Image from http://howard-carter.blogspot.com
John 6:35; 41-51 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, "I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, "And they shall all be taught by 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. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
I love bread. Bread has been my constant downfall in trying to follow any sort of weight loss program for my life, because bread is so good. I've shared how living on the campus of SMU back in the day, the huge bread bakery down the street would help make those nights so special with the delicious aroma of bread baking coming over the campus. And there was another one of these bakeries in San Antonio on Broadway, where one could see the loaves of bread parading down conveyor belts as well as smell their deliciousness. Most nations have their equivalent of bread and some eat it with every meal, so you can see the impact and power of Jesus' declaration about His being "the bread of life." Jesus was speaking to a great need in everyone who hungers to know God. The best solution to a hungry stomach is a piece of bread; and to the person lost and away from God to know Jesus as the bread of life is to know life itself and the fullness thereof.
Jesus makes this declaration in front of a hometown crowd who was not amused or delighted that Jesus was saying these things; they remembered who Jesus was in their minds. "This is a hometown boy; how can He say He is from 'heaven?'" And to make matters more interesting (or worse), Jesus declares He has been sent by the Father, who will raise those drawn to Him on the last day.
Jesus again and again shares with them and us, that He is the Bread of Life, and not like the momentary manna reported in the Old Testament; He is true bread from Heaven, so that those who eat of it should never die. And this is the promise of eternal life; a life that never ends.
You and I believe that, and we should live that, and share that with a world still in hunger. It is for that reason that we have come to faith. We are called to do something about it.
What are you waiting for?
PRAYER: Loving God, the wait is over; put us to doing right now. We have eaten and received the blessing of Jesus, our Bread of Life. Help us to share Him with those whose hearts and bodies hurt from the hunger pangs of a spiritually empty life. Let us share boldly He who takes away the hunger of the world. This is our prayer and we lift it in faith in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
Eradio Valverde
Dear friends, thank you for faithful reading of ConCafe; thank you for your prayers while Nellie and I were on vacation. We had a great time and I've shared some photos on Instagram and FaceBook. Please continue to pray for us as we have much to do in the days ahead. To God be the glory!
