Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” – John 6:32

Scripture reading: 2 Kings 4:38-44; John 6:22-51

As the Lord sustained Elisha and the prophets through a severe famine, we see that He uses whatever means He wills to accomplish His purposes, even a little bit of flour and twenty small loaves of bread.  But that should not surprise us because it points to the biblical truth that God will always provide daily bread for His people (Matthew 6:11, 25-34). It also foreshadows the truth that Jesus is the Living Bread who cleanses and sustains all who look to Him in saving faith.

All the Old Testament writers looked forward to Christ. Every cleansing is a foreshadow of the cleansing that Christ brings. Even the cleansing of the stew foreshadows the cleansing, the purification, that God brings to rancid sinners.

The bread brought by the man from Baal-shalishah is pointing ahead to Him who is the Bread of Life, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In John 6:51 Jesus declared, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (the flesh being a reference to His body being pierced and crucified at Calvary).

It is by grace through faith in Christ alone that we are sustained in this life and raised up in perfection, body and soul, on the last day.  If you truly believe that, then live to the praise of God’s glorious grace, today and always!

Suggestions for prayer

Thank the Lord for His cleansing power and thank Him for His Son Who is the Living Bread Who sustains us throughout the pilgrimage of this life and throughout eternity.

This daily devotional is available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional. Rev. Ted Gray has served as pastor of First United Reformed Church in Oak Lawn, Illinois for the last 15 years.