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The Bread of Life

One of the powerful and illustrative ways in which the Bible communicates its message and teaching is by using metaphors and symbolism. The 'centre-pin' of the Bible's message and teaching is the salvation of mankind through the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, we are not surprised to find that Jesus himself used symbolism to enrich people's understanding of who he was and why he was sent.

Who is Jesus reaching out to?

Jesus was born into the world with the purpose of saving sinners (Matthew 1.21). Unsurprisingly, many of the people who gave time to listen to him were the poor and lowly; those worn down by life and those in search of hope and relief in their struggles. Jesus was apt to use language and comparisons that would be simple to understand, yet powerful in what they communicated. On one occasion, when Jesus was preaching to the masses and healing the sick, they were so enthralled with him that they followed him part way up a mountain. The people gathered there were hungry, and he asked his disciples where they could buy bread for them all. The disciples replied that they couldn't possibly afford to buy enough bread for such a large crowd. Jesus then prayed to his Father, after which the disciples discovered that the food they had (five barley loaves and two small fish) was miraculously increased and could be shared out amongst the thousands who were there.

The following day Jesus had mysteriously gone from the presence of the people, but when they eventually found him, he said to them:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."

• John 6.26

Perpetual hunger

We humans are often led by our stomachs and compelled by physical hunger. In Genesis, Adam was told:

"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for dust you are, and to dust you shall return"

• Genesis 3.19

In this one verse our demise is settled; the thin slice of time between birth and death will be sustained by hard-gained bread. This is the first time, right back in Genesis, where bread is used symbolically (used here to represent food in general). The ancestor of mankind was told that bread was merely a temporary substance to maintain a temporary life until we return to the ground and to the dust from which Adam was made.

The people in John Chapter 6 were following Jesus, not for their spiritual fulfilment, but to satisfy their physical needs (he relieved their hunger with bread). This is where Jesus stunned them (and us) with a deeper truth, when he said to them:

"Do not labour for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him. Then they said to him, What shall we do, that we may work the works of God? Jesus answered and said to them, This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he sent."

• John 6.27-29

Belief in Jesus

There is a lovely contrast between Jesus' answer and the labour-based decree of Genesis 3.19. Jesus said that the work of God (as opposed to man's work in producing food) is simply to believe in Jesus. That's it! Believe in Jesus. However, the people, still feeling a bit insecure, asked him:

"What sign will you perform then, that we may see it and believe you? What work will you do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "

• John 6.30,31

They were referring to the time when their forefathers were led by Moses (who was led by God) out of their captivity in Egypt to escape into the desert wilderness. Once free, the people fretted about not having anything to eat, so God provided them with manna:

"Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its colour like the colour of bdellium"

• Numbers 11.7

This is what they were referring to when they said to Jesus:

"He gave them bread from heaven to eat."

And here they were asking Jesus for a similar sign - a miraculous gesture to make it easier for them to believe. But Jesus had already performed miracles. Instead, he enlightened them concerning the bread that was provided to the Israelites in the wilderness:

"Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world". Then they said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

• John 6.32-34

The people were right to express their eagerness for "this bread always" but they only half understood what Jesus was getting at. Then he said to them very plainly:

"I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst"

• John 6.35

Again, he said:

"And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day"

• John 6.40

By the use of a metaphor (a figure of speech), Jesus plants a powerful description of himself in the people's minds; one they can understand. He is like bread that satisfies hunger and gives life; but not everyday humdrum mortal life. It is a deeper, more fulfilling, everlasting life; a life made immune to age and decay and a life that is washed clean of sin.

The living bread

The way to obtain this special life is through the process of receiving and eating this special bread. Later in this same chapter, Jesus makes it very clear:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

• John 6.47-51

The symbolism in these verses is even more illuminating. Not only does Jesus evoke the imagery of himself being "the living bread", but also of us eating it, and furthermore, the bread is his flesh.

Are we to be cannibals?

Of course not - it is in keeping with the metaphor. Jesus describes himself as "the living bread" and he is saying that if we consume this living bread, which means consuming his flesh, our bodies will become everlasting living bodies. So how do we consume his metaphorical flesh?

As he said, he gave his flesh, meaning he sacrificed it through his death on the cross. "Consuming it" means acknowledging and believing that the sacrifice was made, understanding its significance and regularly remembering it. These all describe intellectual processes of the mind. But what about some sort of physical enactment that might allow us to really feel like we have consumed his flesh and feel like we have shared in "the living bread" that he is?

The memorial bread

Jesus carried out a symbolic act which also involves eating real bread. The night before he was going to sacrifice his body on the cross, he gathered his disciples together in an upper room to share a meal:

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed it and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is my body"."

• Matthew 26.26

This is the memorial activity he wants us to regularly perform, along with drinking wine to symbolize his blood, as a way of partaking of him, "the living bread". And it's a beautifully simple construction that appeals to our senses.

We have already referred to the visual imagery, but bread also has an appetizing smell. It has a tactile feel when you gently break a piece off, and of course it has a taste, a wholesome taste. But the metaphor goes even further. It involves a sense of motion, of chewing and swallowing, allowing time for the process of remembrance and appreciation. Then follows ingestion, taking this physical bread into our physical body. We are symbolically taking everything Christ stood for into our hearts and minds. In this way we can share true fellowship with him and the Father.

And the final sense that this symbolic action induces is emotion. The whole process "take, eat, this is my body" evokes a well of emotion ... emotion I cannot describe, but only urge that you believe and be baptized and experience it yourself. Jesus urges us to partake.

Jesus calls to all of us as he did the people who listened to his words:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread which came down from heaven - not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."

• John 6.53-58

On another occasion, when the disciples asked Jesus how they should pray, he taught them a prayer that included the words "Give us day by day our daily bread"

• Luke 11.3

Our Father in heaven blesses us by providing our daily food; but He blesses us even more with "the living bread" of His Son, which we can meditate upon every day and so look forward to a wonderful and everlasting future when he returns to establish the kingdom of God.

• Photograph by James Coleman from unsplash