Satisfied With Jesus?

But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” [Numbers 11.6]

Even though it had begun as a complete miracle, the daily appearance of manna (except on the Sabbath) became commonplace to Israel and they became ungrateful.

Manna was quite literally bread from heaven.

Jesus is bread from heaven.

Israel's rejection of manna, in retrospect, was a picture of the Church's rejection of Christ. We see this play out in John chapter 6. Look at the similarities between Israel's complaint about manna and the people of Jesus' time rejecting Him.

Then the people began to murmur in disagreement because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They said, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” [John 6.41-42]

Just as Israel became offended at the familiarity of manna, the people became offended because they thought they knew who Jesus was. The implications of this for the modern Church are worthy of our attention. Have we become complacent and bored with Jesus?

The interesting thing about manna is that it was a daily phenomenon. It became routine. And, even with the Sabbath anomaly to the routine, they became bored with that as well. But, haven't we done the same? Haven't we religiously accepted the anomaly of going to church once or twice a week but failed to remain grateful for the miracle of daily bread in Christ that God has provided? Oh, but there's more...

I mentioned that Israel became offended at manna... The thing is, manna was evidently good for them. It wasn't until they got their wish for meat and God sent quail upon them that plagues broke out among them. 

So also people are became offended at Jesus Who said they must eat His flesh and drink His blood. What people don't realize is that it is the body and blood of Jesus that redeems them from every curse known to man (Galatians 3.13)! And, what do we want? Better healthcare, medicine, money, and self-fulfillment. Is it not rejection of Christ's body and blood when we seek our provision and healing from the hand of man and not from the hand of God in the "bread from heaven," Jesus Christ?

Compare side effects of medicine to Israel's plague from over indulging on quail. ...just for fun.

Jesus was not at all vague about our need for "daily bread." He even taught us to pray for it in Matthew 6. But Jesus was also very clear about His being the bread of life.

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes has eternal life. Yes, I am the bread of life! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” [John 6.47-51]

What does this all mean? It means we should see the value of Jesus' body and blood! It means we should stop 'stuffing our mouths' with that which God never intended to satisfy us because of our insatiable appetite for "more, better, faster, etc."

It is not ironic, in today's OYCB reading that Israel's ordeal with manna and quail is presented historically just before they gross failure when it came to entering the Promised Land.

There is an old hymn whose refrain says this:

I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied with Jesus, But the question comes to me, As I think of Calvary, Is my Savior satisfied with me? [Satisfied With Jesus]

What "land" lies before us to be conquered that our unbridled appetites for "more" are preventing us from being prepared in and through God's provision of daily bread in Jesus Christ?

Father, this is deeper than I even imagined. May my appetite for the world and its solutions and luxuries be overcome in a commitment to the daily bread of Jesus that You have so graciously provided.