I Am the Bread of Life

John 6:35, 48

Wonder Bread

Introduction

Whenever I’m responsible for buying groceries, it seems like it’s more intense than when Savitri does it.

As many times as I have gone to the store to purchase groceries I seem to take longer than she does. What’s quite the norm for me are the many choices to make when trying to purchase a loaf of bread. There’s Wonder Bread, Mrs. Baird’s Bread, Nature’s Own Bread, Sun Beam Bread, and Great Value Bread!

The purpose of this message is to highlight the main Bread, and the fact the we need this main Bread — and His name is Jesus!

Jesus had different modes and manners of teaching. In the Synoptic Gospels his mode of communicating is by parables. However, his manner of teaching about a particular truth and principle is in discourses.

Jesus uses the phrase “I am” to describe Himself with seven metaphors in the Gospel of John. These simple predicate constructions provide insights into Jesus’ view of Himself:

• “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48; see also 6:41, 51);

• “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5);

• “I am the door” (10:7, 9);

• “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14);

• “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25);

• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6);

• “I am the true vine” (15:1; see also 15:5).

Each of these statements follows a basic pattern. They are written as metaphors in which one of the key elements is to be the Christ expressed as “I am.” The meaning of the metaphor is to be drawn chiefly from the explanatory statement connected with it.

Chapter 6 begins with the Feeding of the Five Thousand. Then it flows into Jesus walking on the water in a storm!

The crowd runs into Jesus on the other side of the lake and they are in total amazement not knowing when He got there!

#1 - I am…

“Am” is a “to be verb”, which is in the present tense…meaning-RIGHT NOW!

#2 - …the…

“The” is a “Definite Article.”

- It is used before a noun to define it as something specific (e.g., something previously mentioned or known, something unique, or something being identified by the speaker).

#3 - …bread of life.

-Borgen suggests that John contrasts the external bread of the past given through Moses with the spiritual bread of the present that is available in Jesus.

“I am the bread of life.” tn That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”

-In antiquity bread really was a matter of life. Since bread provided 50 percent of the calories available to most non-elite people, the metaphor suggests something very fundamental indeed. Jesus is the sustenance of life at its most basic level.”

Reed, Stephen A. “Bread.” Ed. David Noel Freedman. The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary 1992 : 780. Print.

I’m What You Need, I’m all you Need, whenever you need me! (cp. v.35)-

Conclusion-Come on to the feast, where the Table is Spread! It’s Ready!

Cp. John 6:35 to Isaiah 55:1, “Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.”

Jesus uses the phrase “I am” to describe Himself with seven metaphors in the Gospel of John. These simple predicate constructions provide insights into Jesus’ view of Himself:

• “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48; see also 6:41, 51);

• “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5);

• “I am the door” (10:7, 9);

• “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14);

• “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25);

• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6);

• “I am the true vine” (15:1; see also 15:5).

“I AM” SAYINGS

Self-proclamations made by Jesus in the Gospel of John.

One of the distinctive elements of the teaching of Jesus is the way Jesus expresses important truths in terms of his own personal character and mission. These statements begin with the words “I am” and then continue to express a deep theological thought in terms of metaphorical statement. This method of teaching is preserved for us in the Gospel of John alone. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke emphasize Jesus’ mode of teaching in the form of the parable, John pictures Jesus as teaching in discourses. These discourses often find an “I am” statement as the key expression of the central thought.

The “I am” statements found in the Gospel of John are the bread of life or the living bread (6:35, 48, 51), the light of the world (8:12; see also 9:5), the gate (10:7, 9), the good shepherd (10:11, 14), the resurrection and the life (11:25), the way, the truth and the life (14:6), and the vine (15:1, 5).

Each of these statements follows a basic pattern. They are written as metaphors in which one of the key elements is to be the Christ expressed as “I am.” The meaning of the metaphor is to be drawn chiefly from the explanatory statement connected with it. Thus when Jesus says, “I am the light of the world,” the explanatory statement follows, “So if you follow me, you won’t be stumbling through the darkness, for living light will flood your path” (tlb). This latter statement is intended to help a person interpret the metaphor. Most statements have such interpretive elements joined to them.

These metaphorical statements often complement Jesus’ miracles. The statement and a miracle each contribute to the understanding of the other. Thus when Jesus proclaims that he is the light of the world, he proceeds to bring sight to the blind man. The controversy that follows between the blind man and the Pharisees shows that the man has received spiritual sight as well as physical. Before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he tells Martha that he is the resurrection and the life. The raising of Lazarus is intended to show Jesus’ power to give life now and to demonstrate his power to do what he proclaimed he was able to do. After Jesus had fed the 5,000, he declared that he was the living bread that had come from heaven. Each of these miracles is interpreted by the metaphorical “I am” statement. Each statement is intended to give the miracle meaning for the ministry of Jesus. They show us that Jesus’ miracles were not just acts of power or mercy but actions demonstrating the meaning of his ministry and teaching.

Many theologians consider the “I am” formula to reflect an identification of deity found in the OT (see God, Names of). When Moses was called, he asked God to identify himself in such a way that Moses might gain acceptance from the Hebrew people. God revealed himself to Moses as the great “I Am.” Moses was to tell the Israelites that “I Am sent me to you” (Ex 3:13–14). From this “I Am” the name Yahweh is derived. Many believe that Jesus used this same formula from the OT to relate his deity. The “I am” statements in John’s Gospel help the reader identify Jesus as divine, as God.

Elwell, Walter A., and Philip Wesley Comfort. Tyndale Bible dictionary 2001 : 623. Print. Tyndale Reference Library.

“I Am” Sayings in John’s Gospel

Jesus uses the phrase “I am” to describe Himself with seven metaphors in the Gospel of John. These simple predicate constructions provide insights into Jesus’ view of Himself:

• “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 48; see also 6:41, 51);

• “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5);

• “I am the door” (10:7, 9);

• “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14);

• “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25);

• “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (14:6);

• “I am the true vine” (15:1; see also 15:5).

Jesus selectively connects some of these claims to the seven signs recorded in John’s Gospel. For example, shortly after He feeds the 5,000 (6:5–14), He claims to be the “bread of life” (6:35). Just prior to healing the man born blind (9:6–7), Jesus calls Himself the “light of the world” (9:5). Immediately before raising Lazarus from the dead (11:43–44), Jesus claimed to be “the resurrection and the life” (11:25).

Miller, Jeffrey E. “I Am Sayings.” Ed. John D. Barry et al. The Lexham Bible Dictionary 2016 : n. pag. Print.

“I am the bread of life.” tn That is, “the bread that produces (eternal) life.”

“This is the first of the seven “I am” statements in John. In antiquity bread really was a matter of life. Since bread provided 50 percent of the calories available to most non-elite people, the metaphor suggests something very fundamental indeed. Jesus is the sustenance of life at its most basic level.”

loaf of bread n. — a shaped mass of baked bread that is usually torn apart or cut before eating.

life (state) n. — the condition of living or the state of being alive; especially healthiness, happiness, exuberance, energy, vitality, and the like.