Jesus Christ declares Himself the Bread of Life in John 6, embodying spiritual sustenance and eternal life. He teaches that true nourishment comes from partaking of Him spiritually, as physical bread sustains the body, so His teachings and character energize and heal the soul. As the living bread from heaven, He promises that whoever eats of Him will never hunger and will live forever. Representing sincerity and truth, He is the unleavened bread of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, urging daily consumption of His word to overcome sin and grow in holiness. Through His flesh, offered for the world, He establishes a living connection, ensuring resurrection and everlasting life for those who abide in Him.

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Jesus in the Feasts (Part One): The Bread of Life

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Christ is the true unleavened bread, the antitype of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, whose central command in Exodus 12, Exodus 23, and Leviticus 23 is to eat unleavened bread every day of the feast. Paul links the types in I Corinthians 5:6-8: Christ is our Passover, and we keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity (inward, tested purity) and truth (the outward living out of righteousness). Jesus Himself is the model of both. In John 6 He declares, "I am the bread of life," the true bread from heaven, and says that unless one eats His flesh and drinks His blood there is no life. This long metaphor was lost on the crowd that wanted only free physical food. Eating is a parallel for taking Christ into the mind: His character, teachings, and examples throughout the Old and New Testaments. Just as food nourishes, sustains, and heals the body, feeding on Him daily through study and practice nourishes spiritual life. Skipping days risks a bad habit. Consuming Him produces inward purity and outward good works, so that believers walk as He walked and grow into His image and mind. The feast's primary meaning is therefore its focus on Christ and what He does, not merely the timing of prophecy. God the Father calls and draws people to Christ (John 6:44-45) to be taught by Him, a lifelong course in eating the bread of life and living it out.

The Reason for Unleavened Bread

Sermonette by David C. Grabbe

The Feast of Unleavened Bread signifies far more than the avoidance of leavening. Our focus needs to be on God's management of the process of deliverance.

Was Jesus Christ's Body Broken? (Part Three)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

Jesus Christ, as the Bread of Life, presents a profound symbol of vitality and eternal existence. He declares in John 6 that He is the bread of life, the living bread that came down from heaven. He emphasizes that whoever comes to Him shall never hunger, and whoever eats of this bread will live forever. He states that the bread He gives is His flesh, offered for the life of the world, ensuring that those who partake in it will not face the second death but will be raised up at the last day. He further asserts that those who eat His flesh and drink His blood abide in Him, and He in them, establishing a living connection that grants eternal life. This bread, unlike the manna eaten by the ancestors who died, guarantees everlasting life to those who consume it. Thus, the bread, representing His flesh, consistently symbolizes living flesh and a living body, not death or a broken form, uniting all who partake in fellowship with Him in an unbroken body.

Was Jesus Christ's Body Broken?

Sermonette by David C. Grabbe

Was Jesus Christ's body actually broken? If so, it would have symbolized disqualification and a broken covenant. Only the bread of Passover was broken.

The Bread and Wine of Passover

Sermon by David C. Grabbe

Jesus Christ is presented as the Bread of Life, a profound symbol within the context of the Passover, which is a central ritual of the New Covenant. This symbolism emphasizes life rather than death, portraying His flesh as living bread that sustains and offers eternal life to those who partake of it. He declares Himself as the bread that endures to everlasting life, the bread of God, and the living bread, indicating that His body is a source of spiritual sustenance and satisfaction that physical bread cannot provide. When partaking of the Passover bread, we are symbolically joined to His sinless life, becoming one with the living Savior. This act represents an ongoing relationship with Him, where He abides in us and we in Him, fostering a connection that strengthens us spiritually. The bread, as a symbol of His body, stands for the abundant life He lived and offers, a life that refreshes and sustains beyond mere physical needs, aligning with the peace offering's theme of fellowship and gratitude. Furthermore, the bread of life signifies the divine life Christ imparts, teaching us how to live as He did. It is through this continual ingestion of Him that we are sustained, with the promise of everlasting life in the resurrection. The Passover bread, therefore, is not merely a reminder of His death but a proclamation of the life He gave through sinless, devoted service, a life we share in as we partake, looking forward to the fulfillment of these promises when He returns.

The Feasts of Tabernacles and Unleavened Bread

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by David C. Grabbe

Jesus Christ is central to the understanding of the feasts of Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles, embodying the spiritual essence of both. He identifies Himself as the Bread of God, the Bread of Life, entirely unleavened, representing sincerity and truth. In the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the command to eat unleavened bread for seven days symbolizes partaking of Christ Himself, who delivered us from spiritual bondage and the power of darkness. Through the strength He supplies, we overcome sin by ingesting His word and seeking Him to live His life in us daily. To neglect this unleavened bread of sincerity and truth is to miss the divine connection with our Savior. In the broader context of both feasts, Christ is the source of our stability and peace amidst life's uncertainties. He is our Deliverer from spiritual Egypt, guiding us on our pilgrimage through ways that may not always make sense to us. As the Unleavened Bread, He provides the strength we must seek every day, protecting and providing for us according to what He knows is good. Both feasts, with their focus on dwellings and food, point us to Him, reinforcing His role as the foundation of our spiritual house and the guide on our temporary journey, leading us to surrender fully to His purpose.

Our Bread of Life

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Jesus Christ as the Bread of Life stands as a central truth during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. We must ask ourselves if we are continually partaking of this Bread, our Savior, by learning from Him and allowing His Spirit to shape us into His image. Through His life being lived within us and our steadfast submission to God's will, we find the promise of salvation. We shall be raised on the Last Day and live forever. As we move forward from this feast, let us remain committed to feeding on our Bread of Life, drawing strength and sustenance from Him.

Jesus and the Feast (Part One): Alignment With God

Feast of Tabernacles Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

In the context of the Feast of Tabernacles, the teachings of Jesus Christ reveal profound insights into His identity and mission. Just prior to the events of the Feast in John 7, He delivered the powerful teaching in John 6:60-71, declaring Himself as the Bread of Life. He spoke of the necessity to eat His flesh and drink His blood, a statement that caused many to misunderstand and perceive it as cannibalism. This led to a significant falling away of disciples, highlighting the challenging nature of His message. Yet, amidst this rejection, He emphasized the unique role of the Twelve, with Peter affirming their commitment by stating that only He has the words of life. This teaching set a tense backdrop for His subsequent actions during the Feast of Tabernacles, underscoring the growing opposition and the critical timing of His mission. The revelation of Himself as the Bread of Life thus frames the urgency and the spiritual depth of His presence and teachings at the Feast, pointing to the sustenance and life He offers to those who believe.

The Miracles of Jesus Christ: Feeding the Five Thousand (Part Two)

Bible Study by Martin G. Collins

Jesus Christ, in the miracle of feeding the multitude at Bethsaida just before the Passover, demonstrated His power by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish to satisfy a large crowd, leaving twelve basketfuls of leftovers. On the following day, in the synagogue at Capernaum, He declared, "I am the Bread of Life." Though many were willing to receive the physical bread, they would not accept Him as the living Bread who came down from heaven. Jesus taught that He alone can satisfy the spiritual hunger in humanity, stating that He is the living bread which came down from heaven, and if anyone eats of this bread, they will live forever. He further emphasized that the bread He gives is His flesh, offered for the life of the world, and that unless one partakes of His flesh and blood, they have no life in them. Through this miracle and teaching, Jesus illustrated that He is the source of both present and eternal life, providing spiritual sustenance to a dying humanity with enough to satisfy the entire world.

The Model Prayer (Part Six): Our Daily Bread

Bible Study by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

In the Model Prayer, Jesus Christ teaches us to request, "Give us this day our daily bread," a phrase that extends beyond mere physical sustenance to profound spiritual dimensions. As the staff of life, bread represents all food and symbolizes God's wondrous providence in providing everything necessary to maintain human life, from water and air to shelter and clothing. In our prayers, Jesus urges us to acknowledge what God provides so freely and to convey our extraordinary needs to Him as the Giver of all good things. Jesus Christ Himself embodies the ultimate spiritual nourishment as the Bread of Life, declaring, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." He not only sacrificed His life for the remission of sins but also offers His flesh and blood to believers for eternal life. This metaphor signifies an ongoing relationship with Him through learning, obeying, imitating His example, and growing spiritually. When we ask God for our daily bread, we seek complete nourishment for our bodies, minds, and spiritual lives, recognizing that the only sure, life-giving sustenance comes from God Himself.

The Unleavened Bread of Perfection

CGG Weekly by Clyde Finklea

During the Feast of Unleavened Bread, our primary focus should be on the eating of unleavened bread, which is symbolic of the perfect Unleavened Bread of Life from heaven, Jesus Christ. Eating unleavened bread for seven days depicts perfection, as the number seven symbolizes perfection in Scripture. This act reminds us that we are to become unleavened, to be purified and perfected in love, following the example of Jesus Christ, who was made perfect through sufferings. As we partake in this feast, we are reminded of our journey toward becoming like Him, shaped and molded into the likeness of His divine nature, which is love.

Is the Passover Just a Sin Offering? (Part Four)

Article by David C. Grabbe

Jesus says that the Passover will be fulfilled in God's Kingdom, and His inclusion of bread in the service points to the nature of the redemption process.

Deliverance and Unleavened Bread

CGG Weekly by John Reiss

In John 6:48, Jesus declares, I am the Bread of Life, and in verse 50, He explains, This is the Bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. During the Passover service, we recall His words in John 6:54, which speak of the ultimate deliverance, Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. In the context of the springtime festivals like Passover and the Days of Unleavened Bread, which memorialize God's deliverance, these statements emphasize the profound role Jesus plays in our redemption. During the week-long observance of the Days of Unleavened Bread, we are reminded to live for righteousness by consuming unleavened bread, symbolizing the eating of His flesh, and to ensure that His spiritual essence becomes our own.

Filling the Void (2012)

Sermonette by David C. Grabbe

Try to satisfy a spiritual hunger through any other means than the Bread of Life, such as entertainment, technology, money, travel, etc. will leave us disillusioned.

James and Unleavened Bread (Part One)

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Jesus Christ stated that His Father gives the true bread from heaven. The bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Jesus Christ said that He is the bread of life. He who comes to Him shall never hunger, and he who believes in Him shall never thirst. Christ is the embodiment of God's Word. Later He said that one must eat His flesh and drink His blood to have eternal life. As part of that process one must ingest Him. One must put on Christ. Everything that He is, one must strive to become. One does that mostly through the Word of God. One does it also in the Passover service, where one eats unleavened bread that symbolizes His flesh, and then one drinks a bit of wine that symbolizes His blood, and thereby one becomes clean. One takes into oneself His nature. That is the aim in life through those symbols. One rededicates oneself to that purpose. One must study the Bible, the written Word of God, digest it, and live it. The words that He speaks are spirit, and they are life. Those things that one eats from this Word of God are going to lead to eternal life. It is not just eating. It is doing. It is vital to salvation. One must eat this unleavened bread from God that is pure, faithful, spiritual, full of grace, and full of eternal life.

Christ, the Chief Cornerstone

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Jesus' declaration "I am the bread of life" in John 6 is the best-known of the "I AM" statements, and it rests on the basic idea that bread is the staff of life: it sustains us and keeps us alive. Yet this bread is better than the manna the Israelites ate in the wilderness, for they ate physical bread and all died, while those who eat the bread that came down from heaven will live forever. Christ is both the Rock and the Bread, so following Him brings eternal life and glory. The imagery concerns what is ingested spiritually, meaning what the mind and heart dwell on and the words allowed to shape a person. In John 6:54 Jesus uses a Greek word for eating that means gnawing or chewing, like working on beef jerky. This conveys that taking in His teaching takes time and effort, and that it must be struggled with and digested until it becomes part of one's character, not merely what one does but what one is. It is not like letting a wafer melt on the tongue. The statement is especially fitting to reflect on as the Passover and Days of Unleavened Bread approach, and it is one facet of Christ as the sure foundation of the Christian life.

Passover: An Extraordinary Peace Offering

Sermon by David C. Grabbe

The symbol of bread in the Passover observance reveals a facet of Christ's sacrifice that goes beyond the payment for sin, situating Him within the pattern of the peace offering rather than the sin offering alone. When Jesus took bread, blessed it, and declared, "This is My body," He was presenting a multi-faceted symbol one that, at times, represents death, but in this context represents life, even eternal life. This becomes clear when compared with John 6, where Jesus speaks of the bread of God, the living bread, and the bread that endures to everlasting life. Calling Himself the "living bread" indicates not merely a body that leads to eternal life through its death, but a body that is itself alive. Thus, when believers partake of the bread, they become joined to the living Savior Himself, not simply to the memory of His death. This understanding reframes the meaning of Christ's flesh within the Passover meal. The bread symbolizes the sinless life Jesus lived, culminating in its horrific end, rather than symbolizing a broken body in isolation. To partake of the bread is to be joined to His flawless, sinless life, the very life that made the sin offering effective in the first place. God accepts believers into His presence on the basis of that sinless flesh, as reflected in the teaching that the "new and living way" is through Christ's flesh. In the pattern of the peace offering, man is shown as accepted by God and sharing a meal of fellowship with Him; the Passover bread reflects this acceptance, grounded not in atonement but in the perfect life that qualified Christ's blood to pay the death penalty. Just as physical bread strengthens the body, the bread of life strengthens believers spiritually, because they are partaking of the sinless life of the Creator Himself. This theme of life and fellowship, rather than sin and atonement, runs through the entire Passover account. Just as the Passover lamb in Egypt was eaten as a shared meal rather than offered as a sin sacrifice, so Christ's Passover with His disciples emphasized communion rather than guilt. During that final Passover, Jesus spoke repeatedly of unity with the Father, love, fellowship, joy, and abiding closeness, yet never mentioned the disciples' sins. His declared desire to share that Passover meal before His suffering reflects the same spirit of fellowship pictured in the bread of life. Paul's description of the bread as "the communion of the body of Christ" reinforces this, showing that those who partake of the one bread become one body, united with Christ and with each other through a sacrificial meal of fellowship rather than through a transaction of guilt removed. Thus, the bread of life stands as a central expression of the broader message that Passover is fundamentally about gracious fellowship rather than atonement. While the wine represents the blood of the covenant and its pledge of ultimate completion, the bread represents the imparted life of Christ Himself, the sinless life that sustains and unites believers spiritually. Together, they portray the sacrificial meal by which God is satisfied in granting fellowship, and believers are satisfied in receiving spiritual strength, abundance, and hope through union with the living Bread, Jesus Christ.

Everlasting Covenant of Blood

Sermonette by Ronny H. Graham

'Blood is thicker than water' indicates that ties to the family come before any other alliances. Yet the 'blood' could also refer to the sealing of a covenant.

Considered Rather Than Commanded - Choose Life

Sermon by Mark Schindler

As God calls His people, He enables them (through His Spirit) to make considered decisions concerning living His way of life by obeying His commandments.

Jesus Is God

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Jesus Christ is the Word, by whom the world was created. He has always interfaced between mankind and the Father, having primacy as our Lord, Master, and Ruler.

The Unleavened Vanguard with Christ

Sermon by Mark Schindler

Christ's warnings to His disciples in Luke 12 may have been given during the Unleavened Bread season, giving us additional forms of leaven to guard against.

Tabernacles and Unleavened Bread (2019)

Sermonette by David C. Grabbe

The Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of Tabernacles both emphasize the importance of food and dwellings, reflecting lessons of dependence on God. True satisfaction cannot come from anything physical, but only from the Bread of Life through feeding on the life of Jesus Christ. To the world, this Bread seems lackluster and even revolting, but those who know Him experience the sense of well-being that comes from a growing relationship. It delivers the contentment, joy, and satisfaction that eluded Solomon, teaching us that spiritual nourishment surpasses all physical abundance.

Four Views of Christ (Part 6)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

Christ provides a model of how to live a godly life in the flesh, living life the way God lives it. Using His light, we can navigate our way in this world.

Manna and the Preparation Day (Part One)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

God, in His providence, gave us the Preparation Day, which sets the stage so that we can properly receive the gift of the Sabbath—His holy time.

Have You Had Your Manna Today?

'Ready Answer' by Staff

God gave Israel manna to eat every day for forty years. Today, we have God's Word as our daily bread. Are we taking advantage of it, or are we allowing it to spoil?

Filling the Void

Sermonette by Austin Del Castillo

More important than putting out sin is the vital need to continually ingest unleavened bread, that is, the Bread of Life, namely the words of Jesus Christ.

Go Forward

Sermon by Mark Schindler

Are we ready to sacrifice as was Moses, realizing that our precious calling is far more than the imaginary quest of Don Quixote?

Remaining Unleavened

Sermon by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

Our carnal natures must be displaced by God's Holy Spirit, motivating us to refrain from causing offense, but freely forgiving others as God has forgiven us.

His Bones Were Not Broken

Sermon by Ted E. Bowling

Jesus is the fulfillment of the Passover Lamb whose bones were to be left intact. His piercing parallels the lamb being bled by splitting its throat.

John's Feeding of the 5,000

Sermon/Bible Study by Richard T. Ritenbaugh

The only miracle recorded in all four Gospels is the feeding of the 5,000, a profound sign that Jesus Christ exclusively is the Bread of Life.

Fully Accepting God's Sovereignty (Part Six, Conclusion)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Our responsibility is to yield to God's sovereignty. Nevertheless, God has enabled us to freely sin, but holds us responsible for governing ourselves.

Manna and the Preparation Day (Part Two)

CGG Weekly by David C. Grabbe

The Preparation Day is a day of 'gathering' what relates to eternity so that we can properly ingest the spiritual manna on the holy day without distraction.

Ask and It Will Be Given

'Ready Answer' by Staff

Many people hit a plateau in their spiritual growth and go little further. Have we have overlooked the simple principle of 'ask and it will be given'?

John (Part Twelve)

Sermon/Bible Study by John W. Ritenbaugh

What we believe automatically determines what we do; it is impossible to separate faith and works. If Jesus is not our source of belief, our works will suffer.

Fully Accepting God's Sovereignty (Part Four)

'Personal' from John W. Ritenbaugh

Government may be the most important subject in the Bible because it touches on how Christians are to govern themselves under the sovereignty of God.

Maintaining Good Health (Part 8)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

A poor spiritual diet will bring about a weak spiritual condition. What the mind assimilates is exceedingly more important than what the stomach assimilates.

Freedom, Liberty, and Bondage

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh (1932-2023)

Grace places limits on our freedom, training us for the Kingdom of God. Our behavior must be clearly distinguishable from the non-believers in society.

Maintaining Good Health (Part 12)

Sermon by John W. Ritenbaugh

The church of God today resembles a patient languishing from a deadly disease, resulting from a diet of spiritual junk food and neglecting the bread of life.