“I am the bread of life.”
Jesus said that. “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger.”
Bread is a basic dietary food. A person can survive a long time on only bread and water. Bread is such a basic food item that it becomes synonymous for food in general. We even use the phrase “breaking bread together” when talking about sharing a meal with someone.
A group of people known as the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years under the leadership of a guy named Moses. At one point this large congregation of Israelites grumbled about there being no food and they lashed out at Moses saying, “have you brought us out here to starve us to death?”
Then God tells Moses he’s going to make bread fall from the sky.
And he did.
Bread falls from the sky.
Why did Jesus say he was the bread of life?
Jesus crossed the Sea of Galilee and a huge crowd had followed him. His disciples were worried about taking care of the crowd, they were hungry and hadn’t eaten. But they didn’t have money to feed all these people. Then, one of them brought a boy who had five loaves of (you guessed it) bread and two fish. The boy gave it to Jesus and He miraculously fed 5,000 men along with women and children with food to spare. Every time a disciple would reach into a basket to hand out more the basket was full again.
The crowd follows him yet again and he tells them to worry less about the food for their bodies and more about the food of eternal life. Then they ask Jesus for a sign and tell them that God gave them bread form the sky when they were wandering the desert. Jesus tells them they need to ask for the true bread from heaven that gives life. Then they ask Jesus for this bread and Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.”
Jesus is essential for life. He tries to get our thinking off of the physical realm and into the spiritual realm. Because there is way more going on around us than what we can see with our eyes.
Jesus compares himself to bread. Something everyone would know. It was part of the devil’s temptation to him “Turn these stones into bread”, his miracle of feeding the 5,000, the instrument used at the last supper.
When Jesus was in the upper room with some of his closest friends they all sat down for what we know as the last supper. Jesus took bread and broke it saying, “This is like my body which is going to be broken for you.”
In order for bread to be enjoyed like it’s supposed to be, it needs to be broken.
In order for Jesus’ life to save ours it needed to be broken.
Which brings us to the nails.
Jesus’ body was broken with many different weapons but the Nails were what sealed his death.
Crucifixion was invented about 300-400 before Christ by man for man (women were never crucified). It was the most painful way to die, it was punishment. It’s actually where we get our word excruciating.
The nails which held Jesus to the cross must have been driven into His wrists and not his palms. They were made of heavy, probably square, iron material, 7-9 inches long.
Artists have depicted Jesus being nailed through His palms. This would be impossible; the weight of a fully-grown man was going to be suspended by three nails.
The nails would’ve been first driven through small wooden disks to eliminate any chance of the heads pulling through the flesh. The site of the incision in the arm was critical, and the Romans had perfected it.
There is a space between eight small bones which permits a full body weight to be supported. If the nails had been driven into the palms of the hands, under the extreme weight, they would have ripped out between the fingers.
The third nail had to be driven through both feet, which were turned outward so the nail could be hammered inside the Achilles tendon. Crucifixion victims would hang painfully until their diaphragm went into spasm and they literally suffocated to death.
This was the worst way to die.
And there is such power in that.
How can the power of the cross to change your circumstances?
The bible says those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed their sin to the cross and they are crucified there.
So, if you belong to Christ no matter what you’ve done, no matter what’s been done to you. Any reason that you ever have to doubt yourself is completely nailed to the cross with Jesus if you belong to him.
Do you belong to Christ?
Is Jesus Lord of your life?
People seek to earn their way to heaven this is because God created us with eternity in mind. The Bible says God has placed eternity in our hearts.
The Bible also tells us that there is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven because we’ve all sinned and fallen short.
Our dilemma is we have a desire we cannot fulfill, no matter what we do.
That is where Jesus comes in. He, and He alone, can fulfill that desire.
When Christ died on the cross, He took your sins upon Himself.
He died in your place because he loved you that much.
When you place our faith in Him, your sins go to Jesus and Jesus’ righteousness comes to us.
How do you place your faith in Him?
The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will have eternal life.
It really is that simple.
