17^th January

“Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” Simon Peter replied, “Lord to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.””

John 6:67-69

In John chapter 6, Jesus reveals to the crowds, that witnessed the miracle of the ‘feeding of the 5000’, the significance of it. Jesus said, that more than the miraculous physical provision of food, He wanted to feed the spiritually hungry with Himself. Jesus referred to Himself as the ‘Bread of Life,’ the food to satisfy our deepest longings, desires and needs. Yet many of Jesus’ listeners found it hard to accept this teaching, as they took it as literal and took offense at the imagery of eating Jesus’ body, particularly as this was being taught in the synagogue. As a sign of their offense, much of the crowd dispersed and deserted Jesus.

Of course Jesus was not encouraging cannibalism, but rather He was talking about Himself as being the spiritual food we so desperately need. The truth is, many of us are starving for the truth, for more than this world offers us, for hope, for love and for acceptance. When we accept Jesus into our lives, read His word (the Bible), it fills our cravings, almost as if we are eating. This is what Jesus meant. He meant that only He can satisfy us.

Peter knew this too. When Jesus asked him, ‘are you leaving too’, Peter replied and said ‘where else can we go? You have the words that give eternal life!’ Can we say today, that we are fully confident that there is no-where we can go that can compare to Jesus? He alone fills us until we are full; full of His love, His grace, His Kindness, and His mercy. He is the Bread of Life. Don’t look any further than Jesus for your spiritual food.