I AM The Bread Of Life

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the Lord is good;

John 5:29 “..those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”  Acts 24:15 “..there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked.” Jesus 5000-Walks on Water

John 6:22-25 The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with his disciples, but that they had gone away alone. ²³ Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. ²⁴ Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus doesn’t answer the question. The answer would have been, that I sent my disciples into a storm to test them, and then as they were struggling I walked on the waters of the Sea of Galilee to help them. And taught them all a lesson in faith, then I miraculously transported us across the remaining distance of the Sea.

(59) John 6:26-29 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷ Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” ²⁸ Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

Vs27 Do not work for food that spoils, This refers to the things of this world that we strive for, things that may satisfy our physical needs but will never satisfy our spiritual hunger because they are all temporary.

In contrast, Jesus says, “But work for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” This is the spiritual nourishment that comes from a relationship with Him. It’s the sustenance our souls long for, the satisfaction our hearts desire.

Let us not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.     Let’s not seek the TEMPORARY things of this world, but the things of God.

Let’s not live for ourselves, but for Jesus, because in Him, and only in Him alone, is the place we will find the true satisfaction that our souls crave.

Vs28-29 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”²⁹ Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

These people questioning Jesus seemed sure that if only Jesus told them what works to do, they could please God by their works. For these people, as with many people today, pleasing God is found in the right formula for performing works that will please God.

But, Jesus’ first and foremost command to them (and us) is not to do, but to believe in the one God has sent.” If we want to do the works of God, it begins with trusting in the Son of God.

Jesus is saying that our faith in Him must be the foundation for any of the works we do, if we are to have any chance to truly please God.  (remember verse)

John 6:30-40 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? (wine-nobleman-invalid-5000-water)  ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ³² Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”*** (spoiled) ³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. ³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. ³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. ³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

“always give us this bread.” Jesus says to them, Vs35 “I am the bread of life; Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Jesus is trying to get the Jews’ thinking out of the physical realm and into the spiritual realm.

Jesus makes another claim to deity. This statement is the first of 7 “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel. The words “I AM” are the covenant name of God, revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exodus 3:14). This phrase speaks of self-sufficient existence which is an attribute only God possesses. It is also a phrase the Jews would have automatically understood as a claim to deity.

When Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life,” He is saying, that He is the true spiritual bread from heaven, that is necessary for eternal life, and that when we partake of him, He will never drive us away, none of us will be lost, and He will raise us up on the last day.

Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” Again, Jesus isn’t talking about physical hunger and thirst.          The key to understanding is found in another statement Jesus made, in His Sermon on the Mount. Matthew 5:6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. When Jesus says those who come to Him will never hunger and those who believe in Him will never be thirsty, He is saying He alone can/will satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst to be made righteous in the sight of God.       (I am the bread of life is a metaphor for salvation)

John 6:41-51 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” ⁴² They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?” (physical) ⁴³ “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus answered. ⁴⁴ “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. ⁴⁵ It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. ****⁴⁶ No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. ⁴⁷ Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life. ⁴⁸ I am the bread of life. ⁴⁹ Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, yet they died….

⁵⁰ But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which anyone may eat and not die. ⁵¹ I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” (This is my body which is given for you) (Bread from heaven-foreshadow of Jesus)

John6:52-59 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell 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 them up at the last day. ⁵⁵ For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. ⁵⁶ Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” ⁵⁹ He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

Jesus here tests the motives and spiritual understanding of each person.

Jesus is not speaking literally. To “eat” His flesh is to trust and believe that He would offer His body on the cross of Calvary as a ransom for our sins. And, to “drink” His blood means to trust in His atoning death, represented by His shed blood on Calvary. The truth of His flesh and His blood must be “consumed spiritually” to gain eternal life.

John 6:60-62 On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?” ⁶¹ Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? ⁶² Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! Jesus essentially says, “If all this has offended you, what will you think when you see Me in glory, or when you stand before me, and have to answer to Me in judgment?” Better to be offended now and to get over it, than to be offended on that day.

John 6:63-71 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. ⁶⁴ Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. (Jesus can see the heart of every person)

⁶⁵ He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.” ⁶⁶ From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. ⁶⁷ “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. ⁶⁸ Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. ⁶⁹ We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.” ⁷⁰ Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” ⁷¹ (He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)

It is the word of God that gives life, the promises of God that gives us hope, the love of God that gives us comfort, the grace of God that gives peace.