Jesus As Bread Of Life

‘i Am The Bread Of Life’

• Throughout the Bible, bread is a symbolic representation of God’s life-sustaining provision.
• When Jesus told the hungry crowds that he was the Bread of Life, he was teaching his followers that He alone was their true source of spiritual life, both in this present world and in the everlasting life to come.
• The Bread of Life that Jesus represents never perishes, spoils, or runs out.

Look After Those Who Wait By The Pool Of Bethesda

Elder Boyd K. Packer used the account in John 5:19 to emphasize that we should help people who have disabilities. He said bodies and minds with disabilities will be made perfect. In the meantime, we must look after those who wait by the pool of Bethesda .

• What can we do to help people who have physical or mental disabilities?

Why Does I Am The Bread Of Life Matter

Jesus identified Himself as the bread of life, the living water, and the way. He did not present Himself a source of salvation but as the only way to salvation. Without Him, without the bread of life, there is no hope for salvation. By identifying Himself as the source of forgiveness, Jesus makes the path to repentance and a relationship with God, plain, simple, and available for everyone.

There are no additional sacrifices or works, because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved . The bread of life will sustain the believer.

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Understand God & Grow Spiritually

In John 6 we read of Jesus feeding a group of over 5,000. We learn that Jesus walks on water and then teaches about himself as the bread of life.

The journey of spiritual growth begins with our limited understanding and journeys to believing the spiritual truth of eternal life with Jesus. It begins with our understanding of what we believe to be true. It is, however, a journey from the physical and the practical to understanding and believing the spiritual reality that we find in Christlife eternal. It is a journey of learning that there is more to life than simply the physical life we now live. It is a journey of learning and believing that all things are possible in Christ.

Spiritual growth is a journey of knowing for yourself that Jesus is the bread of life.

Mankind is limited in knowledge and is still learning and growing in physical knowledge of the universe every day. However, physical knowledge is not all there is in the world. The physical knowledge will point us to the spiritual truth regarding Gods one and only son, Christ the Lord.

We should stop, listen and consider the truth of God each day: the complexity of the human body the chance of evolution the morning and evening skies the beauty and balance of all creation.

What the world understands today is far beyond what it knew 100+ years ago: the world is not flat the earth is not the center of the universe.

Heres how to understand God and grow spiritually.

Working For The Bread

Secondly, it continues to say, Labor for the food that endures to eternal life. That sounds terrible. Why does that sound terrible? You cant labor for eternal life. It is a gift. Well, what does Jesus mean? I mean, when you read the gospel of John you bump into things like this all the time. Jesus seems to say the opposite of what he means, but he doesnt leave you in doubt very long. Just keep reading verses 28 and 29.

Then they said to him , You want eternal life? Labor for the bread that endures to eternal life. And then they asked him what must they be doing to do the works of God? He told them to labor, they ask what works to do. This is classic salvation by works. False.

Jesus answered them, this is the work of God that you believe in him . So he turned the table upside down. They were working and working and working to seek him, have him, because he was useful to them. And to make a point he tells them not to seek him that way. You want to seek me and labor for bread? Labor for the bread that endures to eternal life. And he hooks them with that.

Working for Jesus doesnt make him precious to you. Seeing Jesus makes him precious to you.

Working for Jesus doesnt make him precious to you. Seeing Jesus makes him precious to you. You have to be born again. Nobody can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. Our eyes are blind, shut hard, dead unless God almighty opens our heart so we say, My Lord and my God.

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The Living Bread From Heaven

Jesus said that He was the bread of life, and that he who eats of it will live forever. What does that mean in practice?

I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever John 6:48-51.

The Jews quarreled among themselves and wondered how this could be. They knew of the manna that their fathers ate and received from heaven, but not this new heavenly bread that Jesus spoke of. What does it mean to eat the bread of life the living bread from heaven?

Jesus Walks On The Sea Invites Peter To Come To Him And Calms The Winds

Read and discuss John 6:1521 and Matthew 14:2233. Explain that after Jesus fed the multitudes, he instructed his disciples to get into a ship and go to the other side of the sea. He then sent the multitudes away and went up a mountain to pray. As the disciples were crossing the sea, they were caught in strong winds.

• How did the disciples react when they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water? How did Jesus respond to their fears?

Display the picture of Christ walking on the water.

• What did Peter request when he heard the Saviors voice? Why did Peters faith falter as he walked on the water? How do we sometimes make similar errors when difficulties arise?

• What did Peter do when he began to sink? What did Jesus do? What does this reveal about our relationship with the Lord? How have you felt the Savior strengthen you and calm your fears?

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Where Else Does Jesus Talk About Bread

The relationship between bread and salvation appears in other parts of the Gospel as well. The Book of Matthew recounts Jesus temptation in the wilderness after He was baptized by John the Baptist. He fasted for 40 days, and Satan came to Him with three temptations.

The first one tried to target that physical hunger from the fast, challenging the Lord to turn stones to bread in order to satiate His hunger. Jesus resists temptation saying, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God . As He would say to the crowds, earthly food may solve the temporary state of hunger, but does not solve the eternal problems of sin and spiritual darkness. The Word of God contains the answers to bigger questions.

An extension of this metaphor would extend to sin. There is a difference between leavened and unleavened bread. The first has been made to rise with yeast while the second has not. After an encounter with the Pharisees and Sadducees – political and religious leaders in Hebrew culture – the Lord Jesus warns His disciples, Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees .

Despite having heard Jesus speak of bread in metaphorical terms on previous occasions, the disciples thought He meant literal bread. Jesus corrects them, and they understand the leaven represents the false teachings of both groups.

Jesus The Bread Of Life

25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, Rabbi, when did you get here?

26 Jesus answered, Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.

28 Then they asked him, What must we do to do the works God requires?

29 Jesus answered, The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.

30 So they asked him, What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

32 Jesus said to them, Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given 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 the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.

34 Sir, they said, always give us this bread.

41 At this the Jews there began to grumble about him because he said, I am the bread that came down from heaven.42 They said, Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, I came down from heaven?

52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

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Why Is Jesus Called The Bread Of Life

Why is Jesus called the Bread of Life?

Get me in as fast as you can, demanded the frantic woman at the blood lab, I am fasting, and I dont want to sit around here all day and starve to death.

As I watched the receptionist it seemed she was using all her will power to keep from rolling her eyes at the woman. Maybe I imagined it. Sometimes when I am hungry, I think I have super powers and can read peoples thoughts and intentions.

Meanwhile, the receptionist actually responded by saying, Of course, maam, we will be with you as soon as we can.

As this whole scene played out before me, I remembered that almost ever person who visited the lab at this time of the morning had missed breakfast. But, the moaning woman pouting in her chair was clueless. She complained to anyone who would listen, completely unaware of how pervasive the hunger was in the room. Ravenous myself, I felt justified in judging her while I waited for them to draw my blood.

How do you behave when you are hungry? How does skipping a meal affect your temper?

For most of us, any amount of hunger is a mood-altering event. It is easy to be testy when feeling the growling of our stomachs and the light-headedness of low blood sugar.

The real question is how do we feel when we are spiritually hungry? Are we even aware that our spiritual lives might be running on empty?

Have we taken offense at something God has said that we dont understand?

What does it mean for us to feed on Jesus like bread?

What Is The Bread Of Life

Bread is one of the essential foods of many cultures all around the world it is a staple in many diets, and for centuries it would have been one of the most accessible foods for people of all wealth and social statuses.

At that point in history, especially in Jesus culture, bread would have been understood as a nutritional necessity. It also has historical significance for the Jewish people, harkening back to Gods life-sustaining manna, which kept their people alive in the desert. Jesus chose bread as His metaphor intentionally.

Salvation and a relationship with the Lord are not like a sweet treat not necessary but enjoyable. It is not like meat, which one can survive without but is important to a well-rounded diet in many circumstances.

Salvation is essential to human existence and necessary for eternity. When Jesus says He is the bread of life, He is saying He is essential.

Just as God the Father provided nourishment, He was providing a path to redemption for mankind, separated from Him by sin, through Jesus Christ. The Lord underscores that He is the way to this redemption by foreshadowing the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion and the resurrection, the sins of the world remain unpaid, and mankind remains under the law.

In the context of the events of John 6, Jesus was telling the crowd to follow Him to the crucifixion and resurrection, to believe in the promised redemption.

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How Is Jesus The Bread Of Life

One of the themes in the Book of John is who Jesus is, and not just what He did. The Apostle John opens his account with an explanation of Jesus deity. In chapter six, he focuses on one of Lords miracles, and its fallout. Because the Lord performed miracles of healing and taught the Scriptures with authority, there would sometimes be throngs following him.

In one of these instances, the Lord takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands of people with it, with twelve baskets leftover. That night, He walks on water. The next day, those same thousands gather again to be fed. Jesus then offers them salvation eternal nourishment rather than just temporary sustenance.

Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal… For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day .

The Lord presents His miracle as an opening act. In this life, mankind must toil and labor for food that only temporarily nourishes the body, which will eventually die. He had the power and authority to multiply that food and could do so much more.

Prayers Based On A Theme Of Bread Of Life

‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.’ – John 6:35-51

Bread is a wonderfully sustaining foodstuff. We could look at the individual ingredients and concoct a sermon simply on those, the yeast, the salt, the grain which yields the wheat flour, the water which binds them all together – they all can have a spiritual significance which Jesus himself used in the stories that he told. But let’s look at the finished product and how we an relate that to the meaning that Jesus was inferring to the crowd who had so eagerly followed him all day, and seen him perform a culinary miracle with a few fish and some loaves of bread.

We eat bread and it is absorbed by our bodies. It is converted into the energy we need to live, work and grow. Complex carbohydrates broken down steadily to give us the sustenance we need as human beings. Protein builds up our strength. Vitamins and minerals ensure that our bodily organs and system function correctly. It is simple, nutritious and life-giving.

What he wants them to grasp is that within Him is all the food that they need to grow spiritually, real bread that satisfies hunger forever, not just the rumbling stomachs and hunger pangs that they might be feeling at that particular place and time.

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Looking At John 6 Amanuel Andarge Speaks On Jesus Being The Bread Of Life

This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

John 6:50-51

So, when I think about communion, I always think about it as this magical cleansing time. So we drink green tea and we think that it cleanses our body and just goes through and cleans everything. Thats the kind of thought I had about communion when I took the grape juice and the bread and it goes down and it just cleanses me. And I had always this kind of relationship with communion thinking about the list of things that I need to thank God for. Because like, trust me, I have loads of things to thank God for and Im sure that all of you have as well.

So, Ill always have this kind of list I go through. I get in that zone, close my eyes and I always feel like I have to have this list of these things that I need to thank God for. So, when I was preparing for the sermon today, I was reading some scriptures and I came through the passage of John 6. When we take communion, we have the usual scripture of the different gospels where it says about Jesus breaking the bread and giving the wine and then saying, take this as my body, take this as my blood. But I just wanted to focus on the flesh and the body of Christ. And in John 6 verses 50 and 51 says