Someone who grew up in Europe immediately after the devastation of World War II writes about the two staples that were not on ration and that could be home produced; one was potatoes and the other was bread. "We could grow our own potatoes and we could make our own bread," he writes. "And sometimes we would even make bread out of the potatoes. So, while we may have lacked many things we always had sufficient potatoes and bread."
Earlier in John chapter 6, we read about food rationing of another kind. Then it was an absence of food for a hungry multitude. Jesus solved that problem with five barley loaves and two little fish. A boy's lunch, in the hands of Jesus, became enough food for all who were gathered. There were even twelve baskets left over. Through those loaves, Jesus solved the problem of physical hunger for a large crowd of people. Then it was physical bread. Now it is bread of a different kind for a different kind of hunger. Now it is spiritual bread, or soul bread: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (v. 35 NRSV). What is more, Jesus identified himself as bread. He did not say, "I have the bread of life" but, "I am the bread of life." It is a metaphor he uses three times in this one discourse of his and each time he reinforces that he is the one who satisfies and sustains life. The emphatic use of "never" also is very important. "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (emphasis mine).
This is a fascinating word self-portrait of Jesus since bread, in some form, is used in every culture known to us, whether it is the typical North American who goes to the grocery store and chooses bread from the amazing varieties available there or the South American family living in the jungle along the edges of the Amazon and baking their own bread on a fire-heated stone. Bread is a diet staple in every place that people live and has been since perhaps the beginning of time. Bread has a satisfying quality that many other diet staples do not.
There are three things the lesson teaches us.
First, this bread called Jesus is not product but personality. When Jesus says, "I am," he is claiming for himself not only the very name of God but he is claiming to be everything God is. This is something that we see seven times in John's gospel. John leaves us in no doubt that this Jesus Christ is not just another religious leader. He is the Lord God himself. Listen: " ‘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' " (vv. 33-35). Jesus wants us to know that we are saved and sustained not by a religious system or corporate affiliation, but by a connection with the person of God himself, whom Christ reveals to us as no one else can ever do. We see this repeated two times in the scriptures, once in John's gospel and once in Acts: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6 NRSV). "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).
Second, we learn here that because he is personality, Jesus Christ is proposing. He proposes a personal relationship between the God of heaven and each one of us. "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." As bread not eaten does nothing to quench our physical hunger and water — no matter how crystal, pure, and tantalizing in the bottle — cannot slake our thirst as long as it remains there, so Jesus cannot satisfy our soul hunger and thirst until we take him into ourselves. The text says, "Whoever comes to me ... Whoever believes in me." It does not lay out any preconditions for coming.
There is a story told about a young woman, Charlotte Elliot, whose very fine singing voice enchanted her audience one evening at a private gathering in a wealthy London home. Among those listening was a young preacher named Caesar Milan. So impressed was Caesar Milan with Charlotte's singing that he made his way to her to encourage her to surrender her gift to the Lord's service. "As I sat there and listened," he told her, "I could not help but think how tremendously the cause of Christ would benefit if you would dedicate your talents to him." She listened politely and continued on her own way. Later that night she could not find peace enough to fall asleep. She kept thinking about that young preacher's invitation.
The next morning, Charlotte arose and went looking for him by checking with some mutual friends who were present the night before. When she found him she said, "I heard your invitation but I am too great a sinner and I must do some serious life changing before I am ready to do what you ask." His response was to the point: "No, Charlotte," he replied, "you cannot make yourself ready for Christ. He will make you ready. You must come to him just as you are and he will do the changing. Whatever there is in your life that does not honor him will be covered by Christ's blood shed on the cross for you." She left again with no commitment made but at two o'clock the next morning she knelt at the side of her bed and asked Jesus into her heart. Before the sun rose the next morning, Charlotte Elliott gave the world one of the great hymns of the Christian church:
Just as I am, without one plea,
but that Thy blood was shed for me,
and that Thou bidd'st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come!
Just as I am, and waiting not
to rid my soul of one dark blot,
to Thee whose blood can cleanse each spot,
O Lamb of God, I come!
Just as I am — Thou wilt receive,
wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
because Thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come!1
My friend, may I say to you, that this is the only basis on which any of us may come to Christ. If you have not come, then in his name I invite you to come to him today. The only prerequisite for coming is to come with all your heart just as you are.
"Whoever comes to me will never be hungry," Jesus says. This is the first fact of faith for us as Christians. Now, let us consider something else about our coming to Jesus. When we come to him it is more than merely an action of our feet. It is easy for us to come in body but not in soul. We can come to his church but that is not the same as coming to him. After we have heard his gospel, we realize that we are alienated from him and we come with all our heart. On the day that Jesus spoke about being "the bread of life," there were many people in the crowd who had never felt his touch. What I am saying is that coming to Jesus is a desire of our hearts. We think of him more often, we study his word to learn how he thinks and to know what we can do to please him. We come to him desiring to be more like him. We pray to him because we desire to be in communication with him. We trust him to take our lives and make them what best suits him, and we walk in obedience as never before. We hear that he died for all who trust him and we determine that we will trust him even if no one else trusts him.
If he said that his sacrifice was sufficient for the sins of the world, we resolve that we shall believe that our sins were among them and we shall never again be hungry for forgiveness because we know that in coming to him we are forgiven. We will never again live under the burden of conviction or shame for our sins for he took away our shame on the cross and with the psalmist, we "give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" (Psalm 107:8-9).
Jesus Christ is God in human flesh who died for the ungodly on the cross at Calvary and invites us to come and have a relationship with him. "He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them" (Hebrews 7:25).
And now the third point: We have seen that Jesus Christ is a real personality and that he desires to have a full relationship with us. Then there is this: Jesus Christ is a pleasing companion. That is, he satisfies. Listen again to what he promises in our text: "Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (NRSV). "He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things" (Psalm 107:9).
It is amazing! The very God I offended by my self-centered living and sinfulness became a man for me and suffered what I should have suffered so that all my yearning is met in him. My conscience rests in contentment because he satisfied divine justice on my behalf.
Jesus speaks to this society of ours that is bloated with overindulgence in potato chips, cheese curls, candy, and soda pop. He compares our deepest needs to hunger and thirst. Perhaps to us it may not mean much to speak of hunger or thirst. We use these words and what we often really mean is that we feel a little peckish for a treat or would like to stop for a Starbucks. To those who have been truly hungry or thirsty, however, these words mean everything. There are no worse human pains than the pangs of true hunger and or true thirst. The craving for food and water are the two most powerful natural appetites for us.
Jesus understands hunger. Luke records, "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the desert, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry" (Luke 4:1-2). It was no momentary craving for a snack that Jesus needed. He was hungry for real food. In that time of extreme hunger, Satan tried to break the weakened Savior and undermine the kingdom of God. The passage goes on, "The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.' Jesus answered, ‘It is written: "Man does not live on bread alone" ' " (Luke 4:3-4). Imagine no food for forty days! There are two lessons for us in these verses. The first is that Satan comes to tempt us when he suspects we are weakest. And the second is that Satan will attempt to make us believe that there is physical satisfaction for spiritual needs. Jesus, our "bread of life," knows that and passes this gem of truth along to us. There are spiritual needs and physical needs and one cannot satisfy for the other. Let me give you a life principle: Never make major life decisions based on physical hunger or thirst!
For 36 years, Don Hewitt was the king of one of television's most powerful news shows. As creator and executive producer, he made the final decision about what went on the air on the long-running 60 Minutes news magazine program. Don Hewitt could make or break a reputation by what he allowed to go on the air. The famous 60 Minutes clock ticked on for Don Hewitt for sixteen years beyond what most Americans think of as the normal retirement age. One would think that at 81 years of age — with a wall full of trophies and honors of every kind, letters and pictures personally signed by dozens of celebrities, world leaders, and every president from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush, and shelves lined with a constellation of Emmy awards — that Don Hewitt would be satisfied by nearly four decades of power and accolades. By Don Hewitt's own admission, however, he felt empty and fell into a deep depression when he left his position. "Where do I go now?" he asked. "What do I do now to feed my soul?"
To the Don Hewitts of this world, and to all of us, Jesus comes and says, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (NRSV). Christ wants to touch our lives in a way that will permanently and completely fill our deepest needs. The enjoyment of new life in him is the only happiness that ultimately satisfies. Everything else is but a shadow beside him. The enjoyment of new life in Jesus Christ is the substance of true satisfaction. Everything else is like a raindrop in the ocean. That is why today, I must urge you to run to him and find yourself in him. Then, and only then, will you be truly satisfied. Only Jesus can satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst. His soul bread and soul drink are promised as eternal sustenance. However, before we can experience the spiritual nutrition he offers us, we must trust him completely and believe that his presence in our lives will make us complete. Choose to love him and live in his embrace. Believe him when he says that once we connect with him, he will hold on to us and never let us go. Amen.
1. "Just As I Am, Without One Plea," text by Charlotte Elliott, 1835.