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After Jesus heard that John, His cousin, was beheaded, He departed by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard where he was going, they followed Him on foot from the cities. Jesus saw the crowd of 5,000 men, along with women and children, and had compassion on them and healed their sick. He also had compassion because He knew they were hungry. The disciples encouraged Jesus to send the crowd away because the hour was late. But Jesus didn’t want to send them away.
He said to Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Philip’s response was focused on the natural, saying that even if they had 200 denarii, it wouldn’t be enough to feed everyone. Jesus asked, “What do you have?” The disciples returned after looking among the crowd, saying they found 5 loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus instructed the crowd to sit, and they sat in groups on the green grass.
Taking the loaves, He gave thanks and blessed the bread, broke it, and gave to His disciples, who distributed it to those sitting down, as much as they wanted, and they ate and were satisfied. We see that after the meal there were twelve baskets of the fragments of the five barley loaves.
When the crowds didn’t find Jesus and the disciples where they last saw them, they got into boats and found Him on the other side of the sea. When they asked Him when he came there, Jesus replied, “You seek Me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.”
Jesus tells them in John 6:33 – 35, “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then He says, “I am the Bread of Life.”
What are we consuming today that doesn’t satisfy? Are we feasting on temporal things?
Wow! Jesus is telling them that the natural bread they ate, as much as they wanted, would never satisfy. But as they consume Him who is the bread of life, whom the Father sent, they will never be hungry as they come to Him. Jesus is the living bread and as we partake of Him, we will never die. This passage is telling us that Jesus allows us to consume as much of Him as we want – that we may be satisfied.
What are we consuming today that doesn’t satisfy? Are we feasting on temporal things? Consuming the Bread of Life, which is Jesus, by reading the Bible is the only way we can be satisfied. Have you set aside intentional time to read the word, to let it satiate you each day? If you need a jump start, read the book of John. If you’d like a guided bible study, I encourage you to consider the E-learning courses found at: https://advancedbiblicalfoundations.org/watch
Let’s Pray:
Heavenly Father, I thank you that you sent your son, Jesus, as the bread of life to give life to me. Help me to spend time in your Word partaking of your provision daily, for me. Open my spiritual ears and eyes to hear and see You in every part of my life. Help me to bring glory and honor to your name every day and thank you that the Holy Spirit lives in me to guide me into all truth. Amen.
