- The Explore the Bible lesson for Jan. 22 focuses on John 6:26-40..
The Gospel of John contains seven “I am” statements of Jesus. This passage is the first of these seven. In John 6:35, Jesus states: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
As noted earlier in John, Jesus uses the basic elements for the sustenance of physical life as tools for explaining what believing in him means. For the Samaritan woman in John 4 it was “the living water.” Here it is the “bread of life.” While the connection point for the Samaritan woman was the well she was pulling water from, the connection point is the loaves of bread from the feeding of the 5,000 found earlier in the chapter (John 6:1-15). “Bread” becomes the instrument for teaching his hearers about his own identity and mission, as well as how following him results in the provision for life’s deepest cravings.
The bread that perishes (v. 27)
The primary context for what occurs in John 6:22 and the verses that follow is the feeding of 5,000 with just five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:9). At the beginning of chapter 6, Jesus’ display of his messiahship expands.
In John 4, Jesus is understood and received as the Messiah among an entire village of Sychar in Samaria. Now his identity is fully exposed not only in the controversial Samaria, but in Galilee where much of Jesus’ ministry occurs. The crowd’s response is to proclaim Jesus as a prophet (John 6:14) and future king (John 6:15).
Escaping attempts at making him king, he withdraws to the mountains, walks on water on the Sea of Galilee and arrive at Capernaum (John 6:16-21). The crowd meanwhile is searching and ultimately finding Jesus, not where they last saw him, but in Capernaum. The question is posed to Jesus as to his whereabouts, and Jesus replies that the motive of the people to find him is not because of their correct response to the sign of the miraculous feeding, but because, “you ate your fill of the loaves” and presumably would like more.
Jesus precedes to use the loaves of bread as a teaching anchor for further explaining his identity and mission. With the use of “bread” Jesus instructs his hearers that there are two different kinds of food and that they are to “not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (John 6:27). The bread and the fish of earlier are temporary, but there exists a permanent solution to a deeper hunger. The bread that perishes may provide temporary filling, but there is more to life than moving from one meal to another.
The bread of Moses (vv. 30-34)
The conversation is moved to another “bread.” While the hearers of Jesus ask about the works of God and what he requires, Jesus retorts with, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent” (John 6:29).
The second question by the hearers appears odd as ones who have witnessed the work of Jesus and filled their bellies with the miraculous meal of fish and loaves not long ago. And yet they request from Jesus a sign so they may believe. In so doing, the crowd references another “bread” in the manna provided by Moses in the wilderness. Jesus’ interpretation of the manna provision as seen in 6:32-34 is such:
- The bread of Moses (i.e. manna) was provided not by Moses, but by God.
- The Messianic expectation of manna provision has been witnessed before their very eyes in the works of Jesus.
- Even still, God offers a “true bread from heaven” that gives life to the world.
For Jesus, the bread of Moses (i.e. manna) is the temporary bread that perishes (i.e. physical sustenance), but the bread that endures for eternal life is the “true bread from heaven” (John 6:30-31) and is given by the Son of Man (John 6:27). While God provides both, one is temporary and the other is everlasting. And while Moses was the conduit for the temporary, Jesus is the provider of the eternal.
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The bread that satisfies (v. 35)
The entire conversation moves to the statement made by the crowd, “always give us this bread” (John 6:34). Much like the Samaritan woman who requests the living water, the crowd desires the “true bread from heaven.” And much like the Samaritan woman, the crowd discovers that the permanent longing of the human heart is found not in a food to be consumed (i.e. water or bread), but in Jesus himself.
Jesus responds: “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). The bread that ultimately satisfies is given by God the Father and is Jesus himself.
The metaphor comes full circle. What is needed in life that physical sustenance cannot satisfy is found in Jesus. He is the Messiah who has given the temporary bread (i.e. manna). He is also so much more for those who will understand and believe. For the “Bread of Life” must be partaken in through “coming to him” (John 6:35) and “believing” (John 6:36).
Matt Baird is assistant professor of Christian ministry and director of the graduate program in the School of Christian Studies at East Texas Baptist University.
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