Bread of Heaven

This week, I have the privilege of preaching on one of the most well-known and important verses in the entire New Testament. Our Gospel reading this morning ends with the phrase that we just sang in the refrain of our hymn: “I am the Bread of Life, they who come to me will not hunger; they who believe in me will not thirst.” [Hymnal 1982 #335, verse 1]

What do we mean when we say that Jesus is the Bread of Life? What did Jesus mean when he said it?

Let’s look first at the history of bread. We can trace it back to the Stone Age, about 11,000 years ago or so. The first bread was just a mixture of ground-up grains and water, heated on a rock that was warmed by the sun or over a fire. Once humans discovered that they could eat plants and seeds, they began to look for ways to change grain into something appetizing. This enabled them to move from hunting, following wild animals and herds of domestic ones, to planting crops and making a permanent home in one place. It was a big step in our development toward civilization.

Very soon after that, humans discovered that yeast would make bread rise and expand. This improved the taste and texture, and it made the grain go farther and feed more people. It also tasted better, perhaps creating the first gourmets!

As wild animals became harder to hunt and domestic ones became important for other purposes than meat, the ability to survive by eating plants became more important. The relative low cost of growing grain and making bread made it possible for the human population to increase dramatically, and soon there were large populations who rarely ate meat, but who had bread as one of their main foods of each day.

By the time that the Hebrew people were living in Egypt, bread was a primary food, and it also had a religious significance. Because it was so central to the lives of people, it became something that was offered to the gods as well.

It was when the Hebrews left Egypt, led by Moses, that bread became a center of their attention. At first, it was because they were starving. God heard their cry and gave them “bread from heaven,” or manna, a substance like bread that fed everyone for 40 years of the Exodus.

Bread played a central role in Jewish worship. Blessings over bread were prayers that everyone knew by heart. Bread was offered in the Temple and also in synagogues. There was even supposed to be a small quantity of the original manna preserved inside the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

But “bread” had a wider meaning to the Jews of Jesus’ time. It also meant the law, or Torah, to them. For them, the “bread of heaven” was the Word of God, most especially the Ten Commandments, but also all the books of the Bible.

So when Jesus said, “I am the Bread of Life,” his words were full of meaning. He was saying, “I am the food that keeps you alive” and “I am the sacred gift that God gave you.”

In fact, in the last sentence of today’s Gospel, Jesus tells us three important things about himself.

First, he tells us where he comes from. A few verses earlier, Jesus said, “the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” [John 6:33] Now, Jesus was clearly identifying himself: the bread of God comes down from heaven and gives life to the world, and I am that bread.

Second, Jesus tells us that we have to do something in order to get the benefit of the bread that comes down from heaven: “those who come to me will not hunger.” [John 6:35] There is a promise and an offer here, but it also requires something of us: that we come to Jesus, that we turn away from following our own path and make a decision to follow him.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that this promise is not just good for right now, but that it lasts forever: “those who believe in me will never thirst.” [John 6:35] The people who ate the manna were hungry the next day. The food that they ate filled them up, but they were empty again very soon. Not so with the heavenly bread of Jesus. Those who eat and drink what he offers will never be hungry or thirsty again.

We give bread a lot of importance in our worship as Christians. Like the Jews, we use bread to offer sacrifice to God. But our sacrificial bread is not manna, it is not the Passover matzoth; it is something new. Jesus calls it “living bread.” As Jesus explained what he meant, people’s reactions were very different. Some were disgusted. If Jesus was saying that he is bread, and that we are supposed to eat that bread – that is, to eat Jesus like some kind of cannibals, then “no, thanks” was their response.

Of course we are not asked to be cannibals. We are not expected to see and taste the flesh of a human being when we receive Holy Communion, but the bread that we eat is many things. It is the “daily bread” that we ask for in the Lord’s Prayer. It is the “bread from heaven,” just like the manna that sustained God’s people in a time long ago. It is the bread that Jesus took at the Last Supper and gave to his disciples, saying, “this is my body, given for you.”
Our bread at Communion is much more than simple flour and water. It is a permanent reminder, a sign, a symbol, of Jesus’ eternal promise to be with us “always, until the end of time.” [Matthew 28:20]

When we receive Holy Communion in a few minutes, then, let us keep in mind the three parts of the last sentence of our Gospel today:

Jesus is the bread of life. He reveals himself to us as what he really is – the one come down from heaven to save us.

We have to make a deliberate, intentional effort to receive this offer: those who come to Jesus will not hunger. Those who stay away will not receive this blessing.

Finally, this is not ordinary bread, and the promise is not an ordinary one. It is forever: those who eat and drink what Jesus offers will never hunger or thirst.

These are extraordinary promises, and they are a special gift that Jesus gave to those who accepted him. May we gladly accept his offer and come to him. May we receive the bread of heaven with faith and determination, as his followers, today and always. Amen!