I Am and The Bread of Life

Don: Jesus laid claim to the name “I Am” in conjunction with various metaphors, each of which reveals something about the nature of god. Seven of these “I Am” statements are to be found in the Book of John. Over the coming weeks, we will look at each in turn. Here are the seven [emphasis added]:

John 6:35: Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.” [The reference to thirst reminds us of the “living water” from the Woman at the Well story in John 4.]

John 8:12: Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 10:9: I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.

John 10:11: “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”

John 11:25: Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies,…”

John 14:6: Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

John 15:1: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.”

Jesus used the “I Am” statement also in John 8, in the context of the story of Abraham. Jesus was discussing Truth with the Pharisees (John 8:51-59):

“Truly, truly, I say to you, if anyone keeps My word he will never see death.” The Jews said to Him, “Now we know that You have a demon. Abraham died, and the prophets also; and You say, ‘If anyone keeps My word, he will never taste of death.’ Surely You are not greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets died too; whom do You make Yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing; it is My Father who glorifies Me, of whom you say, ‘He is our God’; and you have not come to know Him, but I know Him; and if I say that I do not know Him, I will be a liar like you, but I do know Him and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad.” So the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have You seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am.” [Emphasis added.] Therefore they picked up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself and went out of the temple.

This refers to the first use of the “I Am” by god, to Abram, in Genesis 15:1:

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying,

“Do not fear, Abram,
I am a shield to you;
Your reward shall be very great.”

Jesus’s claim to be that same “I Am” so incensed the Jews that they were going to kill him. Plots to kill Jesus are mentioned maybe eight or ten times (one or two stories may be about the same incident) in scripture, and two—including the one just mentioned—have to do with his “I Am” statements. It is also in the passage where Jesus says he is the resurrection and the life.

Let us examine the first reference in more depth. But first let’s think about the theology of bread. Bread is used throughout the scriptures as a metaphor for aspects of the social and cultural life of the scriptures and it provides some spiritual insights as well. Bread is a universal element of life through all human history and across all human cultures, albeit in various shapes and sizes, from baguettes to chapattis to pita to gyros. It is one of the earliest prepared foods.

Jesus alluded to himself as “the bread of life” in the story of the feeding of the five thousand, in all four gospels. John 6:5-14:

Therefore Jesus, lifting up His eyes and seeing that a large crowd was coming to Him, said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these may eat?” This He was saying to test him, for He Himself knew what He was intending to do. Philip answered Him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, for everyone to receive a little.” One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to Him, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are these for so many people?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand. Jesus then took the loaves, and having given thanks, He distributed to those who were seated; likewise also of the fish as much as they wanted. When they were filled, He said to His disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments so that nothing will be lost.” So they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” …

[John 6:30-35:] …So they said to Him, “What then do You do for a sign, so that we may see, and believe You? What work do You perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread out of heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, always give us this bread.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst.

In its simplest form, bread can be made from just flour, water, oil, and salt. In Exodus 16 manna is referred to as the bread from heaven. Bread is mentioned in many places in scripture; for example, in Isaiah 33:16:

He will dwell on the heights,
His refuge will be the impregnable rock;
His bread will be given him,
His water will be sure.

Bread is often a sign of friendship, as when friends gather together and “break bread” as a concrete sign of sharing the good things of life together. Jesus also refers to the indignity and ingratitude of people who betray others after breaking bread with them. At the Last Supper, Jesus quoted directly from Psalm 41 when he said (John 13:18):

“I do not speak of all of you I know the ones I have chosen; but it is that the Scripture may be fulfilled, ‘HE WHO EATS MY BREAD HAS LIFTED UP HIS HEEL AGAINST ME.’ [Emphasis in original scripture.]

The quote is from Psalm 41, verse 9:

Even my close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.

Proverbs 31:27 talks about the Bread of Idleness, and in Ecclesiastes 11:1 bread is used as a sort of spiritual investment tool—you cast your bread upon the waters and see what it returns. There is a table of show bread in the Tabernacle of god, It is replaced with new bread weekly, as a symbol of god’s generosity towards his people.

Bread made without leaven (yeast) is used to illustrate the haste with which god led the Israelites left Egypt. There was no time to bake leavened bread—no time to wait for the bread to rise through the action of yeast. This is why unleavened bread is used around the Jewish Festival of the Passover.

At the Last Supper, bread is a symbol for the body of Christ and is used to recognize his life, death, and resurrection as part if the Christian sacrament of communion.

What are your thoughts on the theology of bread?

Alice: Simply put, bread is vital sustenance. Without it, we cannot work; we cannot glorify god. As used by Jesus, it sheds light on the meaning of “I Am” which is otherwise mysterious.

David: Yes, this is a (rare!) simple and concise biblical statement. It seems intuitive.

Charles: I think the metaphorical and symbolic aspects of bread as representing the sustenance of life are clearly and directly applicable spiritually. The Beatitude (Matthew 5:6): “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” speaks to a hunger of the soul that can only be satisfied by god’s righteousness, love, and charity.

John 1:1 says:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Who is the word but Jesus? Who is Jesus but god? And who is god but supreme love, charity, and righteousness? But since the breaking of oneness with god at the Fall, humans have sought a righteousness of their own. God’s righteousness and love are gifts that can only be bestowed upon us by god; Man’s righteousness is self-proclaimed. So the only way to satisfy our hunger for righteousness is through the bread that came down from heaven—manna, spiritual bread, the word, god, Jesus, grace. So the bread metaphor ties us back to Creation itself.

In order to eat (partake of) the bread, you have to break it. I’m not sure what significance this has, unless as a metaphor for the Eucharist. Just as it was the “breaking” of the physical body of Christ through his crucifixion that set the stage for the resurrection and global sharing of the Gospel through the Holy Spirit and the church, so too it is the breaking of the bread that facilitates distribution to those sharing a meal (sustenance). Breaking precedes sharing and eating.

Jay: I agree. Bread is more than just life sustaining—it is satisfying and fulfilling. It fills not just a physical void (which is certainly important) but also a spiritual void. It leaves us feeling less empty. Emptiness is an unpleasant feeling.

Robin: I wonder if Jesus is making the point that bread (and water) is outside of us, and that in order for them to do any good, they must therefore be internalized. He said that the Law has to be written on our hearts—it has to be internalized.

Alice: The surplus of bread after the feeding of the 5,000 tells us that there is always more spiritual bread available—we never need to go hungry.

Charles: Perhaps the fulfillment that comes from the eating of bread is a metaphor for believing. Jesus constantly exhorts people to believe in him. Like eating, believing is a willful act. We can be force fed but only with dire consequences. We have to want to believe, just as we have to want to eat. It is just as willful to refuse to eat or to refuse to believe. The soul is the source of wanting to believe; the human intellect is the source of not wanting to, of disobedience, of sin.

Robin: The body of Jesus—the bread of god—had to be broken on the cross before we could eat it.

Alice: The grains of wheat have to be smashed before they can be turned into bread for our fulfillment.

Charles: The idea that word became flesh and dwelt among us was preceded by the bread metaphor. Manna was something that was dispensed by god from the heavens during the time of our separation from him. But through Christ, the word become flesh and that flesh is our eternal manna.

Don: I think that’s just what Jesus meant when he talked in the Last Supper of eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

Chris: Bread is a simple food, with few ingredients. It is surprising, therefore, that the aroma of freshly baked bread automatically triggers hunger for it. The simplicity of food seems related to real (as opposed to self-perceived) hunger. Over time we have complicated god through our rituals (recipes), but perhaps the basic composition of god is actually pretty simple and we have sullied his aroma by adding ingredients that don’t belong.

Robin: It’s also a classless meal—people of all stations in life needed bread and ate it.

Chris: It was generally accessible to rich and poor alike.

Alice: We also eat bread because, or when, we are really hungry. We tend to eat more complex foods when we are not really all that hungry. Similarly, we tend to go to Jesus when we are really hungry spiritually.

Charles: That ties in to something that Jesus said to the effect that nobody comes to him except that the father draws the person to him. Where would that hunger, that desire, come through if not through the grace of god? So there is a parallel between being drawn to bread for physical fulfillment and to god for spiritual fulfillment.

Don: Science has determined the seat of hunger in the brain. Is there a spiritual analog—a seat of spiritual hunger?

Charles: I think there is. I think we are somehow spiritually or soulfully hard-wired to hunger for god.

Alice: Physical, mental, emotional and other problems make our life so miserable, but they also lead us to search for spiritual solace, which in turn leads to the mending of the hole in our heart. Perhaps this is how god draws us back to him.

David: Being spiritually hungry is a good thing. After all, “Blessed are the poor in spirit”. So once we do become filled with the spirit, do we then become un-blessed? Is it good not to hunger any more? Physically, satiety seems to be a good feeling. But Marie Antoinette never had to go hungry and her advice to let the starving French people eat cake since there was no bread available suggests to me that a state of fulfillment is corrupting.

Robin: The fullness does not last for ever—it has to be replenished.

David: So is it a good thing that we lose spirit over time?

Alice: It makes us dependent on god throughout life.

Don: Hunger that is never responded to becomes starvation, but hunger that stimulates is a good thing.

David: So our weekly prayer that god let this class be “filled with his spirit” might be better phrased “Let us be half-filled with god’s spirit”?

Alice: Give us today our daily bread, because tomorrow we’ll be back for more!

Charles: Our willingness and ability to share our food, physically and perhaps spiritually, is in direct proportion to the extent of our physical or spiritual satiety.

Don: In the next few weeks we will examine the other metaphors Jesus attached to “I Am”. Their richness, as we have seen this morning, does give us some insight, some sense of the grace of god. Next week, we’ll examine the metaphor of god as light.

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