"Me, I am the bread living"

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven ; If anyone eats this bread, he will live forever ; Now the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." John 6. 51

In the first part of his speech (until verse 40), Jesus speaks to the crowds of Galilee to convince them that he himself is better than the manna in Moses' time, the bread that God gives so that men Live by it.

But the Jews of Judea who were there, maybe religious, argued with him inside the synagogue of Capernaum. They "murmured against him" (v. 41), like the Israelites of old when they described the manna as "miserable bread" (Name 21: 5), despising this gift of God.

Jesus now insists on the responsibility of each one : it is not enough to hear him declare that he is the bread of life ; It is also necessary to "eat" (v. 51), that is, to appropriate it in a personal decision of faith. The bread that gives eternal life to the one who eats it, "it is my flesh," says the Lord symbolically. He, Jesus, the Son of God, came down from heaven to be the Son of man who will give his life for the life of the world. He must offer himself as a sacrifice so that his flesh becomes an invigorating nourishment.

Jesus distinguishes two different aspects in this action of appropriating his person :

- First, the sinner is invited to eat his flesh and to drink his blood once and for all to receive life (verses 53, 54). He thus appropriates the death of Christ (the blood separated from the flesh, it is death) to be resurrected with him and to experience a life that will never end.

- Then the believer is called to nourish Christ in a continuous way, every day of his life (v. 55, 56), considering what he has been, what he has done and what he has done, it is now.

Only thus does the Christian maintain himself in communion with his Savior. He remains in Christ and Christ in him. Jesus is the center of his life, inspiring his thoughts, his affections, his will, all the motives of his conduct. No relationship can be closer or more intimate : when we absorb a food, it enters into us until we become part of ourselves !

Source (Please the Lord)