The Bread of Life
Jesus insists that His present discourse is about a new, more veritably
celestial Food which He Himself authenticates as "the true Bread from
Heaven," that "comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the
world!"
After the
multiplication of the loaves, the crowds chased after Jesus in hopes of another
free meal. When Jesus then explained that they should work for imperishable
food, and explicitly linked that with belief in Him, the crowds grew excited,
and challenged Him to match the miracle of the manna, when the Israelites were
given a steady supply of bread from Heaven for forty years.
Instead of turning
down the challenge, Jesus ups the ante with a triple contrast: "Amen,
amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from Heaven, but My
Father [who] gives you the true bread from Heaven!"
While the Jews
certainly believed in the one true God, their experience of Him was mainly
mediated by Moses, the man who was rightly revered as their great liberator,
leader, and lawgiver. Even though it was recognized that almighty God Himself
is the actual Liberator, Leader, and Lawgiver who worked through His servant
Moses, in common parlance, God's words and works were often attributed to
Moses. Now, there's nothing wrong in itself with that practice within common
sense limits- even Jesus spoke this way at times, e.g., Mark 7:10, when He
quoted one of God's commandments, saying, "For Moses said, 'Honor your
father and your mother... .'" But when Jesus insists here (John 6:32) that
"it was not Moses... but My Father...," He is deliberately
contrasting the mediated experience of God through Moses and the Old Testament
with the more immediate, that is, un-meditated, experience of God in the New
Covenant.
The contrast
continues, as Jesus reminisces about Moses with the past (the verb gave), but
vividly presents the current work of the Heavenly Father in the present (the
verb gives). And while not denying the miraculous nature of that desert manna
which was justifiably recognized as "bread from Heaven," Jesus
insists that His present discourse is about a new, more veritably celestial
Food which He Himself authenticates as "the true Bread from Heaven,"
that "comes down from Heaven, and gives life to the world!"
Well, that
certainly excites the crowd, so that they plead, "Sir, give us this bread
always!" But, the true Bread from Heaven is then revealed as not just a
treasured token, or memorial mouthful, or suitable souvenir of any sort, for
Jesus quickly and clearly identifies this true Bread from Heaven... .