Summary
The Bread of Life
Jesus spoke many difficult sayings—words that puzzled even those closest to Him. "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." "Let the dead bury their own dead." "I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." Among these hard sayings stands one we hear every time we approach the altar: "This is my body, take and eat. This is my blood, take and drink." Difficult words—but words filled with promise for the people of God in every age.
The story begins long before that upper room. When Israel was led out of Egypt and into the wilderness, the people grumbled against the very God who had freed them. They had every reason to be abandoned, yet the Lord rained down bread from heaven—manna—sustaining an undeserving people for forty years until they reached the promised land. From the Exodus onward, the people of God have rehearsed this story as a witness to His mercy and provision. It is the backdrop against which Jesus' own words must be heard.
Centuries later, after Jesus miraculously fed more than five thousand, the crowds chased Him across the sea looking for another meal. He answered them plainly: "You are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life" John 6:26-27. When they appealed to the manna of Moses, Jesus pointed higher: it was His Father who gives the true bread from heaven, and that bread is a Person. "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst" John 6:35. The crowd knew the manna story so well, yet they missed that the Author of it stood before them. We are no different. We still chase after things that fill the belly but cannot feed the soul—drink, drugs, spending, sex, power, position, abusive words used to gain our ends—and still we hunger.
What Jesus offered then, He offers now in the Lord's Supper. On the night of His betrayal, during the Passover meal that celebrated Israel's freedom from Egypt, Jesus established a new covenant—freedom from sin, freedom from the devil's reign, freedom from death itself. He took bread and said, "This is my body, given for you." He took the cup and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood" 1 Corinthians 11:23-25. These are plain words. They mean what they say. The Lutheran confession holds that Christ's true body and blood are present in, with, and under the bread and the wine—not a mere symbol, and not such that the bread and wine cease to be bread and wine, but a real and bodily gift wrapped in the elements He chose. We will not fully grasp the mechanics of this mystery on this side of heaven, but the difficulty of the how does not undo the certainty of the what.
Many of His disciples found this teaching too hard and walked away John 6:60-66. It has remained a stumbling block ever since, and the church still debates it. But Jesus chose ordinary, tangible things—bread, wine—because He knew our struggle. Our bellies are restless. We keep looking for something more in this world. In His mercy, God gave us a means of grace we can taste and touch: His own body and blood delivered through bread and wine, week after week, telling us, "You are forgiven. This was given and shed for you."
This is what is happening at the altar. The Lord draws us to Himself and binds us to His promise. He nourishes the soul as no baker ever could. He is the new covenant in person—forgiveness, presence, strength, life everlasting. Come to the table not chasing the hunger of the flesh, but receiving the gift Christ gives of Himself, fully and completely. "Taste and see that the Lord is good" Psalm 34:8. For more on this teaching, see The Bread of Life.
Video citations
- "The Bread of Life" 4-6-23 — It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God. Follow me and let the dead bury their own dead. Do not think that I have come to…