Jesus and the Old Testament (Manna)

In John 6, the crowd that was just fed five loaves of bread and two fish by Jesus has come to greet him on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. There are about 5,000 men not including women and children. They have asked Jesus a serious question, “What must we do to do the work God requires?” They are basically asking, “what does God want us to do?”. Jesus answers simply, believe in the one he sent, meaning himself. All they have to do is believe. 

This however, does not go over well. They want a sign from Jesus, something that proves he is worthy of being believed in. Nevermind the fact that he just provided them with a huge miracle of feeding them! They then reference an Old testament passage that reflects their thoughts. They reference Exodus 16:4 which is quoted in Psalm 78:24-25. The reference is to when Israel ate manna in the wilderness. This bread from heaven was given to them so they could eat and survive in the wilderness, it was a sign from God. They want a similar sign from Jesus at this moment in time. Jesus’ answer was not what they were looking for. 

Jesus first responds with a correction. Clearly the people believe Moses provided the anna, but Jesus quickly redirects the provision to God. God provided Israel with bread from heaven back then and he is still providing bread from heaven at this moment in time. In John 6:33, Jesus says, “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”. Jesus is trying to get them to understand that the manna the people ate in the wilderness was from God but it did not satisfy the most desperate need, salvation. It provided them a temporary filling from hunger but Jesus later goes on to teach that He himself is the true bread and by eating of this bread, it will lead to everlasting life. 

This may get kind of confusing when Jesus starts talking about eating his flesh, but he already mentioned in the beginning what we had to do, believe. By believing we are partaking of the “bread” of the Savior. 

The people in the wilderness who ate manna died but those who believe in Jesus will not die in eternity because this bread (Jesus), gives life. Jesus sees the manna as a foreshadow of himself. God provided bread in the wilderness but there would later be one who could provide what we needed most, salvation. Jesus sees himself fulfilling the true meaning of the manna in the wilderness.