I am the bread of life
“I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”
John 6:48-51 (NKJV)
When you walk through the bread aisle in a supermarket, you can see an amazing variety of bread on the shelves. My favourite is ‘Allisons wholemeal’, which I toast, spread with butter, and thoroughly enjoy – of course, with a cup of Indian tea specially brewed!
Jesus metaphorically referred to himself as the ‘bread of life’: ‘ “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” ’ (John 6:33-35).
When he said to the Jews, to eat his flesh and drink his blood (vv. 48-51), they were mad at him and wanted to kill him. Even many of his disciples went back and walked with him no more.
But those who continued to follow Jesus came to understand that he spoke of his broken body and his blood shed on the cross; he gave instructions to his disciples to take, symbolically, a piece of bread and a little wine, representing his broken body and shed blood of the new covenant (Matthew 26:26-28; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26).
When Satan tempted the Lord Jesus to turn stones into bread, Jesus quoted a passage from Deuteronomy 8:3: “So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD.” We need physical food to nourish our body, but to sustain spiritual life we need the words of Jesus who is the truth and His words are spirit and life (John 6:63). And in John 5:24 Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
We eat his flesh and drink his blood symbolically at the Lord’s Supper by taking a piece of bread and a little wine representing his broken body and shed blood of the new covenant. Jesus Christ is our Lord and Master, the Saviour of the world – He is indeed the true bread of life. Happy and blessed is he who believes in Him.
Prayer
Abba Father, thank You for revealing the truth about the suffering of Your Son on the cross and shedding His blood for the remission of our sins. I bow down before Your throne and praise Your Holy name. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Study by Natu Moti
About the writer:
Natu Moti is a Deacon in the Birmingham congregation of
Grace Communion International.
Local congregation:
Gracecom Birmingham
All Saints Church
George Road
Birmingham B23 7QB
Meeting time:
Saturday 1pm
Local congregational contact:
David Gibbs
Email: birmingham@gracecom.church
Word of Life contact:
wordoflife@gracecom.church