Bread of Life
Notes
In this, the first of His seven “I am” sayings in the Gospel of John, Jesus made clear that the bread of heaven was not physical bread; rather, it was Jesus Himself. Those who would cease to hunger and thirst needed to come to Him and believe in Him.
Sproul, R. C. John: an Expositional Commentary. Reformation Trust, 2009., Ch 17
The phrase “bread of God” was another name for the bread of the Presence (Lev. 21:6, 8), so Jesus is saying in today’s passage that He is the fulfillment of the bread of the Presence under the old covenant. Christ is far better than the former bread, for anyone, priest or not, can dine on Him by faith; that is, all who are willing may trust in Him alone for eternal sustenance and receive life that can never be taken away. And Jesus will never cast out any who truly put their faith in Him (John 6:36–51).
Ligonier Ministries. “Jesus the Bread of Life,” April 2010. https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/jesus-bread-life.
Here is the main point: Jesus did not come into the world mainly to give bread, but to be bread. “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger. He who believes in me will never thirst” (John 6:35; he repeats himself in verses 48 and 51). He came into the world not to give bread, but to be bread.
Now he is going to give bread and you can miss it by thinking that is the main thing he came to do. But that is not the main reason he came. You have already had a lot of bread taken out of your hands. And I hope it lands on you with massive good news that he came to be bread, not mainly give bread. He has got to take bread out of a lot of people’s hands so that they will trust him as the bread.
Piper, John. “Jesus Came Not to Give Bread but to Be Bread,” November 2009. https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/jesus-came-not-to-give-bread-but-to-be-bread.
Bible References
[6] They shall be holy to their God and not profane the name of their God. For they offer the LORD’s food offerings, the bread of their God; therefore they shall be holy. [8] You shall sanctify him, for he offers the bread of your God. He shall be holy to you, for I, the LORD, who sanctify you, am holy. (Leviticus 21:6,8)
[1] Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help
and rely on horses,
who trust in chariots because they are many
and in horsemen because they are very strong,
but do not look to the Holy One of Israel
or consult the LORD! (Isaiah 31:1 ESV)
[9] For they have gone up to Assyria,
a wild donkey wandering alone;
Ephraim has hired lovers. (Hosea 8:9 ESV)
[11] Give us this day our daily bread, (Matthew 6:11 ESV)
[19] Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven and said a blessing. Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [20] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over. [21] And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 14:19-21 ESV)
[36] he took the seven loaves and the fish, and having given thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. [37] And they all ate and were satisfied. And they took up seven baskets full of the broken pieces left over. [38] Those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. (Matthew 15:36-38 ESV)
[32] Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. [33] For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [34] They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” [35] Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:32-35 ESV)
[53] So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. (John 6:53 ESV)
[10] He who supplies seed to the sower and bread for food will supply and multiply your seed for sowing and increase the harvest of your righteousness. (2 Corinthians 9:10 ESV)