For the body to grow and receive strength we need to be sustained with food and drink regularly. This same allegory applies to the believer’s spiritual life. If we are to grow as a Christian and be strong in the Lord we need to be fed on the word of God. Jesus in his loving grace invites us to Come and Dine so we may be sustained by our time in his presence.
Bible Scriptures: Darby Translation
John 21:9-14 “When therefore they went out on the land, they see a fire of coals there, and fish laid on it, and bread. Jesus says to them, Bring of the fishes which ye have now taken. Simon Peter went up and drew the net to the land full of great fishes, a hundred and fifty-three; and though there were so many, the net was not rent. Jesus says to them, Come [and] dine. But none of the disciples dared inquire of him, Who art thou? knowing that it was the Lord. Jesus comes and takes the bread and gives it to them, and the fish in like manner. This is already the third time that Jesus had been manifested to the disciples, being risen from among [the] dead.”
John 6:1-13 “After these things Jesus went away beyond the sea of Galilee, [or] of Tiberias, and a great crowd followed him, because they saw the signs which he wrought upon the sick. And Jesus went up into the mountain, and there sat with his disciples: but the passover, the feast of the Jews, was near. Jesus then, lifting up his eyes and seeing that a great crowd is coming to him, says to Philip, Whence shall we buy loaves that these may eat? But this he said trying him, for he knew what he was going to do. Philip answered him, Loaves for two hundred denarii are not sufficient for them, that each may have some little [portion]. One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, says to him, There is a little boy here who has five barley loaves and two small fishes; but this, what is it for so many? [And] Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place: the men therefore sat down, in number about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves, and having given thanks, distributed [them] to those that were set down; and in like manner of the small fishes as much as they would. And when they had been filled, he says to his disciples, Gather together the fragments which are over and above, that nothing may be lost. They gathered [them] therefore together, and filled twelve hand-baskets full of fragments of the five barley loaves, which were over and above to those that had eaten.”
John 6:32-58 “Jesus therefore said to them, Verily, verily, I say to you, [It is] not Moses that has given you the bread out of heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down out of heaven and gives life to the world. They said therefore to him, Lord, ever give to us this bread. [And] Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger, and he that believes on me shall never thirst at any time. But I have said to you, that ye have also seen me and do not believe. All that the Father gives me shall come to me, and him that comes to me I will not at all cast out. For I am come down from heaven, not that I should do *my* will, but the will of him that has sent me. And this is the will of him that has sent me, that of all that he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up in the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that every one who sees the Son, and believes on him, should have life eternal; and I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews therefore murmured about him, because he said, I am the bread which has come down out of heaven. And they said, Is not this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we have known? how then does *he* say, I am come down out of heaven? Jesus therefore answered and said to them, Murmur not among yourselves. No one can come to me except the Father who has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up in the last day. It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every one that has heard from the Father [himself], and has learned [of him], comes to me; not that any one has seen the Father, except he who is of God, he has seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say to you, He that believes [on me] has life eternal. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down out of heaven: if any one shall have eaten of this bread he shall live for ever; but the bread withal which I shall give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore contended among themselves, saying, How can he give us this flesh to eat? Jesus therefore said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Unless ye shall have eaten the flesh of the Son of man, and drunk his blood, ye have no life in yourselves. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood has life eternal, and I will raise him up at the last day: for my flesh is truly food and my blood is truly drink. He that eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in him. As the living Father has sent me and I live on account of the Father, *he* also who eats me shall live also on account of me. This is the bread which has come down out of heaven. Not as the fathers ate and died: he that eats this bread shall live for ever.”