John 6:35-40

³⁵ Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

³⁶ But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.

³⁷ All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.³⁸ For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.³⁹ And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day.

⁴⁰ For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

“I am the Bread of Life …” 

While I was growing up, my mom used to make me a sandwich every morning. She said that breakfast was the most important meal of the day. Whenever I did not have time to eat breakfast at home, she would pack me a sandwich to go as I hurried out. So, no matter how my day ended, whether successful or challenging, it started with bread.

In John 6:35 Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me, will never be thirsty.” Jesus reminds us that God always provides for our daily needs. Eating is an ordinary daily routine everyone needs to do to survive, but having a meal together can be very important and impactful as it opens room to share the grace and love we have received from the Lord with the people around us. For this reason, one of the things Jesus did most, was to eat with other people while following his purpose – which was to follow the Father’s will. The Father’s will according to John 6:39-40 was to lose none of all those the Father had given Jesus and to raise them up on the last day. The verses also explain that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him, shall have eternal life, and will be raised up by Jesus on the last day. As we seek to follow Jesus’ example, we too should follow the Father’s will by leading people to believe. 

Believing that Jesus gave us eternal life through his death and resurrection and sharing this faith cannot be achieved with the bread we buy at the supermarket. We need spiritual bread to nourish and prepare us for the tasks we have to complete. To feed our spiritual hunger, we need our daily bread – Jesus. God not only knows our physical needs for food, he also knows our hearts and minds and sees our spiritual needs. Therefore, he left us his Word, which is the Bible, and the Holy Spirit to help us grow. By reading the Bible and by imitating Jesus, we will be equipped for any dinner conversation Jesus might have had. We might feel unfit or incompetent for the task, but it is not by our works or intellect; God leads us in these moments. The people we dine with are brought to us by God, meaning there is no pressure if we simply follow his will obediently and prayerfully.

In the same way when we take communion at church, we remember Jesus’ great sacrifice: that he gave his life on the cross for us. He freed us from our sins, reunited us with our loving Holy Father and gave us eternal life. Jesus gave us community and intimacy with an all-powerful God and welcomed us unworthy sinners into his family. Jesus invited us to his table to eat with him and by that, he invited us to believe and follow him. This means that we should invite others to the table too, regardless of their background. This could be through little acts of kindness, for example, sharing a piece of bread or inviting someone for a meal, or by sharing the gospel and thereby the grace, love and hope we have received. Another way is to simply offer prayers to the people around us. By sharing the gospel through our words and actions, we can encourage others and share the joy, hope and love we have received from our Heavenly Father. Jesus is the bread of life that provides for our daily needs, feeds our souls, and grants us eternal life.

Prayer

Dear God, I thank you for the great sacrifice you have made for me. Help me not to take it for granted, but to remember it each day and to share it with the people around me. You have not just loved your friends and disciples, but everyone. Lord, may this Lenten season be spiritually nourishing to us and the people around us. Amen.