Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
I tell you to draw close to Me and I will draw close to you. But most people do not even begin to realize how close I am talking about. I am talking about Me dwelling in you and you dwelling in Me. I am not talking about mere proximity, I am talking about divine unity. I am talking about a dwelling place that you never have to leave no matter how far you travel.
Lord (Adonai), You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were born or You gave birth to the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. Psalm 90:1-2.
I gave the Israelites redeemed out of slavery on their way with Me to the land of abundance I had promised to the descendants of Abraham a shadow of this, the substance of which is My Son. It was the My presence in the midst of their camp in the Holy of Holies in the inmost court of the Tabernacle from which the glory cloud of My presence ascended as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire at night. The fire of My presence was always in the glory cloud but it only could be seen in the night. Remember that. The darker the world around gets the more brilliantly the glory that is in you will shine forth. Nations will come to your light.
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you. For behold, darkness will cover the earth and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you and His glory will appear upon you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3.
My Son is the Light of the world, no follower if His will ever walk in darkness for in Him you have the light of life and He is in you.
And I traveled with the Israelites across the wilderness as I led them by the pillar of cloud in the way they should go. All they had to do was keep their eyes on Me and follow for I was right there with them. And now I am in each of you who believe by the abiding presence of My Spirit in your spirit and He leads you. He guides you to all truth. And knowing the truth will set you free. For where My Spirit is there is liberty.
In the last Life Lesson, Jesus had just fed well over five thousand people with five loaves and two fish with twelve baskets full of leftovers. They tried to carry Him off to make Him their king but He left them and went up to the mountain to converse with Me. He told the disciples, however, to get in the boat and go to the other side.
His disciples went down to the sea, and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea began to be stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near to the boat; and they were frightened. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going. John 6:17-20.
Jesus had told them to cross and so they had obeyed but without Him in the boat they were really not going much of anywhere although they were expending a great deal of effort and energy going against the wind. Jesus saw their efforts and their need and came down from the mountain to help them.
He bowed the heavens also, and came down with thick darkness under His feet. He rode upon a cherub and flew; and He sped upon the wings of the wind. He made darkness His hiding place, His canopy around Him, darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies. Psalm 18:9-11.
And as soon as they received Him into the boat with them the way became easy and the burden lifted and they immediately they got to their desired goal.
He caused the storm to be still, so that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet, so He guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for His lovingkindness, and for His wonders to the sons of men! Psalm 107:29-31.
Many of the crowd that had come to hear Jesus and be healed the day before, those who had had their fill of the loaves and fish, had not departed when Jesus dismissed them and went up to converse with Me on the mountain. They wanted to continue the wonderful miracles the next day for they saw that there was had only been one boat there and that Jesus had not entered with His disciples into the boat, but that His disciples had gone away alone. But when they saw Jesus was no longer among them and other small boats came from Tiberias they got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum seeking Jesus. Jesus and the disciples lived in Capernaum and it was now Shabbat so they assumed He would go to the synagogue there and they were not disappointed. They found him there, but they were puzzled how He arrived there, so they questioned Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Jesus did no choose to share with them that He had walked on the water. He saw the hearts of those before Him and they were seeking Him for worldly and not heavenly reasons, they wanted more good bread. So He answered with a teaching. When you need to be put back on the right track, Jesus will answer that and not your curiosity, so His answer was, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.” John 6:26-27.
Jesus had taught before not to just spend your life and all your energy going after the necessities for your flesh but to seek the Kingdom first and My way of righteousness, which is by faith in My Word, particularly My Word made flesh, Jesus, and all things you need for life would be added to you. As I told their ancestors many years before in the wilderness on the way to the promised land if they would only listen to and obey My Words the blessings would chase them down and overwhelm them, filling their barns with bumper crops and blessing them with healthy families and fruitful, prosperous lives.
The crowd was ready to enter into conversation with Him and be taught how to do the works He did so they could also have miracles every day, so they asked Him, “What shall we do, so that we may work the works of God?” John 6:28.
Jesus gave them the answer that all peoples and every generation needs to heed and understand. There is only one way you are going to be cleansed and made whole so that you too can do the works Jesus did and greater, which He promised those who are His followers will do. So He answered with My answer and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent.” John 6:29.
I so loved the world I gave you My only begotten Son so that all who BELIEVE in Him shall never perish but shall have eternal life. John 3:16. I sent Him to seek out and save the lost. Remember, it was his faith in My Word that I credited Abraham as righteous. Salvation is by faith for that is the only way you can connect with Me. Faith is of the spirit and I am Spirit and My Words are Spirit and life. You receive My Word by faith.
They knew He was the One I sent, there was no one else that did the works He did and spoke with the authority with which He spoke. So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” John 6:30-31. Their minds were still on the bread of the day before and yet they had no understanding of the greatness of what they had seen and heard. They were still asking for yet another sign. And you may be thinking that strange but what you do not realize is most of you are like that too. I have given you Jesus and My Words of life and yet, no matter how many wonders I show you each day or do for you, you are always seeking another sign of confirmation whenever a new set of contrary circumstances come against you from the world, the flesh, and the devil. It is time you trusted in My Word and took down the storms and the mountains by faith (believe in your heart and speak with your mouth and then act accordingly).
“An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away. Matthew 16:4.
Jesus then began a teaching that you must understand to enter into the New Covenant with Him and through Him with Me. Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” John 6:32-33.
Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.” John 6:34.
And that should be your desire too and I will give you that desire. He is with you always. But they did not yet understand of what Jesus was speaking—the oneness and the beauty of a life lived in Him with Him in you. There are many levels at which those listening hear and understand My Word. There are the infants in the spiritual life, the young men, and the mature elders, and it is not a matter of physical age but of the development of your spirit once you are born again from above.
So, there in that synagogue in Capernaum, John 6:59, where Jairus was the leader, Jesus would reveal the New Covenant that Jeremiah had prophesied where all would know Me from the least to the greatest because I would remember your sins and offenses no more. Before their eyes stood the Lord their righteousness. And today He is right there with you to make you righteous and blameless to reconcile you as One with Me.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” John 6:35.
Do you remember when Jesus was speaking with the Samaritan woman by the well, He told her that if she knew the gift of God she would ask Him for a drink and He would give her living water that would become a well spring of life and joy within her leaping up to eternal life and that she would never thirst again? And her first reaction, like the crowd here, was to want that water always so she would not have to keep laboriously coming to the well. But as the conversation went on with her, as it is here, Jesus raised it from the physical to the spiritual level. From things seen you can decipher truths about things unseen that are not just temporal but eternal truths.
In Jesus I make you complete so that you are filled with the abundant life I planned for you. And we will look more into this as we continue this conversation with the crowd in the synagogue in Capernaum in our next Life Lesson.
I love you. Remember, you do not live on physical bread alone (though I know your need for that as well and that was what the Manna was about) but on every Word that proceeds from My mouth. My Word is all summed up in Jesus, when you have Him you have everything. And it is My doing you are in Him.