What's In A Name? I Am the Bread of Life

“As the son of a Syrian family I was brought up to think of bread as possessing a mystic sacred significance. I never would step on a piece of bread fallen in the road, but would pick it up, press it to my lips for reverence, and place it in a wall or on some other place where it would not be trodden upon. What always seemed to me to be one of the noblest traditions of my people was their reverence to the “aish” (bread; literally “the life-giver”). While breaking bread together we would not rise to salute an arriving guest, whatever the social rank. Whether spoken or not, our excuse for not rising and engaging in the cordial (Near East) salutation before the meal was ended, was our reverence for the food (hir-metal-‘aish). We could, however, and always did, invite the newcomer most urgently to partake of the repast…The ‘aish was something more than mere matter. Inasmuch as it sustained life, it was God’s own life made tangible for his child, man, to feed upon. The Most High Himself fed our hunger. Does not the psalmist say, “Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing.”? ~ The Syrian Christ by Abraham Rihbany - 1916

—Psalm 41:9 “Even my close friend, someone I trusted, one who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me.”

1) We’re always hungry for the wrong things.

–John 6:26-27 You’re looking for me because you want to have your bellies filled again…Don’t work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which I will give you.

—Isaiah 55:2 “Why do you spend your money for what is not bread, and your labor for what does not satisfy?”

—Matthew 6:31-33 “So do not worry, saying ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

2) We expect God to provide us with those (wrong) things.

3) We’re always demanding that God prove himself to us.
John 6:
v. 30 – “What miraculous sign will you give that we may see it and believe?”
v. 31 – “Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert. [Moses] gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

Then…Jesus identifies himself as the Bread of Life.

V. 33 – “The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir, from now on give us this bread.”

V. 35 – “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry…”

v. 36 “But you have seen me and still you do not believe…”

Everyone here has “seen” Jesus.

The Aftermath.

—John 6:53-56 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell 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 them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains me, and I in them.”

The Result.
John 6:
v. 60 – On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”

“What?!! What the heck are you talking about?!!”

V. 63 “The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are spirit and life.”

v. 66 “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.”
The line in the sand: Jesus asks the Twelve, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

V. 68 Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Our dilemma: Jesus is not who we want him to be.

Only Jesus can provide the bread that feeds our deepest hunger.