Say Goodbye to FORO: Jesus Has You Covered
One of the best things about Jesus is how he deals with our fears—including the fear of deprivation or scarcity, aka FORO (fear of running out). Remember the start of the 2020 COVID lockdown? Bread was flying off the shelves faster than you could say the Hamotzi! In those early moments of panic, there was little to no rice, dried beans, canned meats—or other items you’d want in a crisis—to be had.
Even worse was the loss of social proximity that left so many of us feeling isolated and bereft. Gone were the gatherings we once took for granted. Being forced to do life “remotely” made many of us realize how hungry we are for connection. It’s scary to know just how quickly the things we need can be ripped away from us.
Yet Jesus promised that his followers could be sure that all their needs would be met. He addressed the “fear of running out” in his famous statement:
I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. (John 6:35)
Granted, the image of Jesus as a life-sized loaf of bread is weird, but when you consider the context, a different image emerges. His Bread of Life statement reflects biblical themes that are dotted throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. They would have been well known to many of his listeners, as the conversation took place in a synagogue.1 And if you can see how those themes come together in Jesus, what he’s offering isn’t weird at all—it’s actually wonderful!
The Blessing of Bread
To Jesus’ listeners, “bread” (lechem) was much more than a tasty way to scoop up hummus.2 Bread was a synonym for food in general, often associated with God’s blessing and provision.3 They also would have known that the first mention of bread in the Bible was rather dark. You might recognize it from God’s speech after Eve and Adam ate the forbidden fruit:
By the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
and to dust you shall return. (Genesis 3:19)
It’s disconcerting that the first thing the Bible tells us about bread is that it’s about to become very hard to get.
The Cycle of Scarcity
From the Garden of Eden on, we see a clear pattern. Humanity never fully trusted God, despite all he did for us. As Genesis progresses, we see God choosing specific couples whose descendants would eventually be the people of Israel—a people of promise and destiny who would show the other nations the way to God. But we repeated the same bad choices: looking for something or someone other than God to make us feel happy and secure.
In biblical language, we “ran after idols.” In modern terms, we basically cheated on God. We forgot what he did for us and what we promised him,4 and gave our love and loyalty to false gods and earthly sources of power. And to put it mildly, that did not work out well for us.
God sent prophets to warn us about the dangers of our choices. Ultimately, we did not listen, and we faced the consequences. But God still loved us so much that he also sent promises of restoration:
“Come, everyone who thirsts,
come to the waters;
and he who has no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without price.
…Incline your ear, and come to me;
hear, that your soul may live (Isaiah 55: 1, 3)
Embedded in this incredible offer, God gently challenges his people to reflect on the futility of trying to meet their needs apart from him:
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? (Isaiah 55:2)
It’s a timeless question that still challenges us to consider who or what can really meet our needs.
Which brings us back to Jesus’ claim that day in the synagogue.
Jesus Is the Bread of Life
The previous day, Jesus had miraculously fed a crowd of thousands with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Afterward, he quietly slipped away to his home base in Capernaum. The next day, some of the people who’d been fed by his miracle went there to find him.
Jesus knew the people had followed him because of the miracle, but he wanted to give them much more than a free lunch. So he tells them, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man5 will give you.”6
As the people try to work out what he means and whether he really can provide eternal life, they ask for a sign. Perhaps this time it could come down from heaven:
So, they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30–31)
The people’s reference to manna is a perfect setup for Jesus to explain himself. He starts by saying that God has sent something greater than manna: the “true bread from heaven” who “gives life to the world.”7 So, they ask him to give them that bread. That’s when Jesus basically says, “It’s me.”8
Then he continues, “The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” And he concludes, “Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”9
Disgusting or Divine?
The idea of feeding on Jesus for eternal life sounds gross! It’s not surprising that some people were disgusted and offended by it. And yet they might have responded differently if they’d connected a couple more dots from the Hebrew Scriptures.
In one of King David’s most famous psalms, Psalm 34, he invites us to “taste and see that the Lord is good.”10 In Psalm 63, David compares the joy of worshiping God to being satisfied with rich food.11 Until you experience this level of satisfaction with God, it’s almost embarrassing to read how much David loved and trusted God. And yet that’s the level of joy and intimacy we were meant to experience with God.
Which is why Jesus doesn’t suggest we try just a little taste of him; he presents himself as the whole enchilada …. or maybe the whole challah.
Jesus uses an edible metaphor because he wants us to take in what he came to do for us: to digest it, internalize it, and be different because of it.
He repeats this imagery during his last Passover seder with his disciples. He picks up the unleavened bread and says, “Take, eat; this is my body”12 Then he takes it a step further; after he gives thanks for the wine, he says, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”13 Another gospel account quotes him as saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”14
This is a direct reference to the new covenant promised in the Hebrew Scriptures, through the prophet Jeremiah.15 A day will come, the prophecy says, when our understanding of God and what he wants will come from deep within—from our very hearts. This new covenant provides ultimate connection. Not only will we feel it’s perfectly reasonable to trust and obey God, but it will make us genuinely happy to return his love with all that’s within us, and to love our neighbor as ourselves.
When we come alive to God that way, it changes us profoundly here and now . . . but it also paves our way to eternity. Nothing and no one can disrupt the connection we have with God through Jesus—and there is no way we will ever run out of the endless life and love that he provides!
For reflection:
Do you know what your soul is hungry for? Where do you go to be filled?
- Not sure, but I’m exploring possibilities.
- I’m hungry to know more about God’s love for me …. even if it ends up pointing me to Jesus.
- Take out from “Falafel King,” anyone?
Endnotes
1 John 6:59.
2 For those who wonder, hummus as we know it probably did not exist back then, but its chunkier precursor, mashed chickpeas, did.
3 https://www.kfar-kedem.com/biblical-bread-significance.
5 Jesus frequently used the title Son of Man to describe himself. Find out why here: https://jewsforjesus.org/messianic-prophecies/the-messiah-would-be-the-son-of-man.
10 Psalm 34:8 in the English Bible; 34:9 in Hebrew.
15 Find out more about Jesus and the new covenant spoken of in Jeremiah 3:31–34: https://jewsforjesus.org/learn/jesus-shocking-announcement-at-passover.
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