The Bread of Life
TRANSLATION
(28) Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” (29) Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, namely, to believe on the one whom he has sent.” (3) So they said to him, “What sign will you give us that we may see and believe? What work will you perform? (31) Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (32) Jesus then said to them, “Truly I tell you that it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. (33) For the bread of God is the one 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 will never go hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. (36) But as I have told you already, you have seen me, and still you do not believe. (37) All those whom the Father gives me will come to me, and those who come to me I will never cast aside, (38) for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me. (39) And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should lose none of those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. (40) For this is my Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him should have eternal life. And I will raise them up at the last day.”
OBSERVATIONS
This segment of Jesus’ discourse on “the Bread of Life” is filled with many repetitions that help us understand its significance. “The work(s) of God” is found twice in the opening two verses (vss. 28 & 29) along with another repetition of “work” (vs. 30). “Believe(s)” occurred five times (in vss. 29, 30, 35, 36, & 40) while “bread” was repeated six times (in vss. 31, 32, 33, 34, & 35), four times with the phrase, “from heaven” (in vss. 31, 32, & 33). Once Jesus used the phrase, “come down from heaven,” to refer to himself (vs. 38). “Comes/will come to me” is found three times in two verses (vss. 35 & 37). “Will” is also found three times in two verses (vss. 38 & 40). Twice Jesus used the phrase, “raise it/him up on the last day” (vss. 39 & 40).
OUTLINE
I. Jesus identified himself as “the bread from heaven” that gives life to the world. (28-34)
II. Jesus promised eternal life to all who believe on him. (35-40)
IDEA STATEMENT
Jesus identified himself as “the bread of life,” the Son sent from heaven by the Father to provide eternal life for all who believe on him.
APPLICATION
“I am the bread of life” is the first of seven “I am” claims that Jesus made regarding himself in John’s Gospel. Referring to the manna God graciously provided to feed Israel in the wilderness as a prototype, Jesus identified himself as the one whom the Father had sent to feed a spiritually starving world with that which would provide them with eternal life. By miraculously providing an abundance of physical food for the multitude he had been teaching, he authenticated his claim to provide eternal life for all who would put their trust in him.
This chapter hinged on a central irony, namely, that the crowd would seek from Jesus additional proof of his claims with questions like, “What sign do you do, that we may see and believe you?” and “What work do you perform” (vs. 30)? That these demands immediately followed one of the greatest miracles recorded in the Gospels, his feeding the five thousand, clearly frustrated the Savior. Israel’s persistent unbelief seen in their requesting additional evidence of his Messiahship introduced the remainder of this discourse in which Jesus made some of the boldest claims regarding his ministry found in the entire New Testament.