Jesus the Bread of Life

PastorDave — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 16:43:46 +0000

John 6:22-24 establish the context from which Jesus spoke the first “I am” statement. Jesus had just feed the five thousand. In verses 25-34 Jesus is giving the people a re-intreptation of the giving of manna to the Israelites when they were wandering in the wilderness. Arthur Pink says, “The error of the Jews here should be a warning to us. They thought Moses gave them the manna. But it was God and not Moses. He was only the humble instrument. They ought to have looked through the instrument to God. But the eye rested, where it is ever so prone to rest-on human medium.” These Old Testament references involve Psalm 78:23-24 being the most prominent of them along with Exodus 16:4, 15; Nehemiah 9:15, and Psalm 105:40. The passage sustains links with 1) the exodus and Passover motifs, 2) the characterization of Jesus as the Prophet like Moses, and 3) the expectation that God would provide manna once again in the Messianic age. Dr. Kostenberger said, “The crowd’s citation of Ps. 78:24b, or a similar OT reference to that effect, that God “gave them bread from heaven to eat” is part of the Johannine “misunderstanding” theme. Jesus had just performed an amazing miracle, the feeding of the multitude (6:1-15), but the crowd is asking for the kind of evidence of Jesus messianic calling that he had just provided.” Hence the crowd had failed to discern the true significance of this Johannine “Sign,” as is duly noted by Jesus (6:26). In this way these Jews were unwittingly perpetrating the wilderness generation’s pattern of unbelief in the face of miraculous “signs” performed by God’s servants.”

Jesus (John 6:35) tells the people that He is the bread of life. This “I Am” statement constitutes the first of seven of I am statements recorded in John. Apart from these sayings there are also several absolute statements where Jesus refers to himself as “I am” (v.20; 8:24, 28, 58; 18:5), in keeping with the reference to God as “I AM” in Exodus 3:14 and the book of Isaiah (Isa. 41:4; 43:10, 25). Jesus is the “bread of life” in the sense that He nourishes people spiritually and satisfies the deep spiritual longing of their souls. In that sense, those who trust in Him shall not hunger, that is their spiritual longing to know God will be satisfied (John 4:14). Jesus, in saying He is the Bread of Life, is plainly claiming to fulfill Old Testament messianic expectations in keeping with prophetic passages that speak of the operation of God’s word in the provision of eschatological salvation (Isa. 55:1; Isa. 49:10).

In John 6:36-40 Jesus teaches the people that they focus too much on what can be seen physically and not enough on the spiritual. He tells them in John 6:37 that all that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. Jesus’ promise is to receive everyone who comes to him and trusts him for salvation. However, a few verses later (v.44) Jesus states the paradoxical and corresponding truth that once people come to Jesus, they will realize that behind their willing decision to come and believe lies the mysterious, invisible work of the Father who was drawing them to Christ all along (Romans 9; Eph 1:3-6). Jesus came from heaven to do the Father’s will because He was sent by the Father. Jesus then tells the people in John 6:40 that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and He will raise them up on the last day.

John 6:41-51 shows us that the Jews were only interested in questioning Jesus, and Jesus in response to their questions lovingly confronts them with the Truth. John 6:41-42 the Jews belittle Jesus and his background. Jesus responds in verse John 6:43, “Do not grumble among yourselves.” The grumbling here is reminiscent of the pattern of grumbling against God in the Old Testament (Ex. 16:8; Num. 14:27; Ps. 95:8-9). John 6:44 is a crucial verse in this section. Jesus tells the Jews that no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. The no one is able to come to me comes from the greek word dynamai meaning to be able. This implies that no human being in the world on his own, has the moral and spiritual ability to come to Christ unless the Father draws him, that is, gives him the desire and inclination to come and the ability to place trust in Christ. (vs.37; 12:32).

Jesus in John 6:45-51 paints a picture of Himself as the bread of life who gives eternal life. Dr. Kostenberger said, “In response to the Jews’ demand for Jesus to produce something akin to Moses’ giving of the manna to the Israelites in the wilderness, Jesus went beyond these expectations, not only by demonstrating his ability to accomplish a similar feat (the feeding of the multitude) but also by arguing that this event merely constituted a “sign” pointing beyond what Jesus did to who he was. Jesus claimed not only to be able to give the bread from heaven but also, in his very own person, to be that bread (6:33, 35, 38).” Jesus’ main point is explained in verse 46 where He says, “He who is from God; he has seen the Father.” Jesus (verse 47) uses the phrase “truly, truly,” which is always used to point to the unbelief of the people, and then says, “Whoever believes has eternal life.” In verse 48-51 Jesus is trying to get the Jews to understand that He is the real bread of life. He wants them to see that it was not Moses who gave them the bread but the Lord, and now He is here offering them more than just bread to feed their hunger but eternal life.

In John 6:51 Jesus says, “I am the living bread that comes down from heaven.” The “bread” Jesus gives is his flesh (a reference to Jesus dying on the Cross). Jesus statement intermingles physical and spiritual truth. Jesus here is not talking about literal bread, but living bread which can satisfy spiritual hunger. He becomes this spiritually satisfying bread by sacrificing His own physical body in his death on the cross, and in that sense he can say that this spiritual bread is “my flesh.” He says in verse 51, “And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

In John 6:52-59 Jesus is attempting to turn the Jews from their unbelief. He is pointing out that what satisfied them right now is only temporary, but what is eternal is what they are really seeking after. Jesus again uses the phrase “truly, truly” to point to their unbelief. He then says, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you can have no life in you.” The phrase “unless you drink the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” cannot be intended literally, for no one ever did that. As Jesus has done frequently in this Gospel He is speaking in terms of physical items in this world to teach about spiritual realities. Here, to “eat” Jesus’ flesh has the spiritual meaning of trusting or believing in him, especially in his death for the sins of mankind (6:35). Similarly, to “drink his blood” means to trust in his atoning death, which is represented by the shedding of his blood. Although Jesus is not speaking specifically about the Lord’s Supper here, there is a parallel theme, because the receiving of eternal life through being united with “the Son of Man” is represented in the Lord’s Supper (where Jesus’ followers symbolically eat his flesh and drink his blood; 1^st Cor. 11:23-32). This is anticipated in the Old Testament feats (1^st Cor 5:7) and consummated in the marriage Supper of the Lamb (Rev 19:9).

Jesus as the Bread of Life offers life to the high minded and to the lowly of society. Jesus as the Son of God came to show us what a Godward life is, and as the Son of Man He came to show us what God is like in human form. The life Jesus offers is everlasting and in a world that focuses on the here and now; eternal life is a far cry from the hustle and bustle of modern society. Jesus is not only the Bread of Life who offers eternal life but who is sovereign over all of life. Jesus then is not just a Savior who said nice things so people would believe in Him but a Savior, Prince and Lord whose very life was shed on the Cross to atone for sin and to give us this life, and to share His life with others.

Bibliography

Pink, Arthur, Exposition of the Gospel of John: Three Volumes Complete and Unabridged in One. (Michigan: Zondervan, 1975), 327.

Hughes, R. Kent. John: That You May Believe: Crossway Books, 1999.

Beale, G.K, Carson, D.A. Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. (Michigan: Baker Academic, 2007), 447-448.

In Christ Alone,

Pastor Dave

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