34 Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” 35 And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
6:34
Then they [the Jews] said to Him,
The Jews’ response showed that they missed Jesus’ point entirely.
“Lord, give us this bread always.”
The Jews were still on the plane of filling their stomachs. They asked Jesus that He would always give them this physical bread.
6:35
And Jesus said to them,
In this verse Jesus made the point very explicitly that He was the one sent by God to give eternal life. Up to this point the Jews had not understood what Jesus meant by the bread from heaven.
“I am the bread of life.
This is the first of the seven great “I am” statements in John. Jesus used this expression to relate to the great “I am” of Exodus 3. This is one of the great “I am” statements of the gospel of John (cf. 8:12; 10:7, 9, 11, 14; 11:25; 14:6; 15:1, 5). Jesus totally identified Himself with the bread that gives eternal life, spiritual life.
I am the light of the world, 8:12
I am the door, 10:9
I am the good shepherd, 10:11
I am the resurrection and the life, 11:25
I am the way the truth and the life, 14:6
I am the true vine, 15:1
Jesus said that the “bread of life” is a person, not physical food. This kind of bread provides eternal life. This life is spiritual life rather than physical life. The successive arguments in chapter 6 arise from Jesus’ claim to be the bread of life.
He who comes to Me
For the person who comes to Jesus to satisfy the longing for eternal life, his soul is forever sated for eternal things. We come to Jesus by belief or faith.
shall never hunger,
The “never” of this phrase and the next are very emphatic. God assures eternal security for those who believe on Jesus.
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.
Once someone is in right relationship to Jesus, he finds everlasting satisfaction of the soul. It will not be like physical food, the satisfaction of which lasts only for a day.
“Never hunger” and “never thirst” are emphatic double negatives (in Greek). This person will never—no, never—hunger or thirst.
PRINCIPLE:
Spiritual hunger and thirst are fully satisfied in Christ.
APPLICATION:
Two qualifications are necessary for salvation: “come” and “believe.” Once a person believes in Christ, he or she has eternal satisfaction of soul.
For a further study on eternal security, go here: http://versebyversecommentary.com/articles/doctrine/eternal-security/
