In this passage, our Lord makes the claims that He came down from heaven, that He alone has seen the Father, and that he will raise up the dead on the last day. Who Jesus Christ is: that is the central question of the Christian faith. And so in vv.41-42 the people complained that he said "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they asked that quintessential question: "Who is this? Isn't this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, `I have come down from heaven'?"
What are we called as Christians to preach? It is the gospel, that Jesus is the Christ. We might want to argue the finer points of theology. But the Twelve didn't have that kind of knowledge, and they were amazing, because they understood this one thing well, that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Living God, and that he has the words of eternal life. [68,69] They continually preached Jesus to the best of their knowledge, and taught and shared and proclaimed Him, as well as living righteous lives full of good works.
What do I want? That was Jesus' first question to his disciples, wasn't it! "Where dwellest thou?" I want to dwell with Christ, to know Him, and to proclaim Christ to everyone, teaching, serving, even healing them just as Jesus did. Yet in my heart, there are a thousand other desires amalgamated in with this pure gold. Not least is the desire to have a richer knowledge of the Scriptures, of theology, the original languages of the Scriptures, etc., which I think must always be kept secondary. HE is primary.
When we've had our fill of milk, then candy and cookies, we learn to appreciate mature food as our tastes mature. Paul experienced this spiritually after he had spent a lifetime studying Scripture, theology, philosophy. At last he resolved "that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." [Philippians 3:10,11] And his preaching was not with artful rhetoric, but with Christ and his death and resurrection. He certainly taught theology to those who were believers. And so should we. But his passion was to "preach the gospel where Christ is not know".
So what of this invitation of the Lord's, to eat his flesh and drink his blood? Of course He means his word. "The flesh profits nothing, the Spirit gives life." And in the next breath, "The words I have spoken to you are spirit, and they are life." [63] Clearly it is the Lord's invitation to live by His word, to eat it daily, meditate on it day and night, and to be like a tree planted by streams of living water.
Lord, grant me not only to dwell on your word always, but proclaim it to a lost generation. Send me into all the world if I cannot serve you here. But grant that I may stay with You, Lord Jesus, and know You, and feed always upon the living bread of your word. Enable me to give this word to many others. IJNA
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