The first of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements happens after a miracle: the feeding of the 5000. Jesus and his disciples left after the meal to cross over the Sea of Galilee, but the crowd followed. They were looking for the one who fed them, still filled with amazement over the sign he gave them. Jesus saw the opportunity to teach, and told them not to work for food that spoils, but instead for food that “endures to eternal life”. Now he really had their attention. They asked him to give them this food, and for him to give a sign for them to believe, like Moses gave manna in the desert for their forefathers.
Give Us This Bread
Jesus then told them that the Father would give them true bread that “comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”. This is not just bread that will fill their stomachs when they’re physically hungry. It’s bread that will fill their souls when they’re spiritually hungry. They asked him for this bread and he explained more about the bread they need:
Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
John 6:35-40
This is Jesus’ first “I am” statement: “I am the bread of life”. Bread sustains us in our physical hunger, and Jesus sustains us in our spiritual hunger.
We Need This Bread
How long could you go without food? One day, two days, a week? We can go without breathing for a few minutes, and water for a few days. Could we go without food for several days or weeks? I once did a fast of over 40 days, which included broth and liquids but not solid food. I felt fine and thought I could go even longer, but the reality was that it wasn’t good for my body. The doctor supervising my fast recommended I end my fasting because the body is designed to feed on itself if it’s not provided food. Going without food can eventually cause our body to focus only on itself to meet it’s need to survive.
What about our spiritual food? How long could you go without reading your Bible, or praying or connecting with God in some other way? I’d guess most of us could go for days, or even for weeks without spiritual nourishment. But just like physical food for our bodies, our souls need spiritual food or we’ll end up feeding on our own thoughts, ideas and philosophies. We’ll get more influenced by the world than by the Word of God. This is bad for our souls, just like fasting from food is eventually bad for our bodies.
I usually eat at least one meal a day. On some days I’ll have a healthy breakfast, a salad with a lean protein for lunch and a great dinner. I may even find a way to snack on something in the afternoon, and maybe eat another snack in the evening while relaxing or spending time with friends. Most of us eat more than once a day. How often should we go to the Bread of Life to feed our souls? Once a day, or as often as we need to so that we can sustain our faith?
Bread That Gives Life
As the pandemic began, I saw my personal need to connect with God and with my brothers in Christ. I decided to start a group to read a Bible passage, discuss what we were reading and pray together.
Since we need to connect spiritually as often as possible, we formed a group to meet every work day, which we kept doing as the isolation of the pandemic continued. In addition, I would spend some time the evening or morning before our group meetings to read the Scriptures we were sharing that day. I also sometimes spent time digging into commentaries and podcasts that helped me learn more about God’s Word. I often spent time over the weekends reading, praying, and preparing for the group. We call our group a “haverim“, based on the Hebrew word for “group of friends”. We’ve been meeting almost every weekday since April of 2020, and it’s helped my brothers and me to go to the Bread of Life to sustain our faith through God’s Word.
Jesus said “I am the bread of life”. He is the Word that feeds our soul so that we’ll never be spiritually hungry and will believe in him so that we’ll never be thirsty. We need Jesus to sustain us spiritually.