30 So they asked Him, “What sign then will You perform, so that we may see it and believe You? What will You do?

31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ “

32 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.

33 For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

— John 6:30-33

He humbled you, and in your hunger He gave you manna to eat, which neither you nor your fathers had known, so that you might understand that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

— Deuteronomy 8:3

He fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers had not known, in order to humble you and test you, so that in the end He might cause you to prosper.

— Deuteronomy 8:16

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace and mercy from Christ to you!

One day after Jesus fed the 5000 people at the mountainside, these people asked for another miracle so that they would believe. Like physical hunger requiring continual feeding, they sought another miracle to sustain their shaking faith. They knew that for 40 years in Moses’ time, God sent manna form heaven to feed the hungry Israelites, their ancestors. The crowd seems to demand that Jesus feed them like Moses did in the wilderness as a prerequisite for their faith. They sought further proof that Jesus was greater than Moses. They failed to connect God’s gracious provision through Moses to His mercy and goodness.

Jesus emphatically explained that God, not Moses, supplied His wandering people with manna. God’s gift of manna only sustained the physical body. The miraculous provision ended when God’s people entered Canaan. In contrast to this perishable bread, God now offered true bread, form heaven: “For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”  Jesus Himself, the Son of God, offers uniquely imperishable life-giving and soul-satisfying nourishment for the human soul. Jesus is the source of spiritual sustenance for the world.