I Am: The Bread of Life

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger. And whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
(John 6:35; This discussion is based on all of John 6)

Jesus has been speaking and teaching to the crowds around the Sea of Galilee. A large crowd was following him because of his miraculous healings and they were bringing their sick to him. They were with him in the wilderness on the Passover, but they had no bread. It was then that he miraculously provided bread and fish for the crowd. The crowd loved it and wanted to make him their king. Instead Jesus escaped to the other side of the Sea by walking on water. In the first 3 paragraphs of John 6, we see three miracles: Miraculous healings, miraculous provision, and Jesus walking on water.

The crowd follows him to the other side of the Sea, pursuing him. Jesus looks into the situation and says, you are not following me because of the miracles (which point to God) but because you got your bellies full and you see me as the solution to Roman rule by making me king. He is calling them to something else. Ok, if it’s not about that stuff, they ask Jesus: What must we do, to be doing the works of God?  

He answers: This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.

And here it goes haywire. They actually start bargaining! “Ok, we’ll believe you if you give us a sign. Afterall, Moses gave us manna in the wilderness.” Are you kidding me??? They just ate from the miraculous multiplication of the bread YESTERDAY! Now they want another sign to believe! I always think this interesting, because some people think that if they could see Jesus, they would believe. Or, if they saw a miracle they would believe in him. But the truth is, there is more going on in faith and doubt than how we come to believe any other thing. In most things we think that if just had the evidence our views would get in line with the tangible truth we can see and touch. But it doesn’t work like that in matters of faith. In fact several times in this passage Jesus talks about it taking an act of God the Father to understand and have faith. Not only that, but there are passages about the Devil blinding people from seeing. For our part, we just need to understand that faith is discerned by the Spirit, not in and by our will but by the grace of God. As believers we need to watch our pride in this area. We should not feel puffed up or better than people who do not share our beliefs. It is God who gives light to see.

So Jesus begins this dialogue in which he says he himself is like the manna from heaven. He came to quench a spiritual hunger and thirst. He came to feed us and give us eternal life. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger. And whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”(v35)

Again, they could not take in what he was saying. They said, “this is Joseph’s son” he didn’t come from heaven. So Jesus repeats the analogy, adding to it in the most bizarre of ways. He declares:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”

Not the kind of message that draws people a leader! It was, we can see in hindsight, a prediction of his ordinance of communion, which would signify his death on the cross. His disciples got it right when they said, “This is a hard saying, who can listen to it.”

We want to understand. We want our plans. We want the coronation, not the cross. But Jesus came not to glorify himself, but in humility. He came as a sacrifice for us. In “the bread of life” metaphor, his body is offered up on the cross and we see his nature so clearly. He is the servant, following his Father’s plan. Jesus saw where he was headed. He knew. He went willingly into death for our life. You may read this and not understand. Not quite get it. Can I ask that you stick with me. Stick with engaging in these ideas. Jesus said, these “words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” That’s what we are trying to get at in this series. What did Jesus say about himself? We need to come to him on his terms, even if it is hard or we have questions or don’t understand or want to argue a point. Ok, fine, but let’s take Jesus at his word. The “bread of life”, is his promise of the coming cross so that we would have eternal life and the remembrance of his sacrifice and God’s new promise!

And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.” Luke 22:19-20