Jesus, the Bread of Life

Minister:
Date: PM
Text: John 6:35
Psalters: 30, 111, 112, 366
  1. What this means.
    1. Jesus is here thinking about the miracle, but also the manna in the wilderness, for it came from heaven.
      1. The people had brought up the wilderness manna (30,31) as a challenge to Jesus.
      2. First Moses did not give the bread from heaven, but Jesus’ Father did.
      3. Second, His Father not only gave the manna, but also He gives them the true bread from heaven (32).
    2. Jesus speaks of Himself as spiritual bread, i.e., as food for the soul.
      1. Bread is a necessary food; it has the nutrients necessary for life.
      2. Spiritually, Jesus is necessary food for sinners.
      3. As the Savior of sinners, He is the only One who is able to fill man’s soul with saving grace and perfect satisfaction.
  2. How does this take place?
    1. First, Jesus is the “I am.”
      1. He is Jehovah, not a mere man.
      2. He is the bread of life because He came down from heaven (33, 51).
      3. More, Jesus (God) came down and gave His flesh for the life of the world (51).
    2. Second, we must eat this Bread (50b) in order to know Jesus as the bread of life personally.
      1. We must appropriate assimilate Him as the very food for our souls, i.e., to come to Him and to believe on Him.
      2. So we eat Jesus by frequently casting ourselves on Him with a believing heart, embracing Him and His work, receiving Him.
    3. The fact that anyone eats the Bread of life is because God performed a work first (37).
  3. The result of eating the Bread of life is that we “never hunger” and “never thirst.”
    1. This means that one is fully satisfied with the riches of salvation in Christ.
    2. It means that we “shall live for ever” (51).