Wednesday Bible Blurb Jesus, the Bread of Life 2 11 2026
Walking in the front door of my home to the culinary smell of freshly baked bread is simply awesome! Fresh baked whole wheat, honey and olive oil bread will melt into your pallet and win the blue ribbon at the County fair. Quickly I grab the bread knife and slice a huge thick chunk right out of the middle of the warm bread. Then, I squeeze the loaf back together and pretend nothing is missing from the middle. As fast as I can I smear butter on the slice and watch it soak into the bread. Then comes the honey, dripping and gooey, running over the sides as I take my first bite of the bread of life. Butter and honey run down my cheeks as I greedily devore the fresh home-made bread and take in the aroma of fresh baking. Few things in life are better than freshly baked bread with butter and honey. What a wonderful treat to come home to every day.
In the Lord’s prayer Jesus says, “Give us this day our daily bread.” (Matt. 6:11 [NKJV]. Have we ever thought of Jesus as that first warm slice of freshly baked bread, smothered in butter and honey? Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” (John 6:35). When we pray the Lord’s prayer and say, “Give us this day our daily bread” we are praying for more than food and income. What we are really doing is praying for Jesus to be in us. We need to realize we are asking God to put Jesus into us as He is our daily spiritual bread of life. With Jesus in us we can think and act in accordance with God’s wishes throughout the day. Jesus, our bread, gives us life.
Jesus identified Himself as the great “I am” when He said He was the “bread of life”. God told Moses His name, “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14) and then promised to bring Israel to “a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Ex. 3:17b). What a wonderful physical meal God was preparing for Israel. Fresh bread with milk and honey.
In John 6 Jesus shows us His spiritual meal of milk and honey. The chapter starts with the miracle feeding of bread to 5,000 followers using five loaves of barley bread and two small fish. After lunch (I would think Jesus made great tasting bread) they gathered 12 baskets of leftover breadcrumbs. Jesus then spends the night walking across the Sea of Galilee to the town of Capernaum. It is in Capernaum where Jesus begins to transition their thinking from physical bread for nourishment to spiritual bread for everlasting life. Let’s listen in as Jesus teaches His new way of thinking to the multitudes.
John 6:26Jesus answered them and said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.” They were physically filled; however, He tells them there is something much more important than physical food. They then ask for a sign of who He really is and say to Him, “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (vs.31). They were still thinking physically instead of spiritually.
Jesus shows them He is the bread of life, yet they still did not believe or understand who He was. “Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give 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 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:32-35). Jesus, the bread of life. Spiritual hunger fulfilled with the sweet aroma of fresh heavenly bread flowing with the milk and honey of the LORD. Jesus then concludes by giving them the hope of the gospel and true everlasting life. “And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.” (John 6:40).
It is only in Jesus that we have life. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. 58 This is the bread which came down from heaven—not as your fathers ate the manna and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:57-58).
The gathered crowd at the synagogue in Capernaum who the day before had been fed by the five loaves and two fishes did not understand what He was offering. More than Moses and physical manna, Jesus was offering the true spiritual Bread of Life, Himself. Those who believe and follow him will have life forever more. Those who continue to think and eat physically will die. Those who change and eat His spiritual bread will live forever.
How wonderful it is to come home to a house filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread. Taking a thick slice of warm moist bread, smearing it with butter and honey and savoring every bite as honey and butter drip down your chin. Better than this is Jesus, our true Bread of Life.
Mike Wallace
