I am the Bread of Life
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you get here?"
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval..."
So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Jesus, you said, 'I am the bread of life',
You fed five thousand people with a young boy’s lunch.
Yours are the words of eternal life.
Son of God, feed us.
What potatoes were to the poor of Ireland in the 19th century, bread was to the poor of Palestine in the first century. There was a wheat shortage in Palestine in or around 54 AD and this caused about 500,000 deaths... It was probably the reason for the collection which Paul talks about in some of his letters. People in Palestine in the first century had bread with everything, or rather they had everything with bread, because the bread acted as a disposable plate off which they would eat many of their meals, or they would use it as an edible spoon to scoop food out of a communal dish... Saved on the washing up.
So when Jesus said he was the bread of life, he was identifying himself with what was an absolute essential to the people around him. But what he had to offer to the people of Palestine is equally needed today. Jesus is the bread of life for all time.
REFLECTION
I am
The bread of life
Each and every day of life
Sufficient for all your needs
Not your greeds but your needs
Fresh each new morning
So trust me
No need to hoard my blessings
I am
The bread of life
Present in each mouthful
Taste and see that I am good
Find enjoyment in me
Find me in enjoyment of the simplest of things
The taste of fresh baked bread
The smell of newly brewed coffee
The warmth of the sun
The cool of a breeze
I am there in the commonplace
Each one is a miracle of grace
I am
The bread of life
Not just this life
But eternal life
My body was broken that you may be whole
Take, eat, and live
Take, live and share
I am
The bread of life…
PRAYER (Based on the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who is in heaven
Watching over us and all your worldwide family whom we remember before you
Some wealthy, some poor, some free to worship you, others not…
hallowed be your name
forgive us for those times that we have brought your name into disrepute
through what we have said and done, or not said or done
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
May it begin here and now in us
And may all our choices here on earth be guided by your will and your word
Give us this day our daily bread
May we trust you for all that we need for here and now and for eternity
And may we share all that you have given to us as freely as the young boy shared his lunch with Jesus to feed 5000 hungry people
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
You are always giving and forgiving, yet we are always getting and forgetting
Help us by your Spirit, to change
Lead us not into temptation
May we avoid placing ourselves in the way of temptation
And may we not be a source of temptation to others
Deliver us from evil
In this world and the next
Evil around us and evil within us…
For yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever, AMEN
Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval..."
So they asked him, "What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "
Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
"Sir," they said, "from now on give us this bread."
Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:25-35 (ANIV)
Jesus, you said, 'I am the bread of life',
You fed five thousand people with a young boy’s lunch.
Yours are the words of eternal life.
Son of God, feed us.
What potatoes were to the poor of Ireland in the 19th century, bread was to the poor of Palestine in the first century. There was a wheat shortage in Palestine in or around 54 AD and this caused about 500,000 deaths... It was probably the reason for the collection which Paul talks about in some of his letters. People in Palestine in the first century had bread with everything, or rather they had everything with bread, because the bread acted as a disposable plate off which they would eat many of their meals, or they would use it as an edible spoon to scoop food out of a communal dish... Saved on the washing up.
So when Jesus said he was the bread of life, he was identifying himself with what was an absolute essential to the people around him. But what he had to offer to the people of Palestine is equally needed today. Jesus is the bread of life for all time.
REFLECTION
I am
The bread of life
Each and every day of life
Sufficient for all your needs
Not your greeds but your needs
Fresh each new morning
So trust me
No need to hoard my blessings
I am
The bread of life
Present in each mouthful
Taste and see that I am good
Find enjoyment in me
Find me in enjoyment of the simplest of things
The taste of fresh baked bread
The smell of newly brewed coffee
The warmth of the sun
The cool of a breeze
I am there in the commonplace
Each one is a miracle of grace
I am
The bread of life
Not just this life
But eternal life
My body was broken that you may be whole
Take, eat, and live
Take, live and share
I am
The bread of life…
PRAYER (Based on the Lord’s Prayer)
Our Father who is in heaven
Watching over us and all your worldwide family whom we remember before you
Some wealthy, some poor, some free to worship you, others not…
hallowed be your name
forgive us for those times that we have brought your name into disrepute
through what we have said and done, or not said or done
Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven
May it begin here and now in us
And may all our choices here on earth be guided by your will and your word
Give us this day our daily bread
May we trust you for all that we need for here and now and for eternity
And may we share all that you have given to us as freely as the young boy shared his lunch with Jesus to feed 5000 hungry people
Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
You are always giving and forgiving, yet we are always getting and forgetting
Help us by your Spirit, to change
Lead us not into temptation
May we avoid placing ourselves in the way of temptation
And may we not be a source of temptation to others
Deliver us from evil
In this world and the next
Evil around us and evil within us…
For yours is the Kingdom, the power and the glory forever, AMEN
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