Jesus said, I AM the Bread of Life. He is the source of life—not just to exist but to rejoice, find meaning, and live an exhilarating life. He is the one who will satisfy our deepest longings. He is the “I AM.” This is the name of God that God revealed to Moses, and Jesus took on that name for himself. He is saying that he is the Creator of the Universe, who was, is, and is to be, and the source of that life. How do we respond to this?

Many of us ignore the magnitude of the claim and seek life from elsewhere. We seek life from success, respect, or relationships, among other things. But when we seek life from these other things, there is no life; it actually saps away life from us.

Rather, Jesus is calling us to “eat his flesh and drink his blood,” which is a way of telling us to focus on the redemption of the cross. The way we focus on the cross is to focus on (1) our sins because it is our sins that put him on the cross; and on (2) his love for us because it is his love for us while we were still sinners that put him on the cross. This leads us to humility and a loving relationship with Jesus and others.