They said therefore to him, "What then do you do for a sign, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you do?
      (1.) He here shows that he is the  true bread;  this he repeats again and again,  ; John 6:33, John 6:35, John 6:48-51. Observe, [1.] That Christ is  bread  is that to the soul which bread is to the body, nourishes and supports the spiritual life (is the staff of it) as bread does the bodily life;  it is the staff of life.  The doctrines of the gospel concerning Christ—that he is the mediator between God and man, that he is our peace, our righteousness, our Redeemer;  by these things do men live.  Our bodies could better live without food than our souls without Christ.  Bread-corn  is  bruised  (; Isaiah 28:28), so was Christ; he was born at Bethlehem, the  house of bread,  and typified by the  show-bread.  [2.] That he is the  bread of God  (John 6:33), divine bread; it is he that is  of God  (; John 6:46), bread which my Father gives (John 6:32), which he has made to be the food of our souls; the bread of God's family, his  children's bread.  The Levitical sacrifices are called the  bread of God  (; Leviticus 21:21-22), and Christ is the great sacrifice; Christ, in his word and ordinances, thefeast  upon the sacrifice. [3.] That he is the  bread of life  (John 6:35, and again, John 6:48),  that  bread of life, alluding to the tree of life in the midst of the garden of Eden, which was to Adam the seal of that part of the covenant,  Do this and live,  of which he might  eat and live.  Christ is the bread of life, for he is the fruit of the  tree of life. First,  He is theliving bread  (so he explains himself,  ; John 6:51):  I am the living bread.  Bread is itself a dead thing, and nourishes not but by the help of the faculties of a living body; but Christ is himself  living bread,  and nourishes by his own power. Manna was a dead thing; if kept but one night, it putrefied and bred worms; but Christ is ever living, everlasting bread, that never moulds, nor waxes old. The doctrine of Christ crucified is now as strengthening and comforting to a believer as ever it was, and his mediation still of as much value and efficacy as ever.  Secondly, He gives life unto the world  (John 6:33), spiritual and eternal life; the life of the soul in union and communion with God here, and in the vision and fruition of him hereafter; a life that includes in it all happiness. The  manna  did only reserve and support life, did not preserve and perpetuate life, much less restore it; but Christ  gives  life to those that were dead in sin. The manna was ordained only for the life of the Israelites, but Christ is given for the  life of the world;  none are excluded from the benefit of this bread, but such as exclude themselves. Christ came to  put life  into the minds of men, principles productive of acceptable performances. [4.] That he is the  bread which came down from heaven;this is often repeated here,  ; John 6:33, John 6:50-51, John 6:58. This denotes,  First,  The divinity of Christ's person. As God, he had a being in heaven, whence he came to take our nature upon him:  I came down from heaven,  whence we may infer hisantiquity,  he was in the beginning with God; his  ability,  for heaven is the firmament of power; and his  authority,  he came with a divine commission.  Secondly,  The divine original of all that good which flows to us through him. Hecomes,  not only  katabas—that came down  (; John 6:51), but  katabainoi—that comes down;  he is descending, denoting a constant communication of light, life, and love, from God to believers through Christ, as the  manna  descended daily; see  Ephesians 1:3.  Omnia desuper—All things from above.  [5.] That he is  that bread  of which the  manna  was a type and figure (; John 6:58),  that  bread, the true bread,  John 6:32. As the rock that they drank of was Christ, so was the manna they ate of  spiritual bread,  ; 1 Corinthians 10:3-4.  Manna  was given to Israel; so Christ to the spiritual Israel. There was  mannaenough for them all; so in Christ a fulness of grace for all believers; he that  gathers much  of this  manna  will have none to spare when he comes to use it; and he that gathers little, when his grace comes to be perfected in glory, shall find that  he has no lack. Manna  was to be gathered in the morning; and those that would find Christ must  seek him early.  Manna was sweet, and, as the author of the  Wisdom of Solomon  tells us (Wisd. xvi. 20), was agreeable to every palate; and to those that believe Christ is  precious.  Israel lived upon  manna  till they came to Canaan; and Christ is our life. There was a memorial of the  manna  preserved in the ark; so of Christ in the Lord's supper, as the food of souls.