The Bread of Life and Passover

It was an unprecedented miracle. Thousands had been fed with just a few loaves and fish. But a key to this miracle was realizing that this took place around Passover.

This feast, created by God, was central to the protection and guidance of His people, and their deliverance from bondage in Egypt. It was essential for His provision for them while they were in the wilderness.

On that mount, Jesus showed His direct link with Passover. With this miracle, Jesus helped people realize that it was not Moses but God who gave “the true bread out of heaven.” In fact, Jesus announced, “I am the bread of life.”

He was not just the key to meeting short-term needs but every need. Even eternal life: “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”

At the time of this miracle, the masses were looking only at short-term needs, just like the Israelites in the wilderness. But, as God demonstrated in the wilderness, Jesus was teaching that, with Him, all things were possible. That He was the “living bread.” Alive. Real. Very practical. Yet very spiritual.

He could meet every need, any time. He could provide all the blessings of Passover. Protection. Guidance. Deliverance. Provision. And eternal life.

Jesus was continuing to show that He was the fulfillment of Passover (which, this year, began yesterday at sundown). He was the Lamb of God (John 1:36). Looking forward, He fulfilled Passover through the bread and the cup (John 13).

Passover still had profound meaning for believers. In your life, realize that Jesus is the bread of life, for you. He is with you, in every wilderness. With Him, all things are possible.