Introduction: The Bread of Life

John 6:3-14 captures the extraordinary miracle wherein Christ fed a company of 5000 men (besides women and children) with one boy’s lunch of 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish. After multiplying this small yet wholesome meal to satisfy the hunger of a vast multitude, Christ told his disciples to “gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost”. Interestingly, the 12 disciples filled 12 baskets with bread that was left over. 

The next day, the crowd followed Jesus to the other side of the sea and asked him: “Rabbi, when camest thou hither?” As the divine Son of God, Christ saw that the hearts of the people were more concerned with their temporal needs, than the things of heaven, coming to Him “not because [they] saw the miracles, but because [they] did eat of the loaves, and were filled”. 

Christ wanted to teach them a deeper lesson. So He went on to explain the key symbol from the miracle of the previous day. He said in verse 35: “I am the bread of life”. And in verse 53: “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.” 

In this episode, we’ll unpack what Jesus meant by this analogy, and why the name Gathered Fragments holds so much value.