Bible, Theology & Philosophy

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The Bread of Life

In the confrontation of John 6, the crowd attempted to manipulate Jesus into becoming the provider for their material needs. In return, Jesus encouraged them to attend to their spiritual needs, implying that He was the Messiah who could meet those needs. Faced with this claim, the crowd demanded a sign. Alluding to the nature of the sign that they wanted, they said, “Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness—he gave them bread out of heaven.” Jesus knew that they were looking for another free meal, so He replied that Moses didn’t give them the real bread. He could offer better bread, bread that comes down out of heaven, bread that gives life to the world. The crowd took the bait, exclaiming, “Evermore give us this bread!”

That was exactly the reaction that Jesus had anticipated, and His reply went straight to the heart of the matter. “I am the bread of life,” He declared. “The one who comes to me will never hunger, and the one who believes on me will never thirst.” That was certainly not the kind of bread for which the crowd was angling.

Jesus had already used the metaphor of eating. He acknowledged that there is a temporal food for the nourishment of the body, but He pointed out that food for the soul is more important. The spiritual food is received by believing on the one whom God sent. In Jesus’ metaphor, eating stands for believing. Bread stands for Him, and He is to be received or “eaten” by believing His claims and trusting Him.

When Jesus presented Himself as the “bread of life,” He was strengthening this analogy. His emphasis was clearly on inner reception of His person and claims: anyone who comes to Him will never hunger, and anyone who believes on Him will never thirst. In the metaphor, to eat is to believe.

The Initial Confrontation

Among sacerdotalists and some sacramentalists, John 6 is considered to be the dernier mot. They see it as the definitive proof text that irrefutably demonstrates the bodily presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharistic elements. They insist that in the Eucharist, people actually eat Jesus’ flesh and drink Jesus’ blood (Jn 6:53-56).

What does the passage teach? The early part of the chapter narrates the story about Jesus feeding five thousand men (the text does not say whether women or children were present). This story includes the so-called “miracle of the loaves” in which Jesus multiplies a few loaves of bread to be able to feed the crowd.

In view of the miracle, the crowd tried to take Jesus and force Him to become their king, probably because they saw an opportunity for a government welfare program. Jesus, however, slipped away quietly. The disciples took boats and began to row to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. When they were hindered by weather, Jesus performed His miracle of walking out to the boat across the water. The story ends with their boat arriving suddenly, and apparently miraculously, near Capernaum.

In the meanwhile, the crowd was trying to figure out what had happened to Jesus. They saw the disciples leave, and they knew that Jesus was not with them. They waited for a while, but when they discerned that Jesus was gone, they decided to follow the disciples. They took boats and came to Capernaum, where they found Jesus and the disciples. Perplexed, they asked Jesus, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus ignored their question. Knowing that the crowd consisted mainly of day-laborers (people who would do a day’s work for a day’s food), He told them to stop working for “food that perishes,” but to work for food that “remains to eternal life.” The point of this saying is that feeding the body does not satisfy the hunger of the soul, and the feeding of the soul is the more important of the two. These people were so impressed with a free meal that they had followed Jesus across the Sea of Galilee. Jesus wanted them to exhibit as much concern for their eternal wellbeing as for their temporal satisfaction.