Have you ever considered the significance of bread throughout the Scriptures? When Jesus declares himself to be “the Bread of Life,” he is not making a neat metaphor. He is declaring himself to be the ultimate cure for man’s greatest ailment. Ever since the Fall of Adam, mankind has suffered under the weight of his curse. God told Adam: “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground” (Genesis 3:19). What an awful curse! It’s as though God said, “You will be forced to slave for bread for your entire existence, but — regardless of how hard you work — you cannot escape the grave. Death will swallow you up, and all the bread (e.g., wealth, paychecks) in this world cannot save you.”
Adam would return to the dust — a horrifying curse in light of God’s curse upon Satan. He had been condemned to crawl on his belly to devour the dust. Adam was to spend his whole life slaving away to survive, and — when his life finally came to an end — he was to become a feast for Satan.
Thankfully, our God refused to leave us without hope. He vowed to send a Savior who would be terribly wounded as He crushed the head of the serpent (Gen. 3:15). He would put an end to Satan’s banquet table. In doing so, this Savior did the unthinkable; he established a new banquet table. He told the crowds that he was the “Bread of Life.” At the Last Supper before his death, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and told his disciples, “This is my body, which is given for you” (Luke 22:19).
A beautiful expression of God’s love is found when you consider these words in light of the Fall. Man betrayed an infinitely good God, and we deserved an infinitely terrible fate. However, God loved us far too much to hand us over to the tyranny of death. So he came for us. He suffered an immeasurably agonizing death upon the Cross, not only to crush the head of the serpent, but to offer up his body for us. God loved His people so much that he offered himself as a feast for men, rather than allowing men to become a feast for Satan. We are invited to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8).
From the beginning of Genesis, the insatiable pursuit of bread often served as a catalyst for tragedy in the Old Testament. Severe famine struck each of the great patriarchs. A shortage of food led Abraham to seek provision from the hand of Pharaoh. In his desperation for survival, he proved willing to betray his own wife (Gen. 12:16). Jacob’s sons also ventured down to Egypt in pursuit of bread (Gen 42:1), and their descendants were enslaved in Egypt for four centuries. Ironically, they were forced to build “store cities” devoted to the storage of grain (Exod. 1:11). God is teaching that the pursuit of bread is slavery!
The Israelites then wandered in a barren wilderness for forty years. In an utterly desolate region, God graciously provided “bread from heaven” (i.e., manna), showing the people that they could trust Him to provide their “daily bread.” This manna, which spared the people from death, was so precious to the Lord that He required it to be placed inside the Ark of the Covenant.
When Jesus began his ministry in Israel, he compared himself to this life-giving manna that spared the Israelites in the wilderness. What does this metaphor teach us? Like manna, Jesus came from heaven; he came to bring life to men; he is a daily necessity; he is not merely sufficient to save us, but he is sweet to taste; he comes to us freely; and he is available indiscriminately to all those willing to partake.
In fulfillment of the Scriptures, Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem, which means “house of bread” in Hebrew. As a newborn baby, our Savior was taken into a Bethlehem stable and laid into a manger (i.e., a feedbox) — anticipating the day when his flock would feast upon his body. Sadly, when Jesus declared himself to be “the Bread of Life,” people were only interested in his bread, not in him.
Jesus’ was not detached from reality, nor was he ignorant of worldly pressures. As a homeless man, he knew the struggles of poverty, and he experienced the pains of hunger. During his temptations in the wilderness, he discovered what it was like to hunger for bread. After fasting for forty days, Satan tempted Jesus, saying, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matt. 4:3). Even though his stomach was gnawing with hunger pains, he refused: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God’” (Matt. 4:4).
By example, Jesus revealed that authentic life is not to be found in loaves of bread, but in the Word of God. Many people invest their hopes in worldly pursuits, failing to embrace the riches offered by Christ. They are interested in bread, but not the Bread of Life. They want gifts, but they scorn the Giver. Many of his followers, who took his bread, abandoned him once he claimed to be the Bread of Life (John 6:66).
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer
followed him. “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that
you are the Holy One of God.” Then Jesus replied, “Have I not chosen you, the
Twelve? Yet one of you is a devil!” (John
6:66-70).
Peter’s response echoed the wisdom of God — placing all his hope
in the “words of eternal life.” In his response, Jesus seems to change the
subject by announcing that one of the twelve apostles would prove to be a
traitorous devil. However, this was not a change of subject. He had just seen many
of his disciples forsake him — snatching up the bread, but refusing the Bread
of Life. Jesus was warning them that one of the apostles would do likewise. Much
later, when Jesus celebrated his Last Supper, he once again announced that one
of his apostles would betray him. Notice the response of Judas…
Jesus said, “It is the one to whom
I will give this piece of bread when I have dipped it in the dish.” Then,
dipping the piece of bread, he gave it to Judas Iscariot, son of Simon. As
soon as Judas took the bread, Satan entered into him. (John 13:26-27)
Judas took the bread, but forsook the Bread of Life. Once Judas
refused to feast upon Christ, Satan devoured him. Like the cursed Esau, Judas
chose a meal that never satisfies, and forfeited the God who satisfies the
deepest regions of our soul. Don’t make this mistake! Right now, Christ’s offer
of grace remains open to you. As John Piper once said, you are invited to
receive “the
nourishment and strength and hope and joy that come from feasting our souls on
all that He purchased for us on the cross.”
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