Seminary
John 6:22–58

John 6:22–58

“I Am the Bread of Life”

Jesus Christ seated at a table. In one hand He is holding a piece of bread. With the other He is gesturing towards Himself. There is a plate of bread on the table in front of Him and a goblet.

The day after the miracle of feeding the five thousand, many sought Jesus, “not because [they] saw the miracles, but because [they] did eat of the loaves,” and their hunger returned (John 6:26). The Savior taught them, “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger” (John 6:35). This lesson can help you identify ways that you can come to the Savior to have Him fill your spiritual needs.

“I am the bread of life”

Bread

If possible, find a piece of bread. Eat it while you ponder the following questions.

  • How much bread do you think you could eat?

  • Regardless of how much bread you eat right now, what will eventually happen?

When the Savior fed over five thousand people using only five loaves of bread and two fishes, some responded to this miracle by seeking Him for another meal rather than for spiritual reasons (see John 6:5–14; Joseph Smith Translation, John 6:26 [in John 6:26, footnote a]). Jesus corrected those seeking Him for more bread instead of seeking Him for eternal life. They questioned His identity and ability to give them eternal life (see John 6:30, 41–42).

Read John 6:32, 35 to see how the Savior corrected the people. Consider marking in your scriptures the Savior’s titles “the true bread from heaven” and “the bread of life.” You could add these titles to your journal entry called “Titles and Roles of Jesus Christ.” (You might have started this entry during the lesson on John 1:1–51.)

  • Why do you think the Savior would refer to Himself as “the true bread from heaven” or “the bread of life”?

  • What do you learn from Jesus Christ in verse 35?

John 6:35 teaches that if we come to Jesus Christ and believe on Him, He can satisfy our spiritual hunger and thirst.

Respond to the following questions in your study journal:

  • What are some of the reasons that you need Jesus Christ daily? In what ways are you currently spiritually “hungry”?

  • What are you currently doing to seek the Savior’s help to satisfy that hunger? What is going well? What isn’t?

As you continue your study, seek the influence of the Holy Ghost to help you identify ways you can come to the Savior to have Him fill your spiritual hunger. Read John 6:47–58, looking for what the Savior invites us to do and what He promises in return. Consider how these invitations and promises help you better understand how to receive the Savior’s gift of satisfying your spiritual hunger and thirst. You may also want to watch “I Am the Bread of Life,” located on ChurchofJesusChrist.org, from time code 3:20 to 5:08 and follow along in your scriptures. Consider creating a chart like the following to help you.

6:48

I am the Bread of Life

Jesus teaches He is the Bread of Life. Peter testifies that Jesus is the anointed Son of God. John 6:25–71

The Savior’s invitations

The Savior’s promises

  • What do His invitations and promises teach you about Him?

Partaking of the Savior’s flesh and blood

Many people who heard the Savior’s sermon had questions about what it meant to eat the Savior’s flesh and drink His blood (see John 6:52, 60).

Read the following statement by Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to better understand what the Savior’s words mean and how we can accept His invitation.

Portrait of Elder D. Todd Christofferson. Photographed in March 2020.

To eat His flesh and drink His blood is a striking way of expressing how completely we must bring the Savior into our life—into our very being—that we may be one. …

… We partake of His flesh and drink His blood when we receive from Him the power and blessings of His Atonement.

The doctrine of Christ expresses what we must do to receive atoning grace. It is to believe and have faith in Christ, to repent and be baptized, and to receive the Holy Ghost, “and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost” [2 Nephi 31:17]. …

I have spoken of receiving the Savior’s atoning grace to take away our sins and the stain of those sins in us. But figuratively eating His flesh and drinking His blood has a further meaning, and that is to internalize the qualities and character of Christ, putting off the natural man and becoming Saints “through the atonement of Christ the Lord” [Mosiah 3:19]. …

… To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ means to pursue holiness.

(D. Todd Christofferson, “The Living Bread Which Came Down from Heaven,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2017, 36–38)

  • How would you explain what it means to eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of God?

  • When have you or others followed Elder Christofferson’s counsel and felt the Savior satisfy spiritual hunger? What did you do in these experiences that you feel invited the Savior to satisfy that hunger?

Writing on a piece of paper with a pen or pencil. 1. Do the following in your study journal:

Imagine that you were present during the Savior’s sermon in John 6:22–58 . Write a journal entry as if you had been there. Include the following in your entry:

  1. What you learned about the Savior and what you learned from Him

  2. Any experiences that you have had when Jesus Christ has provided for your spiritual needs (or any experiences that others have had)

  3. Actions that the Holy Ghost impressed you to take and why

Optional: Want to Learn More?

Why might Jesus have focused the people on their spiritual needs rather than on their physical ones?

While serving as a member of the Seventy, Elder Carlos H. Amado taught:

Former official portrait of Elder Carlos H. Amado of the First Quorum of the Seventy, 2008. Retouched version done in March 2009.

As a Church we should feed the hungry, relieve the sick, clothe the naked, and give shelter to the destitute. With fast offerings we alleviate the basic and immediate needs of the members, and with the welfare plan we help meet their long-term needs. When there are natural disasters, through humanitarian service we provide assistance for our brothers and sisters who are not of our faith.

Without neglecting these temporal needs, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by commandment of the Lord, maintains the most sublime and lofty labor of service, which is to bless all men by teaching them the doctrine of Christ and inviting them to receive the saving ordinances so that they might gain “immortality and eternal life” (Moses 1:39).

(Carlos H. Amado, “Service, a Divine Quality,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2008, 35–36)

John 6:56. What did the Savior mean when He taught that He would dwell in us?

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught:

Elder David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles official portrait. 2020.

It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us—that is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us—not only to direct us but also to empower us.

(David A. Bednar, “The Atonement and the Journey of Mortality,” Ensign, April 2012, 42)