John 6:35, 41-51 (NRSV)
Read John 6:35, 41-51 on biblegateway.com
Verse 35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Verse 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." Verse 42They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Verse 43Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. Verse 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. Verse 45It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Verse 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Verse 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. Verse 48I am the bread of life. Verse 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. Verse 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. Verse 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Devotion
In the Gospel of John, after feeding the multitude with bread and fish, Jesus gives this lengthy discourse about the bread that gives life to the world. He had given food to sustain them for the day, but the true bread, the bread of life that came from heaven, sustains them in this life and beyond. Their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness. They eventually grew tired of the manna, but by it, they were sustained day by day. They had eaten and been sustained by this daily bread from heaven, but Jesus made a stark point here: “And they died.” The gospel is God’s merciful answer to our conundrum. Daily bread is God’s gift to our lives in this world, but the true and living bread from heaven is Jesus. Those who eat of it will never die. This promise comes in the present tense. Eternal life begins now.
Prayer
God of grace, you give us daily bread and you give us your Son, Jesus. He is the bread of life. Sustain us always with the bread that gives life for the world. Amen.
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