The Unique Jesus (2):The Bread of Life
- Rev Norman Cameron

Last time I sought to show that Jesus is unique, he is the one and only, there is no-one like him. He put himself on the same level as God. He used the name of God – the I am – to refer to himself. What we want to do today and in subsequent weeks is to look at the seven “I am” statements in John’s gospel to hopefully get a fresh insight into what Jesus was saying about himself, but also that we might get to know him better, and ultimately follow him more closely. For that is why we are here is it not.

I want you to notice that there are seven I am statements or word pictures that Jesus gives. He is the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life and finally the true vine. I think that is deliberate. Seven after all is the number of perfection in scripture. And for what it is worth John only records seven miracles in his gospel. Again that is deliberate. He is making a point. Jesus is the perfect one, the unique one, the Son of God.

As we look at each we will also take a look into the Old Testament because everything Jesus said and did is rooted in the Old Testament. When we see what he said often had its background in the Old Testament it gives what he said new force and a new depth and richness. It helps us to better understand the impact that he had on the first hearers. They were steeped in the Old Testament and things he said would have resonated with them and their minds would have been transported back to images and passages in the scriptures. If we are not aware of this we lose out, we do not have a true appreciation of Jesus and what he was saying.

The final introductory point I will make is that when you read the I am statements in their wider context you discover that John, when he was writing his gospel, often tied certain events and miracles into these sayings. For example at the raising of Lazarus from the dead Jesus says “I am the resurrection and the life”. Also at the start of John ch.6 we have the miracle of the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Later in this chapter we have John giving us the teaching of Jesus as the bread of life. You see he ties together what Jesus did with what he said. The purpose of writing his gospel is given to us at the end in John 20:31 “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

That is the key verse; it tells us what John is about here. He is pointing us to Jesus and saying look this person is unique. He deserves to be followed because he was who he said he was. Take him seriously, listen to him, follow him, he has the words of eternal life. He gets us in touch with God our maker.

So today we see that Jesus said in Jn.6:35 “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.” Now we know this phrase so well if we are church going people. It is familiar to us but sometimes familiarity can breed apathy, or boredom, if not even contempt. Here is what I mean. As I was preparing this it occurred to me that in this phrase, as in all the I am phrases, Jesus shows his uniqueness. You see I do not know anyone else amongst all my family members, friends, acquaintances who has ever said to me, “Norman I am bread” (or even that they are like bread.) “It occurred to me the other day that I am like a wheaten loaf.” Now that would be an interesting conversation wouldn’t it. It takes you to a whole new level of philosophy, or madness.

I wonder do you know anyone like that? You see if someone says to you I am the bread of life, or I am the fruit juice of the world, you would look at them in a funny way would you not? Of course you would. You would suspect that they have been working too hard, or had too much to drink. This is not the way people speak normally. It wasn’t how they spoke in the first century either.

Now put yourself in the sandals of a 1^st century Jew. You are having this serious discussion with a young upcoming Rabbi and he suddenly says, “I am the bread of life”. And he says it with a straight face. Jesus is forcing them, and us, to think. Bread then, as now, was a staple diet of people. In the simpler, poorer culture of the 1^st century bread was the main food. They might have had meat or fish each day but more often than not they did not.

The hungry days in which they lived explains why Jesus says in v.26 to those who were following him – “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” The people were often hungry and they saw in Jesus one who could produce food on demand. It was not the miracle so much as the fact that their stomachs had been filled that excited them. Our bodily appetites so often dominate our thinking. Jesus may be a wonderful teacher, he may be a miracle worker, but free food to a hungry culture was very interesting. In a place where food was hard earned and not easily obtained Jesus was something else.

But Jesus takes this physical hunger, this natural appetite and desire, and uses it to speak to them of a supernatural desire, an eternal satisfaction, a higher way of feeding and satisfying our souls. In effect he is saying just as you need the most basic foodstuff - bread, the staple diet - to live physically, to sustain you on this earth, so I am the bread of eternal life. If you feed on me and follow me you will live spiritually, I am the one who will satisfy your most basic need for eternal life. And so he says in v.29 “The work of God is this, to believe in the one he has sent.”

MANNA

He throws out the challenge. Follow me, I have been sent from God, I am the one who gets you closer to God. And so they respond – “prove that you are who you say you are”. All this talk of bread reminds them of the story of the manna God gave in the wilderness at the time of Moses. In effect they are saying Moses gave the people manna, prove that you are greater than Moses. What are you going to give us?

Jesus corrects them by saying well it was not actually Moses who gave you the manna, it was God. God “my Father” (v.32). And just as God my Father gave manna to the Israelites so God, my Father, is giving you manna now – I am the bread of life. I am the true manna, the true bread, the true heavenly provision for salvation. “For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (v.33)

Manna was sent by God to the Israelites – it was heavenly provision for need. I am the New manna, I am the true manna, as you receive my words you are like the Israelites of long ago who went out and gathered the manna. They needed to receive it to live, you need to receive me and my words to live eternally. Just as all the Israelites needed was manna to keep them going, so Jesus is all we need to keep us going spiritually. This is what he is saying.

So I hope you see the way we have come. Jesus starts by talking to those who were following him questioning them as to what they were really looking for. In a poor and hungry culture they were more interested in the fact that Jesus gave them free and copious food than that he might be from God. Jesus uses their appetite for physical food to point the people to a deeper longing that each one of us has – the need for our spiritual hunger to be fed. Just as bread was the staple physical food, he is the staple spiritual food. Just as God sent manna, heavenly provision, to the Israelites, so God is sending heavenly provision again, heavenly manna to Israel – Jesus is that manna and he needs to be received.

Just as manna needed to be received daily, so we need to receive Jesus daily. We do that by feeding on his word, by praying and nurturing our relationship with him. The analogy of food is a good one because it reinforces this truth, just as we eat daily so we need to receive Jesus daily. The Israelites went out each day apart from the Sabbath to collect the manna. The day prior to the Sabbath they were to collect twice as much.

We need to make sure that we are feeding ourselves on God’s word each day. Some people, in an interesting irony, turn around the Israelite practice, perhaps overstocking, or overfeeding on the Lord’s day and then not gathering spiritual food for the next six days. Bread that is sitting for a week tends to be stale. Too many of us are surviving on stale bread instead of coming to God on a daily basis for daily, fresh bread. Fresh bread is much better isn’t it. No wonder people go off receiving fresh bread – because they are so used to the stale stuff and they think that is what it is supposed to be like.

Jesus offers us fresh manna each day. Just as we want fresh physical food so let’s get the fresh eternal food that God has for us as we interact with him on a daily basis.

RECEIVING JESUS

Finally in this passage Jesus gets very tangible – almost too tangible. As he takes this analogy of food he takes it to the next stage. He says, in effect, bread will only do you good if you receive it, if you eat it and digest it. In.v.53 he uses almost cannibalistic terms – “I tell you the truth, unless you can eat the flesh of the Son of Man and rink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink”

Now Jesus in using these graphic terms is not suggesting that they physically eat his flesh and drink his blood. No he is simply saying that just as you must eat bread for it to do you any good so you must receive me into yourself for me to do you any good. You receive me by faith, by believing and trusting in me. You need to receive me into your deepest being, just as when you eat food it becomes part of you, so I need to become part of you. Food needs to be received and it needs to be internalized.

Jesus is like bread in this respect, for him to do you any good he must be received. Here is the challenge for any today in this building who are curious about Christ but you know that you are not converted to Christ. You are holding back, much as many of these first century Jews were. Perhaps you are here more to see what you can get out of Jesus than what you can give to Jesus.

Jesus is the bread of life. Unless you truly receive him you will not receive eternal life, you will die. The bread of life is free but it must be gathered. Come eat and live is the invitation. Eat of it, be sustained by it, live by it. Jesus says “Unless you eat of the flesh of the Son of Man you have no life in you.” (v.53) You remain dead in trespasses and sins.

Jesus is the bread of life. When we internalize Christ he becomes part of us. This is true faith. Remember we are what we eat and when we receive Christ we are in Christ and Christ is in us. It is a seamless join. He is assimilated into our lives and we gain his life.

Frank Lyall says “We cannot be nourished by looking at bread, thinking about bread, smelling it, admiring it, or even touching it. We have to eat it.” Perhaps some of you have heard about Jesus, read about Jesus, thought about Jesus, maybe even admired Jesus - but you have not received Jesus. Today he offers himself to you. Hear these words, receive them as you have never received them before, and in receiving them receive Jesus as your Saviour.

“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 work of God is this – to believe in the one he has sent. Eat and live.