"Bread of life" is the first and arguably the foundational "I am" statement Jesus made. It came immediately after the feeding of the 5,000 (John 6). The crowd, having eaten physical bread from Jesus' hands, followed Him across the Sea of Galilee hoping for more. Jesus saw through their motives: "You seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled" (John 6:26). He then began one of the most radical discourses in all the Gospels. The Israelites in the wilderness had been fed with manna — literal bread from heaven — and yet they all died. Jesus said, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51). The crowd was scandalized. "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" (John 6:52). Jesus doubled down: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). Many of His disciples left that day. The "bread of life" discourse is Christ's most sustained teaching on the necessity of personal union with Him for eternal life. It is also the foundation for the Lord's Supper instituted later at the Last Supper. To eat Christ, in the Johannine sense, is to believe in Him, receive Him, depend on Him, be united with Him. He is not just the giver of life; He is life. There is no spiritual life apart from feeding on Him continually by faith.