Jesus' Proclamation: "I AM The Bread of Life"    JOHN 6:35

Once again Jesus makes a claim that everyone hearing would have known was a claim to be God.

•  Only God was/is the eternal I AM.
•  Only God could miraculously provide food for such an enormous number of people in the desert.

He makes it even clearer by saying:

"I have come down from heaven to do the will of God who sent me, not to do my own will. And this is the will of God, that I should not lose even one of all those he has given me, but that I should raise them up at the last day. For it is my Father’s will that all who look to his Son and believe in him should have eternal life. I will raise them up at the last day.” JOHN 6:32-40 

He explains: "It wasn't Moses who gave you bread from heaven but my heavenly Father gave you the True Bread." (verse 32)

"The Bread of God is the one who has come down from heaven and gives life to the world." (verse33)

The crowd not surprisingly replies: "Lord, give us this bread!"

Jesus' Amazing Claim & The Jews' Response

When Jesus says: "I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever puts his/her faith in me will never be thirsty. I have told you all this and you have seen it, but you don't believe " (verse 35), some of the Jews began grumbling about his statement, saying: "Who does he think he is - God or something. We know his father Joseph and his mother."

Jesus told them to stop grumbling and continued: “I tell you the truth, ANYONE WHO BELIEVES (IN ME) HAS ETERNAL LIFE. You see, I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE! Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will not die....... I AM THE LIVING BREAD that has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. This bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.” (verses 48-51)

Footnote:

When satan tried to tempt Jesus in the wilderness to perform a miracle by changing stones into bread, Jesus replied by quoting Scripture: DEUTERONOMY 8:3 :

"Mankind does not live by bread (ie physical food) alone, but by every word (rhema) that proceeds from the mouth of God."