JESUS THE BREAD OF LIFE
“I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will never go hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35).
Jesus left no doubt about who He is and what He means to the world. He taught that He is the answer to the mysteries of life. And He used many metaphors to do so. One of them is that He is the “bread of life.” What does this mean?
One of Jesus’s most notable miracles was when He fed five thousand people with but five loaves and two fish. His miracles were done to prove His divinity, to prove that He was and is the Son of God and that He is the Savior of the world. They demonstrate that He is the answer, the one thing that we are seeking. We find what we need in Jesus the way that a starving person finds what he is seeking in bread.
After Jesus performed the miracle and gave the multitudes a free meal, they sought more from Him. But their minds were on the temporary and the physical rather than the spiritual and eternal. They wanted Him to provide more physical food, in other words. And that is why many of them were following Him. They saw Him as a “miracle worker” rather than as the Son of God—the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). While He did work miracles, that was not His purpose for entering the world.
Jesus knew what was in their hearts and where their priorities were. And He used the opportunity to teach them an eternal truth about God the Father and Himself. His unique role in the world was not about earthly, temporary needs and concerns. Anything that concerns us does concern Him, but ultimately His mission was a spiritual one (Lk. 4:18; John 3:16; 4:24).
What Jesus offers to humanity is worth more than all of the bread in the world. It is worth more than all the money or health or fame in the world. He offers us eternal life, salvation from our sins. We have a void and a need that only Jesus can fill.
Anything you try to fill the God-shaped void in your life with other than Christ will never bring lasting fulfillment. There is no lasting joy or happiness outside of Christ. Only He can give you what you seek—what your heart desires and what your soul needs.
When Jesus called Himself the Bread of Life, He was revealing that everything in the Bible and everything that has happened in history is about Him. Everything in the Bible is about Jesus in some way. This is true of the story of God feeding His people miraculously with bread from heaven while they were in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4-35). He sustained them daily as a picture of the fulfillment and spiritual sustenance that Jesus provides to His people today.
God sustained physical life among His people for forty years with literal bread from heaven, but the people who ate it still eventually died (John 6:49). Nothing in this world lasts forever, except a relationship with Jesus.
This is Christ’s point about eternal life. The “bread” that He offers is lasting and eternal. It means salvation for the soul. If you “eat” this “bread” you will never die in the absolute sense. The temporary nature of life means your body will die, but your spirit will go to live with Jesus forever if you feed on Him as your Lord and Savior (John 6:51).
Just as physical food is required to sustain us physically, fellowship with Jesus and trust in Him is required to sustain us spiritually. There is no physical life without food and there is no spiritual life without Christ. Feed on Him daily by faith in and love for Him.
The spiritual nourishment that we need is found by making a decision. If you were physically hungry and someone offered you bread, you would have to make the decision to accept it and eat it. God knows that we are spiritually starving and He has provided the solution. He freely offers the Bread of Life to all who will receive it. Accept the free gift of salvation through Jesus. The choice is yours. Take Christ as your Lord and Savior by a deliberate act of your will.
To trust in Christ and love Him means to put Him first in our lives, trusting Him alone to save us and living to please Him.
Jesus comes to give us abundant life (John 10:10), so we must cease trying to fulfill the longing of our heart and the needs of our soul with temporary, fleeting experiences and things. Jesus is the only way and the only answer.
You never have to search for spiritual bread again when you take Christ. His love for you and His life within you will take away your spiritual hunger forever. You will find the lasting fulfillment that you need. All you have to do is come to Him (Matthew 11:28). At the table of Christ, an endless supply of spiritual nourishment is available. Keep your focus on Jesus.
Any spiritual emptiness that you feel in your life is the result of not having a serious and focused relationship with God. You were created for God. You answer to your Creator as a created being. Live for Him and love Him through the wonderful gift of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Jesus is the source of life and everything in it. Embrace Him and rejoice that in Him you have all that you need both now and forever.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
