Divine Manna from Heaven

John 6:22-40

The Bread from Heaven

22 On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone— 23 however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks— 24 when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"

26 Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

28 Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"

29 Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."

30 Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"

32 Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."

34 Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

35 And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. 40 And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

Jesus arrived with the disciples on the far shore of the lake while people wondered where He went since He was in the mountain alone when the disciples took to boat across the water.  Nobody saw Him cross and so they finally went themselves by boat to seek Him.  When they reached Capernaum and sought Him out and then found Jesus inexplicably there.  The last thing they imagined was the Lord of Heaven and Earth walking across the water to the boat of the disciples and crossing with them!  Of course, He did not tell them this and we only know now because John wrote it down for us here as did two other apostles (Matthew 14:22–33; Mark 6:45–52).  The people seeking and following after Jesus asked therefore how in the world He got across the lake without being seen by anyone.  He did not answer that question but the real one burning in their hearts and swirling around in their minds.  They were not as interested in the signs which He did but in being filled with the bread of His kingdom words instead.  He reminded them to work for eternal food enduring for everlasting life which the Son of Man alone could give them, not the wonders and signs nor the food for their physical needs.  He pointed the eyes of their hearts (1 Corinthians 2:9-10) upwards to what really satisfies their deepest need.  They heard Him proclaiming He was sent by God and then asked what works they needed to do to please God to do what He requires for that eternal life.  Jesus explained to them and we who read this now that the work of God is to have true faith in trusting His Word to believe in Him whom He sent, Jesus Christ the Son of God made flesh as John began in John 1:1, 12, 14 when he revealed who the Son is as God and how He became a man and walked among us as Immanuel.  Trusting God’s work in and through Jesus the Christ is the only way to work our way to salvation into heaven’s kingdom!  There is no other way (John 14:6, Acts 4:12) to inherit eternal life.  Our works always come eternally short (Romans 3:19-20, 23) of the perfection required to earn salvation from sin’s consequences of eternal judgment and only God’s work done by Christ Jesus can ever earn our salvation from this hopeless end.  

Some will ask for proof of who Jesus is as those did and should consider His answer here.  He is the true Manna given to eat from heaven to give life just as God did for the wandering nation of Israel released from Egypt’s bondage symbolic of sin’s grip on all of Adam’s children.  When Jesus fed the multitudes with bread it was to point to this fact of Him being the needed food for eternity and not to just fill their physical stomachs.  This bread or manna of God came down from heaven to give life to all the dead in sin (Romans 6:11, Ephesians 2:1) whom He called and chose before the creation (Ephesians 1:4) of all we see.  When these asked for that life-giving bread, Jesus told them that faith to believe His word and works was necessary to eliminate their hunger and thirst for righteousness and salvation from their sin.  He made it very clear that only those who the Father has given to the Son can come to Him and be eternally satisfied with the assurance (John 6:44, 47, 51) of being safe and secure (John 10:28-29) from all alarms of impending judgment (John 5:24).  That is why Jesus the Son of God and man came down from heaven into this world, to save by earning our deliverance from judgment wrought by our sin into the assurance of His everlasting arms of grace to forgive and call us his adopted children who cannot be ever let go.  We can never do enough good to earn this; only the one who is truly good (Matthew 19:17) can earn this for us.  God’s will then is to give us to Him in Christ and never be lost again!  That is the assurance of hope and perseverance of the saints made holy only in the Righteous One.  We who trust in his work alone will have life unending with Him with the certainty that we will be resurrected from death to life at the final judgment.  Partaking of the bread from heaven is our entrance into heaven which we now celebrate as we remember and look forward to these things as we take the bread and cup of wine which we commune to commemorate the last supper (Matthew 26:26-29) He began with the disciples in the beginning and look forward in hope to the resurrection to life begun with His own.  Have you eaten this divine manna from heaven?