“Then Jesus said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ Then they said to Him, ‘Lord, give us this bread always.’ And Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.’” John 6:32-35 (Read John 6:22-35)

Jesus’ hearers asked Him to give them a sign to prove He was indeed sent by God to be their Messiah and Savior. They told Jesus that Moses had given them manna to eat in the wilderness, and they wanted Jesus to do a similar work to prove He was from God.

Jesus pointed out to them that it was not Moses who gave them manna to eat but God, and now God the Father was providing and offering to them “the true bread from heaven” that “gives life to the world.”

They didn’t understand what Jesus was telling them and said, “Lord, give us this bread always.” They wanted Jesus to feed them every day, “always.”

Then, Jesus clearly stated that He is the Bread of Life. Not only does He create and sustain our earthly lives, forming us in our mothers’ wombs (Ps. 139:13-16) and sustaining our lives with earthly food (cf. Matt. 6:11, 25ff.), He is the source of spiritual and eternal life. He would give His life on the cross for the sins of the world so that we might look to Him in faith and be forgiven and restored to new life in fellowship with the Father (cf. John 6:51; 1 Cor. 15:3-4; John 3:14-16; 1 John 1:5 — 2:2).

Those who, by faith, partake of Jesus and the benefits He won for all by His innocent sufferings and death on the cross are nourished and fed spiritually — they are assured of forgiveness for all their sins and of a place in Christ’s eternal kingdom. As Jesus said, “He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”

While we should certainly look to our heavenly Father to provide for us each and every day our daily bread (cf. Luke 11:3), how much more important it is for each of us to partake of the Bread of Life God has given us to nourish our souls and give to us eternal life! God sent His only-begotten Son into the world to do just that — to fulfill all that God’s holy law demands of us and then to bear on the cross the full punishment for our sins that we might look to Jesus in faith — partake of Him and His blessings — and receive God’s pardon and the everlasting joys of heaven.

Those who partake of Christ and His cross in faith have all they need in Christ. They shall never hunger or thirst. But those who do not partake of Christ in faith remain spiritually malnourished, starved, and dead. They hunger and thirst but can find no true spiritual nourishment apart from Jesus that they might live!

Dear Father in heaven, grant that I partake of the true Bread from heaven in faith — that I trust in Jesus’ holy life in my stead and in His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of all that I might be pardoned, forgiven, restored to fellowship with You, and given the eternal joys of heaven, all for Jesus’ sake. In His name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]