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Exodus 16:14-16 14 When the layer of dew lifted, there on the surface of the wilderness was a fine flaky substance, as fine as frost on the ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they said to one another, “What is it?”1 For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat. 16 This is what the LORD has commanded: ‘Gather as much of it as each of you needs, an omer to a person according to the number of persons, all providing for those in their own tents.'”
Exodus 16:31 31 The house of Israel called it manna; it was like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey.
John 6:48-58 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” 52 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; 55 for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”
I Am the Bread of Life
How do we know who someone is, what kind of person they are? We could ask others about them. We could ask their family. We could watch what they do and listen to what they say. We can learn a lot about a person this way. But one of the best ways to learn about someone is to listen to who they say they are.
In the gospel of John we find what are called the seven “I AM” statements of Jesus. The phrase ‘I Am’ carries great significance in both the Jewish and Christian traditions, as it is a direct reference to God’s self-proclaimed name in the Old Testament.
In order to understand the significance of Jesus of saying “I AM” we need to go back to the Old Testament in Exodus 3 when God revealed His name to Moses: “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Exodus 3:14). So in Judaism, “I AM” is unquestionably understood as a name for God. By using this phrase, Jesus emphasizes his divinity and asserts his oneness with the Father.
These statements reveal profound truths about Jesus’ identity and purpose. Through these declarations, Jesus offers a glimpse into his character and invites people to know him in a more intimate way. As we seek to understand the ‘I Am’ statements of Jesus, we embark on a journey to uncover the truths that can transform and shape our understanding of who Jesus truly is.
Throughout John’s gospel Jesus tells people who He is on eight different occasions by saying, “I am…” Over the next eight weeks we are going to study these “I am” statements of Jesus. I am the bread of life, I am the light of the world and so on. Jesus used them to describe Himself so He could teach people who He is. They are all metaphors. Jesus isn’t really a loaf of bread or a light. We will look at each of them from several angles. First, who is Jesus saying He is? What did it mean in His culture and how does it speak to us today? What does it mean to our beliefs, our behavior and our lives?
The first I AM occurs in John 6. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” What did this mean in His culture? The people of Jesus’ day lived on the edge of starvation. The peasants were mostly subsistence farmers. The Roman taxes strained their ability to survive. Most knew hunger, many died of hunger. Bread meant life to them, the difference between starving and dying or living another day.
Most of us have never lived that way. Literally not knowing where our next meal was coming from. We’ve seen it on television, we know it exists in other countries but we ourselves probably haven’t experienced it. Personally, I rarely eat bread; it simply isn’t part of my diet. I don’t worry about starving; I worry about eating too much. Jesus’ statement doesn’t have the impact for us that it did in Jesus’ time.
The day before Jesus said this to the people was the feeding of the five thousand. He had just given them bread and fish. They had witnessed and participated in a great miracle. Now they wanted more bread and fish. They wanted Jesus for what He could provide, they didn’t care who He was. Listen to what Jesus said to them. “26 Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
They wanted Jesus to provide for them as their ancestors were provided for. Bread from heaven to eat, no work, no effort. They told Him, “31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'” 32 Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is that which 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 will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Jesus isn’t offering physical bread but spiritual bread. Bread that is necessary not for physical life but for spiritual life. Without Jesus we are not alive. What food is to the body, Jesus is to the soul. Jesus is saying to them you ask for physical food but you don’t realize you are dying of spiritual starvation.
The people in Jesus’ time were desperate for food. They knew real hunger. That is not our reality. We are well-fed people but we still need to have the sense of desperate need towards Jesus There is a contemporary song by Marie Barnett called “Breathe” that talks about how desperately we need Jesus. Marie says that even now she can hardly get through the song. “I think the word ‘desperate’ digs deep into me,” she says by way of explanation. “The longer I’m a Christian, the more desperate I am for God.” The song is sung to Jesus and says, “This is the air I breathe, Your holy presence living in me. This is my daily bread, Your very word spoken to me. And I’m desperate for you. And I’m lost without you.” Jesus is as necessary as the air we breathe. We need to have this sense of need and desperation, this constant longing for more of Jesus. Without it we become complacent.
This happened to my own father. He was raised in the church, he raised his children in the church and he was a deacon and an elder in our church where we lived. Then after we children were grown, he and my mother moved to Hawaii back in the seventies. They never found a church they “liked” and church faded from their lives. Now my father goes on Christmas Eve and Easter and he thinks this is enough. I tried to talk to him about it but he said, “I was baptized and confirmed and that’s all I need.” He didn’t know how to lean on God when my mother died and I think he’s been mad at God ever since. He has faith, he believes in God and Jesus but he doesn’t have a daily relationship with Jesus. He misses sooo much not having this, it makes me sad. Complacency is a real danger for Christians. It is easy to drift away. It is easy to skip praying because we are too busy, to put off reading the Bible. It isn’t a decision we make, it just happens. We drift away. Don’t let this happen, hold on to your need for Jesus, stay desperate.
Jesus told the people, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” If anyone but Jesus said this we would think they were crazy. The people of His own time were offended by such a statement and questioned this asking how he could give his flesh to be eaten. It just plain sounds gross. Later we are told that many of his followers found this teaching too hard and left.
We are used to the idea of eating and drinking Jesus, it’s part of communion and most of us have taken communion all our lives. We know it isn’t a literal feeding but a spiritual one.
The eating and the drinking Jesus talks about has to do with shared life, mutual indwelling. Jesus says He will abide in us and we will abide in Him. In the physical realm one of the most powerful examples of shared life is eating and drinking—Jesus as the final Passover Lamb of God offered up himself (John 1:29), so that His blood would protect those who applied it to their lives. The Jews were very familiar with eating the Passover lamb. By shocking them with this graphic language and applying it to Himself, those who were true seekers for eternal life would be jarred into realizing that their main need was not for a Messiah to give them literal bread, but for one to give them the bread of eternal life. They needed Jesus as their Passover Lamb.
Jesus used the metaphor of bread to let us know that He is necessary for spiritual life. Without Jesus, we are dead, this is why Jesus is telling us that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to be truly alive, in order to abide in Him and have Him abide in us. When we eat this bread we will live forever.
So, if Jesus is vital to our life and our faith how does this affect us? When something is vital, we seek it out. We will want to spend time with Jesus. Time in prayer, time studying scripture, time in worship, time with other Christians. Spending time with Jesus will bring us joy. Not happiness but joy! The joy that comes only from a life lived with Jesus. We will want to share this wonderful news with everyone so they too can experience the joy.
As we receive communion today do not think of what we are doing as eating a small piece of bread that has been dipped in grape juice. Think of it as participating in something that has gone on for thousands of years involving millions of people. Each of us tied to Christ and to each other through this simple act. Jesus Christ is present in this room with us as we do this. We don’t see Him; it is not a physical presence but a spiritual presence. His presence is necessary to our lives as Christians. As we need food to eat and water to drink so do we need Christ with us, Christ in us.
When we take communion this morning listen to Jesus’ words at the Last Supper. Take, eat, this is my body given for you, do this in remembrance of me. This is the new covenant sealed in my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.