Jesus the Bread of Life: Part 2

So I wanted to make a second part to the theme of looking into the idea of Jesus as the bread of Life. In part one we went over how He was the fulfillment of the grain offering, and now I want to get into how He is the prophetic manna in the wilderness. So let’s start out with what Jesus Himself has to say about being the bread of life.

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.”

John 6:35‭-‬40 NASB

So as you can see, Jesus is proclaiming Himself as the bread of Life and He is proclaiming Himself as the savior of man. And He clearly states the gospel message here that everyone who would believe in Him would have eternal life.

But I want to go back to Exodus to learn a little bit more about the manna from heaven, and in that way learn more about Jesus.

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

Exodus 16:4 NASB

So one aspect of the manna is that God sent it to see if the Israelites would follow the instructions on whether or not they would gather a day’s portion everyday. So in that way, we are tested in that we are called to partake of Jesus everyday. A portion for everyday, whether that be in good works, reading your Bible, or spending time with Jesus in prayer.

They gathered it morning by morning, every man as much as he should eat; but when the sun grew hot, it would melt.

Exodus 16:21 NASB

With Christ there is none left over, it is for those who have chosen to eat of Him as the eternal bread of life. When the sun rises the manna would melt, and so when the those who are friends of Christ have eaten, the rest of the provision will melt away for those who are not fit to eat.

When they measured it with an omer, he who had gathered much had no excess, and he who had gathered little had no lack; every man gathered as much as he should eat.

Exodus 16:18 NASB

And I think the most important thing that I found in the comparison between the two, was that when a man went out and gathered much, he had no excess and he who gathered little had no lack. This is what Christ is for us. He is the ultimate provision. He is enough, His sacrifice is enough, His life on earth was enough for us. He is the bread of life and the ultimate provision for this life and the next. Jesus is the way!