Jesus, The Bread of Life
Seven times in John’s Gospel, Jesus describes himself with remarkable metaphors: The “I am…” statements. Some of these he uses more than once. He is the Bread of Life, the Light of the World, the Gate for the Sheep, the Resurrection and the Life, the Way the Truth and the Life, and the True Vine. Here in verse 35 we have the first of these.
34 “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.
The people were still looking for “this bread,” physical bread like manna that would satisfy their urges until they let themselves get sick of it and crave something else the way their ancestors turned up their noses at the manna in the wilderness (“We detest this miserable food!” Numbers 21:5).
So far in the chapter, Jesus has used different descriptors for “bread” that all point back to him and to faith in him. Just what is he? He is the bread “from heaven,” “from God,” and he is “the bread of life.” All of these things are true. Like living water, Jesus is nourishment that creates life and sustains life. He keeps us going. He is the bread who even causes us—look carefully at the last word of verse 35—to “never be thirsty.” That’s bread that lasts; bread that sustains. That’s Christ.
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (NIV)
Jesus takes the people right to the point of the resurrection. The Jews of Jesus’ time looked forward to the resurrection of the dead, and they even believed that the Messiah would raise the dead. One rabbi said, “When I die, bury me in my shirt and with my shoes and such on, so that when Messiah comes I will be dressed and ready to meet him.” But there was also a notion spooking around among the Jews (this is in their writings—the Mishna—and might only be reflected in Scripture in this passage) that the Israelites who died in the wilderness in the days of Moses would not be raised. They said, “The generation in the wilderness have no part in the world to come, neither shall they stand in the Judgment.” But Jesus is teaching the opposite: “I shall lose none of all that he has given me.” Nobody will fail to be there in the resurrection, and only those who reject Christ will be condemned. Sinners will be absolved; transgressors will be rescued. Murderers and adulterers will be forgiven. Only unbelief damns.
What sinners have sinned too much to miss out on Christ? Did Eve’s curiosity cut her off? No, it only brought her death. She believed in her Savior; she will live forever. Did Abraham’s adultery cut him off? No, he believed God, who credited it to him as righteousness. Did Moses’ murder cut him off? No, he looked to his Savior on the pole and was saved, too. Even Peter, who turned away from the grace of Christ in Antioch, was confronted by Paul and repented of his sins (Galatians 2:11-21).
Forgiveness and eternal life are sweetest when we know that they’re ours.
Something Extra:
Ecclesiastes 2:1
2 I thought in my heart, “Come now, I will test you with pleasure to find out what is good.” But that also proved to be meaningless. (NIV)
Solomon opens the second chapter of Ecclesiastes with a test, but it’s a test of pleasure. Was he thinking of us in the Twenty-first century? How many people think that “the pursuit of happiness” means that our government must supply us with happiness? Or that happiness itself is a human right, rather than its pursuit?
What things do people think will make them happy? Most of us are like children when this question is raised. What a blessing to be able to say, “I am happy, and I am content, just as I am.” What a rare day when we can say, “I wouldn’t change a thing.” Not because of the blue sky; not because of the cooperation of the thermostat and the barometer, but because of Christ on the cross, and the work of the word and the Holy Spirit in my heart.
Mishna quotation from Sanhedrin: Helek. halec. 3.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).
