"I am the bread of life"

Picture a packet of chips and a bread roll. The chips probably win on taste. But twenty minutes later you're hungry again. Lots of things in life are like that: they taste great for a moment, then leave you wanting more.

Everyone is hungry for something: likes, new stuff, winning, being popular, good marks, a relationship. In John 6, after a famous free lunch, Jesus makes a huge claim. He says he is the one thing that will truly fill you. It's the first of his "I am" sayings in John.

What you'll learn

• How a miracle on a hillside links back to the manna in Exodus
• What Jesus means when he says "I am the bread of life"
• Why the good things we chase don't fill us up for good

A free lunch

A huge crowd follows Jesus to a hillside. Using a boy's five small barley loaves and two fish, Jesus feeds more than 5,000 people, and there are twelve baskets of leftovers. The crowd is so excited they want to make him king by force, so Jesus slips away. The next morning they chase him across the lake.

Why the excitement? They remembered manna. In Exodus, God fed Israel in the wilderness for forty years with bread from heaven that appeared every morning. Many people hoped the promised Messiah would bring the manna back. So when they saw free bread, they thought: this is it!

Be honest. If someone gave you a free lunch every day, would you follow them?

Bread from heaven

When the crowd catches up, Jesus gently calls them out: they're following him for the food. He tells them to stop chasing food that goes off and look for food that lasts forever. The crowd asks for another sign, like the manna Moses gave. Jesus reminds them that it was God, not Moses, who gave that bread, and that God now offers the true bread from heaven. The crowd begs for this bread all the time. Jesus answers:

"Jesus answered, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger, and whoever believes in Me will never thirst.’" (John 6:35)

Look closely at what Jesus is saying:

• Bread was the basic food. For most people back then, bread was most of what they ate. Jesus isn't claiming to be dessert or an optional extra. He's the staple you can't live without.
• Coming and believing are like eating and drinking. Come goes with hunger; believe goes with thirst. Believing in Jesus isn't just agreeing with facts. It's taking him in and depending on him, the way you depend on food.
• He doesn't just give bread; he is the bread. The crowd wanted the gift. Jesus offers himself.

And then a promise for anyone who's worried they wouldn't be welcome:

"Everyone the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will never drive away." (John 6:37)

No one is too messy, too far gone or too ordinary.

Hungry for what?

Most of the things people hunger for are good: friends, success, fun, being noticed. Christians say the problem isn't wanting these things. It's expecting them to do what only God can do. Augustine, a Christian writer who lived about 1,600 years ago, put it like this (roughly): God made us for himself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.

Not everyone liked what Jesus said. Many stopped following him. Jesus asked his twelve closest friends if they wanted to leave too, and Peter answered:

"Simon Peter replied, ‘Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that You are the Holy One of God.’" (John 6:68–69)

Peter didn't understand everything. But he knew there was nowhere else to go.

Key words

• Manna: the bread-like food God gave Israel in the wilderness.
• Sign: a miracle in John that points to who Jesus is.
• Eternal life: life with God that starts now and never ends.
• Believe: in John, trusting and depending on Jesus, not just agreeing with facts.

How this points to Jesus

The manna kept Israel alive in the desert, but everyone who ate it still died one day. It was a picture pointing forward. Jesus is the real thing the manna pointed to: bread from heaven that gives a life death can't end.

Think about it

Take it further

This week, notice what you reach for when you feel bored, lonely or flat. Does it fill you up, or leave you hungry again twenty minutes later? Your worksheet helps you trace the conversation in John 6 and think about what people hunger for.

If you'd like to, you could pray:

Jesus, I'm hungry for so many things. Thank you that you are the bread of life. Help me to come to you for what I really need, and thank you that you never turn anyone away. Amen.