Manna and Jesus
Jesus said, “whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” John 6″33 I believe, Jesus but I still need supper. Jesus is not talking of actual food, but is using food and water as a metaphor, in this passage. What spurred Jesus to say these things? The crowds had just seen him multiply bread and feed thousands of people miraculously, but like Israel in the wilderness, they wanted more and they were asking for a sign, ‘give us a sign like Moses gave bread in the wilderness.’ It wasn’t Moses who gave YOU bread, Jesus said, but my Father in Heaven. they still didn’t know who their provider.
Rewind a thousand years, lets talk about Moses in the wilderness and the bread. Immediately following the Red Sea incident, the people of Israel are thirsty and hungry. Is that so terrible? I mean, 600 thousand men plus women and children in the wilderness… for a month! I would expect at the very least they would be thirsty and hungry. But they were also camped beside 12 springs of water and 70 palms. Israel had food and water. God had just spent the last year raining devastating judgments on their oppressors, protecting and distinguishing Israel, he drown their enemies in the sea, parted the waters for Israel to safely pass, sweetened bitter waters and now he has camped them beside fresh water and an abundance of dates palm trees. But they were “hungry.” They were grumbling, “have you brought us out here in the wilderness to kill us with hunger, we would rather have died around pots of meat and bread in the land of affliction” Israel was looking back at their house of slavery and longing for that which satisfied their flesh, but left their spirit crying out for deliverance. Truth be told, they likely comforted themselves with food in Egypt because of their suffering. They are falling back on their old ways. They didn’t fully believe or trust that God was all they needed. This isn’t about food, just as Jesus message isn’t really about food. This is about trusting God to provide and being content.
Jesus is remembering this to the people. First he is saying get your story straight, Moses didn’t save the people, Moses didn’t provide for the People, that was My Father in heaven, that was God who gave you the manna, the signs and the wonders and delivered you from Egypt. God provided for the people because the people were hungry and thirsty, but the people didn’t truly know God, just as Jesus fed the 5000 but it wasn’t really what he wanted them to want. He wanted them to believe in Him, he wanted them to want him.
Jesus is the bread of Heaven that satisfies man fully when we believe what is true about him, we will be contended. we will not hunger and thirst for past life, for sins, slavery and Egypt. These things in the world that actually don’t satisfy our souls, but comfort the flesh. Longing for the bread and meat of Egypt prevents Israel and you and I from receiving the full measure of God’s provision, which far exceeds our stomachs. This was Jesus message, if we believe him, if we come to him, we won’t hunger and thirst after the things that we think will satisfy, we won’t be hungry and grumble like Israel did. We will Trust that what God provides is enough, and he provides HIMSELF, how can that not be enough? How can that not satisfy and fill us to overflowing. IF we come to him and believe we will trust that even in the wilderness our Father gives us everything we need. Even in the divorce court, even in the jail cell, even in the hospital, or the funeral home, Jesus is sort of saying that He himself embodies everything we need. I don’t think he wants us to starve ourselves because we believe him, i think he wants us to starve our unbelief, what Jesus is asking us to do is to stop grumbling. God wanted Israel to hunger for HIM, to thirst for HIS promises, not the bread and meat from Egypt. He wanted Israel to hunger for him so he sent Jesus the bread of life and said if you believe in me, then the food from the world will no longer satisfy you. If you come to me than you will no longer grumble because you don’t have the comforting fleeing pleasures of your past life, you will rejoice because you have ME.
my faith place 