I am the Bread of Life
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24 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.
Me
You
God
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.”
THE FULL FORCE of Jesus’ sermon comes alive if we keep in mind certain details. Jesus is in the Capernaum synagogue (6:59), and it is Passover. At this time the Jewish community has been studying the Scriptures that pertain to the departure from Egypt (through the sea) and the flight into the desert. Following an initial question about how Jesus arrived here (6:25)—and it is not at all unlikely that we should see this as a two-level question, one material (he came by boat) and another spiritual (he came from heaven, 6:33; cf. 7:28)—discussion then turns to the central event, Jesus’ feeding miracle and its meaning.
Some scholars have effectively shown how Jesus’ words serve as a commentary on “he gave them bread from heaven to eat” (6:31). What was this Passover bread? Where did it really come from? Will it return? The quote from 6:31 is possibly from Psalm 78:24 (but has affinities with Ex. 16:4, 15). The complex of ideas involved a fascination with the manna miracle. Judaism understood that there was a storehouse or “treasury” of manna in heaven that had been opened to feed the people during the era of Moses. The Israelites had been fed with “bread from heaven.” This treasury would be reopened with the coming of the Messiah: “The treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years” (2 Bar. 29:8). This would be a messianic second exodus, in which blessedness would rain down from on high.13 An early Jewish commentary on Exodus 16:4 says, “As the first redeemer caused manna to descend … so will the latter redeemer cause manna to descend” (Midrash Rabbah Eccles. 1:9).
If God is truly the source of true heavenly bread and if Jesus has been sent by God, the shocking turn in 6:33 should come as no surprise. The bread of God is a person (“he who comes down from heaven”), a person who gives life to the world. With a stroke of genius, Jesus has done precisely what he has done throughout the Gospel: He exploits some feature of Jewish belief and ritual and reinterprets it to refer to himself. He is the manna from God’s treasury for which Israel has been waiting. He has been sent by God as manna descended in the desert.
The response of the crowd in 6:34 forms a climax in precisely the same way as did the response of the woman in 4:15. She had been looking for water and Jesus reinterpreted it as a spiritual gift. When Jesus described his gift, she remarked, “ ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ ” The crowd in Capernaum now say the same thing. “ ‘Sir,’ they said, ‘from now on give us this bread.’ ” Bread and water—two potent symbols of God’s wisdom and blessing in Judaism—are now distributed by Jesus, the true gift from God.
Thus, we are encouraged and warned simultaneously. We are encouraged to come and feed at the meal served by Jesus, to learn ultimately that the bread he offers is more than bread; it is life itself hidden in his sacrificed life. But we are also warned, because misapprehension and confusion can overtake us and we may unwittingly find ourselves grasping after religious things (bread, a religious king, sacraments) that in themselves are misdirected. As 6:63 says it, “The flesh counts for nothing.” The chapter begins with Jesus testing his disciples about food: Would they understand the implications of his presence here, his capacities, his goals? The passage then ends with some disciples grumbling in offense, others falling away, and Judas making plans for betrayal. There is a deep revelation of Christ at work here that divides the audience.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of men.
14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
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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. 45It 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. 46No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
53Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 57Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live forever.” 59He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
66From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
68Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”
70Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” 71(He meant Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot, who, though one of the Twelve, was later to betray him.)