Bread of Life
Greetings, a servant of God, by the grace of God, teaching the truth of God under the authority of Jesus Christ to any who are willing to receive it. (Mat 13:43).
The Holy Bible contains the truth of God by the word of God (Joh 17:17); therefore, God teaches and gives understanding, wisdom, and knowledge to all who pray and seek Him with all the heart (Deu 4:29-31; Jer 29:12,13; Psa 119:2).
The Bread of Life is more than a metaphor. It is the very sustenance of all who seek the one true God. From the first words spoken by the Holy Father to the saving words proclaimed by His Christ, every utterance that proceeds from His mouth nourishes, strengthens, and transforms the spirit.
Those who live by the Bread of life do not rely on human wisdom or fading traditions, but on the eternal word that reveals God's will, exposes our need, and leads us into eternal life. To feed on this Bread is to receive His truth with humility, to obey His commands with sincerity, and to cling to the teachings of His Son, whose words are spirit and life (Joh 6:63). In a world starving for meaning, God offers the only food that endures - His living and abiding words of truth.
Jesus represented "the bread of life":
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.
There is the physical bread which sustains the flesh until we die:
Gen 3:19 In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.
And there is the spiritual bread which leads to eternal life:
Joh 6:50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die.
Joh 6:51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.
Joh 6:52 The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
Jesus was speaking of the Passover bread representing His body as the sacrificial lamb of God (1Co 11:24; Joh 1:29). See the teaching The Passover and Last Supper Connection. Anyone who eats (discerns or receives) his words spiritually, and keeps them, will have eternal life (Mat 7:24,25; Luk 9:44; Joh 14:23,24; Rev 2:7; 22:7-10; Pro 4:10). The bread, being His flesh sacrificed for us, is observed during the Passover night which commences the first day of unleavened bread (Gen 1:5; 1Co 5:7):
Luk 22:19 And He took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.
Jesus's Shed Blood in the New Covenant
Joh 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
The blood refers to the wine representing the new covenant in His blood for the remission (release) of sins (1Jn 1:8,9) also observed during the Passover night:
Luk 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.
Wilfull Sin
The "remission of sins" (Mat 26:28) should not be confused with willful sins being nailed to the cross:
Joh 5:14 Afterward Jesus finds him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you.
Joh 8:11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn you: go, and sin no more.
Heb 10:26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins,
Heb 10:27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries.
2Pe 2:20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
2Pe 2:21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2Pe 2:22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again [Pro 26:11]; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire [Jewish and Greco-Roman saying].
Rom 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?
Rom 6:2 God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?
Sin is the transgression of God's law:
1Jn 3:4 Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
The People who Know Their God (Dan 11:32)
God's people "know Him", and are fully aware that His commandments are to be kept:
1Jn 2:3 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.
1Jn 2:4 He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
United Believing Followers in the Body and Blood of Christ
Joh 6:54 Whoso eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, has eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day.
In John 6, Jesus identifies Himself as the Bread of Life and promises that those who believe in Him will be raised up at the last day. The phrase points to the first resurrection (Rev 20:6), the climactic moment when Christ returns and the dead in Him rise. This is the same resurrection Paul describes when the Lord descends with a shout and the dead are raised (1Th 4:16,17), and the same moment Jesus ties to the Holy Father’s will in John 6:39,40 - that none of His people will be lost, but all will be raised on that day.
Jesus' Return
Rev 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded [with a trumpet (Rev 8:6)]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
1Th 4:16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
The Passover Bread and Wine
Joh 6:55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.
Joh 6:56 He that eats my flesh, and drinks my blood, dwells in me, and I in him.
Joh 6:57 As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eats me, even he shall live by me [Joh 15:1-5].
Perhaps the following verse will help put it all into perspective:
Joh 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
Spiritual Bread
Joh 6:58 This is that bread which came down from heaven: not as your fathers did eat manna, and are dead: he that eats of this bread shall live for ever.
More on spiritual feeding by Paul speaking to the called and baptised of God:
1Co 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that you should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;
1Co 10:2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea;
1Co 10:3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat;
1Co 10:4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ [anointed by God ( Psa 2:2-7; Act 4:23-28; 10:37,38; Psa 45:7; Heb 1:9; Isa 61:1; Luk 4:18-21; 1Jn2:25-27)].
Jesus as the Word
Here are some side-study verses to confirm that Jesus is the eternal Rock upon which Israel stood and upon which the spiritual church (Mat 16:18; Heb 8:2), called of God the Holy Father, now builds:
Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
Joh 1:2 The same was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
Joh 1:11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
Joh 1:12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
Joh 1:13 Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.
Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Mat 16:16 And Simon Peter answered and said, You are the Christ [anointed One], the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed are you, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood has not revealed it unto you, but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18 And I say also unto you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock [Himself] I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
1Pe 2:5 You also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. 1Pe 2:6 Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believes on him shall not be confounded.
Here is a prophecy of the Son of man, the Son of God, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One who would be sent and be rejected by the religious establishment of that time:
Psa 118:22 The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
A spiritual metaphor for the Head of the spiritual church of God.
Psa 118:23 This is the LORD'S doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.
Psa 118:26 Blessed be he that comes in the name of the LORD: we have blessed you out of the house of the LORD.
And, when Jesus, who is the Rock of Israel carrying out the will of God the Father, returns with the kingdom of God:
Zec 2:10 Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the LORD.
Zec 2:11 And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me unto you.
Jesus, God of Israel in the flesh, clearly teaches that he is carrying out the will of God the Father (Psa 45:7; Joh 7:16).
He was with God the Holy Father before being sent:
Joh 17:5 And now, O Father, glorify you me with your own self with the glory which I had with you before the world was.
Joh 8:58 Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am.
Jesus was making reference to the following verse from the Old Testament:
Exo 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shall you say unto the children of Israel, I AM has sent me unto you.
And one more from the book of Revelation:
Rev 1:8 I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, says the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Yes, deep. Yet, in the end, one truth is clear and rises to the surface:
Joh 14:6 Jesus said unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man comes unto the Father, but by me.
On that saying, we will go back to the Bread of Life. Let us go earlier in Joh 6, shortly after the miracle Jesus performed in feeding the five thousand:
Joh 6:24 When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, neither his disciples, they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.
Joh 6:25 And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi [Master], when came you here?
Joh 6:26 Jesus answered them and said, Verily, verily, I say unto you, You seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves, and were filled.
Joh 6:27 Labour not for the meat which perishes, but for that meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him has God the Father sealed.
Joh 6:28 Then said they unto him, What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?
Joh 6:29 Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that you believe on him whom he has sent.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
And just as ancient Israel had signs given to them to encourage belief, so did their descendants:
Joh 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.
Jhn_10:38 But if I do, though you believe not me, believe the works: that you may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in Him.
A reference to being at one in agreement and not to be confused with the man-made trinity doctrine (John 17:11,21).
Joh 14:11 Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works' sake.
Works of course referring to the miracles Jesus had done in the Holy Father's name.
If people can not believe after they have seen, how much harder is it to believe after they have heard only? Yet, there is a blessing promised to any who believe in the Son of the most High God, God the Father, as we saw in Joh 3:16, and as we see here:
Joh 20:29 Jesus says unto him, Thomas, because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.
Some encouraging words from John:
1Jn 5:20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true [Rom 8:1,2,39; Rom 16:3; 1Co 1:2; Gal 3:26], even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
And from Peter:
2Pe 1:16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
Continuing in Joh 6, we see the lost sheep of the house of Israel seek after a sign:
Joh 6:30 They said therefore unto him, What sign show you then, that we may see, and believe you? what do you work?
Joh 6:31 Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat [Exodus 16].
Exodus 16 is the shadow for the substance in Joh 6. Manna was God’s provision for physical life. It sustained the body but could not give eternal life. Manna had to be gathered daily, teaching daily reliance on God while He taught them the Sabbath. See the teaching The Sabbath. Israel's walk in the wilderness was God's proving grounds.
Back to the Spiritual Bread
Let us return to John 6 and see Jesus emphasize the spiritual bread from heaven apart from the physical bread:
Joh 6:32 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
Joh 6:33 For the bread of God is he which comes down from heaven, and gives life unto the world.
Joh 6:34 Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread.
Joh 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that comes to me shall never hunger; and he that believes on me shall never thirst.
Joh 6:36 But I say unto you, That you also have seen me, and believe not.
Joh 6:37 All that the Father gives me shall come to me; and him that comes to me I will in no wise cast out.
It is the Holy Father who decides who goes to Jesus His Christ. How then can you know if you have God's Holy Spirit and are in the hands of Jesus Christ?
Act 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost [Spirit], whom [which] God has given to them that obey Him.
See the teachings on Repentance and The Baptisms of John and Jesus for further understanding. Now back to Jesus the Christ:
Joh 6:38 For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
Joh 6:39 And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
Joh 6:40 And this is the will of him that sent me, that every one which sees [discerns; considers] the Son, and believes on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Let us have a review of the spiritual aspect of the bread of life:
Deu 8:1 All the commandments which I command you this day shall you observe to do, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the LORD swore unto your fathers.
Deu 8:2 And you shall remember all the way which the LORD your God led you these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you, and to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments, or no.
Deu 8:3 And He humbled you, and suffered you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you knew not, neither did your fathers know; that He might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD does man live.
And yet:
Psa 14:2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
Psa 14:3 They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that does good, no, not one.
Psa 14:4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge? who eat up my people as they eat bread, and call not upon the LORD
Pro 28:21 To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
Isa 55:2 Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labour for that which satisfies not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Isa 55:3 Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.
Bread Representing the Body of Christ
Mat 26:26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?
1Co 10:17 For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread.
1Co 11:23 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:
1Co 11:24 And when he had given thanks, he broke it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do you, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26 For as often as you eat this bread, and drink this cup, you do show the Lord's death till he come.
1Co 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
Joh 6:47 Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believes on me has everlasting life.
Joh 6:48 I am that bread of life.
To believe in Jesus the Christ, the Bread of Life, is to receive the only spiritual nourishment that leads beyond this world and into everlasting life. All earthly bread sustains for a moment, but the words and promises of God’s Messiah sustain forever.
Those who come to Jesus in faith, who trust in his teachings and abide in his truth, find a life that no hunger, trial, or darkness can overcome. In him we are fed, strengthened, and preserved for the age to come.
This is the hope set before every truth seeker: that by believing in and following the One whom God has sent, we partake of the living Bread from heaven and are assured of life that endures eternally in the presence of the Holy Father.
Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through your truth: your word is truth.
Freely, I have received from the word of God; freely, I have given to all who would receive the truth of God.
Farewell,
Servanthood
