How to Save a Life - Part 2
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.”
~John 6:35
Read: Deuteronomy 18:15-18; Isaiah 52-53; John 6
Last week we left off with the Israelites receiving daily provision in the wilderness. Today, we jump into a mob scene following Jesus feeding the 5,000. He feeds them, and the people “realize” that Jesus is “‘the Prophet who is to come into the world’” (John 6:14). The people are remembering the promise Moses told them about before entering the Promised Land many years prior: “‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him” (Deut. 18:15). Jesus is the true and better Moses, and the people think they know what this means but not really.
The people wanted to make Jesus their king by force, but He was not the king they expected and would not be the king they wanted. They wanted a king to displace Herod and overthrow Roman occupation and dominion. They did not see the bigger picture. They either forgot or misunderstood another prophet who spoke of the Savior-to-come: “The LORD has displayed his holy arm in the sight of all the nations; all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of our God” (Isaiah 52:10). God’s Messiah was coming to save the world, not free just a few from an empire that had its own purposes in God’s scheme of things.
The prophet Isaiah also recorded these words of God’s, “See my servant will be successful; he will be raised and lifted up and greatly exalted” (52:13). This sounds like such a hopeful passage about the Messiah, until we remember that Jesus was raised and lifted up on a cross for a death that has coined its own word – excruciating. He was exalted for taking the punishment of our sins upon Himself. Isaiah does not leave us in doubt of this for long:
“He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of suffering who knew what sickness was.
He was like someone people turned away from;
he was despised, and we didn’t value him.
Yet he himself bore our sicknesses,
and he carried our pains;
but we in turn regarded him stricken,
struck down by God; and afflicted.
But he was pierced because of our rebellion,
crushed because of our iniquities;
punishment for our peace was on him,
and we are healed by his wounds.” (Isaiah 53:3-5)
He was a man with all of a human’s strengths and weaknesses, so he could take the punishment for the sins of humanity. Hebrews tells us that Christ’s sacrifice fulfilled all the atonement sacrifices once for all time: “…we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time” (10:10). Jesus’ sacrifice was successful because He was also God Incarnate; something the Jews in Jesus’ time did not understand.
After feeding the mob and escaping their clutches, Jesus retreats to the mountain – code for Jesus went off to have time alone to pray and spend time with God the Father (6:15). The disciples cross the Sea of Galilee ahead of Him, but a storm arises before they finish crossing (6:16-18). Then they see something they could have never imagined – Jesus walking on the water. The text does not say they were afraid of the storm, though I imagine they were properly anxious. No, the text says they were afraid when they saw Jesus walking on top of the water. Perhaps they understand just a little better that Jesus is more than just a man.
In Exodus, we find another passing through the sea story:
“Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea. The LORD drove the sea back with a powerful east wind all that night and turned the sea into dry land. So the waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with the waters like a wall to them on their right and their left.” (14:21-22)
In this account, God uses Moses to illustrate His authority over nature and His power to save Israel from otherwise certain death at the hands of the Egyptians. Make no mistake, Jesus walking on the water communicates the same idea. In John 6, we have a stormy sea, but instead of the sea dividing to create dry ground, Jesus walks on the water as if it were dry ground. He needs no human mediator because He is the Mediator between God and man. He is God. He has authority over the wind and waves, and soon, we will see He, too, has the means to save us.
The next day, the crowds quickly realize Jesus is no longer in the area and look for Him, finding Him in the town of Capernaum across the sea. They are looking for the one who fed them, for the one they want to make their king. Their motives are less than pure. Jesus knows this and tells them, “‘Truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life…” (John 6:26-27b). He further tells them, “‘This is the work of God – that you believe in the one he has sent’” (6:29). They just have to believe. How simple, and yet how very hard.
The crowd responds with their version of “prove it.” They want a sign – the crowd that had just been miraculously fed the day before. Jesus replies:
“‘Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…I am the bread of life’ Jesus told them. ‘No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will every be thirsty again. But as I told you, you’ve seen me, and yet you do not believe.’” (6:32-33, 35-36)
They have seen, yet they do not believe. The endlessly repeating story from time immemorial. Adam and Eve walked with God in the garden, and yet they did not truly “see” Him in their disobedience. Israel witnessed their deliverance from Egypt as God reigned down the ten plagues on Egypt, destroying their power and authority over anyone, yet Israel questioned God’s faithfulness not three days into their wilderness trek. The Jews have witnessed Jesus’ many acts and listened to Him, and yet they do not truly see Him. Jesus Himself has told them:
“‘These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent me. The Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form. You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent.’” (5:36b-38).
All they have to do is to believe Jesus, that He is the one sent by God. They ask for more signs, yet Jesus has already been doing the work of God, and they choose not to believe.
In fact, they start to complain about Him (John 6:41), just as Israel complained about God in the wilderness. God, in His mercy, still provided for Israel in the desert. God, in His mercy, still offered salvation to the Jews. Jesus tells them:
“‘Truly I tell you, anyone who 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 anyone may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread he will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’” (6:47-51)
In their literal-mindedness and the context of their Jewish culture, the people are appalled and disgusted by Jesus’ words. Eating his flesh? No, thank you. Yet, they are missing the bigger picture. Jesus is talking about faith, about believing that Jesus is who He says He is, about trusting in their prophets who told them the LORD’s words: “‘…I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. I will hold accountable whoever does not listen to my words that he speaks in my name’” (Deut 18:18b-19). Jesus is the One God sent to save the world.
We are faced with the same choice as the Jews from Jesus’ time on Earth. Will we choose to save our lives by believing in the words of life from the Giver of Life? Or will we scoff, complain, and ignore that Jesus is exactly who He says He is – He always has been and always will be?
