"I am the bread of life"

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

- John 6:27-40

In yesterday's reading, Jesus had previously fed 5,000 men (and more women and children) on a mountain in the wilderness. Afterward they wanted to make Him king, and He withdrew. His disciples were rowing back across the Sea of Galilee toward Capernaum. They'd gone about halfway when the wind began to blow and the sea rose. Then they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them; He said, "It is I; do not be afraid." He got into the boat and immediately it was on the land toward which they were going. The next day the people still sought Jesus, and they finally came to Capernaum. They asked Jesus how He got there, as He hadn't gotten into the boat with the disciples, saying, "Rabbi, when did You come here?" Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." So essential is Jesus' statement to the world about the bread of life that we have it twice, repeated again in today's reading. Then comes the really essential question, as so often happens through John's Gospel. The people need to know: What shall they do to work the works of God? What does it mean to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life? And here's the answer: to have faith, to accept the Son. That is, to believe in the One whom God has sent. Again we note that Jesus points to the Father, just as His signs point to the Father. The work of God is to have faith in what God has sent into the world.

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." Here the people are drawn in further by Jesus' teaching (again, a common device in John's Gospel). It's funny that they should ask once again about being fed in the wilderness and the manna in the desert, when Jesus has just produced this sign for these very people. But Jesus points further, more closely toward God Himself: "the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Just as the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well responded when told about the living water, so do these people respond to His teaching about the bread from heaven.

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." Here Jesus starts His powerful discourse on the bread of life. It will have a powerful impact and repercussions both with the Jewish leadership and with His disciples. It's interesting that He repeats the words to the Samaritan woman, that this bread will fill those who partake so that they do not hunger, and those who believe shall never thirst.

"But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." Here is a powerful statement about just what Jesus is here for. Why is He sent? The ones given by the Father will come to Him; that is, those with love for the Father, who can worship in spirit and in truth. This is His saving mission, that He lose none of these, but that they should live in the Kingdom.

That Jesus should lose nothing of what is given to Him by the Father is a very powerful statement. We need to ponder exactly what this means for us. It's a statement about how faith works, what it wants and what it does. Faith is a connection of love between the Father and all else that is in His Kingdom. It begins with depth inside a person and it extends to all else upon which the Father has set His seal. What God has sent into the world bears His seal, and therefore the presence of God. So Jesus teaches about Himself, and indeed will teach about the work of the Spirit in the world, even as He sends His own out into the world. "Apostle" comes from the Greek word to send. It's the same root word He uses here when He speaks of Himself as sent. And so, the Apostles enter into His labor, and we enter in to His labor, so that the One who is sent may lose nothing of what is to be gathered to Him. So how do you participate in the mission of the One who has been sent? What is the bread of life that we partake and also share it with others? In Jesus' mission, there is one extraordinary kind of confidence, and that is in the response of those who love the Father. There is no squabbling or quibbling here. Christ's supreme confidence is in that love. And in the hope -- the mission -- that none of these will be lost. So let us think about the bread of life and our faith. Where does the love for Christ come from? How is it engaged? What do we do with this love? In Christ's I AM we find again the name of God from the Old Testament. Everything reflects back to the Father.