The Names of Jesus - Elmer Towns

7. I AM the True Vine John 15:1,5
8. I AM ... I AM John 4:26; 8:58; 18:5,6,8
THE BREAD OF LIFE
The Jews widely believed they would recognize the Messiah because He would find the
lost ark of the covenant hidden by Jeremiah and produce the jar of manna hidden therein. Hence,
Messiah would be identified with manna or bread. Also, the Jews thought that being a Prophet
like unto Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15) meant He would produce the bread from heaven. One
rabbinical saying declared, “As was the first redeemer, so was the final redeemer; as the first
redeemer caused the manna to fall from heaven, even so shall the second redeemer cause the
manna to fall.” Further the Jews thought that manna would be the food in the kingdom of God. In
the Jewish mind, manna excited Messianic expectations.
In light of this cultural context, it is not surprising that those who were one day ready to
declare Jesus to be the Messiah should the next day raise the subject of manna. Twice in a
meeting with Jesus, they requested that Jesus produce this manna (John 6:30-31,34). In response,
Jesus identified Himself as the manna when he declared, “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). In
the discourse in which He revealed this Jehovistic title, Jesus explained He was the bread of
everlasting life (John 6:32-34), the bread of satisfying life (John 6:35-36), the bread of resurrection
life (John 6:37-47), and the bread of indwelling life (John 6:48-59).
Just as a person eats bread to sustain his physical life, so the Christian must “eat” the
Bread of Life to sustain his spiritual life. In His address on the Bread of Life, Jesus used two different
verbs for eating, showing two responses to the Bread. First, He used the verb phagein,
always in an aorist tense and with reference to eternal life (John 6:50,51,52,53). When a person
receives Christ as Saviour, he is, in this context, “eating his flesh.” This is a reference to “onceand-for-all”
salvation. The second verb, trogon, is a present active participle, which emphasizes
a continual or habitual eating. It was used of munching on fruit, vegetables, or cereals. The
change in tense which accompanies the change in verb emphasizes the continual satisfying of a
spiritual appetite through constantly or habitually munching on the Bread of Life (John
6:54,56,57,58). If the first act of once-and-for-all eating speaks of our salvation, this constant
munching speaks of our uninterrupted communion with Christ.
THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD
On several occasions the religious leaders in Jerusalem tried to destroy Jesus. One
attempt involved bringing to Him a woman caught in the act of adultery and calling on Him to
pass judgment. It created for the Lord what they thought was an impossible situation. If He
condemned her as required by the Law, the people would be disappointed and stop following
Him. If He failed to uphold the Law, He was guilty of teaching contrary to Moses and could be
thrown out of the Synagogue and stoned for blasphemy. Jesus upheld the Law in its true spirit by
bringing conviction to the woman's accusers and salvation to the guilty woman. At the same time
He increased His already growing popularity with the common people.