The “I Am” Statements: The Bread of Life
Over the next few weeks, I will look at the “I am” statements of Jesus found in the Gospel of John. I believe it is important for us to look at who Jesus says he is.
The first statement we come to is in John 6:35. It is here where Jesus claims that he is the bread of life. The previous day, he had fed the five thousand and walked on water, and now the crowd, which he had fed the night before, came to him once more, asking for another sign so that they might believe, just as the Israelites were given manna in the wilderness. Jesus says that the Father gave them the true bread from heaven, the one that gives life to the world, and the crowd asked Jesus to give them that bread. Jesus’ response is “I am the bread of life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.” The Jews did not like this claim, as they knew who Jesus’ father and mother were. They didn’t believe that he could have possibly come down from heaven.
In the time of the Israelites and their wandering in the wilderness, God, hearing their complaints, sent down manna from heaven to be their food. He provided more than enough of this heavenly substance for them to eat in their forty years of wanderings. After many years, the people grew tired of the heavenly bread which God provided for them daily, and they complained that they wanted meat as they had on the first night that the manna appeared. This complaint angered God and Moses. Moses begged God to help him, for he couldn’t bear the weight of the people on his own anymore. God, hearing the complaint of both the people and Moses, said he would give them meat, and they would eat so much meat for the next month that it would become nauseating to them. And as the people were still chewing on the meat that God had provided them, God, in his anger, struck them with a plague that left those who craved meat dead and buried.
Just like in the days of the Israelites wandering in the wilderness, the Jews were not happy with what God had given them as food. Jesus once again explained to them that those who ate of Him, the bread of life, would in fact live forever because the life of the world was in his flesh. Because of this hard teaching, many of his disciples left him, for they could not accept it. They, just like the Israelites, were looking for more than just the bread of heaven.
Here we are, with Thanksgiving upon us, and we look forward to the feasts that the holiday season will bring. This year has been tough, and many of us are left hungry for a better, more joyous, peaceful time. Like the Israelites and the Jews, we are searching for something more. But Jesus says He is the bread of life, and those who feast on him will not be hungry. Perhaps this is where we have gone wrong this year during this pandemic. We have been looking to the world to fill us with happiness and joy. But Jesus tells us the answer. If we go to him and feast on him, then we will be full of life, and it won’t matter what is happening in the world around us. Yes, it might still be hard, but we will be filled with the joy and peace that only comes through him.
As we continue through this never-ending pandemic that has left us missing out on some of our normal ways of life, let us remember that Jesus is the bread of life. Let us go to him and feast on him in this time of tribulation and always.
