Christ the Bread of Life

John 6:22-59

Introduction:

Bread is a common food that every one in the world has on their table. While there are many foods that a poor people can’t afford, bread is not one of them. It is accessible to all and readily available for the needy and the hungry. It contains many of the necessary nutrients to satisfy the needs of the body in hard times or in times of plenty.

Is it any wonder then that it is an apt type of our Lord Jesus Christ both in daily life and in times when believers meet around the Lord’s Table? The manna that the Lord God used to feed the children of Israel in the desert was called “the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof,” John 6:50, with Exodus 16.

1. ‘Manna’ is the Hebrew expression for ‘what is it’? This food was named for the exclamation of surprise and wonder uttered when the people discovered it on the ground, Exodus 16:15

2. Jesus Christ is the wonder of men. When he came into the world as a man, they did not know him, John 1:11,12. The person of Christ, revealed in the Bible and proclaimed through the preaching of the Gospel is called a ‘mystery,’ I Tim. 3:16. The only way that the children of Israel knew what to do with the manna was by the instruction that God gave them through Moses. So it is with Christ. The only way to know Him is by God revealing Him and teaching the sinner by His Word and Spirit, Matthew 11:25.

3. The comparisons between manna and Christ are many:

a. Manna was prepared by God and sent from heaven to earth for a particular people. Christ’s body was prepared by the Father and sent to earth that He might be redeem those whom He has purposed to save, Hebrews 10:5.

b. Manna was a small thing to the eye of the beholder, compared to a coriander seed. So Christ appeared to men in his humiliation as a man. He made himself of no reputation, Philippians 2:6,7. Men asked of him, ‘Can anything good come from Nazareth?’ John 1:46

c. Manna was white, pure, and bright. So our Lord Jesus Christ is described in reference to being without sin, pure, blameless, and holy, I Peter 2:22; Revelation 1:13,14.

d. Manna was a free gift of God and required nothing of the children of Israel to buy. Christ is called the ‘unspeakable Gift,’ 2 Cor. 9:15. There is no greater gift that God may give a sinner than Christ, John 4:10.

e. Manna was to be ground up and prepared as bread in order to be useful as food to the gatherer. For bread to be useful to the hungry, it is prepared from a seed that is first sown in the ground, then harvested when ready, and ground into flour, then prepared and baked in the oven. Christ was bruised for the sins of his people and baked in the oven of God’s eternal wrath and justice that He might be proper food for the souls of His people, Isaiah 53:10.

f. Manna was pleasant to taste. All that is pleasant, sweet, and delightful in a spiritual sense is found in Christ. His Word is described as sweet as honey, or the honeycomb, Psalm 19:10. All whom God the Father has drawn to Christ in saving faith have tasted of Christ by faith and found Him sweet, Psalm 34:8.

g. Manna was not given to Israel while they were in Egypt, but was their necessary food while in the wilderness. It is not while sinners are yet in the bondage of sin, Satan and the world that they will feed on Christ. The Lord must first redeem them and call them out, and so He does, 2 Corinthians 6:17,18; Revelation 18:4.