Jesus used awesome metaphors which have bridged cultures and generations – every culture and generation! Whether it was water from the rock or bread coming down from heaven, He not only taught parables for clarity – every action/every word made His access to the Kingdom of heaven also accessible to us.
Let’s follow part of this bread thread 🙂
Exodus 16:35 “The sons of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land; they ate the manna until they came to the border of the land of Canaan.”
40 years of bread = 14,600 days of manna (bread) for millions of people. Wow. If God could do this for Israel for 40 years, will He not also provide spiritual bread for the souls of His children?
Nehemiah 9:20 “You gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, You did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, and You gave them water for their thirst.”
What would we do without bread and water for our physical bodies? Why should we think our souls are any less hungry – any less thirsty?
John 4.31-34 “Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, “Teacher, eat.” But He said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about. So the disciples were saying to one another, “No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work.”
What is Jesus telling us about what really sustains a man or woman?
John 6.32-35 “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. Then they said to Him, “Lord, feed us always with this bread.” 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.”
What is the difference between bread from heaven and bread from Moses? Who gives both?
Revelation 2:17 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.”
What do you think hidden manna is?
From these and other passages (John 6 is extensive and occurs during the feeding of the 5000) we are taught to look for food which will not rot day by day). We can know we are eating real bread if our souls are satisfied. And if it keeps showing up the next day.