Daily Dose of the Word of God - John 6: 52

Justin Paul-Lawrence, Executive Director

Transcript

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Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God.  It’s Friday, October 1st, but Sunday’s coming. I’m Justin Paul-Lawrence. Today’s reading is from the Gospel of John, as we journey through the Bible this year with the spotlight on Jesus and with the Apostle John as our guide.  Here is John 6: 51. 

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 “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

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One of the amazing things that is happening as Jesus says these words is that the crowd contains a lot of people who recently ate bread and fish from Jesus in the feeding of the 5000 the day before. They’ve followed him to Capernaum across the Sea of Galilee and are still hungry. They’re also trying to make sense of what’s just happened. And the Manna in the wilderness that their ancestors ate is the closest miracle they can connect to what Jesus had just done. That bread also came down from heaven to feed a new group of people.   But Jesus expands this so far beyond just daily bread. His flesh, his bread, is forever food. Like Manna, it is available everyday, but not just to people in the wilderness in temporary need. It’s available to everyone who comes to Jesus. And it’s not just for the people who happen to be in Capernaum that day - it is for the life of the world - way, way beyond the borders of Israel.  We too can feed on this bread. Whether it is Communion this Sunday, through ongoing engagement with the word, or in constant conversation with Jesus, we can feed on the bread that keeps nourishing us. 

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Let's pray. Lord, you are the bread of life. You fed your people in the desert. You fed 5000 in Galilee. You gave your flesh for the life of the world. Help us to remember to go to you to feed everyday to nourish us for doing our part to build up your kingdom for the life of the world. Amen