3/11/10 John 6
The Bread of Life
(Jn 6:35)35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.
The beginning of John 6 recalls Jesus feeding five thousand with five loaves and two fish. John uses this to set the stage for Jesus teaching on the Bread of Life. Jesus is leading people to recognize that he is the source of life. Again, here in chapter 6, like chapter 4 and 5, there is an emphasis on life and specifically eternal life. Jesus mentions to the people that have followed Him that they should not work hard for the physical food which perishes, but the food that endures to eternal life.
In verse 35 Jesus states that He is the bread of life and anyone who comes to Him will not hunger and will not thirst. In chapter 4 He stated to the woman at the well that she could ask of for living water and He would give it. Food and drink are necessary to sustain physical life and in these chapters we understand Jesus as the Living Water and the Bread of Life to be necessary for eternal life.
From chapter 4 to 6, John has arranged His material for us to see that Jesus is the source of life itself. Here in chapter 6 Jesus speaks to the crowd in a strange way by saying “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves” (John 6:53). Jesus is not speaking literally about eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He is using this metaphorically to speak about His death and sacrifice that would take place on the cross. This verse does not teach that if you partake in communion that you will have eternal life. It is noteworthy to observe the fact that Jesus first creative miracle in John 2 was turning the water into wine and here in John 6 we read of His second creative miracle to be the multiplying of bread and fish. The whole point of communion is a visual and physical symbol to remember Jesus and His saving work on the cross.
In this chapter the phrase or a variation of it “I will raise him up on the last day” is used several times, because Jesus is the only one that conquered death and rose again (1 Cor 15:3-4). As we come to Jesus and believe Him to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins through the His life, death, burial, and resurrection we have eternal life and a confident expectation that we will be raised up on the last day.
For those who have come to Jesus and believed in Him your spiritual health is dependent on Jesus the Bread of Life. You must come to Him for your “Daily Bread.” You must take time each day being fed by the only one that can fill you, just as he filled the five thousand. Apart from Him your spiritual life will be anemic, malnourished, dry, joyless, and weak. (Jn 6:56)56“He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.
Without the Bread of Life in your life you will not live eternally. (Jn 6:50-51)50“This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51“I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever;”
Prayer: Living Father, thank you for giving me physical life. Thank you for my daily provision of food. Thank you all the more for providing the Bread of Life that I may live eternally and dwell in your presence forever. My time with you this morning has been very filling as you have showed me some great truths about spiritual nourishment. I pray that others may feed upon Jesus so they will experience the satisfaction that comes from living water and daily bread. I thank you Jesus for giving your life and overcoming death so that I may have an abundant, meaningful, life and trust you to raise me up on the last day, in the name of Jesus. Amen.