PORTRAITS OF JESUS – The Bread of Life
Welcome to our new series of devotionals. As you have heard already, we will be focusing our thoughts on the seven beautiful and powerful statements uttered by Jesus Christ as he introduced himself to the hearers, particularly the skeptical and unbelieving Jewish community. So, today we kick off with the first of the seven “I AM” statements.
Remember, these statements are given as a sign for the listeners to respond with belief in the Lord Jesus Christ, that he was the Son of God and the promised Messiah, and truly God incarnate. To appreciate the context of the drama, let us turn to John 6 and here we read that Jesus had performed a miracle, he fed over 5 thousand people with five loaves and two small fish. The people started fool owing him in numbers.
One of the things Jesus did was to confront them and challenge them not just to look for bread, but to do the will of God – by that he meant, to believe in him as one sent by God to redeem them from sin. But, in order to believe, they asked him for a sign – something they can see, that would validate and authenticate his claims. They asked for bread, like their forefathers in the desert.
Although they longed for the physical bread, yet Jesus looked beyond the physical and saw their deepest spiritual need. So, this brings us to our key verse: John 6:35, which reads:
“Then Jesus declared: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.“
John 6:35
What did Jesus mean when he said: “I am the bread of life?” At the face value, bread sustains life. It is so common to us, and has become our staple food, and that without it life cannot go on. But then what is life? Clearly, life meant something more than mere physical existence.
Real life is having a new relationship with God, and that relationship is based on trust and obedience; faith and love. That relationship is made only possible through Jesus Christ alone. Apart from him there is no life to live, no truth to believe and no way to God.
How do we respond to this truth about Jesus, being the Bread of life? As a matter of fact, our verse tells us that Jesus offers the invitation to “whosoever” The first thing we must do is to simply see and recognise Jesus as the life-giving Saviour of the world. Jesus can be found and be known, primarily, in the passages of the scriptures and having seen him, we come to him.
Secondly, to come to Jesus means to receive and believe in him. That is to say, we accept him as Lord and Saviour and submit our will by faith seeking to follow in his example as we live the Christian life. In John 1:12, we are told:
“…to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.“
John 1:12
The third thing to note is the promise given: that, those who come to Jesus, those who approach with a believing heart, will in no way get hungry nor get thirsty – meaning that such a person will receive complete and enduring spiritual satisfaction, perfect peace of mind and rest for their soul.
So I invite you as a believing Christian, to ask Jesus to be your daily bread, to feed on Jesus and every word from his mouth; humbly acknowledge him as the sole giver of all we need in order to live day by day, one step at a time. Exercise simple faith in him, he will provide just what we need, when we need it – especially as we face these difficulty and challenging times during and beyond the corona virus.
But, if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, I urge to consider inviting him in your life. Acknowledge him as Lord, confess your sin and repent. Appropriate his forgiveness and begin to live a new life. We would like to help you, please be in touch with us and use the contact details on the screen.
God bless and sustain you all!