Go deeper into the word
by Stuart Gray
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For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33).
Read John 6:24–35
I find preparing these devotions very challenging. I am not trained in theology, so I am constantly wondering whether I have made the right interpretation of the texts, if relating my life’s experience is relevant and whether the devotions are engaging enough for people to read.
But the challenge is so very rewarding. I am forced to read widely, compare translations, ponder and contemplate, pray for guidance, and draw on personal experiences to illustrate points and to share my thoughts and feelings.
In preparing for this item, I read the online NIV version of the text and then looked at my NIV study Bible to check the notes when I noted a small but significant difference in the highlighted text.
‘For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (online version).
‘For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world’ (NIV study Bible).
The second version, by personalising Jesus as the bread of heaven, was an ‘ah-ha’ moment for me, a tangible deepening of understanding of an important biblical truth.
Yes, I know the texts say that Jesus is the bread of heaven, that Jesus is the bread of life, but on reading ‘For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven …’, within moments, I had a greater depth of understating of the interconnectedness between the Israelites supported by manna from heaven during their wandering in the wilderness, Jesus as the bread of life sustaining us and giving us eternal life and the sustaining wonder of the Eucharist, ‘unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you’ (John 6:53).
It was an awesome moment – I was literally in awe of God’s plan for his people and how he executes that plan through Christ, the bread from heaven who died for our sins, so we may be in relationship with God, and who sustains us with the sacrament of the Eucharist.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the rewards you give us when we study your word. We pray that we gain new insights and new understandings that reflect on who we are in the church and the community. We thank you for Christ, the life-giving bread from heaven who sustains us until we are eternally in your presence. Amen.
Stuart, with his wife Pamela Dalgliesh, lives in Mansfield, Victoria. Stuart has a background in agricultural science, rural journalism and corporate affairs. He loves living on a small farm in the beautiful High Country of Victoria, being involved in the Mansfield community and travel. He is currently travelling in Europe which will include a visit to the Poznan region of Poland, from where some of Australia’s original German Lutherans came.
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