Another Key Point When Jesus Calls Himself The Bread Of Life
First, notice that Jesus says: I am the bread of life whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. .
Our heavenly Father ultimately chooses who He wishes to enable to draw close to Him . To all whom God calls, Jesus freely gives himself as the spiritual staple of our lives. However, on our parts, we must also willingly open our hearts to go to the Son of God, seeking to be filled .
In short, Jesus the bread of life is Gods eternal gift to us he is our salvation. But we too must decide to receive this spiritual food in sincere faith and humble repentance.
Moreover, we cannot earn this spiritual bread from our own merit or good deeds it is only by our belief in Jesus as our Lord and Savior that we allow ourselves to be fed.
They Murmur And Demand
John 6:41 The Jews then murmured at Him 42 And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I came down from Heaven?
We know who you are. How can you say you are from heaven, and we should believe it?
Jesus intended to expose their error. He meant to point out to them that a sign could not point out His nature, God in the flesh. No human on their own can come to that place. The Holy Spirit must help get you there then, you must choose to believe.
John 6:44 No man can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him and I will raise him up at the Last Day.
The natural inability of man to come to Christ is not physical nor intellectual, but moral and spiritual it is an unwillingness. No change of mental organization, no new faculty is required, but a radical change of the heart and will. This is effected by the Holy Spirit, but the providential drawing of the Father prepares the way for it.
Here is the great paradox, a mystery of the Bible: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of a man
The Father draws, but anyone who wants to, can come. Divine love and Divine Grace are difficult for us to understand.
Working For The Bread
Secondly, it continues to say, Labor for the food that endures to eternal life. That sounds terrible. Why does that sound terrible? You cant labor for eternal life. It is a gift. Well, what does Jesus mean? I mean, when you read the gospel of John you bump into things like this all the time. Jesus seems to say the opposite of what he means, but he doesnt leave you in doubt very long. Just keep reading verses 28 and 29.
Then they said to him , You want eternal life? Labor for the bread that endures to eternal life. And then they asked him what must they be doing to do the works of God? He told them to labor, they ask what works to do. This is classic salvation by works. False.
Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him . So he turned the table upside down. They were working and working and working to seek him, have him, because he was useful to them. And to make a point he tells them not to seek him that way. You want to seek me and labor for bread? Labor for the bread that endures to eternal life. And he hooks them with that.
Working for Jesus doesnt make him precious to you. Seeing Jesus makes him precious to you.
Working for Jesus doesnt make him precious to you. Seeing Jesus makes him precious to you. You have to be born again. Nobody can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Our eyes are blind, shut hard, dead unless God almighty opens our heart so we say, My Lord and my God.
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Is Jesus Speaking Of The Lords Supper Here
The big question is this: Is Jesus speaking about the Lords Supper in this passage? His audience, remember, is primarily those he is trying to bring to faith in Christ, but John knew that Christians would read these words too and that they couldnt help but think of the Lords Supper. What is Jesus saying here? Jesus has been going back and forth between three metaphors:
These metaphors are related in that they all refer to eating and nourishing. These are the elements Jesus uses to weave a beautiful and powerful teaching on faith and eternal life. Of course, he is speaking spiritually here, not physically, following the tradition of Isaiah 55:1-2.
So what does the metaphorical language eating the Bread of Life mean?
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verse 47: He who believes | has eternal life
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verse 51a: If anyone eats of this bread | he will live forever
It is quite clear that believing in Jesus corresponds to eating the Bread of Life, since these are used as parallel statements in the same context and with the same result everlasting life. This theme weaves itself through this discourse, and is said first one way and then another throughout the passage . St. Augustine put it this way: For to believe on Him is to eat the living bread. He that believes eats he is sated invisibly.
This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
‘i Am The Bread Of Life’ Meaning And Scripture
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- General Biblical Studies, Interdenominational Christian Training Center
Bread of Life is a title Jesus Christ used to describe himself in John 6:35: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry again. Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” . The phrase, “I am the bread of life,” is one of several “I Am” statements that Jesus spoke in the Gospel of John.
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Look After Those Who Wait By The Pool Of Bethesda
Elder Boyd K. Packer used the account in John 5:19 to emphasize that we should help people who have disabilities. He said bodies and minds with disabilities will be made perfect. In the meantime, we must look after those who wait by the pool of Bethesda .
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What can we do to help people who have physical or mental disabilities?
He Came To Change Our Desires
Now he does care about bread, I mean natural bread. He cares about your body. He just doesn’t care about your body and your natural bread mainly. That is coming. That is coming just on the other side of the grave. There is going to be a resurrection someday. No more mourning. No more crying. No more tears. No more depression. No more sin. Only joy on the new earth, under the new heavens forever. That is coming. He cares about the body. He is going to raise the body from the dead, make you young forever, handsome forever, healthy forever, so that you can enjoy him in the fullness of your humanity. That is coming. But that is not the main point of this world.
I got a phone call yesterday from Joby, the administrator at our church, and she said that there is a family in our church named the Jedlows and their sister not a believer just committed suicide. There are no believers in this family at all and on the Friday after Thanksgiving could you do her funeral? That is the hardest funeral in the world. I have done suicides before. I am okay with doing suicide funerals of people who were believers. I really believe you can be a believer and be that depressed. But here is a woman who is confessedly not a believer and she killed herself. What am I going to say? But I want very much to say the best news in all the world for Christians is on the other side there is life.
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The Bread Of Life That Comes Down From Heaven
Now Jesus repeats his claim that he is the Bread of Life he had spoken of earlier .
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.
Bread of Life and Living Bread mean bread that brings life, just as Living Water, in the spiritual sense, means water that brings life. It is not physical life that physical bread and water sustain that he is talking of here, but eternal life. Jesus contrasts himself to the manna that came down from heaven in the wilderness . People ate the manna, but eventually died. But those who eat of the Living Bread will have eternal life.
Notice that in 6:51b, Jesus switches metaphors, from eating bread that brings life to giving his literal, physical flesh that is, his body on the cross to bring life to the whole world, that is redeem it from sin.
51b This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
52 Then the Jewsbegan to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’
Their question about eating Jesus flesh, has continued as a controversy to our day, since the following verses use language that reminds Christian readers of partaking of the Lords Supper, Communion, the Eucharist.
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The Staples Of Your Diet
A “staple food” is simply the dominant part of a diet. Rice, maize, and wheat are the staple for 80% of the world’s population . What are the “staples” of your diet?
It’s worth pointing out that the Standard American Diet is pretty unhealthy. Our primary sources of calories are desserts, breads, chicken, sugary drinks, pizza. Look, I’m just focusing on the “bread” part of that list, not giving a healthy eating illustration because Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life.
Based on the number of times the Bible mentions bread , we know that bread was a staple of the Hebrew people in Bible times. By calling Himself the Bread of Life, Jesus was illustrating how foundational He is to life.
I think there’s one important clarification to make if you use this topic — good bread has important health value. It is filled with carbohydrates, critical energy for an active agrarian society . Modern bread tends to be heavily processed, which reduces its nutritional value. That’s why the smart aleck in your group can’t get away with joking that the modern Jesus would say “I am the french fry of life”. The bread that Jesus had in mind was a staple of a healthy diet for everybody He encountered.
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How Is Jesus The Bread Of Life
One of the themes in the Book of John is who Jesus is, and not just what He did. The Apostle John opens his account with an explanation of Jesus deity. In chapter six, he focuses on one of Lords miracles, and its fallout. Because the Lord performed miracles of healing and taught the Scriptures with authority, there would sometimes be throngs following him.
In one of these instances, the Lord takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands of people with it, with twelve baskets leftover. That night, He walks on water. The next day, those same thousands gather again to be fed. Jesus then offers them salvation eternal nourishment rather than just temporary sustenance.
Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal… For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day .
The Lord presents His miracle as an opening act. In this life, mankind must toil and labor for food that only temporarily nourishes the body, which will eventually die. He had the power and authority to multiply that food and could do so much more.
Bread Of Life Discourse
The Bread of Life Discourse is a portion of the teaching of Jesus which appears in chapter 6 of John’s Gospel /John#6:22″ rel=”nofollow”> verses 2259) and was delivered in the synagogue at Capernaum.
The title “Bread of Life” given to Jesus is based on this Biblical passage which is set in the Gospel of John shortly after the feeding the multitude episode , after which he walks on the water to the western side of Sea of Galilee and the crowd follow by boat in search of Him.
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Fixated On The Product Not The Person
What does this mean? It means that, when Jesus fed five thousand people with five loaves and a few fish, it was a sign that is, it was like a beam of glory streaming out from the person of Jesus Christ. It was like a ray of light coming out from Jesus. And when the crowds saw the loaves and felt the pleasures of a full stomach, and thought about what it would be like to have a king who could fill their stomach like that every day, they were thrilled.
But what they didnt do, when they looked at the sign, was to let their eyes run up the beam of glory from the pleasure in their belly to the treasure of Christ. They didnt follow the ray of light back up to the beauty of the sun. What they did was fixate on the product of the miracle, not the person of the miracle. And so the sign ceased to be a sign for them. And Jesus said, You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. They were excited about bread as their pleasure, not Christ as their Treasure.
Bible Verses/story To Reference:
So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, Rabbi, when did you come here? 26 Jesus answered them, Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal. 28 Then they said to him, What must we do, to be doing the works of God? 29 Jesus answered them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent. 30 So they said to him, Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? 31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Jesus then said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 34 They said to him, Sir, give us this bread always. 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. -John 6:24-35
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No One Can Come Unless The Father Draws Him
Predictably, Jesus’ enemies bristle because of his amazing claims. We know his parentage, they say. His claims to be the bread come down from heaven are preposterous!
“41 At this the Jewsbegan 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”?’
43 ‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered.
44 ‘No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns 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 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.”
Jesus is recognizing that not everyone can see spiritual things. It is a gift from God . Certainly, his enemies are blind to who he is, even though they pour over the Scriptures . In the Synoptic Gospels following the Parable of the Sower, Jesus quotes Isaiah to indicate that the spiritual blindness of some is to be expected.
However, Jesus, says , “They will all be taught of God” Those who truly seek the Father will recognize Jesus as speaking God’s truth — and in believing Jesus they will find everlasting life.
“All that the Father gives me will come to me.”
“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me drawshim.”