“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 powerful statement by Jesus is the first of 7 famous ‘I AM’ statements found in John’s gospel. John links this ‘I AM’ claim to the metaphor ‘Bread of Life.’ John chapter 6 is a chapter about food and here we find Jesus talking to a hungry people. We find in this chapter the crowd seeking after Jesus as ‘the giver of bread’ to feed their physical hunger rather than seeking after Jesus as ‘The Bread of Life’ that can fill their spiritual hunger. In this article we are going to take a closer look into Jesus ‘I AM’ claim as ‘The bread of Life’ and answer why Jesus is this ultimate bread for spiritually hungry people.
Firstly, to recap from a recent Fresh Truth article ‘who did Jesus say He is?’ We discover that Jesus ‘I AM’ statements were His claims to be God (John 8:58). He was not just claiming to be a great teacher or a great prophet, but the God of Israel Himself. This verse found in John 6:35 is the first I AM statement Jesus makes and the Jewish people of the time should have understood this statement of Jesus as a claim to be God in the flesh.
Secondly, we want to make reference to Bethlehem, Jesus birthplace. And how this reinforces the idea of Jesus as the ‘Bread of life.’
“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting.” (Micah 5:2).
Out of Bethlehem (Also known as the House of Bread) would come forth the ultimate bread (the bread of Life – Jesus) who is to be ruler in Israel (promised Messiah) whose going forth are from of old, From everlasting (God).
Jesus being born in ‘The house of Bread’ is the bread of Life. He is the promised Messiah. He is God in the flesh.
Thirdly, We see Jesus comparing Himself to ‘the bread of Heaven / manna’.
My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is He who comes down from
Heaven and gives life to the world. (John 6:32b – 33).
The manna from Heaven was a foreshadow Jesus. Just as manna had come down from heaven provided by God to feed the Israelites during the time of the Exodus. So God provides Jesus from Heaven to give eternal life for those who will believe in Him as their saviour. Both events are one-time events in history and will not happen again.
Fourthly, we will compare Jesus to another type of bread, unleavened bread. Leaven (yeast) in the bible consistently represented sin (Mat 13:33, Mat 16:11-12, 1 Cor 5:6-8). Leaven is represented as the idea of being ‘puffed up’ (1 Cor 5:6). Unleavened bread is seen as humble, simple and pure (1 Cor 5:7-8). It is interesting that the unleavened bread used in Passover meals are striped and pierced. The unleavened bread was made this way so it would help stop the bread from rising. Jesus is the ultimate unleavened bread, which is humble, pure and without sin. As Isaiah 53 writes ‘He was pierced for our transgressions… and by His stripes we are healed.’ (Isaiah 53:5). He is offering up His body (pierced and striped) as the propitiation for our sins. Jesus taking upon Himself the wrath of God on sinners. By accepting this ‘Bread of Life’, we are saved from the wrath on Sin.
Jesus is the ultimate bread as it comes from (the House of bread – Bethlehem); This bread has come down from Heaven offered by God and this type of bread is humble, pure and without sin. When Jesus speaks to the hungry crowd, this is the bread He offers them. And what He tells them is that they should not seek after what satisfies their physical belly, but to seek after what satisfies the spirit. He offers them spiritual bread to satisfy the hunger of their spirit.
‘whoever comes to Me shall not hunger’
‘Whoever comes to Me’ this is an open invite for anyone to come to Jesus. These people had seen His miracles, heard Him teach, heard His ‘I AM’ claim, yet they did not believe in Him.
‘Whoever believes in Me shall not thirst.’
‘Whoever believes in Me’ again this is open to anyone to trust in Jesus. When someone hungers and thirsts, they would do almost anything to get food and drink. Those who hunger and thirst for Jesus will be spiritually satisfied. I bring us back to verse 28 – 29 where the people following Jesus asks the question ‘What shall we do, so 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.’
The only work that is required from us from God, is to believe in Jesus in whom He sent.
I take us back to the book of Isaiah
Isaiah 55:2-3a
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
You can hear God’s plea to people to come to Him and feed of Him for He alone can satisfy the soul.
The Bible is clear that we must put our faith in Jesus as God’s provision for our salvation. There is no other way to be saved apart from believing in Jesus. There is a deep longing in everyone’s soul and Jesus says he alone can fulfil that longing. He is the only way to God, and the only way to be made in right relationship with Him. Like the crowd in this passage, we may have heard about Jesus claims as the great I AM of scripture, we may have sat in church and heard his teachings and His miracles and yet we still haven’t decided to believe in Him to be this ‘bread of life’ that will satisfy our soul. We encourage you that by believing in His death, burial and resurrection we have an opportunity to be in right relationship with God. Turn to Jesus, repent of your sins, and trust in Him for your eternal salvation while you still have time; Or if you haven’t done so already.