I Am the Bread of Life

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Out of the mouth of…While singing the song, "I Belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints" in primary one week, I overheard one of my five-year-old students singing the song this way (not knowing she had the words wrong): "I know who I am, I know God's plan, I'll follow him to VEGAS."

One Sunday morning when my daughter Kelly was about 3-4 years old; I was curling her hair in the usual "bob"; she smiled at me and looked straight in my eyes and told me she looked like "George Washington". Surprised, I had no idea she even knew who he was never mind the name, so I asked her, "do you know who he is?" She turned again to look at me as though I were addle brained and very seriously said, "Of course, he was our country's first Stake President!“

We were teaching our junior primary the second Article of Faith. As an introduction, I asked if anyone already knew it (we'd been singing it every now and then). A little boy, about five years old, raised his hand and jumped to his feet and proclaimed, "We believe that men will be punished for their nonsense!"

QuestionDoes the Lord

want us dependent on Him?

As you get older do you find yourself depending on Him more or less?

The Infinite AtonementThe powers of the Atonement do not lie dormant until one sins and then suddenly spring forth to satisfy the needs of the repentant person. Rather, like the forces of gravity, they are everywhere

present, exerting their unseen but powerful influence.

Nephi alluded to the omnipresence of these motivational powers: “He doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. (2 Ne 26:24)

In this sense, the Savior exerts a form of spiritual gravity that draws and entices all men unto him. (Tad Callister, p. 211-212)

The Savior as a Teacher

ParablesObject Lessons

1- First the example, the object2- Then, the lesson

1) The Object (experience)Jesus went over the sea of Galilee…And a great multitude followed him,

because they saw his miraclesAnd Jesus went up into a mountain, and there he sat with his disciples.And the passover, a feast of the Jews, was nigh.When Jesus then lifted up his eyes, and saw a great company come unto him,

he saith unto Philip, Whence shall we buy bread, that these may eat?And this he said to prove him; for he himself knew what he would do.Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for

them, that every one of them may take a little.Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, saith unto him,There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes; but

what are they among so many?And Jesus said, Make the men sit down…So the men sat down, in number

about five thousand.And Jesus took the loaves; and when he had given thanks, he distributed to

the disciples, and the disciples to them that were set down; and likewise of the fishes as much as they would.

When they had eaten and were satisfied, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together, and filled twelve baskets...

QuestionWhy would He

feed the 5000 and raise their expectations?

After they cross the sea2) The Lesson

When the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there…they also took shipping, and came to Capernaum, seeking for Jesus.

And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, how camest thou hither?

Jesus answered them and said, Ye seek me, not because ye desire to keep my sayings, neither because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled.

[They answered] Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Then Jesus said unto them … Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

And they said, Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? how is it then that he saith, I came down from heaven?

[He explains]…I will raise up in the resurrection of the just…Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me….Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

I am that bread of life.This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not

die. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. But I am the living bread which came down from heaven…

Elder Holland:During the Savior’s Galilean ministry, He chided those who had heard of Him feeding the 5,000 with only five barley loaves and two fishes, and now flocked to Him expecting a free lunch. That food, important as it was, was incidental to the real nourishmentHe was trying to give them… (Ensign, Nov. 1997, 65)

QuestionHow do we become

as dependent on Him as we are for our daily bread?

The Contrast…Greatest Love

I decided long ago, never to walk in anyone’s shadows

If I fail, if I succeedAt least I live as I believeNo matter what they take from meThey cant take away my dignity

Because the greatest love of allIs happening to meI found the greatest love of allInside of me

The greatest love of allIs easy to achieveLearning to love yourselfIt is the greatest love of all

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need thee every hour,Most gracious LordNo tender voice like thineCan peace afford

I need thee every hourStay thou near byTemptations lose their powerWhen thou are nigh

I need thee, oh, I need theeEvery hour I need theeOh, bless me now, my SaviorI come unto thee

Mahatma GandhiE. Stanley Jones, a Christian evangelist, once

asked Gandhi as he sat on a cot in an open courtyard of a jail,

“Isn’t your fasting a [kind] of coercion?”‘Yes,’ Gandhi said very slowly, ‘the same kind of

coercion which Jesus exercises upon you from the cross.’

As Jones reflected upon that sobering rejoiner, he said,

I was silent. It was so obviously true that I am silent again everytime I think about it. He was profoundly right.

GhandiCalcutta was a battleground of hate. Gandhi, a Hindu, stayed at a Muslim hom in the heart of the riot district. Some Hindus were incensed at Gandhi’s conciliatory conduct towards the enemy. An attempt on his life failed.

Finally, Gandhi announced a fast to the death unless the foes altered the course. It would be peace for them or death for him. After three days of fasting, the suffering of one revered by an entire nation proved too much for the people to bear. The softening and persuasive powers of his suffering melted “hearts of stone.”

Weapons, from knives to guns, were laid at his feet. Almost overnight the healing occurred.

Lord Mountbatten, on of the military leaders present observed, “What 50,000 well-equipped soldiers could not do, the Mahatma has done, He has brought peace.