What is the “Bread of Life”? > 목회자칼럼

• 목록

Bread is one of the essential foods of many cultures all around the world; 

it is a staple in many diets, and for centuries it would have been one of the 

most accessible foods for people of all wealth and social statuses.

At that point in history, especially in Jesus’ culture, bread would have been 

understood as a nutritional necessity. It also has historical significance for 

the Jewish people, harkening back to God’s life-sustaining manna, which 

kept their people alive in the desert. 

Jesus chose bread as His metaphor intentionally.

Salvation and a relationship with the Lord are not like a sweet treat 

not necessary but enjoyable. It is not like meat, which one can survive 

without but is important to a well-rounded diet in many circumstances. 

Salvation is essential to human existence and necessary for eternity. 

When Jesus says He is the bread of life, He is saying He is essential.

Just as God the Father provided nourishment, He was providing a path to 

redemption for mankind, separated from Him by sin, through Jesus Christ. 

The Lord underscores that He is the way to this redemption by foreshadowing 

the crucifixion. Without the crucifixion and the resurrection, the sins of the world 

remain unpaid, and mankind remains under the law.

As Paul would go on to explain, “For God has done what the law, weakened by 

the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh 

and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement 

of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according 

to the Spirit” (Romans 8:3-4).