Good morning,
When Jesus taught his disciples and the general population, he used parables and word pictures. Jesus described Himself in seven different ways in the book of John. Today we look at two of these.
- Bread
“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” John 6:35
In verse 35, He adds that “he who comes to Me”—meaning the one who believes in Christ, coming with nothing but sin and needing everything—will in no way become spiritually hungry or thirsty. In other words, he truly will be fed, unlike those in the wilderness who became hungry. Those who come to Him will be given complete and enduring spiritual satisfaction. (Bibletools.org)
- Light
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” John 8:12
In the introduction of this Gospel, John proclaimed that Jesus was the Light of men and the world. (John 1:4-5, 9:5) Light means to “shine or make manifest” and the scope of His light was to all men and the whole world. Light is a used as a symbol of the absence of darkness. Where the light shines darkness is expelled and cannot exist. Jesus plainly stated that He and He alone was the light of the world. Jesus Christ is the only means of salvation “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) (Bible-truth.org)
God uses pictures to convey the person and mission of Jesus. We all need spiritual nourishment and divine light to see plainly where we are going in this life.
The question becomes do we know Jesus? Have we surrendered our lives completely to Him? Are we allowing Him to sustain us with His Word? Do we see clearly where we are going in this life?
Without affirmative answers to these questions, we will be starved and loose our way in this world. Is that really what we want?
God doesn’t!
Tomorrow we will look at two more “I AMs” of Jesus.
Tom Stearns, WASI Chaplain, 907 715-4001