Central Lutheran Church - Elk River

The Bread of Life with Pastor Ryan

Central Lutheran Church
Audio Player
00:00
00:00 | 35:46

What are we truly hungry for? In a world filled with temporary satisfactions, Jesus offers something far more substantial when he declares "I am the Bread of Life."

This powerful statement—the first of seven "I Am" declarations in John's Gospel—reaches back to the very name of God revealed to Moses at the burning bush. When God identified himself as "I AM WHO I AM" (Eyah asher Eyah), he established himself as being itself, the foundation of all existence. Jesus now claims this divine identity while offering himself as the solution to our deepest hungers.

The setting is significant: Jesus has just fed 5,000 people in the wilderness near Passover, deliberately evoking the story of God providing manna during the Exodus. Just as the ancient Israelites cried out for liberation from Egyptian oppression, first-century Jews longed for freedom from Roman rule. Through this miracle, Jesus signals that he is the liberator they've awaited—but not the kind they expected.

When the crowds follow him seeking more bread, Jesus challenges them to look beyond physical sustenance that only satisfies temporarily. "Don't work for food that spoils," he urges, "but for food that endures to eternal life." When they ask what works they must perform to earn this enduring bread, his answer is beautifully simple: none. This bread requires no achievement, no striving—only open hands ready to receive.

We all experience spiritual hunger—a persistent ache that material comforts and temporary pleasures can't fill. We reach for things that satisfy momentarily but leave us hungry again. Jesus offers himself as the only bread that truly satisfies, the only provision that endures. In the wilderness places of our lives—the dry, dark, anxious spaces—his promise remains: "God will see to it."

Where else would we go? Only Jesus has the words of eternal life.

Join us! Facebook | Instagram | www.clcelkriver.org


People on this episode