“Then Jesus declared, ‘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)

“Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus, the Savior who came into the world to bring salvation and eternal life. In John 6:35, Jesus proclaims Himself as the ‘bread of life,’ offering spiritual nourishment to all who come to Him. This parallels the Christmas story, where the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem marks the beginning of God’s ultimate gift to humanity – the gift of eternal life through Him. Ultimately, John 6:35 connects deeply to Christmas by reminding us that Jesus, the Bread of Life, came into the world to give us eternal life and spiritual sustenance, fulfilling our deepest needs, and offering us the greatest gift of all.” – OpenAI. (2024). ChatGPT (version 3.5) [Large language model].

I love today’s verse because I find it to be both relatable and challenging. I consider myself to be a classic Italian in many ways with my love of food being the most atypical. The idea that Jesus in our lives can metaphorically replace one of our most basic needs (to eat) is a hard concept. For me personally, the idea that Christ Jesus is the “alpha and omega” or first and last thing in our lives is extraordinarily challenging. There are so many worldly “incentives” that distract me from focusing on Christ alone. Just thinking about issues that pop up within our home and family, let alone work and everything else in a week, can be enough to completely divert me away from the truth that my thirst can only be quenched by Jesus. In the end, I’m willing to call this a challenge and to still climb the obstacles as they come. So as we point towards Christmas, remember that we are celebrating the birth of Jesus, who is the all-in-all and the everything in our lives.