John 6:28 So they said to him, “What should we do in order to perform the works of God?” 29 Yeshua answered, “Here’s what the work of God is: to trust in the one he sent!”
30 They said to him, “Nu, what miracle will you do for us, so that we may see it and trust you? What work can you perform? 31 Our fathers ate man in the desert — as it says in the Tanakh, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ 32 Yeshua said to them, “Yes, indeed! I tell you it wasn’t Moshe who gave you the bread from heaven. But my Father is giving you the genuine bread from heaven; 33 for God’s bread is the one who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread from now on.” 35 Yeshua answered, “I am the bread which is life! Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever trusts in me will never be thirsty. 36 I told you that you have seen but still don’t trust. 37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will certainly not turn away. 38 For I have come down from heaven to do not my own will but the will of the One who sent me. 39 And this is the will of the One who sent me: that I should not lose any of all those he has given me but should raise them up on the Last Day. 40 Yes, this is the will of my Father: that all who see the Son and trust in him should have eternal life, and that I should raise them up on the Last Day.”
What have you eaten today?
Better question: why have you eaten today?
There is a popular phrase used these days to describe what happens when someone misses a meal and they really need it: hangry. Hungry and angry. What a horrible combination. At least for those that have to be around them.
If we get angry when we miss one meal, what happens when we miss a whole day? A few days? A week?
No way to ever know, huh? At least not in our culture. We will make whatever adjustments necessary to be sure we are fed.
So why don’t we make necessary adjustments to actually get fed? We can go days, even weeks, without even thinking about the Messiah, the true Bread of Life.
But going without lunch?
“Get out of my way you sorry piece of #@&%*! I gotta eat!”
Oh, the passion we develop when we get hungry. The pain we feel is beyond what we can bear, is it not?
If you’ve ever tried fasting for a few days you know how hard that first day is. The only thing on your mind is food. On day 2, you’re thinking about how nice a plate of boiled brussel sprouts would be. Day 3, you’re licking up dust. Any calories you can get, right?
It’s amazing how we can go from being super-picky when browsing a menu to licking rocks in just a few dozen hours.
And the mental anguish during this progression -- that’s brutal. You can’t work and you don’t even want to play. There is only one thing you desire. (see where we’re going here?)
We need to develop an appetite for the Kingdom that’s at least somewhat comparable to our physical appetite. How on earth could we possibly do this?
Weirdly enough, I think fasting is a useful tool for this. The physical teaches the spiritual.
If you were hungry, really starving, then you would have only one thing on your mind. Once your mind has experienced real hunger, it will know what it means to long for something you need in order to live. Oh, that desperate plea to just have a taste -- that's where we want to live.
Once you get really hungry, then and only then, the Bread of Life becomes a brutally real necessity in your life. You will crave it the way you crave your favorite meal. Day in and day out. You will cry out to Him:
“Sir, give us this bread from now on!"
And He will. This Bread of Life will sustain you as long as you choose to eat from it.
Every single day we are to eat this Bread. Not once per week, not a few times a week. Every day. Even then, for most of us, anything less than two or three times per day isn't even enough.
From the small urge you get for a snack to the famished feeling you experience from not eating all day, that's the reality we must walk in with regard to our Savior. He is Life. It's Him that sustains us.
This concept is nothing new. It's even alluded to in this story. He's the manna for us here today. He is the Bread from Heaven. The Israelites had physical bread to collect and their physical lives depended upon it:
Exodus 16:4 YHVH said to Moshe, “Here, I will cause bread to rain down from heaven for you. The people are to go out and gather a day’s ration every day. By this I will test whether they will observe my Torah or not."
Every day.
Every day you are to go gather the Bread you need to live. But on the 6th day we can get enough to carry us through the 7th. And on the 7th day, the Father Himself appears in our presence. If you let that sink in and respond, your life will be revolutionized. All of ours will, also. We need you to do this.
Go back to that Exodus verse and you'll notice one little thing said regarding the manna: "By this I will test whether they will observe my Torah or not."
If you claim to follow His commands, then this is your test: Do you go out and get your rations every day?
If not, let yourself get hungry.
If you have trouble seeking Him the way you seek your next meal, consider skipping the meal so that you can be reminded how important He is.
Those dry spells where you have plenty of food mask the hunger you need in order to live. But you can refine your hunger.
Yeshua tells us that we must hunger and thirst. Here is an excerpt from our study of the Sermon on the Mount that can help frame this a bit more:
Matthew 5:6 “How blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness! for they will be filled.”
What does it mean to hunger and thirst?
Obviously it does not mean that we feel and we can attain unto this righteousness by our own efforts and endeavor.
That is the worldly view of righteousness which concentrates on man himself and leads to the individual pride of the Pharisee. Or to the pride of one nation as against other nations, regarding itself as being better and superior.
Recall, being poor in spirit is a negation of every form of self-reliance so this is not something you can do on your own.
It means a consciousness of our need, of our deep need. I go further, it means a consciousness of our desperate need. It is not a passing desire. Hunger is something deep and profound that goes on until it is satisfied.
It hurts, it is painful.
Just like actual, physical hunger and thirst. It is something that goes on increasing and makes one feel desperate. It is something that causes suffering and agony. To be hungry is not enough; I must really be starving to know what is in His heart towards me.
When the prodigal son was starving he turned to his father.
Now that is the whole position.
- D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones