139 The Gospel: I am the Bread of Life!

 

We are spiritually born-again through the gospel message and have the Holy Spirit living in us. Having the Holy Spirit means that we have access to the authority and power of the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit that enables us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Our worldview or perspective in life is now through the eyes of Jesus, our Lord, and Savior. We no longer live for ourselves but now live for Jesus, and the evidence of that new life is that we demonstrate love for others. 

Our spiritual citizenship is heaven which is much more important than our physical citizenship because that which is physical or temporal will pass away, but that which is spiritual is eternal.

“I Am”

Today we will look at the phrase Jesus used to describe himself; he said, “I am the bread of life!” The term I am the bread of life is the first of seven “I am” statements found uniquely in the gospel of John.

The significance of the phrase “I am” can be found in the book of Exodus when God revealed himself to Moses in the burning bush encounter. The Lord gave Moses his assignment to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. Moses protested at first because he looked at his own insignificance. It is then the Lord promised that he would be with Moses and that the Israelites would believe that Moses was sent by God. Exodus 3:14, “And God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And He said, “Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, I AM has sent me to you.” When the Lord said, “I am,” He was saying, “I am” the ever-existent one, meaning the Lord has no beginning and no end. So, when Jesus said that “I am the bread of life,” He was indicating that He was the Christ or Messiah. The Son of God!

The Seven “I am” statements of Jesus

1. “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35, 41, 48, 51) As bread sustains physical life, so Christ offers and sustains spiritual life.
2. “I am the light of the world.” (John 8:12) To a world lost in darkness, Christ offers Himself as a guide.
3. “I am the door of the sheep.” (John 10:7,9) Jesus protects His followers as shepherds watch over their flocks from predators.
4. “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25) Death is not the final word for those in Christ.
5. “I am the good shepherd.” (John 10:11, 14) Jesus is committed to caring and watching over those who are His.
6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) Jesus is the source of all truth and knowledge about God.
7. “I am the true vine.” (John 15:1, 5) By attaching ourselves to Christ, we enable His life to flow in and through us. Then we cannot help but bear fruit that will honor the Father.

I am the bread of life!

So, what does Jesus mean when he says, “I am the Bread of Life?” Well, what Jesus means is that we will never be spiritually satisfied until we know Him. Bread has always represented the “staff of life,” in other words, that nourishment necessary for life. Recall that bread was a gift from God when the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. The Manna which fell from heaven was the sustenance and provision which was converted to bread.

In the Old Testament, bread, the staff of life, was used in the worship of God, mainly in the tabernacle and then later in the temple. The bread symbolized the “I am” or eternal presence of God (Exodus 25:30, Leviticus 24:5 – 9). The Manna or bread was so important that an Omer was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 16:32 – 34). 

The bread used for our present-day communion signifies the body of Jesus, which was broken for us, and he took on all our sin, iniquity, rebellion, disease, grief, and shame. The wine or grape juice represents His blood, which was shed to establish a new covenant (this was covered in the last post). It brought the forgiveness of sins and set us apart for holiness or for His purposes.

The bread also symbolizes the Word of God, which is spiritual food us as we read God’s word, the Bible.

Let’s set the stage for Jesus’ statement of “I am the Bread of Life.”

John chapter 6 starts with the feeding of the 5000 with five barley loaves and three fishes and ends up with 12 baskets of leftovers. What a miracle that was! As a side note, Jesus asked the disciples to feed the multitude of people as a test of their faith in Him. How often do we face tests or difficulties of faith in our everyday lives?

That evening the disciples crossed the Sea of Galilee without Jesus. Jesus came later, walking on the sea to the disciples’ amazement. When the 5000 who were fed the loaves and fishes realized where Jesus had gone, they followed him across the sea. 

Now you have to realize that Jesus knew that many of the disciples that followed him across the sea of Galilee followed him simply looking for more free food. They weren’t looking for spiritual food; they were looking for bread to eat. That’s why Jesus said in John 6:26, “Most assuredly I say to you, you seek me not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” Jesus then says, “do not labor for the food which perishes but for the food which endures to everlasting life which the son of man will give you because God the Father has set his seal on him.” 

The crowd then responds by saying, “What shall we do that we may work the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God that you believe in him whom He sent.” Then the followers asked for proof or signs that Jesus is from God. Verse 30, “What signs will you perform then that we may see it and believe you what works will you do they go on to say our fathers ate the manna in the desert as it is written he gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus then corrects them, and he says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven but my father gives you true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to this world.”

Then the crowd shouts, “Lord, give us this bread always.” In verse 35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.” That’s wonderful news. Knowing that Jesus will never turn his back on us. 

Jesus then goes on in verse 38, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me. 39 This is the will of the Father who sent me that of all He has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up on the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent me that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.”

So, you may ask, what is the point of this episode in Jesus’ life? It should be clear that many come to Christ looking for what Jesus could provide and missed who Jesus was. He is God in the flesh, and those who come to Him, with that understanding, have the most important gift, eternal life or what is commonly referred to as salvation. While all the promises of God for hope, health, and wholeness are important, nothing is more important than knowing that after this life on earth is over, we pass on to be with Jesus in Heaven forever. 

Many walk away from Jesus.

Let’s go a little further in John 6. Many of the early followers of Jesus had a problem with what Jesus said about Himself: He was the Bread of Life. However, Jesus does not apologize or try to soften the truth! While in the Jewish Synagogue, He states, 53, “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the Manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.”

Many of His early disciples could not accept these strong and challenging words. They viewed these words in a literal sense when in fact, Jesus was speaking in a symbolic sense, very much like a parable. Have you ever heard the expression, “You are what you eat”? The proverbial saying ‘You are what you eat is the notion that to be fit and healthy, you need to eat good food. In the same sense, Jesus was saying that to be spiritually healthy; you need to have Jesus in you. 

This reminds me of the encounter between Jesus and Nicodemus in John 3.3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Then Nicodemus answered Jesus and said, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”Nicodemus understood Jesus’ words literally instead of understanding that Jesus was speaking about being spiritually born again. 

In the same way many misunderstood Jesus’ meaning and turned away from the Lord. John 6:66, “From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 “Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” 68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also, we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Here you see that Peter and the apostles understood Jesus was speaking in spiritual terms.

Do You Know Him?

Knowing Jesus in a true sense is not through human logic but by personal revelation. Jesus made this clear when the Apostle Peter rightly recognized Him as the Christ, the Son of God, in Matthew 16:13. “When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”

There is a big difference between knowing about Jesus and having a personal relationship with Jesus. Knowing Jesus means that you have had a personal revelation that Jesus is the Christ or Messiah, and having this knowledge means that you have taken of the “Bread of Life”, and He lives in you.