I Am the Bread of Life

Last time we talked about the Good Shepherd. One of the seven ‘I am’ statements in John:
1. “I am the bread of life” (6:35, 41, 48, 51);
2. “I am the light of the world” (8:12; 9:5);
3. “I am the door of the sheep” (10:7, 9);
4. “I am the good shepherd” (10:11, 14);
5. “I am the resurrection and the life” (11:25);
6. “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6); and
7. “I am the true vine” (15:1, 5).
Remember how we talked about Jesus fulfilling the shepherding imagery of the Bible? Today we will look at how he uses and fulfils the image of bread in the Bible. Note also the importance of “I AM”. Egō (“I”) is used 134 times in John (29, 17, 23 in MML). Egō eimi is used 30 times (5, 3, 4 in MML). N.B. John doesn’t use parables like the synoptics. Jesus is not just a representative of God. He is bringing God’s own presence.
Context from verses 1-4
1. Crossed a body of water
2. People followed him as a result of the signs he did
3. Went up on a mountainside with his followers
4. Passover was near
Jesus proceeded to feed a vast number of people with bread and fish. Ring any bells? Manna and quail?
“9Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up 10and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. 11But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.” (Exodus 24:9-11)
Leviticus 24:5-6 details the 12 loaves of ‘showbread’ that were kept in the Holy Place. Cf. the 12 loaves of v. 13?
vv. 14-15 show the people’s response, that Jesus was the Prophet.
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you” (Deut 18:15)
So, Jesus is identified as the ‘one like Moses.’
vv. 16-24
Walking on water? Why? Suffice to say that the 12 were going to need an extra special sign in order to prepare them to receive what was to follow.
vv. 25-40
(26.) The people have acknowledged Jesus as Prophet/messiah. But they are more interested in what they can get out of him than in the significance of his kingship. NB Jesus is the one who raises the topic of bread.
(27.) Note the pattern here:
God wills (1) people to believe in Christ (2) and receive eternal life (3).
(28-29.) “What must we do?” A fair question considering Jesus’ statement “work… for food”. Before all legal obedience is obedience to the sent law-giver. Jesus identifies himself as that one.
True belief involves action, but the belief comes first.
(30-31.) The people have understood Jesus’ claim to be the one like Moses. So now they ask for proof just like the Israelites in Exodus 4:29-31:
“29Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders of the Israelites, 30and Aaron told them everything the LORD had said to Moses. He also performed the signs before the people, 31and they believed.”
(32-33.) NB the present tense. These people have received bread from Heaven, but not from Moses. They have been given the ‘true bread’. What is this?
(34.) They are still thinking about their stomachs! Bear in mind how hard their lives were.
(35.) Wow! Jesus is claiming this strand of the Bible story for himself!
Stop here and think about the tradition that he is claiming…
1. Bread appears throughout the OT as the basic stuff of life. God provides food for his people (Exodus).
2. It is shared in fellowship with others and with God (Gen 14:18, Heb 9:2-3).
He claims to be the enduring fulfilment of the previously imperfect ‘bread’. In verse 49 Jesus makes the point that the Israelites in the desert ate the bread but still died.
(36.) It is so sad that the Israelites clung to their old stories, which were only shadows of Christ.
(37.) Now Jesus just begins a long process of repeating himself in the face of adversity. Remember the pattern we saw in v. 27? He repeats it 18 times in verses 27-58! (See the appendix for details.)
Summary
Jesus is not just a bringer of revelation like Moses. He is the revelation. He publically applied God’s name and qualities to himself.
Continuation of the image of bread in the NT
The Eucharist
The Passover bread reminded the people of their dependence on God for their salvation. Remember the ‘showbread’ mentioned in Heb. 9:2-3? In order to access the Holy of Holies, the high priest had to pass by the table on which there were always 12 loaves of bread. As Jesus identifies himself with the bread, he claims to be the ultimate way to salvation, to entering God’s presence. The showbread had to be replaced each Sabbath; Jesus’ body endures.
The Future
Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” (Revelation 19:9)
“Give us today our daily bread” is hard to interpret. It seems to have a future sense too.
“53Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
67“You do not want to leave too, do you?”
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Appendix
Repeated pattern: God the Father wills people to believe in Christ for eternal life.
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here?
26 Jesus answered, 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.
27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval. 1
28 Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires?
29 Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. 2
30 So they asked him, ‘What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?
31 Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'
32 Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 3
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 4
34 Sir, they said, from now on give us this bread.
35 Then Jesus declared, 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. 5
36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 6
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 7
40 For my Father's will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 8
41 At this the Jews began to grumble about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven.
42 They said, Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I came down from heaven'?
43 Stop grumbling among yourselves, Jesus answered.
44 No-one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day. 9
45 It is written in the Prophets: 'They will all be taught by God.' Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from him comes to me. 10
46 No-one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father.
47 I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life. 11
48 I am the bread of life.
49 Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died.
50 But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 12
51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. 13
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
53 Jesus said to them, I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 14
54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 15
55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.
56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him. 16
57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 17
58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your forefathers ate manna and died, but he who feeds on this bread will live for ever. 18
59 He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.