A crowd of more than 5,000 people were hungry. So, Jesus multiplied enough bread and fish to feed the people. It was a wonderful miracle. But Jesus used this miracle to point forward to something greater—namely, Himself.
Bread is a central part of our diet. It appears in toast, rolls, sandwiches, hamburgers, pizza, and countless other foods. Bread is often called the “staff of life.” Just as a staff helps a person stand and walk, bread is a basic food item that sustains physical life. The “breadwinner” provides for the family. The “breadbasket” of the world is the region that produces abundant food. Bread sustains the body. It is essential for living. But there is something greater than earthly bread. Jesus gives bread for eternal life.
It is not surprising, then, that bread appears often in the Scriptures.
After Adam sinned, God said to him, “Cursed is the ground because of you… By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:17–19). God meant that to produce bread for the table in our fallen world will take a lot of hard work.
When God instituted the Passover meal, unleavened bread was included. When the children of Israel wandered in the wilderness and ran out of food, God gave them bread from heaven. Moses said, “This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat” (Exodus 16:15). They called it manna.
After Jesus was baptized, He was led up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The devil tempted Jesus to turn stones into bread. But Jesus answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4). Bread is important for life, but God’s Word is absolutely necessary.
In the Fourth Petition of the Lord’s Prayer we pray, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Martin Luther explains in the Small Catechism that “daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as, food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods” and much more. All of these things come from God.
And on the night when Jesus was betrayed, He instituted the Lord’s Supper. Unleavened bread is one of the contents of this meal. Of the bread, He said, “Take, eat; this is My body.”
So bread is important. It sustains physical life. But Jesus gives something greater than earthly bread. He gives eternal life. He Himself is the living Bread.
When Jesus asked Philip, “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” Philip should have said, “Why Lord, you just performed many miracles in Galilee. You healed the Centurion’s son. You healed the man at the Pool of Bethesda. I believe that you can even supply enough food to feed this large crowd.” But unfortunately, Philip did not say this. Philip thought that it was impossible to buy enough bread to feed all these people.
Andrew should have said, “Lord, you are the Son of the living God. You are life and you sustain life. You are able to satisfy the hunger of these people.” But Andrew did not say this, either. He thought that the boy’s lunch of five barley loaves and two small fish was not enough to feed so many.
Both Philip and Andrew failed to see Jesus as the solution to their problem. They failed to see Him as the giver of life. They failed to see Him as their source of life.
We are no different. As sinners, we try to solve our own problems. We take matters into our own hands first. Only when our plans fail do we finally pray to God.
Now there was much grass in the place. So Jesus had the people sit down. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread and the fish to the people as much as they wanted. The bread and fish kept multiplying. It was a wonderful miracle. The people ate until they were satisfied.
Jesus told his disciples to gather the leftovers. Why? Jesus said, “so that nothing may be lost” (v 12). The Greek word translated “lost” can also mean “perish.” In other words, “Gather up the leftover bread and fish so that it may not perish.” Don’t throw the leftovers in the garbage to rot. It is miracle food from Jesus. Furthermore, the disciples were to gather the leftovers so that they may not perish with hunger; so that they may have food for another day.
Later on, Jesus told the crowd, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (Jn 6:27). Earthly food perishes, but the food that Jesus gives us endures to eternal life and that food is Himself.
This reminds us of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” To perish means to be lost eternally, to fall into death and judgment. But what Jesus gives does not perish.
Think about the manna in the wilderness. God fed Israel with bread from heaven for forty years. Yet that manna perished. If they tried to keep it overnight, it spoiled. And even though they ate that heavenly bread, the people themselves still died in the wilderness.
The manna perished, but Jesus’ bread does not perish. The people of Isreal perished in the wilderness, but those who believe in Christ will never perish eternally. Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life.” And again, He says, “I am the living Bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
Jesus died on the cross for our sins. Yet, death could not hold Him in the grave. Life itself cannot remain in the grave. On the third day Jesus rose from the dead. That is why He calls Himself the living Bread. Whoever feeds on Him will live forever.
Jesus fed the five thousand with ordinary bread so that they may learn about the true bread. He still feeds us with earthly bread, so that we may hunger for the bread from heaven.
When we pray before meals, we confess that our food comes from God. Every piece of bread, every bite of meat, every drink of water comes from God. He feeds our bodies because He cares for us. But He also feeds our soul with His precious Gospel.
Woe to the person who cares only about the body—only about food, comfort, money, pleasure—and not about Jesus. Martha worried about serving food, but Mary sat at Jesus’ feet listening to His Word. Woe to the person who worries about work, about money, about the future, about your health and not about the one thing needful—Jesus our bread of life.
Our sinful flesh says: “I must work. I must make more money. I don’t have time for church, for prayer, or for Scripture.” But that thinking is backward. It makes no sense to abandon the Giver of every good thing while chasing after more possessions, more comfort, and more pleasure. Yet Jesus does not stand in the way of what is good for us. He warns us of the sins which seek to destroy us.
Christ will never bless your greed, pride, lust, or selfishness. But everything good comes from God—every meal, every home, every friendship, every joy in life comes from God. So it makes no sense to abandon the Creator in order to chase after what He created. Why run after “stuff” that perishes while neglecting the One who provides all things for body and soul?
Jesus says, “Do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (v. 27). In other words, earthly food is important, but Jesus our bread of eternal life is absolutely necessary.
Dearly beloved, do not see Jesus only in earthly terms. Don’t see Jesus as someone whom you will follow only if He will bless you materially. Don’t work for earthly bread alone which perishes and ignore Jesus your source of eternal life.
As sinners, we hunger for a righteousness we cannot produce. We thirst for the forgiveness of sins which we desperately need.
Just as God satisfied the Israelites’ hunger by sending bread from heaven, so also God satisfies our hunger for righteousness by sending Jesus our living bread from heaven. God sent manna to save the Israelites from starvation, but He sent His only-begotten Son to save us from damnation. The Israelites ate bread in the desert and died, but we who partake of Christ’s body and blood will live forever.
Jesus once said, “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain” (Jn 12:24). In other words, Jesus is that grain of wheat. He died for our sins and was buried. But death could not hold Him. He rose again. Therefore, Jesus is rightly identified as bread which is “living.” The resurrected Christ produces much grain. You, the baptized, are a part that harvest.
The manna in the wilderness was free. The bread Jesus gave the over 5,000 was free. So also, salvation is completely free–given by grace alone without any works. Faith simply receives what Christ has done.
Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Jesus also told Peter to “feed my sheep” namely, with the Word of God. Today, the Word of God is active and alive. When you hear it read and preached, you are being feed by it. It gave you life in the waters of Holy Baptism and it sustains your life even now.
So also, you receive Jesus, the bread of life, at this altar. Here Jesus gives of his body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sin. Jesus once said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life and I will raise him up at the last day. For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me and I in him” (Jn 6:54-56).
Earthly bread sustains the body, but our heavenly bread sustains our soul. Earthly bread costs money. We work for it by the sweat of our brow, but our heavenly bread is free. Daily bread is temporary, but in Christ, God satisfies our hunger and thirst for righteousness permanently. Christ provides bread that lasts forever and that bread is Himself. He is your living bread. In Christ, you shall never perish. Thanks be to God. Amen.
