The sun is shining...the wind is blowing...the temperatures are rising...the snow is melting.  It is a great "leap day 2008!"  Another week is nearly gone.  Once again we have experienced the realities of knowing the blessings of God.  Our hearts have rejoiced in the mercies received from the hand of an awesome God.  Last night was my concluding study in an 8-week series on the book of Isaiah.  How blessed we were to talk of the exciting things God still has in store for us.  What a wonderful future to those who know the Lord!  I high recommend that you spend some time with that book...you will be immeasurably blessed.

Now, turn with me back to the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John.  In the past couple of weeks we have focused upon two of the significant miracles of Jesus recorded in this chapter:  the feeding of the 5000 (which really amounted to perhaps as many as 20,000) and Jesus walking on the waters of the Sea of Galilee.  The thoughts of the recent miraculous feeding are still resonating within the hearts of the disciples and others who continued following Jesus.  I would like to have us focus upon verses 25-51.  The central thought that will guide our study is found in verse 35: Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life."

The background for this incredible statement features a dialogue that Jesus had with a group who had followed Him from one side of the Sea to the other.  Jesus knew their thoughts.  They were focused upon the recent miraculous meal.  And they remembered another time in their nation's history when another miraculous feeding had occurred.  In fact, it had continued for nearly forty years.  Yes, they remembered the manna, regarded as the "bread of God." (read Psalm 78:24).  The Jews believed that when the Messiah came, He would give them manna once again.  Their cry, "Sir, from now on give us this bread." (John 6:34).  In His answer to the crowd, Jesus reminded them that it was not Moses who had given them the manna; it was God.  He reminded them that the manna was not really the bread of God; it was only the symbol of the bread of God.  Then He boldly declares, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."

This is the first of the seven "I Am" statements recorded in John's Gospel.  The others include: I Am the Light of the world (John 8:12); I Am the door (John 10:7, 9); I Am the good shepherd (John 10:11,14); I Am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); I Am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6); and I Am the true vine (John 15:1, 5). 

What does this phrase - I Am the bread of life - mean?  Why could Jesus describe Himself as the bread of life?  It is a known fact that bread is the staff of life around the world.  In my many travels to the countries of Eastern Europe, to India, and to Israel and Jordan, one staple is found within all cultures - bread.  I have had flat bread, fried bread, baked bread.  I have had bread shaped like biscuits, like round stones (I think they became that as the day progressed), and in long loaves.  I have enjoyed it with just about every kind of bread-spread imaginable.  Yes, bread is an essential for life.  Bread makes possible the enjoyment of life.  What I hear Jesus saying is this: I am the one who, like bread, makes possible the fullest enjoyment of what real life is like.  Years later the Apostle Paul would state it like this: For me, living is Christ.  Therefore, if Jesus gives life, if He is the essential of life, then He can be described as the bread of life. 

Verse 37 is a fascinating one.  It reads: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.  These words stress the sovereignty of Christ.  It never does seem a good idea to the natural man to come to God because he delights too much in his sins.  That is why the natural man cannot save himself.  In verse 44 Jesus uses another word: No one comes to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.  The word translated "draw" when used in the New Testament, always implies the presence of some kind of resistance.  We find it used in John 21:6, 11 of "drawing" a net full of fish to the shoreline.  In Acts 16:19, it refers to "drawing" (quite possibly even dragging) Paul and Silas before the Philippian magistrates.  Notice: there is not one example in the New Testament of the use of this word where the resistance is successful.  Always the drawing power is triumphant.  John Calvin wrote: An effectual movement of the Holy Spirit, turning men from being unwilling and reluctant to willing.  When God's Spirit draws us to Himself, we find it very difficult to resist...at least for long.  Many are the testimonies of people I have heard who tried to resist God, but eventually they yielded themselves completely to Him. 

What a wonderful gift salvation is.  Unfortunately, the Jews of Jesus day missed an opportunity.  Verse 42 relates how they judged the message by the messenger.  They said that Jesus was merely the son of a carpenter.  How could He possibly be a messenger form God?  They tested Jesus by human, social, and worldly standards.  Verse 43 even declares that they argued among themselves.  They had listened...but they had failed to learn.  And so, they missed one of the greatest teaching moments in the ministry of Jesus.

Let me ask you: How real is your relationship to Jesus Christ?  Can you honestly say that He is your bread of life.  I want to close with a quote from James Montgomery Boice.  It spoke to my heart...I trust it will speak to yours:  Is He as real to you spiritually as something you can taste or handle?  Is He as much a part of you as that which you eat?  Do not think me blasphemous when I say that He must be as real and as useful to you as a hamburger and French fries.  I say this because, though He is obviously far more real and useful than these; the unfortunate thing is that for many people He is much less.

Now, go and enjoy Jesus to the fullest!

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: It isn't the burdens of today that drive men mad.  Rather it is regret over yesterday or fear of tomorrow.  (Robert J. Hastings)