Jesus: "I Am The Bread”.

John 6:41-51 [41] So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42] They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" [43] Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. [44] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. [45] It is written in the Prophets, 'And they will all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me-- [46] not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.point. He is laying down another piece of the mosaic of Messianic character and office. [47] Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. [48] I am the bread of life. [49] Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. [50] This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. [51]I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh." (ESV)

Certified nutritionist Carolyn Pierini, CLS (ASCP), CNC said this in her book: “The Wheat Has Changed”: “Perhaps it is Man who has synthesized a toxin so virulent that the body has created a reaction to it to prevent us from ingesting dangerous quantities. I avoid all wheat because of the gluten, lectins and enzymes wreak havoc to my health. Don't open the Pandora's box of synthesized wheat, for it is no longer a "natural food." She then explains that: “modern commercial wheat bears little resemblance to the wheat that sustained our ancestors, which remained largely the same for 10,000 years... until recent years. In the past few decades, agricultural science has and continues to use extensive hybridization, introgression and crossbreeding, making “synthetic” wheat plants that are more resistant to drought and pathogens. This has been done because it greatly increased dough properties but, more importantly, yield and profit”. (http://www.cpmedical.net/articles/glutens-and-lectins-a-dangerous-dietary-duo)

The presentation that Jesus gave of Himself bore little resemblance to the understanding that His audience had of the messiah. It is hardly surprising that the Jews were baffled by Jesus’ identification of himself as ‘the bread of life’. Even a full-blown conviction that he was the Messiah would have left them full of questions. So impenetrable was their incomprehension, however, that any sense of wonder they might have had at his miracles soon gave way to outrage that He should claim to have come down from heaven. Even among those who had come to attend on his ministry, he faced a stiffening opposition of the very kind that had already induced the Jewish leadership to plot his death. He faced the opposition because of His monumental claims. In John 6:32 He said: “Verily, verily I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven. But My Father gives you the true bread from heaven for the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven.” And in verses 34 … 35 He says, “I am that bread.”

And that brings us to where we are today. Christ said to those Jews who were fed the day before, “You don’t need to worry about physical food,”. They had followed Him to Capernaum because their stomachs were growling and it was morning and time for breakfast. And He says, “Don’t work for that kind of food, you need to call to attention the fact that your souls are hungry and you need that food that satisfies the soul.” Then He says, “God sent that food and I am that food.” (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2014). John MacArthur Sermon Archive. Panorama City, CA: Grace to You.)

In John 6:41-51 Jesus clearly states how He alone can truly satisfy our deepest needs and longings. He desires that we would come to Him and recognize that we will only find satisfaction in Him. To explain how He alone meets our greatest needs and longings He sows us how: 1) Our souls are hungry (John 6:41–44), 2) God sent us food (John 6:45–47), and in His words: 3) I am that food (John 6:48–51). Jesus here is equating Himself with God and the only satisfying, fulfilling eternal nourishment.

To be fully nourished by Jesus we need to realize that:

1) Our Souls are Hungry (John 6:41–44)

John 6:41-44 [41] So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." [42] They said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" [43] Jesus answered them, "Do not grumble among yourselves. [44] No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. (ESV)