John 6:34-37

34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.”

35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. 

36 But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. 

37 All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.

“I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE”

In the previous verses, Jesus told the people that the bread from God would give “life to the world”, Then the people demanded that Jesus give them the bread “always”. (vs. 34) The “always” part sticks out to me. They don’t want just one meal. Jesus had already provided them with one meal. They were not satisfied with that. They wanted to be physically fed “always”. Also, they called Him, “Lord” which is supposed to be a sign of respect, but I can’t help but think that this was just another ploy to manipulate Jesus into thinking that they were showing respect, when in reality it wasn’t genuine. Again, these people are spiritually blind, and materialistic. Hasn’t this been all of us at one point or another? Aren’t we all materialistic at times? Don’t we all worry too much about the things of this world at times, instead of setting our “minds on things above”? (Colossians 3:2) Personally, I know that this is something I struggle with, pray about, and fight against. Also, haven’t we heard someone else say something similar to this to Jesus before? In John 4:15 when Jesus spoke of living water that quenches thirst for eternity, the Samaritan woman said, “Sir, give me this water, that I might not thirst, nor come here to draw.”  She also was thinking of physical water to begin with, but she showed a change of heart as she continued to listen to Jesus. She went and told everyone she saw about her encounter with Jesus, the Christ. She hadn’t seen any miracles. She only knew that He had told her things about her life that He couldn’t have known. These people had seen miracles, and were still shallow-minded and unbelieving. 

In verse 35, Jesus makes the first of His seven “I am” statements. He promised spiritual satisfaction to all who come to Him and believe in Him. He didn’t promise to give them bread and water. He says “I am the bread of life”. Jesus is the “bread from heaven” and the “living water”. When Jesus says “come to me”, it means “believe in me”. These people were coming to Jesus, but not in the way that Jesus means in this verse. They are coming to Jesus for selfish reasons, and not because they believed in Him…..not because they desired to obey Him. In Matthew 5:6, Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled.” Hungering and thirsting after righteousness is believing and obeying Jesus. Jesus is the definition of righteousness. Do I hunger and thirst for Jesus? Nothing in this world can give us satisfaction except “the Bread of Life”. There is no inner peace without Him. Think about it this way. How do we feel when we are physically hungry or thirsty? We are uncomfortable until we are satisfied with food or drink to take away that feeling. When we are spiritually hungry or thirsty, we have no inner peace, no rest, and no satisfaction. We constantly worry about the future. We have nothing to trust in except the world, which is actually nothing. There is nothing in the world to put our trust in! What misery! Jesus is looking for the hearts that find complete contentment, and confidence in Him no matter what happens in their lives. I may be stripped of everything, but as long as I have “the Bread”, I will still be full. Of course, I fail miserably at this. I am human. I complain and fret over things that, in the big picture, really don’t matter. That is why I need “the Bread”…..the perfect “Bread from Heaven” who came to save an imperfect me. I do want to be content in Him. That is my goal. 

In verse 36, we see Jesus again reading their thoughts. These people have seen Jesus heal the sick and turn 5 loaves and 2 fish into a meal for thousands, yet they still don’t truly believe in Him. Later in John 20:29, Jesus will say to Thomas, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.” I think about us. We haven’t seen Jesus with our eyes or heard Him with our ears, but we believe in Him with all our hearts. Jesus says we are “blessed”. Peter speaking to the “pilgrims of the Dispersion” in 1 Peter 1:8-9 says this referring to Jesus, “whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls.” Heaven is our “end game”, because we love,  believe in and obey Him without having seen Him. 

In verse 37, Jesus says, “All (those) that the Father has given me will come to Me.” If a person truly belongs to God, then he/she will believe in His Son. In John 5:43, Jesus says, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me.” God and Jesus are a package deal….one and the same. These Jewish people claim to be God’s chosen people, and they most certainly were! God had a purpose for them, and that purpose was fulfilled in Jesus coming from their lineage. However, they are now cutting their ties with God the Father,  by not accepting God the Son as the “Bread of Life.” Jesus ends this verse by stating that anyone who comes to Him will not be “thrown out” or “cast out”. The word “cast out” is a forceful word. When Jesus would “cast out” demons, He would cast them out by force. He will never do this to anyone who belongs to Him. God doesn’t want anyone to be lost, so He sent Jesus, the Bread, down to earth to secure all who come to Him. Remember, Jesus had the disciples gather all the leftover pieces of bread so that none would be lost. We are His disciples, and we are to try to gather as many lost souls as possible while we are here. In Matthew 8:12, Jesus spoke of those who would be “cast out into outer darkness”, where there would be “weeping and gnashing of teeth”. He said this after the centurion came to Him begging Him to heal His servant. Jesus told the man that He would come to his house and heal his servant, but the man said, “Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus marvelled at this centurion’s faith. This is the faith that Jesus is looking for…..the kind of faith that will lay everything precious at Jesus’ feet, and trust Him to take care of it all. Basically, Jesus is saying that if we don’t have the kind of faith of the centurion, then we will be cast out. Lord, help me have that kind of faith. 

God means for everyone to learn what the Bible teaches about how to be saved. It only takes an open heart for Jesus, and a willingness to put away what we’ve been taught in the past, and truly read what God’s Word says for ourselves…..and then accept what it says and obey it. If I can help you in any way, I would love to! Are you walking in the light? Are you in Christ? Are you saved? If you aren’t or you are not sure if you are, I’d love to help you. Are you a member of the Lord’s church, but are struggling spiritually in your walk with Christ? If you are…..believe me, I’ve been there many times, and I’d love to help you. If you have any questions, please reach out. 

I love God’s Word. It challenges me to be better…..to do more in His service. It is interesting and keeps me on the edge of my seat wondering what is going to happen next. It gives me confidence and builds me up, and it brings me to my knees when my soul needs convicting! Thank you Father for the wonderful gift of Your Word!

God’s Plan of Salvation

Below is the plan that God has set forth in His Word, for humankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. This plan is straight from the Bible. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins.  (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)