John 6: 48
“ I am the bread of life.”
My neighbors have a cat. They also have two dogs and several kids. Because of the dogs mainly, but maybe because of the kids, too, the cat spends a lot of time outside, and most of the time seems to spend that time in my yard. After several years of trying to chase the cat out of my yard, I finally gave up and decided to be friends with the cat. I even gave her a name, a “street name” if you will. I call her Smudge because she is a light colored cat with a dark smudge of color across most of her face.
It took a while for the cat to get used to the idea that I wasn’t going to shoo it away. Soon it was letting me pet it once in a while, and after a few weeks, it would run to me when I was outside. The cat doesn’t run to me because I have food to feed it or anything to give it except some attention. The cat is hungry for affection.
I thought this an apt illustration of Jesus’ statement, “I am the bread of life.” Everyone knows what it is like to be hungry for food. Being hungry for God is the same but different. We don’t always know or understand what hunger is when we feel it. When we do figure out that we are hungry for God, and that God is very willing to satisfy that hunger, we generally can’t get enough. Like Smudge running to say, “Hi” and get petted, we run to God often looking for affirmation and love.
When Jesus calls himself the “bread of life,” he is using a metaphor of something we need physically to illustrate something we need spiritually: Jesus’ love and forgiveness.
Q: How would you explain what Jesus means by calling himself the “bread of life?”
I also think it is a metaphor for how Jesus is necessary for life – necessary for spiritual life. I love the comparison and contrast Jesus draws between Himself and Mana. Both are provided from heaven by God. One lasts a day (or two) and the other lasts for eternity.
I like smudge. That is one cool cat and I was just petting it yesterday. I like your comparisons. Certainly we are to hunger and thirst for God. He is what we are hungry for and only He can fill that spiritual need for which we were created. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (Matthew 5: 6). I also agree with Nathan. He is the Manna that lasts for eternity. I wonder if I really understand how desperately I need Him.