‘I AM the bread of life’ is the first of the seven ‘I AM’ statements in the gospel according to John, that is claimed by Jesus.  Jesus does not mention this once but three times does He explicitly call out that He was the bread of life (John 6:35), that bread of life (John 6:48) and living bread (John 6:51).

Exodus 16 records the incident of the daily provision of the LORD wherein He rained down bread from heaven that the Israelites called ‘manna’ for they knew not what it was (Manna means ‘what is it?’). (Exodus 16:15). It was a  mystery, just as Jesus is a mystery to some. Jesus refers to this manna in John 6 and calls to our attention that while the manna sustained the Israelites in their jouney to the promised land, it did not save them, for those who ate of it eventually died. Drawing that parallel, Jesus makes his first ‘I AM’ claim in which He talks about himself not just as a sustaining bread for our lives, but as a saving bread for our lives.

Point(s) to ponder:

  • Without food (bread), we will die physically, but without Jesus (the bread of life), we will die physically and spiritually. Double whammy!
  • Note the Israelites did not know what it was (manna), nonetheless they took and ate it. Food is absolutely useless to the one who does not eat of it. You may have the fanciest of food choices presented to you, but unless you take the first step of taking (accepting) it and eating (partaking) it, it’s nutitritive and life giving abilities remain merely in itself. Similarly, the bread of life (Jesus) is always available for our taking, even if we dont really know who He is, but unless we take the first step of accepting Him and partaking of Him, we  will continue in our road to physical and spiritual death.
  • The manna in the wilderness was found on the ground (Exodus 16:14) and in order for one to take it, they must have had to bend to the ground to pick it. Asking Jesus to be your bread of life is also a similar experience – we must first humble (bend our mind and heart) ourselves and take him into our hearts, accepting his sovereignity and Lordship.

Jesus said, I AM the bread of life and he that eateth of me (takes me into their heart) will never die, but live, and not just live, but live abundantly and eternally. The choice is yours now – whether you want to humble yourself and accept Him to be your living bread or the only other option is double whammy! It is time now, for you to decide.

John 6: 35,48-51 (KJV)
35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
48 I am that bread of life.
49 Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead.
50 This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: …