Daily Reflection – 5/7/19
Sacred Scripture
The crowd said to Jesus, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
(John 6: 30-35)
Reflection
Why did Jesus call himself the bread of life? The Jews understood that God promised them manna from heaven to sustain them on their journey to the promised land. Bread is the very staple of life. We could not live without food for very long. Bread sustains us. But what is life?
Jesus clearly meant something more than mere physical existence. The life Jesus refers to is connected with God, the author of life. Real life is a relationship with the living God, a relationship of trust, love, obedience. This is what Jesus makes possible for us — a loving relationship with the God who created us for love with Him. Apart from Jesus no one can enter that kind of life and relationship.
Are you satisfied with mere physical existence or do you hunger for real life? Jesus makes three claims here. First, he offers himself as spiritual food which produces the very life of God within us. Second, he promises unbroken friendship and freedom from the fear of being forsaken or cut off from God. Third, he offers us the hope of sharing in his resurrection. Those who accept Jesus as Lord and Savior will be raised up to immortal life with Jesus when he comes again on the last day.
That was His promise to us. That is what our faith is all about. Yet, in light of that great promise, how many of us devote the majority of our day to pursuing that promise? How many of us get so caught up in OUR promises, OUR Needs and OUR issues? Instead they are HIS promises we should be pursuing, they are HIS issues we should care about and they are HIS needs that should be important in our life.
Without His priorities, we will never know the joy and hope of the resurrection.
Prayer of The Day
Lord Jesus Christ, your death brought life and hope where there was once only despair and defeat. Give me the unshakeable hope of everlasting life, the inexpressible joy of knowing your unfailing love, and the unquestioning faith and obedience in doing the will of our Father in heaven.
Daily Note
Coming to Christ requires moving—getting up from where we are, going to where he is, letting go of whatever our hands clench, and turning our palms up to be filled with his gifts. To believe in Christ is to place our faith and confidence in him. It is to take him at his word and to accept in awe the truth of his real presence in our lives.
