Thursday, October 22, 2026

             Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:48).  That six-word statement is simple to understand.  It is easy to read.  But it is a profound theological truth.  Jesus is the bread of life.  That is a present reality.  Our Lord proved His words by feeding crowds of 5000 and 4000 men (and many more women and children).  He gave them bread to eat.  But we would be rather nearsighted to reduce Jesus to a mere bakery or Subway franchise.  Jesus fed people to be sure.  But He is not just a baker or giver of food to those who have none. He came to save people—from sin, Satan and a certain death.  Jesus went on in John 6 to give more insight into what He means when He calls himself the bread of life.  The Bible says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51).  Jesus is the bread of heaven—a bread unlike anything we could purchase or bake on earth.
            Jesus is making clear that He is the One, and the only One, who gives us life—everlasting life.  Though we are dead in our sins, He has the power to bring us back to life, to give us new life and to make us a new creation.  This verse gives us the gospel.  Jesus came to us because we could not reach Him.  He gave His life.  His life is our bread.  His death paid the price for our salvation and satisfied the justice of God.  We live only because He died.  And because He died, we can live forever with Him.  We are not quite as bread-centric today as folks would have been in the first-century in Jesus’ day.  But still, we equate bread with food.  Bread can be read as synonymous with food in general.  And who doesn’t like the smell of fresh baked bread?  Jesus sustains us.  His power keeps us in the Father’s care and plan.  We draw our spiritual nourishment from reading the Word of Christ because He is the Word made flesh.  We are nourished when we pray and worship our Lord.  We are nourished when we remember the gospel.
            Take time each day to preach the gospel to yourself.  Think of Jesus as your bread of life today.  He is the One who has come to nourish and shepherd you.  1 John 5:12 tells us, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”  To know Jesus is to possess the bread of life and the bread for life.  Those who do not know Jesus possess no bread.  They are like those crowds of 5000 and 4000 men who were hungry and lacking any food.  They have no way to make food for themselves or to enjoy the food of others.  To say that Jesus is the bread of life means that we have made a break from the bread the world offers—bread that is neither filling nor sustaining.  The world’s bread may be good for the first taste but it quickly sours and leaves us emptier than ever.    
            The Lord’s Supper is probably the clearest visual we have for understanding Jesus as the bread of life.  The small piece of bread that we take reminds us of the abundance and riches of Christ and his Kingdom.  Taking this small bite of bread and eating it symbolize that we have opened our hearts and lives to Jesus.  We have taken His bread. Jesus commands us to take the bread and eat so we are continuously mindful of what He has accomplished for us through the cross.  The Lord’s Supper is a family meal—a meal for those who have responded to the Lordship of Jesus.  The Lord’s Supper reminds us of what we once were and what we have been delivered from because Jesus is our bread of life. Ecclesiastes 3:11 tells us that the Lord has set eternity in the human heart.  Christ is the One who satisfies that longing.  Physical bread perishes and grows stale.  But the spiritual bread that is Jesus lasts forever.  If you have a sandwich today, or bread of any kind, remember that Jesus is your everlasting bread.  He is the bread that nourishes you for a lifetime and for eternity.  Have a great Thursday!