I’ve been reading John’s Gospel and, every time I read it, I’m captured by its depth. It truly is like that proverbial onion, offering layer after layer of meaning. I know, even after studying it in seminary, reading it numerous times, and preaching and teaching it, there are layers I’m not seeing.
Many things in John come to us in sevens. The number seven represents completeness in the Bible. In seven days, the world was created. On the seventh day, it was done, all was complete, and God rested. In John, Jesus speaks to his divine identity seven times in seven different ways.
“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’” — John 6:35
Jesus spoke these words after feeding the five thousand — after the people who had come to hear him teach had their physical needs met, but were not yet satisfied. They hungered for something more. Some were simply hoping for another miracle … for another meal or a healing. They were there for the show. But others had another kind of hunger, a spiritual one. And, even though Jesus gave them a miracle in a meal, he now offered them something better.
Jesus pointed them to something far greater than bread: Himself. He wanted them to know he wasn’t simply the giver of bread; he was the Bread of Life — the one who sustains the hunger and thirst of the soul.
Our world is full of hungers and thirsts: for meaning, security, success, intimacy, comfort, health, and peace. We often try to satisfy these longings with temporary things, by throwing ourselves into relationships, food, work, entertainment, a full social calendar, and even religion itself. In the end, we replace fulfillment and completeness with distractions. If I keep busy, maybe I won’t notice that something is missing. But the ache remains.
Jesus, in this first “I Am” statement, gives us the solution. Only he can fill the emptiness that nothing else can touch. The nourishment he offers satisfies us not just for a moment but for eternity.
In our Wesleyan heritage, we speak of the “means of grace” — ordinary channels through which God feeds our souls: prayer, Scripture, Communion, fasting, and fellowship. When we take time to engage in these things, we don’t just remember Christ; we are drawn to his presence and receive the gift he offers. Each act becomes an encounter with the Bread of Life, filling our hunger and thirst.
When we come to Jesus, he renews and strengthens us for the journey. We eat and drink daily … several times a day in fact. Sometimes we eat even when we’re not hungry, because it’s “time” to eat. And yet, we don’t think the same way about Jesus. We only make him our focus on Sunday. Would you go without eating or drinking for the week, waiting for Sunday? Of course not, because by then your body would suffer from the lack of water or food. Have you ever thought about Jesus the same way? The impact on your heart, mind, and soul of prolonged absence from Jesus is no different.
Hunger can be holy when it’s not a craving for worldly satisfaction but a deeper yearning for the presence of God. What do you think?
Prayer: Bread of Life, I bring my hunger to you today. Feed me with your truth and presence. May your life fill every empty place in me, nourishing me and strengthening me so that I may share your love and grace with those who hunger around me. Amen.
