Lesson 18: John 6:26-40 - The Bread of Life (part 1)

26 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
27 Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
30 So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?
31 Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
33 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.
37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.
38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”


Jesus here begins what are known as the “I AM” statements. In Exodus 3:14 Moses asked God for His name. God answered, “My name is ‘I AM.’” It means He is eternal, without beginning and without end. In this first of eight such statements, Jesus tells the people, “I AM the Bread of Life.”

Jesus knew the crowds sought Him because He fed them. He told them to set their heart on imperishable things that He, Jesus, can give them because His Father has sealed Him for this work. The seal of God is upon Him. A seal is an authentication, a guarantee: it is irreversible. There is now a man upon the throne of God in Heaven – Jesus the God-man.
When the crowd asked Him how they could do God’s works, Jesus said only faith in Him was necessary. The crowd demanded a sign. After all, Moses gave Israel manna from Heaven. Jesus said the manna came from His Father, not Moses, and He is now offering them the true Bread from Heaven. Jesus declared He is the Bread of Life; any who come to Him will never hunger or thirst (John 2:9, 4:14). Jesus emphasized His heavenly origin and exposed the unbelief in the crowd.

The Jewish leaders did not like Jesus’ statement about being Bread from Heaven. They believed they knew His parents, Joseph and Mary, and so He could not have come from Heaven. (Continued in the next lesson.)

*Why do you think the crowd asked for another sign from Jesus when they had just watched Him feed so many people with such a small amount of food?