Bread of Life Discourse

The Bread of Life Discourse is a portion of the teaching of Jesus which appears in chapter 6 of John's Gospel (verses 22–59) and was delivered in the synagogue at Capernaum.^[1]

The title "Bread of Life" (Ancient Greek: ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς, artos tēs zōēs) given to Jesus is based on this biblical passage which is set in the gospel shortly after the feeding the multitude episode (in which Jesus feeds a crowd of 5,000 people with five loaves of bread and two fish), after which he walks on the water to the western side of Sea of Galilee and the crowd follow by boat in search of him.^[2]

John's Gospel does not include an account of the blessing of the bread during the Last Supper as in the synoptic gospels e.g. Luke 22:19. Nonetheless, this discourse has often been interpreted as communicating teachings regarding the Eucharist which have been very influential in the Christian tradition.^[3]

^ Thomas L. Brodie (1997). The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological Commentary, p. 266. ISBN 0-19-511811-1
^ Jack Dean Kingsbury, Mark Allan Powell, David R. Bauer (1999). Who Do You Say That I Am?: Essays on Christology, p. 83. ISBN 0-664-25752-6
^ The Eucharist in the New Testament by Jerome Kodell 1988 ISBN 0-8146-5663-3 page 118

[1] Thomas L. Brodie (1997). The Gospel According to John: A Literary and Theological Commentary, p. 266. ISBN 0-19-511811-1

[2] Jack Dean Kingsbury, Mark Allan Powell, David R. Bauer (1999). Who Do You Say That I Am?: Essays on Christology, p. 83. ISBN 0-664-25752-6

[3] The Eucharist in the New Testament by Jerome Kodell 1988 ISBN 0-8146-5663-3 page 118

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