John 6:35-51
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; 38for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. 39And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.” 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48I am the bread of life. 49Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
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From the age of twelve until his baptism by John at around age thirty, we know little about Jesus. He was an unremarkable man living an ordinary life (a carpenter’s son) in Nazareth, a town with a negative reputation. No wonder John the Baptist said, “Among you stands one you do not know.” (John 1:26)
Jesus had performed the miracle of multiplying five loaves and two fishes before a great crowd (6:9-13) which had earlier seen him heal the sick. (6:2) The next day, Jesus noted they followed him to Capernaum only “because you ate the loaves and had your fill.” (v. 26) Wanting to teach them, Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” The people knew that bread sustained life and eased hunger pangs. They didn’t understand that Jesus offered life beyond mere existence.
When Jesus said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” they disregarded the miracles they had witnessed and began to complain. And because they knew his parents, Jesus could not be from heaven. Their minds were closed.
The bread of Jesus is the word of God–spiritual food that satisfies spiritual hunger and enriches life on earth. It is also the body (flesh) of Jesus, which was nailed to the cross. When we believe the word of Jesus and the death and resurrection of his body, our life in this world is transformed, and we receive the promise of resurrection: life with God in heaven forever.
Prayer: Dear God, Draw us into your presence. Help us to hear, learn and believe your word so we may live in your kingdom now and always. Amen
—Anita Platt