Bread of Life

In one of Jesus’ biographies, the writer organizes the story around seven miracles, and seven associated messages. In each of these particular messages, Jesus begins with “I am something.” He arranged the story this way, with the intention that the combination would amplify the individual parts.

The first message followed Jesus feeding the 5000. Jesus was speaking to a large crowd, for a long time. After several hours, it was time for a break. And everybody was hungry. Apparently, there were no restaurants or stores nearby. Only one boy’s lunch. So, Jesus borrowed the lunch, and multiplied it enough to feed 15000 people. (Estimate based on an equal number of women and children to the counted number of men.) And not only was there enough to feed everyone, but there were a lot of leftovers.

Of course, the people thought that was great. They said: “Let’s put Jesus in charge, and nobody will need to work.” It was not that Jesus was against providing what people needed. But, there was something that people were missing. Something they needed, at least as much as food. From God’s perspective, it was vital. And it was Jesus’ mission to provide that something. So, he left.

And when the people found him again, he flat out told them, they were more interested in their stomachs, than their hearts, and their relationship with God. So, they asked what seemed to be the next logical question: “What does God want us to do?” And Jesus answered: “Follow the one God sent.”

They knew he was referring to himself. So, they asked him to do a miracle to verify that he was from God. (Remember: they had just watched him feed thousands of people with food intended to feed one person.) And they referred to God’s provision of Manna, to feed Israel in the desert.

So, Jesus redirects their attention to God’s provision for the sin of the world, and a restored relationship between God and people. And, because they used God providing bread to meet physical needs, he says, “I am the bread of life.”

I am God’s provision to satisfy God’s justice. I am the way to restore relationship with God, to become part of his family, to begin restoration of God’s original design for people, to become the home of God’s Spirit, and to have the record of our sin — past, present, and future — be erased, and the penalty paid for. I am the way back to life as God created it to be.

The people were bothered by what he said, to say the least. They did not understand how to apply the metaphor. And they knew Jesus, his background, and where he was from physically. The knew about God’s Messiah, but they had a pre-conception of what that meant, and how it would work.

Jesus was completing his mission. He was ultimately going to die for mankind’s sin. But first, he would testify to, and demonstrate, God’s plan.

One lesson we could draw from this is: if the sinless Son of God could be misunderstood, rejected, and hated, we can be also. If the one who perfectly loved, and perfectly testified about God’s plan, was reject, and despised, what are the odds we will be too?