Jesus is the Bread of Life

Bread of Life Digital Art by April Moen fineartamerica.com

     My mom made homemade bread for our large family (12 kids) for all of my years in her home.  She ground wheat berries, mixed dough, kneaded, formed and baked four to eight loaves every two or three days.  Oh, I love the smell of fresh homemade bread just coming out of the oven!  There is simply no better taste, in my opinion, than butter on a piece of warm, freshly baked bread.  This bread was a staple in our home and provided a good part of our daily nutrition.  It "stuck to your ribs," as Mom used to say, especially when topped with Mom's homemade peanut butter and honey from Dad's bee hives! Yum!! Sweet memories. . .

    Looking at the names of Jesus, this one jumped out at me:

  Jesus is the Bread of Life.

     In John chapter 6, Jesus performs a miracle where He feeds 5,000 men plus women and children (probably adding up to over 20,000 people, some estimate!) with the contents of a little boy's lunch, 5 barley loaves and 2 fish.  When everyone was full, 12 baskets of leftovers were gathered up!  Talk about mind-blowing! 

    Later, as Jesus resumes teaching, He reminds the people of the time when God fed His people manna out of the sky daily as the Hebrews wandered in the wilderness.  Then He tells them who He is:  

I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, 

and he who believes in Me will never thirst.  

John 6:35

    What an amazing promise Jesus is making!  He is the source and sustainer of our lives!  Of course, these Jews could not fathom this and were mumbling and grumbling about Jesus claiming to be the Bread of Life.  So Jesus patiently explains more:

Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life... This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh.  

John 6: 47-51

    Jesus emphasizes over and over again in this chapter of John, that eternal life is only found through Him.  He nourishes our souls.  He satisfies! These Jews were not happy to hear His words.  Many turned away from Him at this point.  They sought something that gave temporary satisfaction, much like the bread that Jesus had just fed them.  When Jesus simply asked them to believe that He was sent from Heaven and was the source of eternal life, they couldn't do it.   

   So, what is our take away from this?  What do we need to do?  First, simply believe Jesus is who He said He is.  He is the Son of God from Heaven and The Source of eternal life.  Then, we  daily "feed" our souls through His Word.  Warning: if we fill up on other things, we don't find ourselves as hungry for Bread of Life.  When our kids snack too much, do they eat a good meal?  No.  So if we are continually "snacking" on earthly things, we have less room for Jesus and His words of life.  Books, movies, music, people, activities... if these are our source of satisfaction and fulfillment then they are sinful for us, because they leave no room for the source of eternal life.  Only Jesus can provide that for us. Only He can fully satisfy our souls and provide life! 

    My prayer today is that we continually feed on the Bread of Life.  I pray we find find Jesus to be our daily nourishment through His Word.  

Guide me, O thou great redeemer,
Pilgrim through this barren land;
I am weak, but thou art mighty,
Hold me with thy powerful hand;
Bread of heaven, bread of heaven
Feed me till I want no more;
Feed me till I want no more. 

Guide Me O Thou Great Redeemer (Bread of Heaven) English Translation by Peter Williams

💓Heather Sparks💓