It's interesting, bread is one of the most universally eaten foods. It's found in every culture. It serves as a good metaphor for food in general. We need bread (food) to survive physically. But the Bible says we need more than food to survive. In Deuteronomy 8:3 God said that He fed them with manna so that He might make them know that man doesn't live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out the mouth of the Lord. And what is the word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord? But Jesus Himself! We see this in John 1:1- In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. In John 6:51 Jesus says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
The old testament is full of foreshadowings of the coming Christ. In Exodus 16 we read about manna which came from heaven which was a type of Christ, but was only a mere foreshadowing, not able to truly fulfill like Jesus, who is the Bread of Heaven. We can learn a lot about Jesus by comparing Him as the Bread of Life to the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness those 40 years.
MANNA
In Exodus 16:1-
And they journeyed from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the Wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after they departed from the land of Egypt. Then the whole congregation of the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. And the children of Israel said to them, "Oh, that we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to the full! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger." Then the Lord said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you. And the people shall go out and gather a certain quota every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in My law or not. And it shall be on the sixth day that they shall prepare what they bring in, and it shall be twice as much a they gather daily"
The The gathering of manna here was a test for the children of Israel to see if they would obey how they ought to collect it. They were given a limited amount according to each one's need. The manna given by God was a result of the children of Israel's complaining. The manna was only good for a limited of time. All who ate the manna eventually still died.
BREAD FROM HEAVEN
Now let's contrast this with Jesus feeding of the 5,000 In John 6:5-14:
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?" But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little." One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place, So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted. So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is come into the world."
The feeding of the 5,000 exemplified how Jesus broke His body and distributes it to many. Like He said in John 12:24- "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain." His body that was broken for us provides true nourishment for eternal life. The feeding of the 5,000 is symbolic of Jesus being the True Bread from heaven. While the manna was for the Israelites a test to see if they would keep the law of God, Christ was the fulfillment of the Law, the only One who could keep it. While with the manna the children of Israel could only have a certain quota, the law of Moses likely could only bring sinners so far-to the foot of the Cross where grace and mercy were desperately needed to redeem. Also while the children of Israel could only have a limited amount of the manna because it would get old and rotten, the bread that Jesus broke for the feeding of the 5,000 was "as much as they wanted" (verse 16) and that's because the Bread from Heaven, our Lord, endures to everlasting life and abundant life. While manna was given to the Israelites as a result of their complaining, we see Jesus gave up His life non begrudgingly. The children of Israel all ate the manna yet still died. Jesus is the bread of life and all who partake in Him will live forever. Also, notice Jesus had the disciples distribute the bread- that's because it is our job as His followers to share the gospel that the True Bread from Heaven supplies.
In John 6:35 Jesus said:
What kind of appetite is Jesus promising to quench here? A physical hunger for food and thirst for water? An appetite for happiness, love, peace prosperity, wealth, mental health, physical health, knowledge, or wisdom??- But none of these virtues can prevent death nor give eternal life. To see what kind of appetite Jesus is promising to quench let's look at Matthew 5:6:
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.
Righteousness. This is the kind of hunger and thirst that Jesus promises to quench. The hunger and thirst for righteousness. Proverbs 10:2 says, "treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death." Righteousness is what's needed to be in right standing with God, and right standing with God is what is needed to enter into His Presence. For us to inherit eternal life we need righteousness which the Bread from Heaven supplies.