Jesus, Bread of Life

Scripture         Read John 6:22-59
Focus Verse    John 6:35   
I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

Commentary:  This week we look at the Jesus "I am" statements from John's Gospel. Today, Jesus IS the Bread of Life.  Bread is the most basic of foods that provides nourishment to those who are starving. It is said that orphaned children in WWII Germany could only sleep when they held a piece of bread in their hand because it was a sign they would not starve the next day.  In the Ancient Near East, covenants were made by the sharing of bread and peace was established by disagreeing parties who broke bread together.

Jesus as the Bread of Life reminds people in our time of communion and the sweetness that comes from our relationship with the one who satisfies our longing for God's enduring presence.  Bread, in Jewish history, was a key element in the relationship between the community and God. Manna, the bread of heaven, was given to the starving wanderers in the wilderness as a symbol of God's provision. Showbread, originally an offering in the tabernacle and later the temple, was a symbol of God's desire to be present with the community.  In this passage, Jesus really stretches the understanding of himself in the context of the feeding of multitudes which happens in the verses before the ones we read today. Jesus acts with compassion upon the mass of hungry people who are both “his people and “not his people.”  Their hunger is both physical and spiritual.  Jesus satisfies both.

Reflection: How do you sense a hunger within yourself that is only satisfied by God in Christ?

Prayer Breathing in … Jesus, Bread of Life
Prayer Breathing out … You satisfy my hunger

If music is a spiritual pathway for you, listen to a young man named Chris Brunelle sing Bread of Life with Advent and Christmas verses, written by Bernadette Farrell.