In
cultures with an abundance of food choices, bread is no longer a necessary part
of the diet so some choose to live without it for various reasons. In the first
century, however, bread was viewed as an essential staple. A diet without bread was a
foreign concept.
One day a
crowd of people sought out Jesus because He had performed the miracle of
multiplying loaves of bread (John 6:11,26). They asked Him to perform a sign
like the manna from heaven that God had provided for His people in the desert
(6:30-31; Ex. 16:4). When Jesus said He was “the true bread from heaven” (John
6:32), the people didn’t understand. They wanted literal daily bread. But Jesus
was saying that He had been sent to be their spiritual bread; He would supply
their daily spiritual needs. If they, by faith, applied and took His words and
life into their very souls, they would experience everlasting satisfaction
(v.35).
Jesus doesn’t want to be an optional commodity in our diets; He desires to be the essential staple in our lives, our “necessary” food. As first-century Jews could never imagine life without physical bread, may we never attempt to live without Jesus, our spiritual bread!
