Why Jesus called Himself the ‘Bread of Life’

• The Teacher Sent by God
• The Teachers During Jesus’ Time
• Conclusion

Christians revered Jesus as the Savior sent by God to proclaim the Gospel. He is the King of kings, the Lord of lords, and believers also pray in His name.

People should have bowed down before Him when He came. Instead, they mocked and persecuted Him which eventually resulted in His death.

What exactly were the people like in the old times that Jesus had suffered this way? Why did Jesus refer to Himself as the bread of life that people should eat? Most importantly, what does our understanding of Jesus’ teachings say about our life of faith?

Let’s dive deeply into this blog to learn more about Jesus and His teachings.

The Teacher Sent by God

Before Jesus came into the world, God had appointed a few believers in different eras to lead His people. He gave firm instructions on what they must do and not do, and one of them was not to worship gods other than Him. Despite explicit warnings, the chosen ones ultimately gave in to deception and turned away from God. Consequently, evil has continued to exist and lured people into hell.

Since the time of Adam, God has been deeply disheartened by how His people kept breaking the vows they had with Him. People tend to show enthusiasm at first, but their faith wanes as time passes by.

Undeterred by countless disappointments men had made, God has relentlessly expressed His love by sending His Son to save His people (Jn. 3:16).

He began by giving prophecies about Jesus’ coming. Surely, the Sovereign Lord does nothing without revealing His plans to his servants the prophets (Am. 3:7-8). God did this to make known to people what is about to happen so that when it happens, people will believe. This is also what Jesus said when He came (Jn. 14:29).

To get a better grasp of it, let us take some life events of Jesus for instance. Jesus’ birthplace was prophesied in Micah 5:2 and was later fulfilled in Matthew 2:1-6. The kind of birth Jesus had was also written in Isaiah 7:14 and was fulfilled in Matthew 1:18-23. Moreover, it was recorded in Isaiah that He would enter Jerusalem on the foal of a donkey and turn it into reality as seen in the Book of Matthew.

From this, God accentuates how important it is to believe in the fulfillment of the prophecies in the Bible. The evidence of faith is to hold on to the promises of God and believe when the reality is shown at the appointed time.

With that, Jesus fulfilled all that was written about Him. He proclaimed the gospel, healed those who were sick, and even brought the dead to life. He performed many miracles and people were in awe of Him.

Then Jesus declared that He is the bread of life. Whoever comes to Him will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Him will never be thirsty (Jn. 6:35). At this the Jews there began to grumble and were skeptical of what Jesus had said. It was hard for them to decipher why Jesus defined Himself as the bread that came down from heaven (Jn 6:58). More so, it was hard for them to accept that Jesus regarded Himself as the One God had sent for people to attain Salvation and Eternal Life.

From this time, many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed him (John 6:66).

To begin with, what did Jesus imply when He said He is the bread of life?

First off, let us define bread in its literal sense. Bread is food that gives energy to the physical body. Food gives the nutrition that keeps us alive and without it, the body weakens and may die. Therefore, food is a basic necessity that every person cannot live without.

Figuratively, Jesus stressed that man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Mat 4:4). People are also invited to listen and eat what is good that they may live (Isa 5:1-3). Hence, Jesus pertains to food as the Word, just like how food gives nutrition to the physical body, so is the spiritual food that gives life to the spirit.

In the present time, some may have thought that accepting Jesus as the One sent from above was that easy, but the Bible itself has shown how most believers deserted Jesus when He proclaimed the Truth.

The Teachers During Jesus’ Time

Before Jesus came, there were already preachers with different stands on religion. Such preachers were Pharisees, Sadducees, and Teachers of the Law. They firmly practiced the religious traditions, outwardly preaching and taking into action what they thought Christians should do.

Then, if they were devoted believers, how did the dissension arise between them and Jesus?

Jesus did not mean any discord with them. He came to the world to bring God’s promises into reality. He fulfilled what was written about Him in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms (Mat. 5:17).

Despite Jesus’ testimony, these self-proclaimed Christians struggled to accept His teachings. They even described it as a ‘hard teaching’ (Jn. 6:60). Since then, their hearts turned away from Jesus due to their disbelief and lack of understanding.

It is not wrong to conform to human values and traditions exactly as they did.  However, they disregarded the most substantial point of faith. Faith, as written in the Bible, comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word about Christ (Rom. 10:17).

Jesus, and no one else, is the one who comes from heaven. He testifies to what He has seen and heard, but no one accepts His testimony. The One whom God has sent speaks the Words of God and that is Jesus (Jn. 3:31-34).

What should have happened at that time was that preachers must come to the Truth which is Jesus. Unfortunately, these preachers agreed to condemn Him instead. Unable to accept the Truth, Jesus considered them hypocrites, honoring Him with their lips, but not from their hearts.

Conclusion

When everyone was turning away from Him, Jesus asked the Twelve disciples if they would want to leave, too (Jn. 6:60). What Peter said was beautiful. He said they had nowhere else to go as Jesus alone bears the Words of eternal life. The disciples, despite their shortcomings, remained faithful and continued to share the Gospel even to the point of tragic death. Faith back then was also a choice between physical life and death.

Jesus and the 12 disciples died proclaiming the Truth. But Jesus promised to appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring Salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Heb. 9:28).

But what is the Truth in the present time? What spiritual food must we take in to attain Salvation? Let us learn together in our FREE BIBLE STUDY. Come and join us today!