Jesus said: "I am the Bread of Life!"

John 6:30-35

They replied, “You must show us more miracles if you want us to believe you are the Messiah. Give us free bread every day, like our fathers had while they journeyed through the wilderness! As the Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven.’”

Jesus said, “Moses didn’t give it to them. My Father did. And now he offers you true Bread from heaven. The true Bread is a Person—the one sent by God from heaven, and he gives life to the world.”

“Sir,” they said, “give us that bread every day of our lives!” Jesus replied, “I am the Bread of Life. No one coming to me will ever be hungry again. Those believing in me will never thirst.

Food for thought!

As we saw yesterday, the people are still stuck with material bread; they just can't think of anything better; they just can't go beyond the gift to the giver, can't go beyond the bread of Jesus to the Jesus of the bread; can't go beyond the material to the spiritual. All they ask of Jesus is that He give more physical bread. But this is too little. To come to Jesus to ask for mere bread is just too little. Jesus gives us much more than food for the stomach; he gives food for eternity; he gives food for the soul; he gives himself.

Sometimes all we ask of Jesus is bread or some material thing, some physical healing. This is too little to ask Jesus; this is reducing Jesus to a social worker. Don't ask Jesus merely material things; this is too little. Dare to ask for bigger things, like wisdom, love, humility, faith; ask for eternal life. In today's gospel, the people even remind Jesus of the Old Testament miracle of the Manna. They tell Jesus that Moses gave the children of Israel Manna, and they want to know what He is capable of doing. Christ's response is to remind them that Moses was not responsible for the Manna, but that it was the provision of God. He goes on to tell them that the true bread from Heaven is a person. In fact, it is Jesus himself who is the Bread of Life.

What does it mean for Jesus to be bread of life?

Bread (food) is a substance known and used by every society on the face of the earth; bread is consumed by people everywhere. We cannot live without bread; we can skip a meal, but can never skip all meals all the time. Why? Well, because bread sustains physical life. It is that without which biological life cannot go on.

Jesus is to our souls what bread is to our body. Physical bread can sustain human life for long periods of time. However, after a time, the body will still die, even though it is well fed. Jesus, on the other hand, is bread that gives everlasting life. When Jesus is received, He gives a salvation that lasts for all eternity.

In other words, the Bread of life is not a system or a denomination, or a church, or a creed; He is a Person. This truth simply serves to remind us that we can never be saved by some religious system or method. Salvation comes through Jesus and Jesus alone! Acts 4:12. What Jesus is teaching us in today´s gospel is simple. He is saying that He is «indispensable»; that we cannot live without him, cannot do away with him; that we need Him; that we do well not to ignore him or forget him; that we do well to welcome him and be with him as he is with us.