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In one sense, the term Bread of Life is one of the most simple titles of Jesus, and in another sense its meaning runs very far and deep.
Jesus had just fed the five thousand on the far side of the Sea of Galilee and had returned to Capernaum where he met the Jewish leaders, (John 6:1-14, 24). The feeding of the five thousand had clearly brought memories of the manna which had been given in Old Testament times to the children of Israel during their wandering in the wilderness. However, Jesus insisted that it was God and not Moses who had given the people manna, and he went on to say that the true bread, which gives life and defeats death, must also come down from God, (John 6:31-32). Then came the great claim: "I am the bread of life...I am the living bread which came down from heaven," (John 6:35, 48, 51).
The Jewish leaders deeply resented this statement of Jesus, feeling he had no right to make such a claim to deity. But Jesus went even further to identify this Bread of Life as his own body and blood, which men must eat in order to enter into life, (John 6:52-58).
As mentioned earlier, any reference to bread from heaven would immediately turn the thoughts of a Jew to the manna God gave them in their wilderness journey. This story was deeply imprinted on the Jewish mind. To them there was something mysteriously divine about the manna, and for Jesus to claim to be the Bread of Life, or bread come from heaven, was in itself a claim to be divine. The Jewish leaders became enraged because they knew that in his claim to be the Bread of Life, he was claiming to be the Messiah, the Son of God.
The qualities of the manna were even more wonderful. Tradition describes it as angel's food, distilled from the upper light, "the dew from above." It was said to vary its taste according to the need or condition of the person eating. Whatever the eater needed, that is what the manna became. This was the very claim that Jesus was also making. Whatever may be the need of a person, Jesus claimed that he would be able to completely satisfy that need.
There was also the belief that when the Messiah came, he would once again feed his people with the heavenly manna. Tradition has it that when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 BC, Jeremiah hid the golden pot of manna which had been in the ark of the covenant. It was believed that when the Messiah came, Jeremiah would be resurrected again and produce the hidden manna for the faithful to eat. This belief appears in the New Testament (Revelation 2:17) where it is promised that the faithful will be given the hidden manna to eat.
There is another significant meaning to Jesus' statement. Bread was considered to be the staff of life, that element which supports life and allows it to go on. Jesus' claim to be the Bread of Life meant that he was capable of sustaining life also. However, the life which Jesus would sustain is a life that even death cannot defeat. Jesus was claiming that he could give life not only in this world, but also in the world to come.
Finally, there is the statement of Jesus concerning the eating of his flesh, (John 6:51-58). Without doubt, this is a reference to the words of the Lord's Supper - "This is my body which is broken for you." In recording this statement, John was stressing that this new life, which will be sustained here and in the life to come, enters a man when he becomes a partaker of His divine nature.
The Christian must take Jesus Christ into his innermost being, for until he does, he can never know what true life really is. And without the Bread of Life, that heavenly Bread which gives life here and guarantees life in the future, the child of God will surely die. |
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