Dear Christian friends:

We have many different kinds of bread: white bread, brown bread, wheat bread, rye bread, corn bread and on and on. Go to the super market and you can see all the various breads there.

But although we have all this bread and food and often are stuffed full with food we are still hungry. We spend our money for that which is not real bread and for that which does not satisfy. (Isaiah 55:2)

Why? Because only think about our bodily needs and forget about the needs of our soul. We are the children of Adam and Eve, our first parents who disobeyed God, and since that time all people are spiritually hungry; many do not know it.

Only God can rescue us from such starvation, That's why He sent His Son, Jesus. Jesus stood on the shores of Galilee after He had fed the 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fishes, and proclaimed: "I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger; and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (verse 35)


What did Jesus mean? Would He continue to multiply loaves and fishes so that everyone on earth could eat? No! He meant that He was the food to satisfy man's spiritual hunger and thirst. He is the Savior that rescues men from eternal death and gives eternal life.

Wheat bread satisfies our bodily hunger and gives us physical life and growth. With such bread we can live perhaps 70 or 80 years, maybe a little more, and then our bodies die. Wheat bread and other earthly foods cannot give us eternal life or spiritual life. If we eat wheat bread only we are spiritually dead and remain in spiritual death forever. That is because we are sinners and by nature are spiritually dead. (Ephesians 2:1) But if we believe in Jesus, the Bread of Life, He gives us spiritual and eternal life. Jesus says, "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me. And this is the will of him that sent me, that everyone which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day." (verses 38-40) Jesus is the Bread of Life for your soul. He is the Bread you and I really need. We need the bread from heaven more than we need the bread of earth, Jesus is the Bread of Life; this is the bread of death. (show loaf of bread)

We need to labor for this bread which gives us eternal life rather than laboring for earthly bread so much, as we offend do. Jesus warned the people in our text about that. Remember He had multiplied the five loaves of bread and the two fishes and fed over 5,000 people. Now these people wanted Him, but they wanted Him only to give them free bread; they did not believe in Him for their Savior. Jesus says to them, "Labor not for the meat (food) which perishes, but for that meat (food) which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you." (verse 27)

We often are like these people in the text. We easily forget that we have souls and that our souls need food same as our body. We often spend too much time and worry too much about food, clothes, housing and our body's health. We take little time to seek for Jesus the Bread of Life. So we need to pay attention to Jesus' warning here. Think more about your spiritual needs and the spiritual food which Jesus gives to you through His Word and Sacraments and which you receive by faith. It is true that we must spend some of our time and energy in earning our daily bread, Jesus knows that we need bread, clothes and housing for our body.

He, Himself, taught us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread." (Lord's Prayer) But Jesus is sad when we live as if that's all we need, and forget about the needs of our soul. We must not let the worries and problems of earning a living prevent us from working to get the Bread of Life for ourselves and others. Isaiah asked those who worked only to get food and clothes this question: "Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?" (Isaiah 55:2) If we spend our time and money only for the bread of earth and neglect the Bread of Heaven, we will never be satisfied and are lost forever.

Jesus says, "I am the Bread of Life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst." (verse 35) Come to Jesus; believe in Jesus; that is how you "eat" the Bread of Life.” To eat bread does not mean to read about it or to know all about its nutritional value. To eat means to bite the bread, chew it and swallow it and then digest it in the stomach so that it can give strength and life to the whole body.

Same with "eating" Jesus, the Bread of Life. It is not enough to know about Jesus or to know the Gospel lessons. Many church members know about Jesus and know the Bible but they have not "eaten" Jesus. They do not believe in Jesus and have new life and strength for their soul. Jesus says, "I am the Bread of Life; come to Me! Believe in Me!" Believe in Jesus that He is the Son of God and Savior for sinners. Confess your sins and trust in Him for forgiveness. Rejoice in Jesus, Let Jesus become alive in you. Love Him! Praise Him! Serve Him!

We can live without some bread of earth. But Jesus the Bread of heaven, we cannot live without Him. When He lives in our heart, we have all we need, even though we may not have all we want. And if we eat of this Bread, Jesus, we will live forever.

Amen.