I AM the Bread of Life

Mosaic Evatt Sermon from 4th August 2024
Reading: John 6:25-35 and 6:47-59 (John 1:3-4)
There are 7 moments in the Gospel of John where Jesus makes a claim about himself beginning with the words ‘I am…’. Each of these has a strong resonance with the name YHWH (See Exodus 3:14 where YHWH is translated ‘I am who I am’) and therefore with the account of Israel’s freedom from slavery in Egypt, the passover, and the years of God’s provision in the dessert.
Jesus’ claim to be the source of ‘life’ is first introduced in the gospel prologue (see 1:3-4). This claim is later developed in to the ‘bread of life’ after the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6:1-15). The people who ate later find Jesus in the town of Capernaum. Jesus seems unimpressed by their devotion and puts it down to their desire for another free - and temporary - meal before pointing to himself as offering ‘food that will last for eternal life’. This comes when they ‘believe in the one he (the Father) sent’.
In seeking another sign before they believe, it is the crowd who raise the story of Moses and the provision of manna in the wilderness (See: Exodus 16). It is Jesus who then credits ‘my father’ with this miracle and points to himself as the bread of God. They express their desire to eat this bread prompting Jesus’ famous reply ‘I am the bread of life’. It is an invitation to ‘come’ and ‘believe’ in Jesus, the one who provides eternal provision and satisfaction.
This claim is revisited in 6:48 and 6:51 (also see 6:41). In 6:47-59 Jesus emphasises the eternal nature of himself as the ‘bread of life’ (also see John 1:3-4) and the invitation to eat and drink of himself. Clearly Jesus is different - and more than - the manna in the wilderness. If communion is taken on this Sunday this could naturally be the passage that is read.