I Am the Bread of Life
John 6:30-40
Introduction
When I go to a doctor’s office, whether a family doctor or a specialist, my eyes are often drawn to the wall that displays their degrees and certificates. Have you ever wondered why they do that? Is it because they are trying to show off and hope you will be impressed? Perhaps some do but they also realize that when we seek medical help that there is often a certain level of anxiety. If you visited a doctor’s office with some serious concerns and you noticed that the only thing on the wall was a diploma from the Acme online medical school that was signed by “Bob’s teacher,” how would you feel? Would it be a sense of relief or anxiety?
And the kind of credentialing that I’m talking about is not just about formal education. If you have a tradesperson working on your house, you feel better knowing first of all that they are licensed but also perhaps having seen some of their previous work or at least hearing testimonies from previous customers. We want to see some evidence that the person is able to provide what they are promising.
How should we apply this to Jesus? Jesus offers us adoption into God’s family, forgiveness of sins, and eternal life. Those are some pretty big claims. How can we believe that a thirty-something year old carpenter from Nazareth can follow through on those promises?
The Gospel of John tackles this question in a rather clever way. These are called the seven I Am statement. Each of these provides a description of Jesus’ credentials that help build the confidence that Jesus can give us what he is offering. There is a double meaning to the wording of “I Am” as he shares who he is. In one way, he is making a statement of identity the way any of us might describe ourselves. For example, I might tell someone “I am a pastor.” All I am saying there is that pastor is the name of my occupation. But Jesus is also saying something else. Back in Exodus 3 in the Old Testament, God calls Moses to lead his people out of slavery in Egypt. Moses responds with doubt since he doesn’t even know the name of the Israelite God. God shares his name as being I Am. It is from the Hebrew of I Am that we get the name YHWH or Jehovah. The way Jesus uses I Am in these seven statements brings us back to the burning bush and reminds us that as God rescued the Israelites, so God in Christ is rescuing those who call on his name.
We are going to look at each of these seven I Am statements, and as we do we will see another aspect of Jesus, which in turn, should build our confidence that Jesus can indeed gives us all he promises.
Bread of Life Then
The story that we are looking at comes after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. If you recall, there had been five thousand men plus others who had been listening to Jesus and were now hungry. The only food to be found were five small loaves and two fish. That would not be enough for the twelve disciples, much less a crowd in the thousands. So Jesus had the crowd sit and he multiplied the bread and fish so that by the time everyone was filled, they actually had more leftovers than the amount of food they started with. This was an incredible miracle! In fact it was so important that outside of the resurrection, this is the only miracle that is found in all four of our gospels. Obviously this was a big thing.
After this there is a discussion about what to make of Jesus. They ask him “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you?” This seems rather bizarre as the feeding of the five thousand was a pretty spectacular miracle. Some have argued that Jesus healed people with the power of suggestion but the power of suggestion doesn’t cause bread and fish to multiply. You would think that this would be enough evidence for them to believe.
They then go on to compare Jesus to Moses. This is not surprising as one of the concepts of the Jewish messiah was that he would be a prophet like Moses. And indeed Jesus was a prophet like Moses and fulfilled those prophecies, but in ways beyond what they were suggesting. The people doubted the signs Moses provided just as they were doubting the signs of Jesus. But that was not the point they were trying to make.
One of the most beloved signs that involved Moses was the raining down of manna. This was a bread like substance that sustained the Israelites during their wandering in the wilderness. It was a symbol of God’s provision and when the Ark of the Covenant was put together, not only did the tablets of the Ten Commandments go in there, but so did a container of manna.
Jesus affirms that this did happen in Moses’ time but it was God that provided the manna and not Moses. Jesus speaks of the bread of God coming from heaven. In this, Jesus is making a pun. The word ‘heaven’ has a variety of meanings, two of which are the sky and the place of where God dwells. They knew that these were two different places but they called both heaven.
Manna was the bread of heaven in that it was bread that fell down from the sky. But in a deeper way, Jesus is the bread of heaven in that he came from that plane of existence where God dwells and took on human flesh. And here Jesus identifies himself by saying “I am the bread of life.” The manna in the days of Moses kept people alive in the desert but Jesus as the bread of life would keep people alive for eternity. What they really wanted to see was another miracle and what they God was Jesus turning their traditions upside down and making himself more important than Moses. While Jesus was like Moses in some ways, he was also like the bread in that he himself is the one who sustains the people.
Bread of Life Now
We can acknowledge that this conversation took place two thousand years ago but what does that have to do with us now? Where is the hope for us? Part of it comes down to what Jesus does for us. Interestingly, different churches have different ideas of this. I attended one church that basically saw Jesus as a good role model for us to be kind and compassionate people. There is some truth in that. I attended another church that saw Jesus as being about getting us a ticket to heaven. There is some truth to that. But Jesus as the bread of life seems to give us a deeper view of what Jesus does for us. He is more than a role model or a travel agent for eternity.
Bread, both in this passage and in the ancient world in general, represents that which sustains. This is why Jesus tells us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Eating bread is not about a one time benefit but is a regular habit that sustains life.
Think about the concepts of life and death. We need very specific conditions to remain alive. This includes access to oxygen, water, and nutrition. It also requires protection from physical trauma, radiation, and other threats. In many ways life is fragile and much is required to sustain life. Not so with death. If we die, people can do anything with our body. We can be sent to the bottom of the ocean, placed in the middle of a nuclear explosion, or ejected into outer space. There are no conditions that are going to threaten our state of deadness. Death does not need to be sustained.
What Jesus offers is life. That is true life on this side of the grave and the resurrected life in the future. Being in relationship with Jesus gives us access to that life. As much as we may want to think of that as a one time transaction, it is about an ongoing experience. This does not mean that if we stumble in faith we lose eternal life. It means that we strive to hold onto God the best we can, trusting that he can hold onto us even tighter.
Conclusion
Have you ever watched a movie or television show that included a scene of people rescued after being without food for a long time. When they are fed, they rip the bread apart and shove it into their mouth with abandon, completely oblivious to the awkward stares they are getting. All they care about is that they are starving and the bread is giving them life.
We need bread. Not just physical sustenance but spiritual provision in Jesus. There will be time that we first meet Jesus but it is also an ongoing relationship. Jesus’ desire is to give us life and to sustain that life. That happens now and it continues beyond physical death. As Jesus promises, those who believe in him will be raised on the last day.
Think about how amazing fresh bread is and consider how much greater is Jesus as the true bread of life that has come out of heaven.
