HILLFAITH STUDIES: The First of Jesus’ Seven Great ‘I Am’ Claims

Jesus is the bread of life. His first “I Am” claim comes at John 6:35 when he tells a large crowd “… I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”

Jesus is claiming nothing less than to be absolutely essential to life. But He is not speaking simply of bread or human existence. He means there is no life, physical or spiritual, without Him.

It’s vital to understand the immediate and the overall contexts in which Jesus made this amazing claim. The latter is made clear in John’s opening three verses when he declares:

“In the Beginning …

“… was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made.”

This is a comprehensive assertion of the divinity of Christ as the Son of God, equal with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. To make absolutely clear the comprehensive nature of John’s understanding of who Jesus is, he notes that Jesus is the creator of everything and everybody.

Then John tells us in 1:14 that Jesus is God Incarnate, the deity who became a man:

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son, from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Feeding the 5,000:

Seen in this context, the “I am the bread of life” claim makes perfect sense. Jesus is telling us that He is literally the source of life and the sustainer of life. With the more immediate context of John 6:35 being the feeding of the 5,000 the day before, Jesus also encourages us to consider the various additional factors suggested by His analogy.

Consider these five factors, which are discussed in detail by Arnold Pink in his “Exposition of the Gospel of John:”

• Bread, understood as standing for food for the physical body, is necessary, and at the spiritual level Jesus is telling us that, as Pink puts it, “there is no spiritual life or health apart from the bread of God.” In other words, Jesus is saying “I Am necessary for life, physical and spiritual.”
• Bread is a form of food that is suited to all people. Some people are unable to eat sweets, while others find eating meat to be problematic. But bread “is the food of both king and artisan. So it is with Christ. It meets the needs of all alike; He is able to satisfy every class of sinners — rich or poor, cultured or illiterate,” Pink tells us.
• Bread is typically required and consumed on a daily basis. “It is so spiritually” as well, according to Pink. “If the Christian fails to feed on Christ daily, if he substitutes the husks of religious forms and ceremonies, religious books, religious excitement, the glare and glitter of modern Christianity, he will be weak and sickly.”
• Bread is satisfying. The reality is that we quickly tire of other foods when we must consume them over and over. Not so with bread, as Pink asks, “How often have we turned aside to other things, only to find them but husks! None but the bread of life can satisfy.
• Bread requires a process. The grain must first be planted, nurtured with water and weeding, and finally harvested by cutting and winnowing. Then the grain is ground and subjected to fiery heat. This ought to remind us that, as Isaiah wrote, Jesus was “bruised for our iniquities.”

Something to remember here: “I Am” in Hebrew is often used in the Old Testament as the common identifier of a particular individual, but the characteristics of that individual typically then follow. This is why each of the seven “I AMs” must be read in the context of the characteristics that are immediately following in the claim.

What difference does this make for you? Moving up on the Hill, gaining influence, acquiring prominence on the news media talking heads circuit, or becoming a partner in a K Street law or lobbying firm to make the Big Bucks are the kinds of things we often think “fuel” our lives and make them meaningful.

But never mistake those transitory goals, admirable as they may be on their own terms, for the true “bread of life” because ultimately they won’t satisfy your inner hunger to know why you are here and what your purpose is.

So, next time you fix yourself a sandwich, grab a burger, or order a pizza, think of the bread of life because it is to Himself that He is referring as your creator and sustainer, and mine.

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