I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE

Bread is a staple of life for nearly every society.

Everyone buys bread. Unless you are like me, it is a tolerable and quite fulfilling. Anyway you slice it, bread is a food that most people ‘need’ and a food that most people enjoy.

Bread is also found throughout Scripture.

Bethlehem means “house of bread.” So, the incarnation moment, takes place in the city called the ‘house of bread’, where the person born will claim to be the ‘bread of life.’

Six principles that we learn from our passage in John 6:25-35, but particularly in one verse - John 6:35.

God’s presence revealed as a person.

These people are not new to the idea of miracles, and John 6 is full of them. But they point to something that the people already knew about.

John 6:26 HCSB

Jesus answered, “I assure you: You are looking for Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

At this point in John’s gospel, the people had seen multiple miracles.

But, of all the miracles that seemed to stick with the people, the feeding of the 5,000 seems the most pronounced and recalled. The hearers are apparently shocked by Jesus’ appearance in verse 25, but Jesus immediately uncovers their improper motivation. They wanted to see Him because they were filled with bread.

Loaves and fishes couldn’t satisfy their desires permanently, BUT, they couldn’t see Jesus’ glory and believe in Him.

Throughout this passage, Jesus consistently points to both temporary and eternal bread.

There is bread that keeps you alive on earth and there is bread that leads to eternal life and the one that leads to eternal life is the one that should be your primary pursuit.

Jesus’ self-declaration of I AM the bread of life points out for these people, and us, that it isn’t the miracle that is the bread of life. It’s the person of Jesus.

If there’s a person, then there must be a personality.

Jesus calls on believers to partake in and share out His personality with others.

If you’ve ever been to a restaurant that has some kind of unlimited bread option like Olive Garden or Outback, you know that everyone wants some. Like, what happens when there are five mini loaves of bread and six people...

Because Jesus is the incarnate Word of God, He is the eternal Son of God, there is no shortage of Him. There’s not going to be a point at which He is going to run out because people have come and been nourished.

John 6:27 HCSB

Don’t work for the food that perishes but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal of approval on Him.”

What He is saying here is expend your efforts on things that will last forever. If you’re going to work to eat, don’t waste your time on temporal bread.

The beauty of I AM the bread of life is that Jesus is meant to shared with others. Why? We know that bread is a commonly passed item at tables. And, bread is full of character. As we consume bread, we are able to better describe its qualities to others.

Jesus calls on the people to look beyond.

The people want to do the works of God in verse 28. Again, Jesus corrects them.

John 6:29 (HCSB)

Jesus replied, “This is the work of God—that you believe in the One He has sent.”

There is one work of God - believe by faith.

These people believed correctly that God had a requirement for them. But, they had the wrong requirement. They thought they could please God by good works. They thought they were the focus.

Jesus is commanding that people look beyond themselves - you’re not as able as you think. Look beyond yourselves as the ones who give meaning to life, as the ones who make the way to heaven.

They, like the rich young ruler in Matthew’s Gospel wanted to put the emphasis on “what must I do, we do”. Jesus’ declaration in 6:35 says you’ve gotta look beyond yourself and see that’s its just one word - believe.

Jesus calls on the people to take hold of the present reality.

It doesn’t help that these people are blind to the reality of who was standing in front of them. John 6:30

John 6:30 HCSB

“What sign then are You going to do so we may see and believe You?” they asked. “What are You going to perform?

The people are demanding proof that He is who He says He is.

Wait, 5,000 people were fed with five loaves and two fishes, and that’s not enough??

They expected to Jesus to keep churning out the miracles. Why?

They had God’s order backwards.

Jesus already told them the ONLY work of God they could do was believe! God’s order is not SEE AND BELIEVE, it’s BELIEVE and SEE.

The Israelites had seen miracles in the past, and the people question Jesus about the sign they can expect, so in verse 31 they paraphrase Exodus 16:4 and Psalm 78:24.

He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

John 6:32 (HCSB)

Jesus said to them, “I assure you: Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the real bread from heaven.

I assure you - I’m speaking the truth here and now.

3 corrections to their thinking again.

1. God, not Moses gave the manna. 2. The Father was still giving the manna. 3. The true bread is from heaven.

John 6:33 (HCSB)

For the bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

If you go through this chapter, you’ll see this phrase repeated often.

Jesus is trying to get the people to understand the present reality - they have immediate access to the eternal bread.

He’s telling the people to partake in the bread of life that is being offered to them right there.

In verse 34, it seems that they have taken hold.

John 6:34 (HCSB)

Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always!”

Um, it had already been served!

Jesus proclaims that humanity has needs.

Why would He offer Himself as bread?

Because He knows that this is how the listeners would come to understand who He is and how to fulfill those needs.

But He knows that humanity has more than a hunger problem, humanity has a fulfillment problem.

Way back - Genesis 3:19

Genesis 3:19 (HCSB)

You will eat bread by the sweat of your brow until you return to the ground, since you were taken from it. For you are dust, and you will return to dust.”

The aftermath of the fall was people would have to work to eat until they die. There was a transplant of fulfillment - now people would seek fulfillment in something other than God.

Genesis 1:29 (HCSB)

God also said, “Look, I have given you every seed-bearing plant on the surface of the entire earth and every tree whose fruit contains seed. This food will be for you,

These people were still stuck in human mode. They saw the manna, the fishes and loaves, the miracles as meeting humanity’s physical needs. They couldn’t see beyond them to what they meant.

Miracles are a real event, but they are also sign-posts to true satisfaction.

Jesus says, I know you have greater needs that you can’t fulfill, but I know that you will try and I know that there are those today that are trying. The final principle:

Jesus invites humanity to experience the ultimate fulfillment of their needs.

This isn’t just a proclamation about who Jesus is. It’s a statement of His desire for humanity.

Christ’s proclamation of His divinity is also an invitation to a fulfilled life.

One dominated not by worldly or earthly desires and worries.

John 6:35 (HCSB)

“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to Me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in Me will ever be thirsty again.

Come to Me, come to Me. And when you get there, experience it, gaze at it, scrutinize it, look carefully, thoughtfully, see who I am.

He also says you will never be thirsty again. This points to Jesus’ offering of blood on the cross, and many believe that this entire passage is about communion and what happens at communion. If we limit our experience with the bread of life and the blood of life to one time a month, we’re missing the scope and depth of Jesus’ invitation. We can live in communion with God every day and every moment.

Friends, this is us! We’re the hungry, thirsty, poor, irresponsible spenders who need this invitation to experience fulfillment at all times.

His invitation is physical, mental, and spiritual, meeting every area of human need.

How is Jesus calling you to experience greater fulfillment through His Word?

Is your desire for Jesus greater than anything else in your life?

Our closing song is As the Deer -

Jesus is here and he offers life-giving bread to all those who come and believe.

Maybe you’ve lost belief. Maybe you’ve been taking food from another source to find fulfillment. Today.