“I am the bread of life.”
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
(The Gospel According to John 6: 35 NASB)
he who comes to Me will not hunger,
and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
If my math is correct—
1st—We are three days from Good Friday & only five days away from Easter (March 31, 2024).
2nd—We are 54 days from Pentecost Sunday (May 19, 2024), the day we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit.
3rd—We have walked through forty-one days of Lent since Ash Wednesday came on February 14, 2024.
4th—We only have two more days until the last day of Lent (March 28, 2024).
Since I was a child, I have loved “anything” bread-related.
- When mom made biscuits or bread, there I sat near the place, patiently waiting for mom to hand me a portion of the raw dough (bread).
- When my brother and I played and discovered we were hungry, we would race into the kitchen. Never once do I remember running for anything other than the loaf of bread.
- When I became an adult, one who could purchase my own groceries, never once has my home been void of bread.
BREAD IS A STAPLE, NOT A LUXURY IN MY HOUSE!
So, this season of Lent, when the time of fasting came, when I considered the forty days Jesus Christ spent fasting in the desert and endured temptation by Satan, I was convicted by the Holy Spirit to walk through this current season of Lent, giving up one of my great “loves,” the love of bread.
- Let me first state—THIS FAST HAS BEEN TERRIBLY HARD!
- Let me also confess—I HAVE FAILED SOME OF THE DAYS!
However, allow me to also proclaim—THE LORD LED ME TO CONTINUE IN MY FAST, RECALLING HOW HIS MERCY IS NEW EVERY MORNING!
Numerous times throughout Scripture, Jesus metaphorically spoke of Himself, and within the sixth chapter of The Gospel According to John, we find Jesus stating these words of Himself—
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; . . .”
In that same chapter, just a few verses prior, the crowd of people asked Jesus:
“So they said to Him, What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform?
(The Gospel According to John 6: 30-35 NASB)
Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness;
as it is written, ‘HE GAVE THEM BREAD OUT OF HEAVEN TO EAT.’ “
Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”
Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”
“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;
he who comes to Me will not hunger,
and he who believes in Me will never thirst.”
- Why do some individuals not believe in Jesus?
- Why are some people within this world so unbelieving?
- How is it possible that some are able to SEE with clarity the TRUTH of GOD, while others remain lost, UN-SEEING and trapped within their darkness?
“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said,
(The Gospel According to John 6: 41-43a & 47-52 NASB)
“I am the bread that came down out of heaven.”
They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?”
Jesus answered and said to them . . . “
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.
I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.
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.”
“Then the Jews began to argue with one another, saying,
“How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”
There are only two remaining days until the last day of Lent, until the day when I will finish my fast and begin to eat my favorite food group—bread! However, this ‘earthly bread’ will only bring me temporary satisfaction & and unwanted pounds. If a person only eats this type of bread found on earth, then he would never understand the significance of Good Friday, the day Jesus died upon Calvary’s cross. If that type of ‘earthly bread’ is all we ever know, then we would come to the end of our lives, dead in our trespasses and sins and eternally separated away from the LIVING BREAD of LIFE!
There is a day coming, one we will celebrate this Sunday, & ONE MOST SPECTULAR!
We are mere days away from Easter, the RESURRECTION of JESUS—FROM DEATH TO LIFE!
Friend, if while we walk through this earthly life & if we choose to accept the TRUTH of JESUS CHRIST & if we believe in HIM, then we will receive this ‘LIVING BREAD’!
We will receive ETERNAL LIFE!
Thus, when we come to the end of our earthly lives, we will die an earthly death, but immediately, suddenly, and exquisitely, we will—
LIVE FOREVERMORE WITHIN GOD’S PRESENCE!
Yes, on That Day, when Jesus comes again to earth, when Jesus returns for His Bride (the Church, the Saved, the Redeemed)—We will be RAISED TO NEW LIFE—All because we accepted, believed in & confessed: “the bread of life”!
“So Jesus said to them,
(The Gospel According to John 6: 53A & 57-58 NASB)
[Jesus spoke these words to those who were arguing about HIS TRUTH]
“As the living Father sent Me,
and I live because of the Father,
so he who eats Me,
he also will live because of Me.
This is the bread which came down out of heaven;
not as the fathers ate and died;
he who eats this bread will live forever.”