Jesus! The Bread of Life

One of the most simple, yet profound statements Jesus ever made was, “I am the bread of life.”

Jesus told the people seeking Him, that which they were seeking and working for would not give them eternal life. If they would believe in Him, they could have eternal life. The people would not believe in Him until another sign, like Moses and the manna, was given.

In this discourse Christ more than anything else presents His Deity. People must see that He is God, Christ is God, not a god, not one of many gods, not lesser than THE God, but He is the one and only God, in a human body.

Many people see religion as “do the following things, obey the following rules, submit yourself to the following seat of discipline, do the following works” and then you’ll know God or you’ll be enlightened, or you’ll be on an inside track to the heavenly.

The Sign Seekers

John 6:30 They said therefore unto Him, what sign will you give us so that we can believe? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

If Moses perpetually fed his people with bread from heaven, they thought that the Messiah, the one greater than Moses, should give His people more than one feeding. They demanded that Jesus prove that He is special; then they would believe.

It’s impossible for the natural man to be convinced of anything in terms of signs and wonders.

If a person cannot come to the point of simple faith in Christ and His finished work, all the signs and wonders in the world aren’t going to convince him. For an unbeliever, there are never enough signs, wonders, or miracles to shatter his stony heart.

The Barrier of Unbelief

John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the Bread of Life. He that comes to Me shall never hunger, and he that believes in Me shall never thirst. 36 But I said unto you that you also have seen Me, and believe not.

They have already seen Him in a Messianic function at the feeding, and yet did not see the sign in His miracle, and so they did not truly see Him. They were so near salvation, but they lacked faith. They see the Son of God in His glory, and yet do not believe in Him.

They Murmur and Demand

John 6:41 The Jews then murmured at Him 42 And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, ‘I came down from Heaven’?”

‘We know who you are. How can you say you are from heaven, and we should believe it?’

Jesus intended to expose their error. He meant to point out to them that a sign could not point out His nature, God in the flesh. No human on their own can come to that place. The Holy Spirit must help get you there; then, you must choose to believe.

John 6:44 No man can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draw him; and I will raise him up at the Last Day.

The natural inability of man to come to Christ is not physical nor intellectual, but moral and spiritual; it is an unwillingness. No change of mental organization, no new faculty is required, but a radical change of the heart and will. This is effected by the Holy Spirit, but the providential drawing of the Father prepares the way for it.

Here is the great paradox, a mystery of the Bible: the sovereignty of God and the responsibility of a man

The Father draws, but anyone who wants to, can come. Divine love and Divine Grace are difficult for us to understand.

Jesus is the Bread of Life

John 6:47 Verily, verily I say unto you, He that believef in Me has everlasting life. 48 I am that Bread of Life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and are dead.

Jesus said Manna was only for Israel. In effect, ‘I am the bread for the whole world. I’m greater than Moses because My bread is the real stuff. My bread is the true bread, spiritual bread, which conquers death, and gives life—not only to Israel but to the world.’

The life Jesus gives is so dramatic, that you pass over from death to life. It transforms your whole orientation. It’s not just that a person is changed, but changed so decisively and completely that you cannot repeat that change. Apart from Jesus, all the other sources that promise spiritual life turn out to be short term and defective.

At the end of the day, Salvation requires an act of God. Christian conversion is not simply a question of changing your mind or  perspective; it involves an act of God actually giving life, holding you, transforming you, and changing you. God is after us, and He will work with us and in us in a kind of unique way that woos us, draws us, transforms and ultimately changes us.