Anchor My Faith

I Am the Bread of Life

Scripture: John 6:33-36

In our previous lesson we left the people in a mind-boggling place with them faced with the statement: ^{Jn 6:33} “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Clearly, they did not understand that Jesus was the bread of God, that the Father sent, that gives life to the world, because ^{Jn 6:34} “They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”’

They still think that the bread is something that Jesus gives to them on a regular basis that they are to eat. They do not understand that Jesus is the bread and by eating once they have eternal life. That “eating once” was their stumbling block and is still a problem for many today.

To clarify this ^{Jn 6:35} “Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”’ This “I am the bread of life” claim that Jesus makes is the first of seven “I am” statements Jesus makes in the Gospel of John.

In Exodus 3:14 (ESV): “God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I am has sent me to you.’”” Here God identifies himself with the name “I am.” Then is Isaiah 41:4, we find “I am” being uses as Jesus used it: “Who has performed and done this, calling the generations from the beginning? I, the Lord, the first, and with the last; I am he.” In Isaiah 43:10 “I am” is clearly identified with God (ESV): ‘“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “and my servant whom I have chosen, that you may know and believe me and understand that I am he. Before me no god was formed, nor shall there be any after me.”’ Another important identification is found in Isaiah 43:25 (ESV): “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”

Jesus is the “I am” of the Old Testament and now he connects the bread of life that endures to eternal life to that name and in that sense that he nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longings of their soul. Those who come to him “shall not hunger” and those who believe in him “shall never thirst.” Here, those who trust Jesus as the bread of life will have their spiritual longing to know God satisfied.

When we covered John 4:13 – 14 in lesson H139, Jesus was having conversation with a woman at the well and told her that he was the living water and to those he gave this water to, it would become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Here Jesus makes the connection by saying, “whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” We have the bread of life that endures to eternal life and the living water that provides eternal life. Bread and water, two essentials for life and here brought to gather in connection to spiritual life provided by Jesus.

Jesus then points out their lack of belief: ^{Jn 6:36} “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.” They have seen him teach with authority, making claims that revealed he was the Son of God and then backing up those claims through miracles of great power. They saw this, but they do not believe.

In our next lesson, Jesus will say things that will cause grumbling, especially among the Jewish leadership, and causes divisions among us today.

Conclusion

I don’t believe that Christians today, especially in the western culture, understand the dimension of the “I am” that is clothed by the flesh of Jesus. If they did they would spend much more time before him in worship and praise and would show greater obedience to his teaching. In so doing their lives would be so different when compared to those of the world.