I Am the Bread of Life

This is a simplified version of the Bible story found in John 6:22-59, written for children to understand. For the original version, please refer to the Bible passage.

Once, a big group of people went to find Jesus. They saw that He had not gone with His friends in the boat, so they took some boats and went to look for Him. When they found Jesus, they asked Him when He had gotten there.

Jesus said to the people, “You are only looking for me because I gave you food to eat. But you should not work for food that will only make you full for a little while. Work for food that lasts forever, which I, the Son of Man, will give you. God the Father has given me His seal of approval.”

The people then asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the work that God wants us to do?” Jesus answered, “The work God wants you to do is to believe in the One He has sent.”

The people asked Jesus, “What sign can you give us so that we can believe in you? Our ancestors ate manna from heaven, just as it is written in the Bible. What kind of bread can you give us?”

Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven. My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

The people said to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But even though you have seen me, you still do not believe. Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and I will never reject anyone who comes to me. I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those He has given me, but that I should raise them up on the last day. For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day.”

The people began to complain about Jesus because He said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They asked, “Isn’t this Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know His father and mother. How can He say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”

Jesus said to them, “Stop complaining among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me brings them to me. And I will raise them up on the last day. It is written in the Bible, ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. No one has ever seen the Father except the One who is from God; only He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, and they died. But this bread comes down from heaven so that anyone who eats it will not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.”

The people started to argue with each other and asked, “How can this man give us His flesh to eat?”

Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. It is not like the bread your ancestors ate, and yet they died. But whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

Jesus spoke these words while He was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

Biblical Lessons

  • Jesus is the only way to eternal life, and we can receive that life by believing in Him.
  • Jesus is the bread of life that came down from heaven.
  • Believing in Jesus is the work that God wants us to do.
  • Physical hunger is only temporary, but spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by Jesus.
  • Jesus is the Son of Man who was sent by God the Father to give us eternal life.

Related Stories

Bread from Heaven

The Last Supper

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand

The Wedding at Cana