Savior declares he is the 'bread of life'
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Many in the synagogue at Capernaum misunderstood Jesus' meaning when He declared, " . . . my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven." (John 6:32.)
The people thought Jesus spoke of physical nourishment, perhaps in the form of the manna from heaven supplied to their ancestors in the wilderness.The Savior then stated: "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 Jesus the Christ, Elder James E. Talmage wrote: "[JesusT explained that while their fathers did truly eat manna in the wilderness, yet they were dead; whereas the bread of life of which He spake would insure eternal life unto all who partook therof. That bread, He averred, was His flesh."
The Savior further explained, " . . . if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (John 6:51.)
Elder Talmage wrote: "Against this solemn avowal the Jews complained anew, and disputed among themselves, some asking derisively: `how can this man give us his flesh to eat?' (John 6:52.)
" . . . There was little excuse for the Jews pretending to understand that our Lord meant an actual eating and drinking of His material flesh and blood. The utterances to which they objected were far more readily understood by them than they are by us on first reading; for the representation of the law and of truth in general as bread, and the acceptance of a process of eating and drinking, were figures in every-day use by the rabbis of that time.
"Their failure to comprehend the symbolism of Christ's doctrine was an act of will, not the natural consequence of innocent ignorance. To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ was and is to believe in and accept Him as the literal Son of God and Savior of the world, and to obey His commandments. By these means only may the Spirit of God become an abiding part of man's individual being, even as the substance of the food he eats is assimilated with the tissues of his body."
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(ADDITIONAL INFORMATION)
Articles on this page may be used in conjunction with the Gospel Doctrine course of study.
Information compiled by Gerry Avant
Sources: Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Joseph Fielding Smith; Jesus the Christ, by James E. Talmage; and October 1981 and October 1982 general conference reports.
