What Is In A Name: Bread of Life

Bread of Life

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  (John 6:35, NIV)

Throughout the Gospel of John, Jesus issued seven “I Am” declarations. Each declaration was given to help explain who He was: Jesus Christ, the Messiah, come to grant salvation to all who would accept Him. Throughout the next seven weeks, we are going to focus on these declarations, as each is a name used to describe Jesus Christ.

Quick! A big storm is heading your way! You need to run to the store and stock up on food before it hits. What items are you going to grab? Without thinking, at the top of your list is bread. Bread is a basic food item, often affordable to people in all circumstances. And everyone usually has a favorite type.

Bread also has a rich history, especially with the people of Israel. When they fled from Egypt, and later wandered the desert for 40 years, God provided them with bread six days a week. During the Passover celebration, Jews ate unleavened bread in remembrance of that time.

At the time of Jesus’ ministry, bread was a staple food item. And the day before declaring Himself the Bread of Life, Jesus had taken five loaves of bread and two fish and fed a crowd of 5,000 people – with leftovers!

Today, with added preservatives, loaves of bread can last quite some time. But eventually, the bread will no longer be edible. The bread offered by Jesus Christ will never expire, never go bad. It will last forever (Alpha and Omega).

In saying I AM, Jesus declares His divinity. In saying I am the bread of life, Jesus declares that He can provide for all our spiritual needs. Jesus follows up this declaration by saying that it is up to us to choose and to believe in Him as the bread of life.

So what does this mean for us? Choose! We must choose to accept the bread of life being offered by Jesus Christ. We must choose to receive our spiritual nourishment. And beyond choosing, we must believe in the salvation given by Jesus Christ.

For more information regarding how your financial support can help, please click here.