421. JOH 6:49, JOH 6:50. CHRIST TYPIFIED BY THE MANNA

Joh_6:49, Joh_6:50. Christ Typified By The Manna

"Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven that a man may eat thereof and not die."’97Joh_6:49, Joh_6:50.

Jesus has graciously explained to us the spiritual signification of the manna with which God supplied his people in the desert To them it was one of the chief blessings he bounty of God provided. It was the staff of their life. But it also was designed to lead their minds to that gift which God had promised to their fathers’97the Messiah, who was emphatically to be "the bread of life" to a perishing world. We do not envy the Jews who were privileged with the type, and who were fed with angels’ food; but we rejoice with Jew and Gentile, that we now possess "the bread which cometh down from heaven," &c. Let us contemplate, the subject, with a view of discerning the resemblance between the "manna," and Christ "the bread of life." Notice,

I. The Origin of the Manna.

It was food from heaven. It came from he munificent storehouse of God. The Israelites were in a condition of need. God graciously compassionated them, and bountifully sent them food from heaven. Christ as the bread of life is the free gift of God. He came down from heaven to supply the wants of our starving race. He gave himself for the life of the world. Observe,

II. The Peculiarities of the Manna.

The manna was a small grain, as little as a seed of coriander. It was particularly sweet, like wafers of fine honey. In form it was round, and in color white. In each of these particulars it seemed to prefigure the Saviour. In his appearance to the sons of men, he was as a root out of a dry ground, nothing of earthly dignity or glory was associated with him. In his nature, offices, and merit, he is unspeakably sweet and precious to the believer. The roundness of the manna shadowed forth the completeness or perfection of Christ. Immaculate, eternal, and unchanging. In the color of the manna, we are led to contemplate the holiness of his person and the righteousness of his administrations. Notice,

III. The Manner in which it was bestowed.

The manna was bestowed freely, abundantly, every morning. Jesus Christ as the heavenly bread was given freely, the result of God’s wise and overflowing grace. In Christ there is an abundance of mercy and grace. An exhaustless fulness; even all the fulness of God. Jesus too is the daily bread of the soul. He is the morning portion of his people, He was given, too, by promise in the morning of the world As the manna fell in double quantities or the sixth day so as to supply their need on the sabbath, so Christ was more fully revealed, and more plentifully made known and more graciously offered on the morning of the sixth day, when he appeared in our flesh as the Messiah and Saviour of the world. Notice,

IV. The Way in which it was received and used.

(1) It fell round about the camp. So Jesus is made known by the preaching of the gospel and the ordinances of Christianity. (2) It was designed specifically for the Israelites. So Jesus for believers. Offered freely to all men, yet faith is requisite in each and all who savingly enjoy his gracious benefits. (3) The Israelites had to go forth and gather it. So Jesus, the gift of God, must be received into the heart, by a believing appropriation of him to our souls. (4) They gathered it early and daily. And Christ is to be the chief object of our solicitudes and desires. He must be preferred to all things. In all things have the preeminence. And daily must we live upon him. He is our souls’ unfailing support, and essentially needful to us every moment. (5) The manna was to be prepared by being ground and baked with fire. Thus it was necessary that Christ should suffer and bear our iniquities, that the wrath, justly denounced against sin, should consume him as the great sacrifice, in order that we might have reconciliation and life through his name. And this is the essence of the gospel, that "Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures," &c., 1Co_15:1-3. (6) All the manna was to be eaten. Jesus must be received wholly and fully. In his twofold nature’97God and man. In his threefold offices’97as prophet, priest, and king. In his obedient life, sacrificial death, resurrection power, and heavenly glory. (7) The manna, if laid up, and not used, putrefied, &c. So Christ preached and offered and not personally received, will be the savor of death, and expose such to more aggravated punishment; seeing they have rejected the anointed Jesus, and done despite to the richest exhibition of the grace of God. But the manna could not fully typify the excellencies of Christ. The manna was designed for the body. Jesus is the bread of the soul, and the Saviour both of body and soul. The manna was only a temporary provision, it ceased when they got to Canaan. Jesus is the present and everlasting good of his people. On earth and in heaven, in time and eternity, he will be all their joy and salvation. Those who ate the manna died. Jesus is the eternal life of his people. The bread which if a roan eat thereof he shall never die. The manna was limited to the thousands of Israel; Jesus is given and freely offered to the whole world, 1Jn_4:14; Joh_3:14-17.

Application

1. Now is Christ Jesus as the bread of life freely offered to you.

2. You cannot reject him and live.

3. Your opportunities and mercies are rapidly passing away. Procrastination has been ruinous to countless myriads of souls.

4. Then gratefully, humbly, and believingly receive Jesus as the only Saviour, suited to your state, and now graciously offered you in the gospel of life.

5. The health, and vigor, and joy of Christians, greatly depend on feeding freely and constantly on this bread sent down from heaven. See Joh_6:53, Joh_6:54.

Autor: JABEZ BURNS