The Bread of Life
1Kings
19:4-9
3 Elijah was afraid and ran
for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, 4
while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom
bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough,
Lord,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay
down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said,
“Get up and eat.”
6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread
baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down
again.
7 The angel of the Lord came back
a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too
much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he
traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of
God. 9 There he went into a cave and spent the night.
In the Old Testament, God provided bread in the form of manna for the
Israelites in the dessert or in the above reading to feed Elijah. The Old
Testament also says that “man does not live by bread alone but by every word
that proceeds from the Mouth of God.” (Deuteronomy 8)
In the New Testament, John writes that “In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God and the Word was God … and
the Word became flesh.”
Jesus said in John 6, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven.
If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his
flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds
on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, …” He lost many
followers on that day when He said this because they could not understand or
imagine eating His flesh.
They failed to realize that Jesus is the living Word of God who existed
since the beginning with God and who became flesh when He was
born in the stable and that man cannot live by bread alone but by every
Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Jesus is …
The Bread of Life