I am the bread of life. Your ancestors
ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes
down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. (John 6.48-50)
More than “Bigger, Stronger”
It’s funny what sticks with us as we age. I grew up during
the golden age of advertising, when copywriters worked overtime to condense a
product’s appeal into an indelible tagline. If memory were a canister, I could
unscrew its lid and dozens of product slogans would pour out. The tagline for
Wonder Bread—“Helps build strong bodies 12 ways”—ranks among the most
memorable. Yet I didn’t fully appreciate how ingenious it was until
researching its origins.
With sly cunning, Wonder Bread deployed a two-pronged
strategy. It spent most of its ad dollars on children’s TV, securing brand loyalty among young consumers who never bought a loaf of bread in their
lives, yet nonetheless influenced
their parents’ buying decisions. As kids, we were constantly told to eat our
vegetables, take our vitamins, and get plenty of sleep and exercise so we
would “grow up to be big and strong.” The ad’s claim made Wonder Bread an easy
purchase for us. But the campaign's real genius rested in its resonance with
adults. What made this bread so wonderful to them was its being unlike any
bread they’d ever known. It was packed with nutrients—12 in all—that staved off
a raft of vitamin-deficiency diseases prevalent
in their youth. What’s more, Wonder Bread was more durable than
old-fashioned bread. Its preservatives allowed it to be
pre-sliced without going stale. So while we heard, “Wonder Bread makes you big
and strong,” our parents heard, “Wonder Bread keeps your family healthy and
saves you needless expense on bread that doesn’t last.”
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus tells us in Sunday’s Gospel
(John 6.35,41-51) Though everything within me resists comparing that
glorious declaration to an advertising slogan, I can’t escape its parallels with
Wonder Bread’s claims. Jesus is speaking to traditional Jews who’ve
taken umbrage at His claim that He’s “bread that came down from heaven.” (v41)
He’s calling Himself living manna—a
bold move any way one slices it—and appealing to His listeners’ inherent desire
to grow bigger and stronger. Remember, this is a crushed people subsisting on deficient
hopes and stale ideas. They’re longing for a decisive deliverer to end their
spiritual famine, not something so ordinary as heaven-sent bread to fortify their souls. They’re
looking for a messiah to champion their cause, not a Prophet Who echoes Psalm
34.8’s challenge: “Taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who
take refuge in God.” Yet the more astute of Jesus’s listeners—and we, if we’re
equally astute—hear much more than “bigger, stronger” in His message. We hear,
“I, the Bread of Life, will keep you healthy and save you needless expense on
bread that doesn’t last.”
A Supernatural Phenomenon
While Wonder Bread quietly hinted at the inferiority of older brands, Jesus’s comparison is baldly overt: “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” (v49)
It turns out the manna miracle recorded in Exodus 16 probably wasn’t the
supernatural manifestation many envision. It’s more probable the foodstuff from
heaven was a honey-like secretion of plant lice common to the Sinai. (To this
day, it’s gathered and sold as a Middle Eastern delicacy.) The arid conditions
caused it to dry into resinous flakes that could be baked into sweet
cakes rich in carbohydrates, with protein provided by quails flocking to snatch
up what was left at day's end. But there were also drawbacks. First, manna alone
didn’t make for a healthy diet. The saturated carbs boosted the Israelites’
energy; without protein, however, their stamina would fail. Second, it decayed
rapidly and attracted flies that laid eggs in its resin. This made stockpiling
manna impossible and discouraged the Israelites from settling for a high-carb diet that put them at high risk of diabetes, hypertension, and
heart disease—the worst imaginable health crisis to befall a nomadic nation.
Consequently, manna was the natural
phenomenon by which God sustained Israel during its wilderness journey. That is a miracle of provision all by itself.
Manna kept Israel healthy because it didn’t last. In its place, Jesus offers something infinitely
superior, a supernatural phenomenon
that transcends physical hunger and survival. He answers those who deride His
self-proclamation as living bread with an even more outrageous claim: He has
come “down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.” (v50) This
bread is unlike any the world has ever known. It goes beyond sustaining life;
it gives birth to new life that defeats death and the myriad fears
associated with it. As long as we feast on Christ’s living bread, we will continue
to grow bigger and stronger, because this bread is life-giving,
life-changing, and life-affirming bread. By its supernatural power over death
and fear, it endows us with unparalleled health that outlasts life as we know
it.
Made to Last
This bread is wonder bread. It is eternal life lived in a realm impervious to time and space. It is
life that can only come from God and only be experienced as God’s expressed
presence moving and shaping our lives. It builds our strength more ways than
we can count. It helps us grow into bigger, sturdier people than we could
possibly become on any other diet, no matter how phenomenal it may look or
sound. It keeps us healthy and alive, even when physical health fails and mortality calls. And it’s replete with sound promises that replace hollow hopes, vibrant
principles that replace stale ideas. It is bread made to last. In verse 51,
Jesus stresses what differentiates Him from soft-focused spirituality and faddish
philosophies and other flaky, sweet-tasting—yet ultimately perishable—treats
that appear to fall from the sky. “I am the living bread that came down from
heaven,” He says. “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread
that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” Unlike manna, the Bread of Life falls from heaven to be twice-raised, first on a criminal's cross, then from the bowels of a borrowed tomb. And out of its brokenness flows the nectar of triumphant life.
We are right to wonder at this living bread capable of
supplying everything we need to experience healthy, eternal life. If you’ve not
yet discovered it—or if you’ve yet to make it the mainstay of your soul’s
diet—I invite you to join billions who, for nearly two millennia, have attested to its life-giving,
life-changing, and life-affirming power.
Taste and see that the Lord is good.
The Bread of Life
supplies everything we need to experience healthy, eternal life.
