He is the bread that came down from heaven

“I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51

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In some households, doing Christmas dinner can feel like feeding the five thousand! All the gospels tell of that miracle and in John it leads into a long section about Jesus the bread of life. A free lunch (or a Christmas dinner) is always welcome, but Jesus urges diners not to seek “food that spoils, but food that endures to eternal life” (v27).

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He tells the crowd that he himself is the source of that food: “The bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (v33) Through his death on the cross, he is the bread of life who invites the hungry to come to him and believe in him (v45,51).

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To receive that life, we need to eat that bread i.e. we need to receive Jesus into the very innermost part of our being (cf. Jeremiah 15:16). And this is an ongoing action – the words eat and drink are in the present tense. The initial response of faith is only the beginning of an ongoing relationship in which the believer stays close to Jesus by feeding on his life (v53-56). This is the food that endures to eternal life (v58).