Bread Of Life

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.

WE ALL HAVE NATURAL CRAVINGS—cravings for things such as air, food, water, and companionship. Even the Garden of Eden, the perfect paradise created for Adam and Eve, was not a place where they had no needs or desires. Rather, it was a place where all their needs and desires were met by the God who created them. God told Adam in the Garden of Eden, “You are free to eat and enjoy!”^a

God has hardwired us with desires for water, food, friends, meaning, and purpose, and each of these cravings is intended to drive us to God as the giver of all good gifts and the sole source of all satisfaction.

With this background in mind, let’s look at a time when Jesus spoke to a crowd who was craving more bread. They recounted how Moses had given them bread from heaven, and they asked what kind of bread Jesus could bring to them. Jesus’ response was pointed. He said, “It was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”^b Jesus made it clear that the bread that comes from God is far superior to the manna that came through Moses.

Naturally, the crowds demanded, “Give us this bread always,”^c and thus the stage was set for a startling declaration from Jesus: “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”^d In one sweeping statement, Jesus communicated to the crowds that he himself was the provision that God had sent to satisfy their souls. In essence, he said, “If you want to be fulfilled, put your faith in me.”

This declaration carries huge implications for understanding what it means to live as a disciple of Jesus. To come to Jesus, or to believe in Jesus, is to look to him to satisfy your soul forever. To come to Jesus is to “taste and see that the LORD is good”^e and to find in him the end of all your desires. To believe in Jesus is to experience an eternal pleasure that far outweighs and outlasts the temporal pleasures of this world.

Acknowledge that Jesus—the Bread of Life—is all you need, and ask God to give you even greater satisfaction in him.