This is part 6 of an 8-part series. View the entire series here.
Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” – John 6:35 NLT
After a crowd witnesses the miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, they track Jesus down in an attempt to get more of the food He had provided. They question Jesus, asking Him to perform more miracles to prove that He’s worthy of their belief. They remind Him of the way Moses provided food for their Israelite ancestors as they wandered in the desert.
In response, Jesus says, “‘I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now He offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” The crowd replies, “‘Sir…give us that bread every day’” (John 6:32-34 NLT).
As physical beings, it’s natural that we would spend a lot of our time attending to our immediate physical needs: food, water, and shelter. The people questioning Jesus were concerned with physical sustenance, but that’s not what Jesus was offering—at least, it’s not all He was offering. He was promising to be their eternal sustenance.
Jesus makes a similar promise during His encounter with the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4: “‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life’” (4:13-14 NLT).
Jesus knows of all our physical needs, and He would never disparage us for needing them (Matthew 6:31-32). He’s not saying we won’t ever need to eat or drink again. He’s saying that if we come to Him—if we receive Him and believe that He died for our sins and rose again—we will be spiritually satisfied. We won’t seek out the things of the world to temporarily appease our desires. We won’t fill our minds and hearts with food that will leave us hungry again.
Instead, we’ll look to Jesus, the bread of life, the creator and sustainer who alone can bring us true contentment.
