This week we begin a new series, the seven “I am” statements in John’s Gospel. John’s gospel often operates at the level of metaphor and symbols. Jesus is identified as the “Word,” a metaphor for God’s communicative presence. John the Baptist calls him the “Lamb of God,” a symbol for sacrificial death. These seven “I am” statements are also metaphors. Jesus is the bread of life, the light of the world, the door, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the one true path to life, and the true vine. Like so much else in John’s gospel, simple and everyday images reveal profound theological truth.
For those without faith, the symbols mask the truth, creating confusion and misunderstanding. Nicodemus cannot comprehend the metaphor of new birth. The woman at the well is at first confused by Jesus’ reference to living water. His Jewish opponents are baffled when Jesus, referring to his own body, says “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days”. Just like the parables we went through last year, the metaphors and symbols of John’s Gospel both reveal and conceal.
Our first “I am” statement, I am the bread of life, is found in John 6:35, but we will want to be aware of the events prior to this declaration. In Chapter six it begins with the feeding of the five thousand (the fourth “sign” from our last series), which is followed by Jesus walking on the water, and then on the other side the people gathered asking for what signs he will perform, using the example of God providing bread (manna) from heaven when Israel left Egypt. Let us look at Jesus’s response found in John 6:35 – 40.
35 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. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all those he has given me, but raise them up at the last day. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”
Not all of Jesus’ teachings in the Bible could be called “sermons,” but this one certainly falls into that category. Its title is simple: “I Am the Bread of Life.” Its theme rings with candor: “You are inherently selfish and materialistic; try first to seek spiritual and eternal values which you will only find in me.” Its proposition is clear: “My Father sent me down from heaven to be your spiritual bread.”
All this we have seen in preparation for this potent paragraph which begins in verse 35 where Jesus moved into the deep theology of salvation. The invitation is genuine, whoever comes will never go hungry; whoever believes will never thirst.
Seven times in this Gospel, John recorded Jesus’ announcements about himself, introduced by the words, “I am.” Here is the first of these: I am the bread of life. When did Jesus actually say, You have seen me and still you do not believe? Perhaps many times, but John surely intended us to recall his record of an earlier visit to Jerusalem (John 5:37-40).
Verse 37 is one of the key verses in Scripture on the issue of election. It demonstrates both election and free-will in the same verse. The Father literally gives certain believers to the Son. On the other hand, the gospel always proclaims, “Whosoever will may come.” Does God choose us or do we choose him? The only possible answer is, “Yes.” These two strands run side by side like two lanes of a super highway throughout the Scriptures.
How can one be sure that the Father has really anyone to Christ? Could someone come to Jesus only to be rebuffed? Jesus made plain that human salvation is no surprise to God. He summons men to himself by his Word and by his Spirit. They can come only at his invitation. The invitation, however, is not restricted to any particular time or place, nor is it exclusively for any one nation, race, or culture. No man needs to fear that he will come in vain, for Jesus said emphatically that he would not refuse anyone. Man does not make his opportunity for salvation; he accepts its free offer. A superficial attachment to God is not enough, for if the desire for salvation is not inspired by God, true salvation will not result.
This crowd insisted on speaking only of physical bread until Jesus told them plainly, “Iam the bread of life.” This solemn self-affirmation linked the speaker with Jehovah of the Old Testament, the One who spoke to Moses from the burning bush. Each of the seven “Iam” statements in this Gospel links the Savior in some way with the God of the Old Testament.
These verses are not some esoteric philosophical statement offering an abstract idea. They form a personal invitation to participate spiritually in the life of Jesus by trusting him. As Ezekiel “ate the scroll” in the prophetic days of the Old Testament (see Ezekiel 3:1-3), so believers today eat the bread of life when they acknowledge that the death of Jesus was on their behalf.
The permanency of the effect is important. Those who eat will never be hungry. Those who drink will never be thirsty. But the faith that produces this kind of result is not just faith in miracles but a genuine commitment to the person of the miracle worker; Jesus the Son of God.
In verses 38-40, John reminded us that mental assent proceeds to security. The Savior does the Father’s will and one aspect of that will is to hold on to all believers, losing none of them. Jesus plumbed the depth of doctrinal debate which has waged for ages. Those who have been given to the Savior have guaranteed resurrection. They will be raised up at the last day. Why? Because that is the Father’s will. Everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him will have eternal life. This is the great theme of both John and Paul (Romans 8:35-39). Eternal life was purchased at the cross and guaranteed at the empty tomb.
We cannot miss John’s emphasis on the will of God, a subject of great concern to Jesus. We talk a great deal about the will of God, but our concern is limited when compared with the allegiance to the Father practiced daily by the Lord Jesus. We talk about the Father’s will for a new job or perhaps a move to another city. High school students talk about finding God’s will for a college or the choice of a career, while young people in love wonder if it is God’s will for them to marry.
But there is an absolute plan regarding the Father’s will for all people: God wants everyone to believe in Jesus, to have eternal life, and to experience resurrection at the last day. Do we wait until then to find out if God gets his way? Definitely not. There is no question that God’s sovereign will shall be accomplished in the lives of people who belong to Jesus. They have life in the Son, and they have it now. Verse 39 is undoubtedly one of the strongest assurance texts in the Gospel and is clearly parallel to 17:12, where Jesus indicates that while he was on earth, he ‘protected’ and `safeguarded’ all those who were given to him . . . The great Christian doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is not based merely on human effort but on the confidence that God is active both in the saving as well as in the preserving of those who commit themselves to serve God in Christ.