I Am the Bread of Life

Meditations based on readings from

The Story of My Life As Told by Jesus Christ

October 2, 2019

I Am the Bread of Life

Page 131-133

John 6:22 - 7:1

Jesus wanted the people to understand that he had his Father’s seal upon him. Like a king’s seal, this not only identified the bearer of the seal as belonging to the king, but also granted the king’s authority to the bearer. It was God who provided manna for the people in the first exodus. It was God’s son, with God’s authority, providing food for the people in the second exodus. (In the first exodus, God brought his people out of bondage and slavery in Egypt. In the second exodus, God, through Jesus, brought his people out of bondage and slavery to sin and death.)  However, the people made the same mistake their ancestors in the first exodus made. They acted as though God was at that their beck and call, as though Israel somehow deserved to be picked by God as His people.

Can you see the connection between our celebration of the sacrament of Holy Communion and Jesus’ discussion of our eating his flesh and drinking his blood? Jesus statements about eating his flesh and drinking his blood have been hugely controversial over the centuries, primarily because people forget that Jesus continually revealed how the Old Testament points to, and is fulfilled in Jesus as God’s Messiah.

The background for Jesus’ discussion of his flesh and blood is recorded in 1 Samuel 23 and I Chronicles 11. David and his men were pinned down in a battle near Bethlehem. Thinking out loud, David said he would love to have a drink of water from the well in Bethlehem. Later, three of his mighty men, at great personal risk, went through enemy lines and got water from the well and brought it to David. David responded by saying for him to drink the water, would be profiting from his men’s willingness to risk their lives; it would be as though he was drinking their blood. David poured the water onto the ground.

Jesus said that he is not only willing to risk his life, but to lose his life for our sakes. Jesus said that we can drink and profit from his sacrifice. Thus, believing in Jesus as our Messiah is like feeding upon Jesus, the bread of life. It is like drinking of his blood as we participate in his sacrifice for our sins.

My Takeaway: The text says many of the disciples found Jesus’ teaching too hard and turned away from following him. “Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:67-69).

I’m with Peter!

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Copyright © 2019 by Alex M. Knight

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

• Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

• The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.