Christ's self-designation in John 6: I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger (v. 35). The discourse builds on three threads. First, the manna in the wilderness (Ex 16) — bread given from heaven, daily, to a redeemed people who had no other means of life. Second, Christ's own multiplication of the loaves (John 6:1-14), the sign that occasions the discourse. Third, the Eucharistic foreshadow: except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you (John 6:53). The bread of life is not metaphor for moral inspiration; it is Christ Himself, given for the world's eating, and apart from feeding on Him there is no life.