Today’s Gospel
I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. – John 6:51
Reflection
When it comes to the bread which comes down from heaven, we are sure to remember that God sent manna from heaven to feed the Israelites in the wilderness. However, this verse tells us that the Lord not only provides for our material needs but also supplies our spiritual life. When the Lord Jesus did His work on earth, He expressed many words to supply the people of that time based on what they needed. Thus “the living bread which came down from heaven” refers to the Lord’s words.
God’s words are very important to us. Jehovah God once said, “And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Jehovah does man live” (Deuteronomy 8:3). We do not just need material manna to fill our stomachs, but the provision of God’s words. Actually, God didn’t only express His words to supply us in the past. In the last days, He continues to speak and bestows more words on us. The Lord Jesus said, “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will show you things to come” (John 16:12–13). It is also recorded in Revelation 2:17, “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; To him that overcomes will I give to eat of the hidden manna….” Only the truth that God bestows upon us in the last days can open up the mysteries in the Bible that we don’t understand. What’s more, it will provide for the needs of our spiritual life, so that we can experience the true meaning of the words “man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of Jehovah does man live.”
