For Retreat and Recollection

1. BREAD OF LIFE: SUSTAIN
LOVE, LIFE, AND SERVICE

2. John 6:25-59
(The Bread of Life Discourse)

3. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake,
they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are
looking for me, not because you saw the signs I
performed but because you ate the loaves and had
your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for
food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of
Man will give you. For on him God the Father has
placed his seal of approval.”
28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the
works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to
believe in the one he has sent.”

4. 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give
that we may see it and believe you? What will you
do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the
wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread
from heaven to eat.’”
32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, 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. 33 For the bread of God is the bread
that comes down from heaven and gives life to the
world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

5. 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry,
and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and
still you do not believe. 37 All those the Father
gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to
me I will never drive away. 38 For I have come
down from heaven not to do my will but to do
the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will
of him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all
those he has given me, but raise them up at the
last day.

6. 40 For my Father’s will is that everyone who
looks to the Son and believes in him shall
have eternal life, and I will raise them up at
the last day.”
41 At this the Jews there began to grumble
about him because he said, “I am the bread
that came down from heaven.” 42 They said,
“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose
father and mother we know? How can he
now say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

7. 43 “Stop grumbling among yourselves,” Jesus
answered. 44 “No one can come to me unless the
Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise
them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the
Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by
God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and
learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has
seen the Father except the one who is from
God; only he has seen the Father.47 Very truly I
tell you, the one who believes has eternal
life. 48 I am the bread of life.

8. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the
wilderness, yet they died. 50 But here is the
bread that comes down from heaven, which
anyone may eat and not die. 51 I am the living
bread that came down from heaven. Whoever
eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”
52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among
themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh
to eat?”

9. 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless
you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real
food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my
flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in
them. 57 Just as the living Father sent mean I live
because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me
will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that
came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna
and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live
forever.” 59 He said this while teaching in the
synagogue in Capernaum.

12. • 1. A staple food made from flour or meal mixed
with other dry and liquid ingredients, usually
combined with a leavening agent, and kneaded,
shaped into loaves, and baked.
• a food made from a dough of flour or meal mixed
with water or milk, usually raised with yeast or
baking powder and then baked
• 2.a. Food in general, regarded as necessary for
sustaining life: "If bread is the first necessity of
life, recreation is a close second"(Edward
Bellamy).
• b. Something that nourishes; sustenance:
• 3.a. Means of support; livelihood: earn one's
bread.
• b. Slang Money.

13. The health benefit of bread is
that contains high levels of
vitamins, calcium, protein and
iron. Bread made of whole
wheat has fiber which is good for
digestion and health. White
breads do not have much
calories. One slice of white bread
has about 75 calories or can have
even less. Bread made of whole
wheat has lower calories; one
slice has only 60 calories.

14. BREADS MADE OF
WHOLE WHEAT CAN
REGULATE YOUR BLOOD
SUGAR LEVELS,
CHOLESTEROL LEVELS
AND BLOOD PRESSURE.
THESE ARE BENEFITS
FOR YOUR HEART.

15. WE EAT BREAD AND IT IS ABSORBED
BY OUR BODIES. IT IS CONVERTED
INTO THE ENERGY WE NEED TO
LIVE, WORK AND GROW. COMPLEX
CARBOHYDRATES BROKEN DOWN
STEADILY TO GIVE US THE
SUSTENANCE WE NEED AS HUMAN
BEINGS. PROTEIN BUILDS UP OUR
STRENGTH. VITAMINS AND
MINERALS ENSURE THAT OUR
BODILY ORGANS AND SYSTEM
FUNCTION CORRECTLY. IT IS
SIMPLE, NUTRITIOUS AND LIFE-
GIVING.

16. WHOLE WHEAT BREAD ALSO
CONTAINS MINERAL, VITAMINS
AND NIACIN’S. THESE
NUTRIENTS ARE VERY GOOD
FOR YOUR HEALTH AND TO
MAINTAIN YOUR WEIGHT.
WOMEN WHO EAT BREAD MADE
OF WHOLE WHEAT ARE THINNER
THAN WOMEN WHO EAT WHITE
BREAD. ALSO, WOMEN EATING
WHOLE WHEAT BREAD
MAINTAIN THEIR WEIGHT ON
HEALTHY WAY.

17. WHAT IS THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN
BREAD AND JESUS

20. QUESTION:
"WHAT DID JESUS MEAN
WHEN HE SAID, 'I AM THE
BREAD OF LIFE'
(JOHN 6:35)?"

21. THE WORD FOR
BREAD IN
HEBREW IS
LEHEM. BETH
(PRONOUNCED
'BAIT') MEANS
'THE PLACE OF' OR
'HOUSE OF'.

22. IN JESUS TIME
BREAD MEANT
'FOOD‘ or
‘MEAT’
GENERALLY, NOT
JUST BREAD

23. WHAT DO YOU
THINK WOULD
HAPPEN IF YOU
DIDN'T EAT?

24. WHEN JESUS STARTED
TALKING ABOUT 'BREAD
OF LIFE' THE CROWD
THOUGHT HE WAS
TALKING LITERALLY
ABOUT BREAD, AND
IMMEDIATELY THEIR
THOUGHTS TURNED TO
THEIR STOMACHS AND
BACK TO THE MANNA
THAT GOD HAD
PROVIDED FOR HIS
PEOPLE WHEN THEY
WERE IN EXILE.

25. . THE FIRST WORD
'MA' IN HEBREW
MEANS 'WHAT?' AND
IS COMMONLY USED
IN BIBLICAL AND
MODERN HEBREW.
MEANWHILE THE
WORD 'NA' IT IS
GENERALLY BELIEVED
THAT IT IS AN
ANCIENT BIBLICAL
WORD MEANING
'BEHOLD' OR 'AWE'.

26. HENCE WHEN
CHRIST
DECLARES THAT
HE IS THE
BREAD OF LIFE,
HE IS SAYING
THAT
HE IS THE
TOTAL SOURCE
OF ALL
SUSTENANCE
FOR US.

27. BREAD OF LIFE:
SOMETHING REGARDED AS
A SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL
NOURISHMENT.

28. THIS IS A PHENOMENAL
STATEMENT! FIRST, BY
EQUATING HIMSELF WITH
BREAD, JESUS IS SAYING HE IS
ESSENTIAL FOR LIFE. SECOND,
THE LIFE JESUS IS REFERRING
TO IS NOT PHYSICAL LIFE, BUT
ETERNAL LIFE. JESUS IS
TRYING TO GET THE JEWS’
THINKING OFF OF THE
PHYSICAL REALM AND INTO
THE SPIRITUAL REALM. HE IS
SPIRITUAL BREAD THAT
BRINGS ETERNAL LIFE.

29. JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE

31. JUST AS GOD PROVIDED MANNA
TO THE ISRAELITES TO SAVE THEM
FROM STARVATION, HE HAS
PROVIDED JESUS CHRIST FOR THE
SALVATION OF OUR SOULS. THE
LITERAL MANNA TEMPORARILY
SAVED THE ISRAELITES FROM
PHYSICAL DEATH. THE SPIRITUAL
MANNA SAVES US FROM ETERNAL
DEATH. “YOUR FATHERS ATE THE
MANNA IN THE WILDERNESS,
AND THEY DIED. THIS IS THE
BREAD THAT COMES DOWN
FROM HEAVEN, SO THAT ONE
MAY EAT OF IT AND NOT DIE ”
(JOHN 6:49-50).

32. IT IS THAT WAY SPIRITUALLY WITH
JESUS, THE BREAD OF LIFE. HE IS
DAILY FOOD FOR MEN'S SOULS. YOU
DO NOT JUST EAT JESUS ONCE AND
THEN BE DONE WITH HIM. WE MUST
HAVE JESUS DAILY, OR WE GROW
WEAK AND WITHER SPIRITUALLY. WE
MUST HAVE THE DAILY SUPPLY OF
GRACE THAT IS IN HIM, OR WE
PERISH. HE IS OUR CONSTANT, ON-
GOING NEED.

33. NOW WE MAY ASK, HOW IS IT
THAT JESUS IS THIS BREAD OF
LIFE? HOW IS IT THAT HE ALONE IS
THIS TRUE, SPIRITUAL FOOD FOR
SINNERS' SOULS? HOW CAN HE BE
GRACE TO SINNERS? HOW CAN HE
HIMSELF BE FORGIVENESS AND
RIGHTEOUSNESS AND PEACE?
HOW CAN HE GIVE LIFE, EVEN
ETERNAL LIFE? HOW CAN HE SAY,
"I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE"?

35. PAY ATTENTION, LISTENER, TO THAT
"I AM" IN JESUS' WORDS. THAT
POINTS US TO THE TRUTH THAT
THIS JESUS IS ETERNAL GOD. HE IS
NOT A MERE MAN, A MERE
MORTAL. NOR IS HE A MERE
TEMPORAL SAVIOUR. THIS JESUS OF
THE GOSPEL IS DIVINE, FULLY
DIVINE. HE IS GOD. HE IS OF
HEAVEN, AS HE SAYS IN THE
CONTEXT OF JOHN 6. THIS IS WHY
HE IS THE LIVING BREAD, BECAUSE
HE IS THE LIVING GOD, THE VERY
SOURCE OF LIFE. HE HAS LIFE IN
HIMSELF, EVEN EVERLASTING LIFE.

37. BASIC HUMAN
HUNGERS ARE:
LOVE AND
ACCEPTANCE
UNDERSTANDING
PURPOSE IN LIFE
JUSTICE AND
PEACE

38. • perform duties or
services for (another
person or an
organization).
• be of service to, be of
use to, help, assist,
aid, make a
contribution to, do
one's bit for, do
something for,
benefit.

39. • What he wants them to grasp is that within
Him is all the food that they need to grow
spiritually, real bread that satisfies hunger
forever, not just the rumbling stomachs and
hunger pangs that they might be feeling at that
particular place and time.

40. • Jesus is the bread of life to all who will accept him as their personal
Savior. Jesus proclaimed His Messiah ship in the Bread of Life
sermon. He has the power to bless and sustain each of us according to
our individual needs. To partake of the Bread of Life we must
recognize our complete dependence upon the Lord for all that we have
and are. Through the ages, those who have applied this hope have
had remarkable spiritual success as they acknowledge their complete
dependence on the Lord. As we come unto Christ for strength He will
nourish and bless us spiritually and temporally.

41. Activity
• Kindly draw three of your favorites food