Jesus the Bread of Life

John 6:35 ESV
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.”

Bread is considered a staple food a basic dietary item. A person can survive a long time on only bread and water. When the Jews were wandering in the desert for 40 years, God rained down “bread from heaven” to sustain the nation.

In today’s passage, Jesus had crossed the Sea of Galilee, and the crowd followed Him. Wanting to meet them at their need Jesus asked the disciples to feed them, they were stunned at the request. Andrew brought to Jesus a boy who had five small loaves of bread and two fish. With that small amount of food, Jesus miraculously fed the crowd with lots of food to spare.

Afterward, Jesus and His disciples crossed back to the other side of Galilee. When the crowd saw that Jesus had left, they follow Him again. Jesus takes this moment to teach them a lesson.

He accuses the crowd of ignoring His miraculous signs and only following Him for the “free meal.” Jesus tells them in John 6:27, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”

Jesus startles them by saying, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35) Jesus is saying He is essential for life. The life Jesus is referring to is not physical life, but eternal life.

Jesus is making a claim to His deity. This statement is the first of the “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. The phrase “I AM” is the covenant name of God (Yahweh, or YHWH), revealed to Moses at the burning bush.

Coming to Jesus involves making a choice to forsake the world and follow Him. Believing in Jesus means placing our faith in Him that He is, who He says He is, and that He will do what He says He will do, and that He is the only one who can. Jesus is the Bread of life and all we will ever need!

Prayer:
Father, out of love for humanity, You sent Your Son to us as the bread of life so that we could inherit eternal life through Him. He is sufficient for all we need now and through eternity.