Jesus is the Bread of Life - Audio
This message is entitled "Jesus is the Bread of Life", but it could easily have been called "Read the Signs!!". After miraculously feeding over 5000 people, Jesus rebukes those who came searching for Him simply because they saw He could meet their physical needs. The purpose of the miracle was not the satisfaction of a physical hunger, but to demonstrate that He is the One who can satisfy our hunger for real life, life eternal.
Using the story of the Israelites in the wilderness as a backdrop, Jesus describes Himself as Bread from Heaven - the One sent by God the Father to bring life to all who feed on Him not by literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood as some misinterpreted Him as saying, but by believing that it was in His giving up His life for us that He delivered us eternal life. Jesus allowed His body to be lifted up on a cross. He allowed His blood to be shed. Why? So that he might deliver us from sin by taking it upon Himself and destroying it through His death on the cross.
The question for us is whether we are reading the signs correctly or whether we, like the crowds in John 5&6, are distracted by our demands for Jesus to satisfy our temporary needs & desires. Do we want the real life that Jesus came to give, or do we want to simply use Jesus to make our lives easier or better according to our own desires? The first is on offer to all who will receive it, the second is not as this passage clearly explains.
