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Jesus: The Bread of Life
In the Gospel of John, Jesus declares "I am the bread of life" - a profound statement about His role in our salvation. This series explores what it means to truly believe in Christ, not merely as intellectual assent, but as a transformative relationship that brings eternal life.
Understanding John's Gospel
The Gospel of John primarily concerns itself with two fundamental questions: "What is salvation?" and "What must I do?" This focus makes John an ideal starting point for new believers seeking to understand the core of Christian faith.
Clear Over Clever
Unlike sermons filled with stories and clever wordplay, this teaching prioritizes clarity about God's Word and who Jesus is, enabling us to understand and walk in obedience.
Fundamental Questions
John's Gospel addresses essential questions: What is salvation? Why do I need it? How is it accomplished? What must I do? What is belief? Am I secure? How should I live?
While Paul's epistles focus on how Christians should live in fidelity to Christ (like a New Testament law), John's Gospel clarifies the nature of salvation itself and our response to it.
The Bread of Life Must Die
In John 6:51, Jesus makes His most explicit foreshadowing of His death: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven... And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." This statement, followed by His command to eat His flesh and drink His blood, can only be fulfilled through His death.
This imagery presents the concept of substitutionary atonement - Jesus giving His flesh in place of ours to bring life. While this concept seems like folly to the natural mind (as Paul would later write), it reveals how God's providence often works through suffering and death, beginning with Christ Himself.

"I am the bread of life that must die. And by my death, feasting on what my death brings will bring you life."
Sacrificial, Not Sacramental
When Jesus speaks of eating His flesh and drinking His blood, He is using sacrificial language, not sacramental. This distinction is crucial for understanding salvation.
The Roman Catholic interpretation suggests Jesus is speaking of communion (the Eucharist), where the elements literally become Christ's body and blood through transubstantiation. However, this interpretation faces several problems:
  • Jesus uses "sarx" (flesh) rather than "soma" (body) used in communion texts
  • Communion hadn't been instituted yet when Jesus spoke these words
  • It contradicts Old Testament patterns where faith, not ritual alone, justified believers
In Old Testament sacrifices, participation was necessary for the benefits to apply - you had to be physically present. Similarly, we must personally "participate" in Christ's sacrifice through belief, not through rituals.
Believing is Eating, and Eating is Life
Taking God at His Word
Biblical belief means accepting what God says as true, just as Abel, Abraham, and Noah did.
Repentant Faith
True belief involves humility before God and mourning of sin.
Transfer of Trust
Moving trust from our own efforts onto Christ alone.
Jesus confronts those who merely observe or admire Him from afar without truly "ingesting" Him into their being. Just as food provides no benefit unless eaten, Christ offers no salvation unless we fully embrace Him through belief.
"Belief is our deepest reality that drives us. Taking, eating and drinking Jesus is believing and taking Him into your very being." -Pastor Nathan
Life is Union with Christ
"Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in Him." (John 6:56)
The eternal life Jesus offers is not merely endless existence but union with Christ Himself. Through the incarnation, Jesus united Himself to humanity, beginning a new bloodline as a new Adam. When we believe, we are transferred from death under Adam to life in Christ.
This union is profound: "As the Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me." The Father has life, the Son has life in the Father, and believers have life in the Son - therefore, we participate in the very life of God.
Because our life is bound up in God's indestructible life, nothing can destroy our eternal life or separate us from Him. This is the first mention in John's Gospel of the abiding relationship that Jesus will develop further in chapters 14-17.
The Role of Sacraments
If salvation comes through belief rather than sacraments, what purpose do baptism and communion serve? They celebrate in communion what has already been established through faith.
The sacraments do not accomplish union with Christ - they celebrate it. Faith is the means by which we are brought into union with Him. No church ritual or work can save us, as Jesus will emphasize: "The flesh is no help at all."
"These do not accomplish union. Faith is the means by which we are brought into union." - Pastor Nathan
The Ongoing Feast
One-Time Salvation
"Once you have eaten in salvation, we do not need to eat anymore to be saved."
Continuous Fellowship
"But now we feast on the gospel. And the Gospel is this glorious ongoing feast of knowing and being known by Christ from here until forevermore."
Salvation requires only one act of true belief - we don't need to be "saved again." However, our relationship with Christ continues as an ongoing feast. We continue to feed on the truth of who He is and what He's done, growing in communion with Him.
This distinction helps us understand that while our initial salvation is secure, our relationship with Christ is meant to be dynamic and growing. Jesus remains the center, our life and our food, sustaining us spiritually just as bread sustains us physically.
The Offense of Jesus' Words
Jesus' words about eating His flesh and drinking His blood were deliberately provocative. The text shows a progression of reactions from His audience:
  • First, they "grumbled" about His claim to come from heaven
  • Then, they engaged in "violent dispute" among themselves
  • Finally, many disciples turned away, saying "This is a hard saying"
Rather than softening His message to retain followers, Jesus intensified it, forcing a decision. This challenges our modern tendency to make the gospel palatable rather than preserving its transformative power.
"After this, many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him." (John 6:66)
Our Response: Filet Mignon, Not Chicken Soup
The sermon concludes with a powerful metaphor: "This is not chicken noodle soup for the soul. Go feast on this filet mignon of truth throughout the week."
Believe
Take Jesus at His word, transferring your trust from yourself to Him completely.
Eat
Don't merely admire Christ from afar - fully embrace Him, letting His life become yours.
Abide
Live in the reality of your union with Christ, drawing life from Him daily.
The gospel is not a lightweight, feel-good message but a substantial, life-transforming truth. Jesus gave His flesh for our flesh so that we might be resurrected as He was resurrected, living eternally with Him as He lives eternally with the Father.
Our life is hidden with Christ in God - this is the filet mignon of truth we're called to feast on throughout our lives.