Christ. His personality is the centre of His gift to the world. 'I am
that Bread of Life.' That He should give it is much; that He should
_be_ it is far more.

And notice how, when He has thus drawn us a little further into the
magic circle of the light, He not only asserts the inseparableness of
His gift from His Person, but also asserts, with a reference, no
doubt, to the manna, 'I am the Bread that came down from heaven.' The
listeners immediately laid hold of that one point, and neglected for
the moment all the rest, and they fixed with a true instinct--although
it was for the purpose of contradicting it--on this central point,
'that came down from heaven.' They said one to the other, 'How can
this man say that He came down from heaven? Is not this Jesus the Son
of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?' So, brethren, as the
manna that descended from above in the dew of the night was to the
bread that was baked in a baker's oven, so is the Christ to the
manhood that has its origin in the natural processes of birth. The
Incarnation of the Son of God, becoming Son of Man for us and for our
salvation, is involved in this great claim. You do not get to the
heart of Christ's message unless you have accepted this as the truth
concerning Him, that 'in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God,' and that at a definite point in the
long process of the ages, 'the Word became flesh, and dwelt amongst
us.' He will never be 'the Bread of Life' unless He is 'the Bread that
came down from heaven.' For humanity needs that the blue heavens that
bend remote above should come down; and we cannot be lifted 'out of
the horrible pit and the miry clay' unless a Hand from above be
reached down into the depths of our degradation, and lift us from our
lowness. Heaven must come to earth, if earth is to rise to heaven. The
ladder must be let down from above, if ever from the lower levels men