Bread of Life

John 6:32-35New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.

The Gospel of John is rich with symbolism, and none perhaps is more accessible to us than the image of Jesus as the bread of life.  It's accessible because each Sunday - for those churches who commune every week - we are given that bread to sustain us.

This is a text that is often associated with Holy Communion.  The Eucharist.  The Lord's Supper, or whatever your church refers to it as.

It is a text that churches who proclaim real presence - where Christ is present in the bread and wine of communion - can latch onto.

What makes this text so rich for me is that no matter how deeply or not you take the metaphor - from the literal to the symbolic - either way, there is comfort.  

Either way, Jesus declares that he is life.

Personally, as someone who loves bread, I can think of no better way for Jesus to describe himself.  Bread is food that comes in so many different forms all over creation.  And wherever you find it, you find life.  Bread is seen as life-giving food. (even in this day and age of gluten and carb-counting awareness!)

Never being hungry or thirsty again.  That's a tall order.  Yet Jesus is the life that offers that.

What is it that I hunger for now, I wonder, that Jesus can provide sustenance for?  What is the empty void that Jesus can fill?  

When you come to the table next time and the bread is put into your hand or mouth, remember the life that is given for you in that moment.  Whether you believe in real presence or communion as a memorial, remember that Jesus came to give you life.

Always.

Lord of life, feed me.  Amen.