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REVIEW
Jesus took a little boy’s lunch and miraculously multiplied it to feed a crowd of five thousand men, plus women and children (John 6:1-13). Lesson: God can use anyone to do great things.
The people’s reaction to the miracle: They believed Jesus was “the Prophet” (v. 14; cf. Deuteronomy 18:15) and wanted to “make him king by force” (v. 15a). Jesus’ response: He left the crowd (v. 15b). His mission was to die for the sins of the world, not to drive out the Romans.
Fourth miracle: Jesus walked on water (vv. 16-24; cf. Matthew 14:22-33; Mark 6:45-52).
In this chapter, the people compared Jesus to Moses:
• Moses fed the Israelites with manna; Jesus fed the multitude with bread.
• Moses parted the Red Sea (Exodus 13-15); Jesus walked on water.
16When evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, 17where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. 18A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough. 19When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified. 20But he said to them, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 21Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.
22The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. 23Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. 24Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search for Jesus (John 6:16-24).
Preacher Franck Kabele, from Gabon, West Africa, told his congregation that he could repeat Jesus’ miracle of walking on water. One eyewitness said, “He told churchgoers he’d had a revelation that if he had enough faith, he could walk on water like Jesus.
“He took his congregation to the beach saying he would walk across the Komo estuary, which takes 20 minutes by boat. He walked into the water, which soon passed over his head and he never came back.” (worldnetdaily.com)
This is one of the reasons why the slogan “What would Jesus do?” is a bit faulty.
MANNA AND JESUS
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry…” (John 6:35).
To understand this statement, we must go back to Exodus 16, which tells us how God provided bread for the Israelites in the desert following the Exodus from Egypt.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day’” (Exodus 16:4; see also v. 5, 13-18, 35).
The people called the bread “manna”: supernatural bread, means “What is it?”, called “angels’ food” (Psalm 78:25 NKJV).
The manna was “Wonder Bread,” but Jesus is a greater kind of “Wonder Bread.”
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.
28Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34“Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.”
35Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:25-40).
The bread (manna) that the Israelites were fed in the desert foreshadowed Christ, the true bread from heaven:
1. The manna came down from HEAVEN; so did Jesus.
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you,” (Exodus 16:4a). This was the first ever all-you-can-eat buffet (only two choices: quail in the evening, manna in the morning).
Judaism understood that there was a storehouse or “treasury” of manna in heaven that had been opened to feed the people during the time of Moses. It was believed that this treasury would be reopened with the coming of the Messiah. An early Jewish commentary on Exodus 16:4 says, “As the first redeemer caused manna to descend ... so will the latter redeemer cause manna to descend” (Midrash Rabbah Eccles. 1:9). This is what the people were demanding Jesus to do (v. 34).
“Jesus said to them, ‘I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’” (John 6:32-33).
“For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38).
2. The manna was a GIFT from God; so is Jesus.
“Moses said to them, ‘It is the bread the LORD has given you to eat’” (Exodus 16:15).
“Then they asked him, ‘What must we do to do the work God requires?’ Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (John 6:28-29).
Eternal life is received through faith in Christ, not by works. It is not a reward for work; it is always God’s gift.
3. The manna was NECESSARY for life; so is Jesus.
There were no restaurants in the desert. There was no other way for the Israelites to eat bread.
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life’” (John 6:35a). Jesus is the only way to eternal life.
4. The manna SATISFIED; so does Jesus.
“[The LORD] satisfied them with the bread of heaven” (Psalm 105:40).
“The Israelites ate manna forty years, until they came to a land that was settled; they ate manna until they reached the border of Canaan” (Exodus 16:35).
The manna satisfied the Israelites’ physical hunger, but Jesus satisfies our spiritual hunger.
“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you’” (John 6:26-27a).
“Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:49-51).
“Thou hast formed us for Thyself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in Thee.”—Augustine
People try to satisfy their hunger in many ways (money, possessions, position, relationships). In the end, their souls are empty.
“Creatures are not born with desires unless satisfaction for those desires exists. A baby feels hunger: well, there is such a thing as food. A duckling wants to swim: well, there is such a thing as water…. If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probably explanation is that I was made for another world. If none of my earthly pleasures can satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably, earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only to arouse it, to suggest the real thing.”—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
“He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35b).
5. The manna was for EVERYONE; so is Jesus.
“For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believe in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40).
6. The manna was a DAILY need; so is Jesus
“The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day” (Exodus 16:4b).
“[God] humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 8:3; cf. Matthew 4:4).
The Israelites had manna because it came by God’s command; therefore, ultimately it was not bread that kept them alive, but God’s Word. (The MacArthur Study Bible, p. 262)
“I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread” (Job 23:12).
“Give us this day our daily bread” (Matthew 6:11).
Bread is not our only daily need; we need Jesus and His word every day.
a. The manna was not a WEEKLY need; neither is Jesus.
b. The manna was not a SEASONAL need; neither is Jesus.
c. The manna was not an EMOTIONAL need; neither is Jesus.
Challenge: Read the Gospel of John each month (or week) until the end of the year.
Jesus is the “Wonder Bread” who came down from heaven to give us eternal life. “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
WONDER BREAD
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry…” (John 6:35).
“Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day’” (Exodus 16:4; see also v. 5, 13-18, 35).
The bread (manna) that the Israelites were fed in the desert foreshadowed Christ, the true bread from heaven:
1. The manna came down from ____________________ Jesus.
2. The manna was a _________________ from God; so is Jesus.
3. The manna was ____________________ for life; so is Jesus.
4. The manna ____________________; so does Jesus.
5. The manna was for ____________________; so is Jesus.
6. The manna was a _________________ need; so is Jesus.
a. The manna was not a ________________ need; neither is Jesus.
b. The manna was not a ________________ need; neither is Jesus.
c. The manna was not an _______________ need; neither is Jesus.
