Bible of All the I Am Statements

Bible

Of all the "I AM" statements uttered by Jesus, "I AM the bread of life" may be the most intriguing and perhaps most influential on Christian thought, doctrine, and practice (John 6:35). The full passage in John 6:35 reads, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." The statement accomplishes several theological goals, the most important of which is solidifying the deity of Christ. By using the statement, "I AM," Jesus connects Himself to the almighty God of the Old Testament, which was also represented in terms of I AM. The John 6:35 "I AM" statement also contains powerful imagery that connects the passage with the feeding of the multitudes miracle. Indeed, Jesus utters, "I AM the bread of life" immediately after performing the miracle. Therefore, John 6:35 establishes Jesus's identity as the Son of God incarnate, in fulfillment of Old Testament prophesy. Jesus's statement contains imagery of the eternal life and salvation that can be experienced only with faith.

Jesus uses the "I AM" grammatical construction at least twenty times during the course of the gospels. John makes seven references to these statements, ("Did Jesus Identify Himself as God?" n.d.). The repetition of a grammatical structure as strong and assertive as this one helps Jesus to attract and command His audience's attention. If His "I AM" statement were only uttered once, then it would not be as apparent that Jesus was making sure to establish His cosmological and theological role as the Son of God. By using the phrase "I AM" repeatedly, He is unequivocally asserting His deity, and ensuring that His current and would-be believers do not allow their minds to stray from that fact.

The "I AM" sentence construction links Jesus with Moses in the Old Testament. When Moses asked God for His name, God replied by using the construction "I AM." The phrase is mysterious and mystical, requiring spiritual contemplation. Jesus helps to ground the statement in a more accessible reality, which was easier for His disciples at Galilee than it was for the Israelites with Moses struggling through the desert. The statement "I AM" is a self-assertion, which makes the ineffable understandable to the small mind of a human being. Old Testament references to God's ineffable nature are abundant. God Almighty has no actual name, which is why the repeated "I AM" constructions are necessary. In Exodus, God 3:14, for instance, God calls Himself "I AM THAT I AM."

Direct experience of the Almighty Father might be impossible, but Jesus is the key to understanding God. One of the core meanings of John 6:35 is thus to establish, solidify, and assert the deity of Christ, in part by connecting Christ to the God of the Old Testament. To His audience of Jews, the connection with Moses would have been palpable.

Another core function of John 6:35 is to reveal the importance of faith and salvation in Christ. When Jesus utters the "I AM" statement, He does so immediately after the miracle of multiplication. The miracle is therefore substantiated, supported, and combined with the "I AM" statement so that Jesus can help change minds and hearts. Jesus draws a decisive distinction between physical and spiritual nourishment in John 6:35. Whereas the multitudes He fed did indeed need bread to survive physically, Jesus claims that their more pressing need is for spiritual bread. Bread and feeding become a central metaphor for Jesus to connect Himself with the needs of the people. "Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty," implies that spiritual nourishment is far more important than physical nourishment. Belief in Christ is superior to belief in the limiting and finite nourishment of physical bread. "Jesus also uses absolutes in this statement, such as the term "never." The term "never" parallels the fact that Christ promises to deliver eternal life.

From a literary perspective, "There are two types of food, namely literal food and figurative food," (van der Watt, 2007, p. 187). Literal food offers only temporary and mundane sustenance. Figurative food, on the other hand, is the spiritual sustenance that provides eternal life. By stating, "I AM the bread of life," Jesus is saying that he offers something far greater than a loaf of bread: He offers eternal life. "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," (John 6:40).

However, Jesus does multiply loaves of bread so that the people do not go physically hungry either. He then walks on the water, placing an even deeper fear of God into the hearts of the disciples. Coupled with the miracle of multiplication, walking on water highlights Jesus's deity. When He utters the statement, "I AM the bread of life," the audience is ready to listen.

One of the most important themes in chapter 6 of the gospel of John is faith. Jesus knows that faith is lacking. At first, he notices that the people are only interested in bread alone. "Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill," (John 6:27). Jesus not only has to prove His deity via the miracle and from walking on water, but by connecting Himself to the I AM nature of God. Jesus continues, "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval," (John 6:27). Jesus refers to the "bread of God," which is parallel with, and analogous to, the bread of man. A loaf of bread is a metaphor for God's sustenance through faith.

Many in the crowd continue to doubt. Jesus argues heartily with them, and in the process of so doing, becomes more mystical and oblique. His commentary provides the basis of what is to become the Catholic Eucharist ritual: "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them," (John 6:57). The term "remains" also represents the eternal life that comes via faith, as Christ will remain in the soul who believes in the spiritual bread of God.