What stuck out in these verses is BREAD. It is mentioned 7 times in these verses alone:

1. I am the BREAD of life.

2. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died.

3. This is the BREAD which comes down from heaven.

4. This BREAD can be eaten and one who eats it will never die.

5. I am the living BREAD which came down from heaven.

6. If anyone eats of this BREAD, he will live forever.

7. The BREAD that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.

I asked myself which verses can be paired together?

1 & 5 can be paired together.

3 & 5 can be paired together.

4 & 6 can be paired together.

All these pairings are brought together and summarized in a nutshell with #7!

I found these 7 points very fascinating and exciting to look deeply into!

Observations/Interpretations:

I asked myself what types of bread are represented here?

1. Dying bread!

2. Living bread!

I asked myself what ‘dying bread’ means?

What came to my mind, when I thought about dying bread, is the manna that the Israelites ate in the wilderness. It was a type of bread that was going to rot if it was not used in the specified time and amount that the Lord had allotted for them to eat it. Also, this bread was not going to help them live forever. Those that ate of it eventually died. This bread could not sustain life forever.

Then the LORD said to Moses, "I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day. In this way I will test them and see whether they will follow my instructions. (Exodus 16:4, NIV)

"Then Moses said to them, "No one is to keep any of it until morning. However, some of them paid no attention to Moses; they kept part of it until morning, but it was full of maggots and began to smell." (Exodus 16:19-20, NIV)

"The people of Israel called the bread manna. It was white like coriander seed and tasted like wafers made with honey." (Exodus 16:31, NIV)

I asked myself what ‘Living Bread’ means?

What came to my mind is Jesus Christ for He claimed to be the ‘Living Bread’. Not only that but He is the ‘I AM’ that introduced Himself to Moses at the Burning Bush.

"God replied to Moses, “I Am Who I Am. Say this to the people of Israel: I Am has sent me to you.” (Exodus 3:14, NIV)

 It is Jesus that gave them manna to eat. Now Jesus does not just introduce Himself as ‘I AM’ but as ‘I AM the BREAD OF LIFE’. It is this Bread that gives life but there is a condition.

Those who want to continue to live forever need to eat this Bread. Just as the Israelites had to eat the bread that fell from heaven to stay alive physically, following the rules set by God, Jesus is letting his listeners know that they need to eat a new kind of Bread that came from Heaven to stay alive eternally, following Him.

All the manna eaten would not give people Eternal life but Jesus said He could give it to them. 

The statement Jesus makes is so profound that Jesus introduces His credentials first before making the statement, “If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

I asked myself what are the credentials that Jesus introduces for Himself?

1. I AM

2. Come down from Heaven 

The people of that day would have been familiar with ‘I AM’ especially since that is how God introduced Himself to Moses. The people knew that God spoke from Heaven. Jesus uses those same words with a description: ‘I Am the Bread of Life’. Jesus does not stop there but lets them know He is the I Am from Heaven!

People needed to believe in His credentials if they were going to accept what He was going to tell them. Right after speaking about His credentials, Jesus talks about eating.

Jesus wants them to eat the Bread of Life to live forever and makes it clear to them He is the key to make that happen. This is evidenced by “and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

What cannibalism? No, No, No!!!

Jesus is foreshadowing His death to come when His body would be broken, symbolized by bread, and given for the life of the world.

Jesus starts of with ‘I Am the Bread of Life' and concludes here with ‘Given for the life of the world.'

If these two are put together for a nutshell summary it comes of as “I Am the Bread of Life given for the life of the world.”

I asked myself what is the ‘life of the world’ mean?

What came to my mind is that physical bread such as manna was not enough to keep the world from dying. People were eating and living but their souls were still dying because they were separated from God due to missing the mark set by God.

No one of the world has been able to achieve the mark and the people of the world have not been able to live forever. Their eternity has been hampered because of them missing the mark.

As Jason & Andrea Huang of Asian InterVarsity Christian Fellowship like to say, "People have soul sickness". This soul sickness cannot be healed by physical bread. This soul sickness needs divine intervention.

Finally, God decided to intervene as the Son of Man and became a new kind of Bread with living qualities called the Living Bread so those who partake of Him will never die.

God made Eternal life available to the life of the world so people of the world would not continue to die eternally. But it had a price!

Jesus was going to give His life for the life of the world for only life could give life. Jesus was foreshadowing His sacrifice for the world but wanted those there to follow Him right there. He was going to sacrifice His life so the people of the world could have life. There is a condition though. Jesus is letting them know that as they follow Him, their life will continue forever eternally because it will be interwoven with His Life.

Implications:

I asked myself what are the implications for my own life?
Life starts with Jesus, for He is the Bread of Life. Just because I am living does not mean that I have Eternal Life and will live forever. It begins with Jesus. This means no one else can give Eternal Life. Jesus is making the Absolute claim that He is the ‘I AM’, He is from Heaven, and He is the Bread of Life given for the life of the world.

I loved the sermon given by Pastor Hugo Cheng of Oakland International Fellowship one day when He briefly touched on Jesus being the Bread of Life for us and talked briefly about the different 'I AM's in the Gospel of John.

No one else claimed what Jesus claimed, not Buddha, not Krishna, not Mohammad, not anyone else. If I wanted a religion to follow, I could have stuck with Hinduism. For me it is not about religion for religion can save no one. In fact, people following a religion have caused more havoc in the world and have made people see that religion can become the death of the world, not the life of the world.

It is God who saves, who revealed Himself as ‘I Am’ to Moses and has revealed Himself to us in Jesus Christ. Jesus wants us to partake of Him to receive Eternal Life. I am so glad that I do not follow a religion but now follow a relationship with Jesus Christ who wants me to partake of Him. For He has become my Bread of Life! He wants to become your Bread of Life too!

I ask you now dear friend what kind of bread do you eat to live forever?
Dear friend, all the earthly bread we eat will still make us hungry and will not let us live forever. I know only Jesus Christ who claimed 'I AM the Bread of Life', who came to be our Lord and Personal Savior can satisfy our souls and deliver us from soul sickness. Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life offering Himself to you. He gave His flesh for you on the Cross of Calvary. His body was broken for you. He wants you to eat of Him in a symbolic sense so you can live forever.

Partake of Him in your life by allowing Him to come live in you. Ask Him to guide you and lead you, delivering you from the sin that captivates. Remember what He did for you. One way we do this is by taking Holy Communion! But Holy Communion should only be taken if you believe and follow Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior.

Friend, Jesus has offered Himself for you too. Yes, He has! The world is full of sin (soul sickness) and since the world is full of sin (soul sickness) those who inhabit it are infected and become sinners. But the Good News is, Jesus came as the Bread of Life to give His life to give you Eternal Life. While we were yet sinners Jesus died for us.

Friend, this means you do not need to be perfect or have everything right in your life before you come to Jesus. If you wait for that to happen, you maybe waiting until it is too late.

Come as you are and allow the Lord Jesus to work in you. No matter how stained your sins are and you cannot forgive yourself, Jesus lends a Helping Hand and wants to forgive you. Jesus reminds us though our sins are scarlet red, He can make us white as freshly fallen snow and though they are crimson red, Jesus can make us white as wool.

If I allowed my sins to control my life, then I have given control over to Satan and he has won but I have come to accept Christ’s grace and merciful forgiveness to move on for I will always remain His child. Thank you Jesus1

For He reminds us friend that “To all who received Him, He gave them right to become children of God, all they needed to do is trust in Him to save them”

Won’t you do that friend?

You could be reading this and already have a personal relationship with the Lord. That’s great!

 If you feel this would be helpful to someone who does not have a relationship with the Lord, won’t you share it with them?

If you do not have a relationship with the Lord as you desire, now is the time of Salvation. Don’t wait, for Jesus is the Bread of Life and wants to be part of your life this August of 2012! Yes, He does! May you make Jesus part of your life today! Amen!

Bread of Life
by Ramesh C. Reddy

You came as the Bread of Life
To deliver from eternal strife
You ask me to eat
Offering me a seat
From the place you came
Heaven is its name
So I come with my heart
Asking you for a new start
Now I will eternally live
For Eternal Life you give
Jesus, my Bread of Life!
Jesus, my Bread of Life!
Amen!

“Beautiful Redeemer Emancipates Always Delivering!” (B.R.E.A.D)/”What kind of bread do you eat to live forever?”

Make this your prayer. Don’t let the enemy deceive you into thinking you need all the answers before coming to Christ. Let me just assure you though you may not have all the answers right now before coming to Jesus, He will answer them slowly. Yes, He will for I know our Redeemer will! Amen!

Prayer:
Jesus, I thank you for being the Bread of Life. You are the Living Bread of my life. Thank you for coming from Heaven and giving your life for the life of the world. You sacrificed yourself for humanity. Thank you Lord when we eat of you symbolically making you part of our life, digesting what you teach us by following you, we can be living Eternally, and the fruit that comes will reflect and resemble your life. I want that Father God. I want that Lord Jesus! I want that Holy Spirit! I know of a lot of people who partake of Holy Communion where the bread represents your body broken for their sin and the juice represents your blood shed for their sin. When we partake of Holy Communion, we are reminded that we are remembering you. I want to remember you always Lord Jesus. But for me to remember you always, I need to know you and acknowledge everything you said you are. So right now I acknowledge that you are my Lord and Personal Savior who died and rose again to give me life from sin. So right now, I come to you and say how sorry I am for my sin and living a life on my own. I repent of my sin and ask you to forgive me of my sin with your cleansing blood which I accept. Wash me and I will be clean from this infection of sin. Come Lord Jesus and please become part of my life as you live in me and I will live for you. I thank you Jesus for coming into my heart and making my heart your home. Thank you for living in me Jesus and I will live for you and serve you the rest of the days of my life. I do need your Spirit to reside in me and work in me and through me so I surrender all that I am and will be to you. Whatever your will is for me, please give me the strength and willingness to bear it and rejoice in you. Thank you so much Jesus for saving me this season of 2012. I thank you Jesus for becoming my Lord and Personal Savior. I thank you Jesus you have heard my prayer and have answered me. I thank you that I am your child Oh God. I thank you for becoming my only Way to Eternal Life. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! Amen!

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You are my all in all. You are my Prince of Peace, Rock, Savior, and Friend. You are my Holy Father guiding me through to live a life of righteousness, Holy righteousness. Oh God, I need you more than ever. I need to feel your hands around me holding me tight. I need your love to surround me so that you can glow in my life. Help me please Jesus. I desire in your presence. Thank you for guiding me to live a life of righteousness. Oh God you love me more than ever. You hear my voice when I cry out to you. When I seek your face, you fill me up. You are my all in all. Thank you Jesus so much for your help no matter what I face, your grace is available and you take my case. Thank you for hearing us and answering us. In Your Name I Pray Jesus! AMEN! (Most of the prayer is from a vineyard song called “All in All”)