In John 6, the Jews demanded that Jesus prove Himself by performing a miracle like Moses had performed in giving their fathers manna. Jesus corrected them, explaining that it was not Moses, but His Father who gave them the manna. He further explained that He is Himself the manna or bread from heaven that would nourish their souls. The manna was a good gift from God that nourished the bodies of the Israelites for forty years before they entered the promised land.
In John 6:48, we hear the first of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements. Six of these sayings include a predicate nominative—bread (John 6:48), light (John 8:12; 9:5), door (John 10:7, 9), good shepherd (John 10:11, 14), resurrection and life (John 11:25), and the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6 )—which tells us something about the person and work of Jesus. One of these sayings, John 8:58, has no predicate nominative, but stands as Jesus’ ownership of the divine name, “I am,” which the Lord revealed to Moses when the prophet asked to know God’s name (Ex. 3:14). The absolute statement in John 8:58, “Before Abraham was, I Am,” makes it clear that each of the “I am” statements of Jesus is an affirmation of His deity. Because the Jewish religious leaders did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah, they judged this statement to be blasphemous. So, “they took up stones to cast at Him” (John 8:59). They understood the truth Jesus proclaimed about His divine nature, but they did not believe Him. As we will see as we examine the first of the “I am” statements, this unbelief is no small matter. Jesus’ words are a matter of life and death.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” during a long conversation He was having with His followers (John 6:48). This discourse came just after the feeding of five thousand with five loaves of bread and two fish (John 6:5–14) and occurred just before Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles (John 6:4). Both events provide important context for understanding what it means for Jesus to be the Bread of Life.
At the Feast of Tabernacles, the people celebrated the care that God showed the Israelites in the desert after they were rescued from slavery in Egypt. The desert was not a hospitable place.