“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.” — John 6:51 (ESV)
In this powerful statement, Jesus identifies Himself as “the living bread that came down from heaven.” This is one of the seven “I AM” statements in the Gospel of John. In the Greek, Jesus used the emphatic expression “ego eimi,” which literally might be translated, “I, I AM,” pointing to His divine identity as Yahweh, the God who revealed Himself to Moses in Exodus 3:14. Jesus is not just a teacher or miracle worker; He is God in the flesh, offering Himself as the true source of eternal life.
This verse anticipates the language of the Lord’s Supper, but even more, it calls us to deeply trust in the crucified and risen Christ for our very life. The crowd was looking for physical bread, but Jesus offers spiritual, eternal sustenance—His very self.
We often find ourselves seeking temporary solutions to eternal problems. Like the crowd that followed Jesus for more food, we are tempted to look to the things of this world to satisfy us. But only Jesus, the living bread from heaven, can give true and lasting life.
When we come to Him in faith, believing in His sacrificial death and resurrection, we “eat” of the bread He gives—His flesh offered on the cross. This isn’t a one-time act but an ongoing dependence on Jesus as our life. As believers, we are called to daily draw nourishment from Christ through His Word, through prayer, and through remembering His sacrifice. Let us not settle for perishable bread when eternal life is found in the One who gave Himself for the life of the world.
PRAYER: Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus, the living bread from heaven. We confess how often we look to temporary things to satisfy us when only Your Son can give us true and lasting life. Help us to trust in Christ more deeply and depend on Him daily as our sustenance. Teach us to receive His sacrifice with faith and gratitude, and to share this life-giving truth with the world around us. Strengthen us to walk in the fullness of life that Jesus provides. In His name we pray, amen.