THE GREAT “I AM”
John
6:35, 37 The
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… All that the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”
“I AM”, is the name God
gives himself in Exodus 3:14. It is by this name that God would be known and
worshiped by the Israelite's. This name expressed the character of God; his
dependably and his faithfulness. God desired that his people would place their
full trust in Him. Jesus applied this phrase from Exodus to himself; in doing
so he claimed to be God and risked being stoned for blasphemy in John 8:58-59.
Seven times he draws attention to himself in this manner by saying of himself,
“I AM”.
I AM the Bread of Life. In
this passage Jesus declares the fulfilling and unchanging power that he has. He
is able to feeds us in a manner that brings emotional and spiritual fulfillment
to us. When many people seek him for the material blessings, like food, they
miss the fact that his mission is to feed us by meeting the spiritual needs we
have. The emptiness in people’s hearts is caused by the absence of God and the
consequences of sin. Like the woman at
the well, we have needs that we can never fulfill ourselves or with the help of
others. This need can only be met and relieved by Christ. He is able to meet
all our needs.
The other point to note in
this passage is that Jesus has power beyond meeting that need. You and I must
continually eat, each day, every week, our entire lives. When Jesus feeds a
person’s soul, he feeds it once and forever. Once healed by His touch, the
healing remains. Once saved by the power of the Holy Spirit you remain saved.
“Whoever comes to me I will never drive away” says Jesus. If we come to him he
feed us and we will never go hungry again. If we believe in him we will never
be thirsty again. Coming to him and believing in Him is a salvation moment. If
God gives us to Jesus, then we go to him and we then believe in him. He will
not lose us and we will have eternal life with him.