| Devotional Hours with the Bible |
Chapter 11 |
Page 3 |
The people had another question. Jesus had claimed to be the Messiah. What proof could He give? “What sign showest thou then?” They remembered that Moses had given their fathers manna, which proved that He was God’s prophet, and they wanted Jesus to do something great which would prove that He was one sent of God. They were thinking all the time of common food, daily bread, for they were poor and life was hard for them. It is not uncommon in our own times to hear practically the same demand for a sign. People want prosperity as a mark of divine favor. They want to find some reward for following Christ. If their religion does not bring them bread and earthly comforts, they think it is not measuring up to its promises. Yet it is not in this way that Christ is to reward those who follow Him. He gives life, with inward joy and peace, and not ease and luxury and wealth.
Jesus answered their demand by telling them that He was doing for them a far greater work than Moses had done. Moses gave only bread for the body. It was not the true, the real bread — bread which answered life’s deepest needs. Now God was giving them through Him true bread from heaven. It was not manna, but a person, a life — “the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.” Nothing that grows out of the soil of earth will feed a human soul. We were made for God and for heaven, and must feed our immortal nature upon heavenly bread. Nothing but bread will satisfy hunger; nothing but Christ will meet the cravings of a life.
The people begin now to have a true thought of Christ’s meaning, although it is still only a glimmering. Instead of asking further questions, however, they make a prayer, “Lord, evermore give us this bread.” It was a good prayer, but when they made it they did not know what they were asking. They wanted the bread that had in it the power to bless, and yet they did not know what that bread was. It is often so in our praying — we have a dim vision of something very beautiful, very good but it is only a shadowy vision to us. It is well that we have an Intercessor to take our poor, ignorant, mistaken prayers and interpret them aright for us, securing for us not what we thought we would get, nor what we would like to receive, but something better, richer, and more divine.
Page 3
<< Prior Page 1 2 3 4 Next Page >>