INTRODUCING a NEW BLOG SERIES for 2024! . . .

This year, I am blessed to welcome a group of friends to gather around my table once a month to study “WHO JESUS IS” (NavPress, 2022), an in-depth look at the “I AM” statements of the LORD JESUS recorded in John’s gospel.

I pray this new series of monthly reflections from our discussions will be a blessing and encouragement that reaches far beyond our kitchen table.

𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟺 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 (#𝟷): ⁣
𝘞𝘏𝘖 𝘑𝘌𝘚𝘜𝘚 𝘐𝘚 – 𝘐 𝘈𝘔 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦⁣

. . .

Before embarking on this journey through the “I AM” statements of the LORD JESUS recorded in John’s gospel, it seems right and good to remember the LORD’s first “I AM” statement recorded in the Old Testament:

Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The GOD of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask, ‘What is His Name?’ Then what should I tell them?”

GOD replied to Moses, “I AM who I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

GOD also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: Yahweh, the GOD of your ancestors – the GOD of Abraham, the GOD of Isaac, and the GOD of Jacob – has sent me to you. This is My eternal Name, My Name to remember for all generations.” (Exodus 3:13-15, NLT)

Before we even begin, it is important to notice how the LORD JESUS always communicated His oneness with the Father. He has always been and always will be GOD. The Son is the exact representation of the Father (Colossians 1:15, Colossians 2:9, Hebrews 1:3), one with each person of the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit). By using this Name of GOD, “I AM”, JESUS is clearing saying He is Divine, He is GOD.

The great I AM has sent Him, and He also is the I AM. They are one. It will be interesting to see how JESUS used these “I AM” statements to reveal more and more of His (and therefore the Father’s) heart, character, and purposes.

Lesson One: I AM the Bread of Life (John 6)

“In JESUS’ day, bread was the most significant part of the meal and the primary means for satisfying people’s daily hunger. Their lives depended on bread. JESUS claims to be the Bread of Life – the spiritual sustenance that enables those who eat it to live forever!” (the Navigators writing team)

What else do we know about bread that might help position us to fully appreciate what JESUS was saying about Himself? Simply put, in many cultures through history, bread has been a staple at every meal. It is prepared with love. It is shared. It fills us. It is tasty. It is good! A quick dictionary search might remind us that bread is food needed to live; it is equated with nourishment and sustenance.

Bread is also a sign of sharing and generosity, especially at a community table. Jenny Marrs shares these thoughts in her new book “House + Love = Home”: “The table is sacred. It is a place set aside specifically for nourishing our bodies and often our souls as well. When we sit around the table and pass around warm bread, we are carving out a moment to silence the outside noise of the world. We are letting our racing minds and ragged bodies be still and accept nourishment.”

What warmth, what provision, what nourishment is JESUS offering us? How is He declaring Himself to be the one and only answer to satisfy our daily hunger?

In John 6, we read about the people going to great lengths to find JESUS. They were searching for the One who had just miraculously provided bread to feed 5000 men (plus women and children). They were focused on physical bread, a new-found source to provide this daily need. They were looking for the right Person, but asking the wrong questions. JESUS redirected their thinking on several counts:

• More important than their physical needs, He asked them to consider their spiritual ones.
• They were looking for a sign, like their ancestors receiving manna in the wilderness, but they seemed to forget so quickly that He had just miraculously given them bread.
• They had seen JESUS and heard Him speak and witnessed the miracles only He could accomplish and still did not believe Him.
• They insisted their ancestors’ manna had come from Moses, when in truth, that manna had come from the Father in heaven.
• The same Father in heaven had now sent JESUS as the true bread from heaven.
• The people wanted to make JESUS a king who could provide for them in an earthly sense; JESUS tried to tell them He hadn’t come to reign, but to die.
• JESUS would give His own flesh and blood to secure eternal life for any who would believe in Him.
• What He wanted (and gave everything to secure) for them was so much greater than daily bread.
• Earthly bread will always leave them wanting more; their hunger will never be fully satisfied.
• JESUS wanted to shift their focus away from anything that would eventually fail to meet their needs, to trust only in Him.

JESUS made one statement that was particularly difficult to understand: “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.” (John 6:53) Eating human flesh has never been acceptable and under the law, the Jewish people were never to eat a sacrificed animal if its blood remained, for the life was in the blood. So, if JESUS wasn’t telling them to physically, literally eat His flesh or drink His blood, what was He saying? Here are a few thoughts to consider:

• In John 4:34, the LORD JESUS stated: “My food is to do the will of the Father.”
• JESUS came to do the Father’s will, that all who see the Son and believe in Him should have eternal life and be raised up with Him at the last day. 
• The Father’s will for us is to believe the One He has sent. (John 6:40)
• So, our true food is to believe JESUS, to take in what He is saying and let it become part of us.
• Without JESUS, we have no life in us.  We are dead.  We have no source of nourishment.
• With JESUS, the I AM, the true bread from heaven that is not temporary, our greatest needs are forever satisfied.
• JESUS’ sacrifice of His flesh and blood, given to secure our redemption, is the only means by which we receive eternal life.

PRAISE GOD this is our Savior! He secured for us an eternity that includes today. How has JESUS already begun to satisfy our deepest needs? Here are a few thoughts shared around the table:

• The peace of GOD, His very presence with us, His help to be still and know that He is GOD – this is “bread” that fills us to overflowing.
• He calls us to come to Him with our burdens, in the midst of our battles, and find the abundance of provision and a safe place to rest. (Matthew 11, Psalm 23)
• He knows us, loves us, and delights in us in such a way that we are inspired and enabled to love Him and others in return.  This is bread for the soul – to be known and loved and to give the same in return.
• When we are faithful in our “feeding schedule” with JESUS, it is a daily thing. (Much like we cannot easily live today on yesterday’s physical meals, the same is true spiritually.)  Spending time in prayer and in His Word equips us for the day, giving us the will and the way to do the work He calls us to do.
• Through JESUS’ sacrifice, we are accepted by GOD, welcomed into His family, and nourished in ways that help us grow in character that reflects His. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

So, what does JESUS’ declaration that He is the Bread of Life tell us about Him, His heart, or His purposes?

The LORD JESUS is the answer to our needs. He is our Creator, Redeemer, Provider, and Sustainer. We should never be tempted to believe we can “get by” without Him. Christ is the only One who can bring an end to the relentless pursuit of something new, something more. He will never let us down. His provisions for us will never leave us wanting more. He is the One we cannot do without. He is essential for life!

Our Savior has made the way for us to be welcomed to His table, to experience abundant life, fullness of joy, the warmth of embrace, and the security on an eternal Home. JESUS is the Bread of Life, the One who satisfies our souls’ deepest hunger!

Read more here: John 6:10-15, 23-59