Jesus again repeats that he is the Bread of Life, using that formal expression 'I AM' which points to his divine origin. Jesus' challengers were asking for a sign like manna but Jesus says that it did not give real life - those who ate it have all died. The Bread that Jesus will give will bring a never-ending life to those who eat it. Jesus is the Living Bread because he is the very Word of God and because he offers up his Body and Blood in a sacrifice of love bringing life to the whole world.

With these words the chapter moves into its eucharistic meaning. The word 'flesh' (sarx) introduces the link between Eucharist and Incarnation. Jesus is the Word made flesh and that Word is the food that we all need to 'eat'. To 'eat' here, while involving actual eating and drinking, really points to the total assimilation into oneself and into a gathered community of the very Spirit of Jesus. The Eucharist, as we shall see in tomorrow's reading, is the great sign of the Christian community by which we both affirm and celebrate our union with Jesus. By our eating of the bread-that-is-flesh we affirm our total adhesion to all that Jesus is and stands for.