I Am the Bread of Life (John 6:35)
The context in which Jesus makes this claim is a debate connected to the miraculous provision of manna for the children of Israel when they spent forty years travelling through the wilderness to the promised land. This debate rose out of the miracle Jesus had performed on the previous day when he fed a crowd of several thousand people, five thousand of whom were men, out of five loaves and two fish. Obviously, the miracle performed by Jesus was incredible and led people to wonder if he was the promised Messiah. If he was, then they assumed he would be able to do such actions on a daily basis because that was how God had provided the manna.
Jesus had left the scene of the miracle and gone to Capernaum, where the crowd later found him and interacted with him in the synagogue there. The crowd observed that Jesus had no intention of adopting their desire that he become a king and use his powers to provide them with their daily needs in a miraculous way. Instead, he told them that their desires concerning what he could do for them were not spiritual longings. Rather, they were expressions of individuals who were only concerned about physical provision. Their interests were limited to temporary concerns and not to the needs of their souls or their eternal destiny.
The discussion about manna and bread enabled Jesus to claim that he was and is the bread of life. It was obvious from the account of the manna that God only provided it for a limited period, therefore it was not a permanent necessity. The provision of manna was an expression of divine kindness that was only needed for forty years. Once that period was over, and the children of Israel had reached the promised land, they did not need the manna anymore and did not receive any again.
So what did Jesus mean when he said that he is the bread of life? What did people need to recognise or discover about him that would enable them to appreciate what he offered to them? Jesus mentions several details about himself in his interaction with the crowd.
Where did Jesus come from?
First, Jesus reveals where he came from. He says in verse 33 that he came down from heaven. Jesus was stating that he had different origins from those around him, and indeed from anyone else anywhere in the world. The crowd thought they knew where Jesus came from because they say in verse 42: ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ The statement implies that Joseph may have still been living at that time, but he would have been very old if he was. We should try and imagine the surprise and the sense of puzzlement that was felt by the people when Jesus revealed his heavenly origins to them.
Why did Jesus come into the world?
Second, Jesus also reveals why he came. One reason for him coming was that he was sent by the Father. Indeed, he says in verse 32 that his coming was a gift from the Father: ‘my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.’ In saying this, Jesus claimed that he was the real bread that sinners needed in contrast to the manna which did not automatically help in a spiritual way those who ate it. The fact that Jesus says he is a gift from his Father is a reminder of the amazing words found in John 3:16: ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.’ This divine gift is provided freely by the Father – we do not pay anything to receive the benefits.
Jesus also mentions another reason why he came when he says in verse 33 that he will give life to the world. Unlike the manna which only benefitted the Israelites, Jesus says that he intends to bring spiritual benefits to all other people groups as well. Indeed, he says that he is capable of providing spiritual sustenance for the entire world, should they come to him for it. The world here is not limited to those living at that time. All peoples are included. Of course, that is an extraordinary claim for a person to make, but we are not to be surprised at this claim because Jesus is fully God and so capable of such an action.
The necessity of faith in Jesus
Third, Jesus says that it is possible to have a wrong reaction to him, even if those responding are unaware of it. The crowd’s initial verbal response to the information that Jesus gave about his origins would seem very promising. They say in verse 34: ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Instead of affirming their response, Jesus tells them that their request is not even a shallow one, but actually a totally wrong response. They do not understand that they need to have faith, personal trust, in him. It was not enough to accept that Jesus could perform great miracles. Rather, they needed to depend on him for deliverance, not merely from any temporal needs that they have, but for salvation from their sins.
What does Jesus mean by faith in him? He uses several word pictures to illustrate what faith in him is like. One of those pictures is the word ‘come’. Come is a welcoming word, it includes an invitation to move from where people are to Jesus. The place where they are spiritually is that they do not possess eternal life, which means that they are spiritually dead. They do not have eternal life because they are separated from God by their sins. But Jesus assures them that if they come to him in faith, he will not refuse them. But they have to come to him. When they do come, they will discover a relationship in which they will never hunger or thirst. He means that they will move from the place where all the inhabitants never receive spiritual provision to the place where it is abundantly provided for all who accept the gracious invitation and come to him.
Another picture of faith that Jesus uses is the word ‘look’. He says in verse 40: ‘For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.’ The word ‘look’ includes the ideas of attraction, consideration and acceptance. Jesus does not mean a brief glance, but a continuing looking at him. Neither does he mean looking with one’s physical eyes; after all, the crowd could see him, but they did not have faith in him. Rather, faith looks beyond the surface and focuses on who Jesus is and what he did, and as it gazes it increases in understanding. Looking results in great discoveries about what Jesus can provide, and the discoveries draw people to Jesus for his provisions. They see that he can forgive them, guide them, keep them, and bring them to heaven.
A third picture of faith that Jesus uses is the word ‘taught’. He says in verse 45: ‘Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.’ Those who believe in Jesus have received supernatural teaching from the Father and they understand who Jesus is, that he is the Son of God who came into the world in order for sinners to have eternal life. This divine teaching inevitably draws sinners to trust in Jesus.
Remember the occasion when Jesus asked the disciples what people were saying about him. After they had listed the various opinions that people had of Jesus, he asked them who they thought he was. Peter said to Jesus, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’ Jesus then said to Peter that he was blessed, and the reason that he had such understanding was because the Father had given it to him (Matt. 16:13-17).
A fourth picture of faith that Jesus uses is the words ‘eat’ and ‘drink’. He says that they are to eat his flesh and drink his blood. In using this illustration he is not suggesting some form of cannibalism. Rather he is indicating that living by faith is like enjoying a sumptuous feast. This picture of the spiritual life is found elsewhere in the Bible. Isaiah uses it Isaiah 55 to describe the gospel, and Jesus uses it in Revelation 3 when he invites the church in Laodicea to sup with him. Unlike earthly meals, there is no limit how much a person can take when feasting on Jesus.
What happens to those who believe?
One consequence of believing in Jesus is that those who do so receive eternal life as a consequence. That is why he is called the bread of life. Since the life is eternal, it must be permanent. It is also personal, each person who believes possesses it. That is a wonderful blessing to have. It is also plentiful because eternal does not only refer to extent but also to content. What kind of life is provided by Jesus? It is life that is marked by a deepening love, an increasing peace and a fullness of joy in the presence of God.
A second consequence is that those who believe in Jesus will experience resurrection at the last day: ‘I will raise him up on the last day’ (v. 40). Jesus possesses the authority and the power to do this for his people. It is important to remember that we will not be resuscitated to the same state that we had when we died. Rather, as Jesus indicates elsewhere, his people will be glorified. While we cannot describe what that will be like, we know that it is much higher than current life. It is also important to observe the personal aspect that Jesus stresses. Those who individually believe in Jesus will have a personal experience of resurrection.
In verse 51, Jesus explains what he will do as the bread of life: ‘And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’ Here he refers to what he would do on the cross when he died in the place of sinners. He became their substitute, taking the punishment that was their due. In a very real sense, the cross of Jesus is where our faith should go in order to be strengthened and revived when low. The author of Hebrews exhorts us to gaze on Jesus as the One who endured the cross, despising its shame (Heb. 12:1-2). The four pictures of faith that we thought about earlier are all valid there.
We come to the One who suffered there, even although we know that he has been resurrected and glorified since then. We look at the One who suffered there and observe with wonder and appreciation and penitence that his sufferings were the payment of our sins. We are taught by the Father to go there and appreciate the great salvation that Jesus provided when he endured God’s wrath and ransomed us from the power of sin. And we go to the cross and feed our souls on the crucified Saviour, while at the same time knowing that he finished the work that the Father sent him to perform.
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