had their fathers' having eaten it eventually de- livered them from the power of death (v.^^). Jesus also showetl that His hearers had failed to per- ceive the true purpose of the miracle He had wrought. The hread of the miracle was intended for ' a sign ' (v."^^), which they had not had faith to discern (v.*^), that He coukl supply them with the true bread of the soul. Inasmuch as the multiply- ing of the loaves was due to His love, and involved the repeated .action of that love in the gift of a satisfying meal to each of them severallj* (cf. Swete, Sf. Mark, 1*27''), it was ' a sign ' that should have led them to believe that He covdd give them the true bread. But thej' had sought Him at Caper- naum, not hungering for this bread, but hanker- ing after more earthly good, like that which they had already received. Accordinglj-, Jesus spoke of the bread of the miracle as ' the meat which perisheth,' and contrasted it with ' the meat which endureth unto eternal life' (v.-*^). These distinc- tions of the bread of the miracle as well as the manna from the true bread of the soul are iin- portfint and vital, and they assist us to lay hold of our Lord's meaning when He said, ' I am the living bread.' This expression has no parallel in the OT, but it is in close affinitj- with the ' living water' in ch. 4. As 'living water' is water that never ceases to gush forth, so ' living bread ' is bread that Jesus never ceases to nmltiply for the supply of our spiritual Avants, — bread, therefore, l)y which our spiritual sustenance is perj^etually renewed (cf. Dods, Expositor s Bible, in loc). It is bread in ever-multiplying, unmeasured store, that can never be exhausted by the famishing. As Jesus speaks of 'giving' this bi'ead (v.-"), it must mean, in the first instance, the same thing as the better water which He also spoke of ' giving,' namely. His Avord. This Wew is in agreement with the teaching of vv.**^-**, and is also supported by our Lords use of Dt 8» (Mt 4^ Lk 4^). But He not only speaks of 'giving' bread. He also says, ' I am the living bread.' The key to His meaning- is found in the Prologue. Jesus not only utters the word of God, but is ' from eternity the very Word of God, by which God manifests Himself. He is not one who leads to the waj% but Himself the Way ; not one who preaches truth, but Him- self the Truth ' (P 14« ; Hibbcrt Journal, Oct. 1905, p. 6). So here Jesus not only gives the bread, but is Himself 'the living bread," — 'the actual source of nutrition.' He 'speaks of Himself not as re- seml)ling, but as being the veritable vine, the veritable bread, the veritable light of the world ; implying that He is the absolute truth of all these things ; the supreme reality which they partially manifest in their several spheres' (lllingworth, Dirine Immnnence-, 135, cf. 137). Jesus adds, 'which came down from he.aven.' As in the plij'- sical realm, so, too, in the spiritual, the food that sustains us comes down from heaven, and to pro- cure it is beyond the re.ach of our own powers (Is 5510. nj_ ^g j.|jg heaven-given bread which feeds our bodies ultimately assumes the humble form of the baked loaf, which, inasnmch as it nourishes life, retains the life of tlie living wheat, and can impart it, so Jesus, in order to feed our souls, must humble Himself and ' be found in fashion as a man,' be born, and that in a low condition (v.''^), undergo tiie miseries of this life, and at the end of His earthly course even ' give his flesh for the life of the world.' The power of this truth of His self- humbling love for our sake enters into our inner personal life, and we are enabled to assimilate it to ourselves as the food we eat, by means of His word. His word is tiie ' bread which strengtheneth man's heart' (Ps 104^5)^ because it is the embodi- ment of Him who, having humbled Himself to death, now for ever lives. Through it the repeated
action of His love still ministers the gift to each hungering soul. The Bread of heaven, in heaven itself, will be the word which Jesus speaks to His people. — It is the same truth respecting Christ as our Living Food and Strength that is ' represented, sealed, and applied " to us in the Lord's Supper.