Recorded in the Gospel of John, our Lord made seven statements referring to Himself as I AM…

I AM The Light of the World
I AM The Bread of Life
I AM The Door
I AM The Good Shepherd
I AM The True Vine
I AM The Way, The Truth, and The Life
I AM The Resurrection and The Life

Each week during this season of Lent, here on the Seeking Him blog, we will be focusing our devotionals on a different aspect of Jesus’ revelation of Himself as I AM.  The aim of Lent should be to prepare our hearts for the remembrance of Jesus’ sacrifice—His trial and torture, the Crucifixion and His death…and above all, the celebration of His Resurrection from the dead.  We pray that this will be a great encouragement to each of you who read them.  And that all of us will consider the significance of Jesus’ words and, through them, be helped as we remember and are thankful for all Jesus went through during the last few weeks of His life on this earth.

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

(context)

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‘I AM the Bread of Life‘ is the first of the seven I AM statements recorded in John’s gospel.  Each of the I AMs emphasizes an important aspect of the personal ministry of Jesus.  This first statement tells us that Christ is the sustenance that nourishes spiritual life.

Jesus said… “I tell you the truth
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink His blood you have no life.”
John 6:53

We receive spiritual life by believing in Christ and sharing in the redemptive benefits of His death on the Cross (Romans 3:24-25, 1 John 1:7).  We continue to have spiritual life as we remain in fellowship with Christ and His Word. (Compare John 6:53 and 63).

“…the words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.”
Verse 63

Thus we partake of Christ as we continue to have faith in Him and prayerfully receive His Word.

Jesus is the Living Word and the Bible is the written Word.  Jesus call Himself the Bread of Life and elsewhere He relates this bread to the Word of God:

Man does not live by bread alone
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.
Matthew 4:4

Therefore we eat His flesh by remaining in Him and by receiving and obeying the Word of God.

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Father, we thank You for Your goodness and mercy that follows us all the days of our lives.  We thank You because You are not man that You can lie nor son of man that You can change Your mind…what You say You will do, surely You will do it.  We thank You for the grace to reunite us with Christ.  Give us the grace, Lord, to obey and absorb what is truth in our hearts.  May Your name be glorified.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.