Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
John 6:35
Jesus said to them,…
Jesus is always talking to our hearts. He’s not interested in merely satisfying our tangible needs or tickling our intellect–though he surely does those–but he’s always interested in heart change. Here, the crowd following him is hungry. They were part of the 5,000 that were miraculously fed previously (v.1-14) and Jesus perceives that they’re following him now not becasue they want to be his disciples, but because they want food to satisfy their bellies (v.26). Jesus, then, addresses this issue by speaking to their (and our) real, and deeper, hunger–their heart hunger.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life;…
Jesus is what our souls are truly hungry for. Bread will sustain the body for a time, but Christ, the “true bread from heaven” (v.32), sustains the spirit for eternity. He’s what the manna in the wilderness pointed toward. He’s the supporting force that arrives as a new daily mercy, in the correct portion, for all of his people. He’s the very word of God that we live by.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me…
Jesus is the bread that God sent into the world, and whoever receives this bread receives life (v.33). Jesus beckons all to come to him, to place faith in him, to feed on his broken body and poured out blood and find life. Faith in Christ is a movement toward him. If you have, by God’s sovereign grace, placed your faith in Jesus then you will be moving toward him through depth of relationship, vulnerability, and obedience. It’s impossible to have received Christ, in faith, as your Lord and Savior yet not be turning over your whole life to him.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger,…
We’re spiritually hungry, like those Jesus is talking to here. We look to anything and everything to ease that hunger, but we find nothing in this world can do it–at least not for more than a short period of time. Everything we do to try and appease our soul hunger is all meaningless and vanity if this is all that there is. However, Jesus comes to us and says that he’s the meaning; he’s the real substance we have been craving, and if we feed on him we will never hunger for meaning and purpose ever again because he has given us an identity in himself that surpasses what this world could possibly offer.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me…
Jesus use of “believing” here is simply punctuating the “coming” from earlier in the verse. When paired together, we understand that “coming to” or “believing in” is far more than intellectual assent or agreement. It’s a whole life change. For even the demons believe in God, and know far more about him than any of us. So “believing” here is not simply acknowledging God’s existence, but it’s the giving up of our desire to rule our own lives and confessing God’s Lordship over every aspect instead.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Food and water are what every person needs to stay alive, yet Jesus says here that he is more necessary to our existence than both. He alone will satisfy our spiritual dehydration, and provide us the thirst-quenching waters of his righteousness, becoming in us a spring of water welling up to eternal life.
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. John 6:35
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