ADVENT BLOG Named by God - I am the bread of life

“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.”
(John 6:35)

Earlier in these studies I mentioned Sunday lunch which was always a special time for grandparents to join us and enjoy a meal and a catch-up.  We always looked forward to a good meal with roast chicken or steak pie followed by some kind of dessert.  It was a time to eat well and just enjoy a catch up with some fun along the way.  But, imagine if the only meal that you had was your Sunday lunch.  No matter how big the portions or tasty the meal was, it could not keep you going for the whole week - even if you had overeaten!

I’ve often used this as an illustration when considering our spiritual food and what we get from our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  To keep our bodies strong to deal with our daily tasks we need to eat and drink.  To keep our minds alert we need to feed them as well with all sorts of information - from conversations with others through to reading and writing.  What about our spiritual life?  Jesus declares that he is the “bread of life”, the one who feeds us to ensure that we can survive life with all of its twists and turns, dangers and diversions.

The context of this verse is that the day after Jesus had fed the multitude on the hillside people had gathered to hear his teaching.  They came back the very next day not hungry for more teaching but, wanting more of the spectacle they had witnessed in the miracle.  The bread the day before had fed their hunger and he gave them a lot to focus on yet, they still wanted a show rather than more teaching to help them grow in their understanding of God and in faith.  They had a hunger for something which manifested itself in quite a different way.  They didn’t recognise that their hunger was a spiritual one - a hunger for the things of God that needs to be satisfied and can only be satisfied with the bread, the spiritual feeding that Christ can offer to all who come to him.

One lesson from this saying of Jesus is dependence - a dependence on God in and through Christ in all things, as we seek his kingdom.  When we do that everything else falls into place and we hunger no more but will grow in ways we could never ever begin to imagine.

How do we feed on Christ?  Is it now and again when we can fit it in?  Or, is it a daily diet of devotion when we sit at his feet to worship him and learn from. Him?

Guide me, O thou great Jehovah,


Pilgrim through this barren land;


I am weak, but thou art mighty;


Hold me with thy powerful hand:


Bread of heaven, bread of heaven


Feed me till I want no more.


Feed me till I want no more.
AMEN.