A Diet of Bread and Living Water

“…I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35 NIV)

Survival

It is interesting that in the natural, we must both eat and drink to sustain life. On average, we can go three weeks without food, but we cannot go more than eight to ten days without water before perishing. It is the same in our spiritual lives. Our diet is to consist of the bread of life and the living water.

It’s not a competition between the two. Jesus is the bread of life. When we come to eat of the bread of life, he says he’ll provide living water. We eat of him, so that we may drink of the Spirit.

The Stuff of Life

I think it’s important to note that solid food, and bread in particular, is not devoid of water. It takes water to make bread and although some of that water evaporates in the baking process, the bread itself remains hydrated and we take that in along with the grain and other ingredients. 

We cannot, however, draw enough water through solid food intake to survive and maintain good health. But if you think about it, how many bites of bread or a sandwich do you eat without taking a drink along with it? The two go hand in hand and as Paul points out, first the natural, then the spiritual (I Corinthians 15:46).

Living Water

I’m not exactly sure how one would define “living water,” but it is clear that it refers to the Holy Spirit in the same way other liquids including oil and wine represent the Spirit throughout Scripture. These all speak to both sustenance and the medicinal properties of the Spirit. Fire and wind, on the other hand, seem to represent the inspiration, influence, power, and enablement which comes from the Holy Spirit. 

Bread and Water

We must remember that Jesus, the Bread of Life, recalled the passage which says, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” We are sustained by the daily bread of communion with Jesus, but also on every God-breathed word he speaks - fueled by the inspiration and illumination of the Spirit. This is the same Spirit that Jesus said will lead us into all truth and the same Spirit by which Jesus, Peter, and other New Testament believers performed signs, wonders, and miracles to testify to the Gospel of Christ. It is so fitting that Jesus referred to deliverance from spiritual bondage as “the children’s bread” (Mark 7:27) for it shows that the bread is not separate from the living water of both sustenance and of enablement.

Communion

The Church has spent way too much time and wasted far too much energy arguing over the stuff of life. It was at the last supper that Jesus took the bread, broke it and gave it to the disciples. Then, he took the cup and shared it with each of them. Scripture tells us that he longed to share this passover with them (Luke 22:15). It is my bet that he longs for it still.