John 6:68, “But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” – NKJV
John chapter six gives the account of Jesus feeding five thousand with five barley loaves and two fish. The miracle was that so many were able to eat to their fill from the small portions that had been provided. Bear in mind, the five thousand number only accounted for the men in the crowd, not the women and children so there were actually more people that received food.
What is interesting to note is how many references are made in chapter six comparing bread, manna and Jesus. Remember, John chapter one clearly identifies Jesus as the “logos” or spoken word of God by which everything was created or literally “spoken” into existence. So when you consider Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God”, you can see how the references in John marry the connection between physical food and spiritual food.
Let’s look at bread. Bread is considered to be a “staple food”, that is, “a food that can be stored for use throughout the year (or produced fresh any time of the year) and forms the basis of a traditional diet. Staple foods vary from place to place, but are typically inexpensive starchy foods of vegetable origin that are high in food energy (calories) and carbohydrate. The staple food of a specific cuisine may commonly be served as part of every meal, and its name may be used synonymously with “food” in some contexts.” Biblically the Hebrew root definition matches the preceding explanation from Wikipedia and in particular it echoes the concept that “food of any kind” was often referenced as bread. Now just for clarity’s sake, “staple” is, “used, needed, principle, most important, influential or chief; as in the principal ingredient.”
Understanding these points help to further clarify Jesus’ statement in John 6:48, “I am the bread of life”. Jesus, the spoken Word of God, is saying that He is the staple food in the diet of the spirit. His value is priceless, but He’s not expensive. He’s a very necessary, high octane fuel, the principal ingredient and truly the Chief Cornerstone! Skipping on this meal will give you eternal hunger pains.
Jesus continues with the allegory of the bread and the manna but begins to make a distinction. “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” (John 6:49-51) When God provided manna to the Israelites, it wasn’t just “something to eat”, He provided a “staple food” in response to their concern for starvation. From a physically sense, the manna provided sustenance…but it did not prevent death. Manna was filling but it wasn’t life saving. On the contrary, Jesus is life-giving and/or life-saving. You remember the story, God told the Israelites to only take enough manna for each day; daily bread. However, at one point some were disobedient and tried to take more than they planned to use that day probably for fear that the manna would somehow run out like the Lord had a limited supply. So God showed early on what He thought about disobedience produced by fear in that when they went back to what they had stored, it was rotten and full of maggots. (Exodus 16:20) Aren’t you glad to serve a God whose body doesn’t rot? God’s Word is the same today, yesterday and forever more. It has staying power and eternal relevance.
Well Jesus thins the crowd in verses 53-58 when He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven–not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” Let’s put this in context. The Israelites had been warned of a curse for not obeying the Lord that involved being besieged and in such desperation that one had no choice but to eat the flesh of their children. (Deuteronomy 28:53) Also, the Mosaic law clearly stated that you were not to drink the blood of any flesh because it was the source of life (Leviticus 17:14) Keeping this in mind, would Jesus Christ, Son of The Living God, tell then to do something that is contrary to the law? As Tyson would say, That’s ludicrous!” Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) However, since they didn’t perceive “who” Jesus was, they missed it…or did they?
Hebrews 4:12 tells us that, “…the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God’s Word is challenging and convicting. It teaches, rebukes, corrects and trains. (2 Timothy 3:16) The truth of the matter is, at some point we have all looked at eating His flesh and drinking His blood as a hard saying. In actuality, when The Word is comforting and gives us a hug or confirms our thoughts, we’ll embrace it immediately. However, when it warns us or even gives us instructions that seem too tedious to follow, we’re about ready to go on a fast! It’s like we say, “Go heavy on the encouragement, a couple extra pats on the back, add a stroke to my ego, but easy on the conviction, hold the warning and no rebuke please”. When we regulate our diet that way we don’t get the spiritual nourishment we need for survival and therefore there are many suffering from spiritual malnutrition.
After the crowd thins, only twelve remain and Jesus asks If the will go away as well but Peter responds with our opening passage, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” In the following verse Peter affirms, “You are the Christ, the Son of The Living God.” This was the confession that demonstrated Peter had a clear understanding of Jesus’ identity and therefore recognized the need to take in all of what was before him.
This is the crux of the matter. As artists, it is important to study the word so that our worship is authentic. As artists it is also important to study so that our presentations are consistent with sound doctrine. However, before we even get that far, as Christians we need to study so that we have power for living. It really does no good if we’ve got this prophetic power in one arena and can’t prophesy to release peace in our families. We’re casting demons out in public settings but can’t get the demon out of our own house. People are healed from our presentations but we can’t manage life. Something is backwards. The only way we are going to flip the script is to value The Word above silver and gold.
In case we need additional motivation to study, go back to the gospels and examine everything Jesus said about Himself in relation to His coming into the world. Simply replace the “I” and “Me” with “The Word” and you will notice the relationship between the function of the Christ and the purpose behind the Scriptures. Let’s close with two examples: “…He has sent ‘The Word’ to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed…” (Luke 4:18) “‘The Word’ [is] come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)
