The Bread of Life

This is a short talk I gave today on the Bread of Life, our Savior Jesus Christ. I have been thinking of this message for the past several weeks and felt impressed to share it when giving this talk to the elderly at a short Sacrament meeting for them at their rest home today.

The prophet Amos, long ago said , “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord.”

During the Savior’s Galilean ministry, He chided those who had heard of Him feeding the 5,000 with only five barley loaves and two fishes, and now flocked to Him expecting a free lunch. That food, important as it was, was incidental to the real nourishment He was trying to give them.

“Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead,” He admonished them. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever.” But this was not the meal they had come for, and the record says, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”

Jesus frankly confronted them with their real concern by declaring, “Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings, neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled” (JST, John 6:26, footnote a). Like their ancestors in the wilderness of the Exodus, these people were less interested in obeying the commandments than in eating (see Ex. 15:24; Ex. 16:2–3). Jesus Christ was offering “words of eternal life,” and the people were hoping for a handout.

Jesus taught the crowd that they should “labour … for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of man shall give unto you: for him hath God the Father sealed” (John 6:27). They queried, “What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?” (John 6:28). Jesus responded that they should “believe on him whom he hath sent” (John 6:29). They reacted by soliciting a sign (John 6:30). After all, they claimed, Moses gave them “bread from heaven to eat” (John 6:31). Jesus corrected them, asserting that “Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32). He then stated His preeminent point: “The bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world” (John 6:33). In other words, He, Jesus Christ, was the very sign for which they were asking. The manna of Moses’ time was a type of the true bread given of the Father, and that is none other than the Son. In a darkened spiritual state, these people could not or would not understand. To their request for this bread, Jesus unambiguously announced, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst” (John 6:35).

“He that believeth on me hath everlasting life” (John 6:47). This was an unexpected and startling proclamation to a group of people committed more to temporal survival and political ends than to everlasting life. Again, the Savior reminded them of their ancient Exodus progenitors, saying, “Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead” (John 6:49). “We come now,” declared Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915–85) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “to the crowning teaching of the sermon on the bread of life, which is, that men are saved by eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of God.” 7 Jesus Himself stated: “This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever” (John 6:50–51).

Elder McConkie also explained that “to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God is, first, to accept him in the most literal and full sense, with no reservation whatever, as the personal offspring in the flesh of the Eternal Father; and, secondly, it is to keep the commandments of the Son by accepting his gospel, joining his Church, and enduring in obedience and righteousness unto the end. Those who by this course eat his flesh and drink his blood shall have eternal life, meaning exaltation in the highest heaven of the celestial world.”

67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? 68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. 69 And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

The world today is much like these Jews, wanting of the Savior or of God temporal salvation or in other words, the things of this world. Lucifer even offered such things to Christ if he would worship him. This is telling. I think we learn much of Satan's tactics by studying the temptation of Christ. But Christ rebuked Lucifer and said man cannot live on bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth forth out of the mouth of God. The Only bread that will allow us to live is the Bread of Life, our Savior Jesus Christ. If we partake of that bread we will never hunger again. If we drink of his blood we will never thirst again. But that requires us to leave behind our desire for the fake substitutes that Lucifer tries to feed us. It is hard to believe that some of the Children of Israel would not look and live but would rather die because of the easiness of the way and yet I see it today all around me. The way is easy. His burden is light. Look and live, partake and be filled. Yet, some would rather starve and perish because of pride and sin. I can only pray that their days are extended so they can too once more partake.