"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." -John, the Apostle

As I read through Leviticus this morning, I was pondering what the "bread" offering was, and so I went to John 6 to read a bit about Jesus saying He was the bread of life.

The bread offering in the OT is something which fits with all the other offerings of oil, flour, lambs, bulls, goats, and even wine, for various essential duties God wanted His people to adhere to.

I'm still learning about all the sacrifices, and imagine I will until I die. The wonderful thing is to read, study, and ponder God's truth, and then the Holy Spirit helps us understand what these things mean, either on my own, or at Bible studies, or in church. The Christian life is a combination of all these ways of growing in His truth and grace, isn't it.

Here's a short quote from a commentary, I like to glean from, on John 6:27:

"The Jews did not understand Christ's saying about food (i.e., bread; see verses 31-35) any better than the Samaritan woman grasped his saying about water. Both gave a literal interpretation to his mashal*, and both were wrong! In the light of the explanation which follows in verse 32-35 (cf. for the last clause also 5:31-37) we know that the saying has the following meaning:

• The Mashal: "No longer work for food that perishes,
• It's Meaning: Stop yearning for bread-cakes and the like, as if physical food would ever be able to fill the void in your heart. Realize that this food perishes, has no abiding value.
• The Mashal: "but work for food that endures for eternal life,
• It's Meaning: Instead, render to God the work of faith in the One whom God has sent, the real food, which produces and sustains eternal life;
• The Mashal: "which food the Son of Man will give you."
• It's Meaning: which food, I, the Son of man, will give; i.e., I will give Myself for those among you who believe in Me." -William Hendriksen

Jesus is the Bread we need to eat. Not literal bread, but spiritual bread. How do we eat this Bread? We eat by reading, hearing, studying, and pondering the Word, which is Christ. This will be the sustenance for our soul spirit, heart, and mind, as the Lord, through the Holy Spirit, in a mysterious way feeds us, and nourishes us, just as real food nourishes our physical bodies, and so we then grow up in the knowledge and grace of Jesus our Savior, God, and Friend, and become more and more like Him, and less like ourselves;- although we will always be who God made us to be, and those who have eaten this Bread of life will be together with Jesus for all eternity, with perfect joy and love every second. Now there's a truth with a wonderful aroma to the soul, and good food to taste and savor.

King David knew how to feed spiritually on this bread a thousand years before Christ came, as he looked forward to the day of Christ, with not full understanding, and yet David knew, for he says:

"Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!" Psalm 34:8


*mashal: A Mashal is a short parable with a moral lesson or religious allegory, called a nimshal. It should be noted that "mashal" is used also to designate other forms in rhetoric, such as the fable and apothegm.