Pr Joshua Yong

“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.” (John 6:35)

The Gospel of John records seven “I am” sayings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These seven “I am” sayings are of great importance, for, in these declarations, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals who He is. In the same way that God revealed Himself to Moses as the great “I Am” (Exod. 3:14), the Lord Jesus Christ used this same divine name in reference to Himself. Through these sayings, the Lord Jesus Christ reveals Himself to us as the Son of God.

The first of these sayings is found in John 6:35, where the Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am the bread of life.”

The Lord Jesus Christ had just performed the miracle of feeding the five thousand with five loaves and two small fish. The people had eaten the physical bread, and having their hunger satisfied, wanted to take the Lord Jesus Christ by force and make Him a king. After the Lord Jesus Christ departed alone, they continued to seek Him, but only to fill their stomachs, not because they truly believed in Him as the Son of God. The Lord Jesus Christ exposed the hearts of the people and showed them what they really needed. What the people needed was the Saviour who could save them from their sins and give them eternal life. The people had not understood their spiritual problem and need, and they continued to ask for a sign, citing the provision of manna, which they referred to as the “bread from heaven” that God gave to them.

The Lord Jesus Christ then explained that God the Father has given the true bread from heaven, which gives life to the world. The people responded and asked Jesus to give them this bread from heaven. Hence, the context for Jesus describing Himself as the Living Bread!

1)  The Hunger for Life (v.35a)

 The Lord Jesus Christ says, “I am the bread of life.” In the days of the Lord Jesus Christ, bread was a basic staple of everyday life in Israel. The Jews ate bread for their daily sustenance. Bread was seen as an essential necessity. It was what they depended upon for their survival. Without bread, there was no life.

But the Lord Jesus Christ was not speaking of physical bread. He wanted the people to look beyond the physical and to see the spiritual. The people were focused only on physical sustenance, but they failed to see their spiritual need, which was far greater and more important. Life is more than just physical existence. The people were physically alive but did not have spiritual life. Everyone who is born into this world is born in sin and is spiritually dead. They are separated from God. If they die in their sins, they will have to face the second death, which is to spend eternity in the Lake of Fire, a place of eternal torment.

When the Lord Jesus Christ declares, “I am the bread of life”, He is declaring that He is the “bread” they must eat in order to have spiritual life.

2)  The Provision of Life (v.35b)

 The Lord Jesus Christ says, “…he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” The nature of physical bread is such that we will have to keep eating it again and again. When we partake of physical bread, we will grow hungry again. Our physical hunger is never truly satisfied. The children of Israel in the days of Moses had to eat manna every day.  Even though they ate manna every day  they still  died. Physical bread can sustain life for a moment, but it cannot prevent death.

No matter how much a person labours for physical provision, the bread can never permanently satisfy the stomach’s hunger pangs. It is so foolish to labour so hard for this physical bread, because despite partaking of it daily, we will still die physically.

In contrast, the Lord Jesus Christ is the bread of life. Whosoever “eats” Him will never hunger again. How is this possible? With physical hunger, the desire for food to satisfy the hunger is real; so true with spiritual hunger. Spiritual hunger is the hunger to get rid of sin in a person’s life. He knows that if he were to die in his sin, he will be severely punished by God. The moment he “eats” Jesus, i.e. receives Jesus Christ into his heart as his personal Lord and Saviour, his spiritual hunger for deliverance from his bondage to sin will be removed forever. He will be a free man blessed with a clear conscience and the peace of God will guard his heart and mind in Christ Jesus. He will never be hungry or thirsty again for another “saviour “to save him from his sins. He will worship no one else except the God of the Bible. The thirst and hunger in his soul will be thoroughly and permanently quenched and satisfied. There is no other saviour except Jesus Christ who can save him from his sins.

This saying of the Lord Jesus Christ must cause us to ponder why we profess to be Christians and why we follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Too many professing Christians are like the Jews in the days of the Lord Jesus Christ who only followed the Lord Jesus Christ because they wanted to have their stomachs filled. They did not seek Christ as the Son of God.

But the Lord Jesus Christ came to give us eternal life. We must follow the Lord Jesus Christ because we know and believe that the Lord Jesus Christ is the Son of God and is the only one who can give eternal life. All who come to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith will never hunger or thirst again, for He alone can satisfy the deepest need of our soul, which is the forgiveness of our sins.