TULIP GEMS

I am the Bread of Life

 

 

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

 

As noted in our previous article “Yahweh: The Great I AM” God revealed himself to Moses, at the burning bush, as I AM, THAT I AM (Exodus 3:14).

 

Jesus used the same name for Himself in His seven, great I AM statements found in the Gospel of John.  In John 6:35 Jesus said, "I am the bread of life."

 

This was no idle claim.  He had just fed the multitude of about five thousand men (besides women and children) with five barley loaves and two small fishes.  In John, chapter 6, verses 1-14, we read the following account:

 

After these things Jesus went over the sea of Galilee, which is the sea of Tiberias.

 

And a great multitude followed him, because they saw his miracles which he did on them that were diseased.

 

And Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.

 

And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.

 

When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him, he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

 

And this he said to prove him: for he himself knew what he would do.

 

Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

 

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,

 

There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many?

 

And Jesus said, Make the men sit down. Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.

 

And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

 

When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost.

 

Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

 

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of a truth that prophet that should come into the world. John 6:1-14

 

This miracle showed that Jesus was the Prophet promised by God, fifteen hundred year before, to Moses.  The last verse quoted above records the reaction of the Jews who witnessed the feeding of the five thousand.

 

They knew by His miracle that He was the Prophet that God promised He would send.  In the Hebrew Bible, the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy in the KJV Bible) we read:

 

The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;

 

According to all that thou desiredst of the LORD thy God in Horeb in the day of the assembly, saying, Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God, neither let me see this great fire any more, that I die not.

 

And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken.

 

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.

 

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.   Deuteronomy 18:15-19

 

God enabled Moses to do many miracles in the land of Egypt, at the Red Sea and in the Wilderness of Sinai.  He was God’s chosen Prophet to the children of Israel.

 

God promised Moses that He would someday raise up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee.  This Prophet would be a mighty miracle worker who would speak God’s Word to the children of Israel.

 

In speaking of this Prophet, God told Moses, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him.  Fifteen hundred years later, Jesus said:

 

For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.

 

And I know that his commandment is life everlasting: whatsoever I speak therefore, even as the Father said unto me, so I speak.  John 12:49-50

 

This miracle of feeding the multitude, in the physical realm, was a graphic illustration of the claim of Jesus to Deity in the spiritual realm.  God is the Great Provider of our need for both physical bread and for spiritual bread.

 

We cannot physically live very long without food and drink.  And we cannot live forever without Jesus, our Bread of Life and our Water of Life.  Read carefully the following dialogue between Jesus and the Jews he fed in that miracle.

 

Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled.

 

Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed.

 

Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?

 

Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?

 

Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

 

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

 

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world.

 

Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.

 

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 6:26-35

 

In order to spiritually feed on the Bread of Life, we must first believe on Him whom God hath sent.  And even our faith in Jesus is a gift from God.

 

It is God’s work, not ours.  Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

 

As sinners, we are unable to earn our salvation.  We cannot even believe in the Saviour, unless God grants us this gift of saving faith in Christ.  We read this deeply humbling truth in John 6:36-37.

 

But I said unto you, That ye also have seen me, and believe not.

 

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.   John 6:36-37

 

Here we see that God our Heavenly Father gives some to Christ.  He elects or selects some (and not others) to come to Christ.  And then He draws those He elects to Christ by His Spirit and His Word.

 

No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.  John 6:44

 

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born?

 

Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

 

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

 

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.  John 3:3-7

 

We were passive in our physical birth.  We did not choose to be born.  It was God who chose to give us physical life.

 

And so it is in the spiritual realm.  If we have faith in Christ, it is only because God, in His great love and mercy, chose to give us that faith.

 

We chose Him because He first chose us.  We love Him because He first loved us.

 

We are no better than unbelievers.  It is only God that makes us to differ from them.  We don’t deserve Heaven any more than they do.

 

God does not prevent others from coming to Him.  Rather, they cannot come because they don’t want to come.

 

Their inability to come to Christ is a self-imposed disability.  Men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.  And God is under no obligation to change their hearts.  He just lets them go their own way.

 

It is simply the mercy of God that we believe in Christ to the saving of our souls.  Without faith in Christ, we would be damned to Hell for our sins, like all unbelievers will be (unless God grants them repentance unto life).

 

Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.  This is why it is so important that we teach and preach the Word of God in our efforts to witness for Christ.

 

For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

 

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

 

And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!

 

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?

 

So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

 

Romans 10:13-17

 

Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.  1 Peter 1:23

 

 

Friend, let me ask you.  Have you ever fed on the Bread of Life?  I’m not asking you about physical feeding.  Have you ever fed spiritually on Jesus Christ?

 

You might ask, “What exactly does it mean to feed spiritually on the Bread of Life?”  Our Lord Jesus explains what it means in the following verses of Scripture.

 

I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

 

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

 

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.

 

Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

 

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.

 

He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him.

 

As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

 

This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eateth of this bread shall live for ever.

 

These things said he in the synagogue, as he taught in Capernaum.

 

Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?

 

When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?

 

What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?

 

It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.  John 6:51-63

 

Jesus gave His flesh, for the life of the world, on the Cross of Calvary.  He died there, the just of the unjust, that He might bring us to God.  He allowed sinful men to shed His innocent blood, as our Passover Lamb, sacrificed for us.

 

When we get behind the blood of the Lamb of God by faith, we are safe from the wrath of God.  He will passover us.  We will not be destroyed with the wicked.

 

We feed on the Bread of Life spiritually as we meditate on our Lord’s death, burial and physical resurrection.  Meditate has the idea of “ruminate.”

 

We take it in, chew on it, digest it, and like a cow who ruminates, we bring it up again from time to time and chew on it some more.  We do this in prayer, thanksgiving and joyful praise as we meditate on the Word of God.

 

We don’t physically feed on Jesus.  We are not cannibals or homosexuals.  Nor was He.  He said, "It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."

 

My friend, it is the Spirit of God that makes us alive spiritually.  Physical eating of Jesus was never intended.  The words He speaks to us are Spirit and they are life.

 

Everyone who feeds on the Bread of Life has eternal life.  We will be raised bodily in the last day in the Resurrection of the Just.  We will be eternally young, healthy and happy because we believe on Christ.

 

Sin and its curse will be gone forever, because our great Kinsman-Redeemer has died in our place, paying the death penalty for our sins.  The Hebrew Prophet Isaiah spoke of the Messiah our Substitute in Isaiah, chapter 53.

 

Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?

 

For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.

 

He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

 

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.

 

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

 

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.

 

He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

 

He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

 

And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.

 

Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.

 

He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

 

Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

 

Isaiah 53:1-12

 

Finally, we should remember that when Jesus spoke the following words, after performing a great miracle, He was claiming to be YAHWEH: The Great I AM. He is either liar, lunatic or Lord of all.

 

I believe He is Lord of all, The Bread of Life, YAHWEH: The Great I AM.

 

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

 

 

 

I am the Light of the World