also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of
heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live
forever.”
These
things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum. Therefore many of
His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult
statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples
grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you
to stumble? “What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where
He was before? “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits
nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.
“But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not
believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me
unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God.” Jesus answered them, “Did I Myself not choose you, the twelve, and yet one of you is a devil?” Now He meant Judas the son of Simon Iscariot, for he, one of the twelve, was going to betray Him. (John 6:25-71 NASB) * (Italics and font added to indicate quoted material. Bold font added for emphasis.)
You see, the
Bible teaches that, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”.
(Romans 3:23 NASB) * It also tells us
that, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life
in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NASB) * We have all sinned, and we are, therefore, all
under a sentence of death. But, Jesus
saves.
When Jesus of Nazareth was crucified, His human body
died. He was innocent, but He satisfied
our death sentence for us. He died in
our place. Because He loves us, the
eternal God, who cannot die, experienced what human death felt like. The blood He shed washes all our sins away.
(1John 1:7 NASB) * That is what Jesus meant
when He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in
yourselves. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life,
and I will raise him up on the last day.” What must we do to receive the body and blood of
Jesus, given for us, and be saved?
Again, Jesus said to us, “This is the work of
God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.”
Believe in Jesus Christ today. By
faith, accept the fact that the sacrifice of His body and the shedding of His
blood are sufficient to pay the price for your every sin. Then He will be in you, and you will be in
Him.
