The Bread of Life

Stacy Kudlicki
10/30/07
REL 211 - Ludlow
One-Verse Exegesis
St. John 6:35 - "And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."
This verse is one of Christ's many analogical references to his purpose. He uses the analogy of bread after his miracle of feeding the five thousand. Although he has bfed them physically, he desires to also feed them spiritually. In this verse, he first defines himself as the bread of life, then states the condition of coming unto him, and follows up with a consequnce of abiding that condition which is to never hunger or thirst again.
In many of Christ's teachings, he uses parables or analogies to explain deep principles and concepts to his simple-minded disciples. He compares the bread they had just eaten to what he calls "the bread of life", to which he identifies himself. He is, therefore, the one way we are capable of partaking of the bread of life, and gaining eternal life. That is his role and no man can come unto the Father but through Christ (John 14:6).
In order for any man to partake of everlasting life, or the bread of life, "[...] they must come to him, they must believe in him. This total self-commitment to Christ, this appropriating him my faith, is the secret of eternal life and perpetual soul-refreshment," (F. F. Bruce). One cannot expect one meal to satisfy throughout a lifetime, just so, coming unto Christ once, such as when we are baptized, cannot satisfy throughout eternity. To come unto hm and believe in him, Christ intends that we should come and stay, and to be continually fed by his mercy and the blessing of his atoning sacrifice. It means to not only believe in him, but to follow him, even in his footsteps.
"Hunger and thirst are the two most demanding of physical needs. Jesus transfers them to the spiritual sphere, and promises the complete, abiding satisifaction of both," (Herschel H. Hobbs). These become, then, the most demanding spiritual neeed: to know that we are saved by his love and grace and his atonment, to know that he is always there for us no matter to what degree of grievousness our sins may be, to know that we can indeed return to our Father in heaven and live with Him for the remainder of eternity. How crucial this need is! Yet somehow it is still so difficult for us, and "in our contemporary success and sophistication we too may walk away from the vitally crucial bread of eternal life; we may actually choose to be spiritually malnourished, willfully indulging in a kind of spiritual anorexia, " (Jeffrey R. Holland). We constantly, then, have an undying hunger pang that no meal can fulfill. Our spiritual tngues are parched and yearn for quenching, but no drink may satisify. It is only through the learning and realization of the atonment of Jesus Christ and partaking of the symbolic sacramental bread that we can understand that there is hope and life beyond this day-to-day drudge.
If we choose to come unto Jesus and abide with him, our human hearts will never long painfully for certainty, for repentance, for protection in this world of eveil-filled minds, or to feel the Spirit (L. Aldin Porter). By continually coming unto him and believe in him, we can partake of his life-giving bread and never hunger again.