The four Gospels are the inspired record of the three years of Jesus’ public ministry. They focus on the last week, with almost one third of the narrative dealing with the last week, from Palm Sunday to Easter. But John’s Gospel is quite unique among the four. It was probably written almost 60 years after the synoptics ((Matthew, Mark, and Luke). It includes far fewer specific events in Jesus’ life, and far more of Jesus’ teaching. In fact, while red letter Bibles are not a particularly good idea, if we were to look at one of those in the Gospel of John, we would find that almost half of the Gospel text is in red!
John’s Gospel gives us much more in the way of doctrinal explanation of Jesus’ person and work: who He is and what He did and why He did it. John only includes seven of Jesus’ many miracles, calling them “signs.” And He includes the seven “I AM” statements that Jesus made. These have been the subject of numerous books explaining their significance, and have also lent themselves to sermon series. Each of them connects Jesus with a huge spiritual need in our lives, showing how He is able to meet that need for those who have placed their trust in Him.
Here are those “I AM” statements.
In John 6, I am the bread of life.
In John 8, I am the light of the world.
In John 10, I am the door (or the gate).
In John 10, I am the good shepherd.
In John 11, I am the resurrection and the life.
In John 14, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
In John 15, I am the true vine.
And, of course, we ought to include the most amazing of all, His statement in John 8:58, Before Abraham was, I am. In that, He was clearly claiming to be the covenant God who spoke those very words to Moses in Exodus 3 at the burning bush.
We come, then, to a wonderful hymn about the first of those “I AM” statements, that Jesus is the bread of life, “Break Thou the Bread of Life.” He spoke that in the context of His having just fed a multitude of 5,000 men the day before. As with all of His miracles (again, which John calls “signs”), liberal skeptics have worked overtime to come up with suggestions to explain away the supernatural. In this instance, some have doubted that anything happened that day; that this was just a myth that later biblical writers blew up all out of proportion. Others proposed that what happened was that Jesus used the boy with his little lunch to shame people into sharing their own lunches that they had been selfishly guarding, hidden in the folds of their clothes. The most absurd is that Jesus planned it all in advance to impress the people. He had the disciple buy a huge quantity of food and hide it in a cave on the hillside behind the spot where he would be teaching. Then at lunch time, while everyone’s head was bowed with eyes closed as He praying for divine blessing, the disciples quickly snuck out the food and had it ready when Jesus said “Amen.”
It’s important to retain confidence in the biblical account that this was actually a miracle. That’s not just because of the larger issue of the truthfulness (inspiration and inerrancy) of the Bible. It’s also because of the meaning of the miracle. It was a sign pointing to the miracle of the new birth and the spiritual food Jesus supplies to the souls of those who, having been born again, now hunger for Jesus to be at the center of their lives. In this regard, we need to recognize that Jesus did not say that He would GIVE bread. No, He said, I AM the bread of life. It’s not that He promises to give the things we think will make our life full … success, wealth, travel, wisdom, influence, health, power. No, He gives us Himself. One preacher recently pointed out the difference this way. He said that nominal Christians find Jesus to be useful, while true Christians find Jesus to be beautiful. It’s not that Jesus will give us treasure, but that He will give us Himself, and that we will discover Him to be our greatest treasure.
How is it that Jesus is bread? He taught us to pray, Give us this day our daily bread. Was He just talking about the bread made from wheat so that we won’t starve physically? Was He using this analogy to refer to the things we need to get through each day, like gasoline for our car and money to pay our bills and wisdom to carry out our work duties? Yes, in part. But as the bread of life, He was talking about our deepest, central need in life, which is a spiritual hunger that only He can satisfy. That was the essence of Augustine’s famous statement in his autobiography, “Confessions, as he wrote, “O Lord, You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.”
Jesus as the bread of life was the subject in the hymn “Break Thou the Bread of Life,” written in 1877 by Mary Artemesia Lathbury (1841-1913). Born in Manchester, New York, She was a person of many talents: a professional artist, a poet, and an author, even illustrating some of her own published poetry. She taught art in Vermont and New York schools, but later transitioned more towards religious work and writing. She was the general editor of materials for the Methodist Sunday School. The daughter of a Methodist minister and sister to two Methodist ministers, she is remembered as the founder of the “Look-Up Legion,” a Methodist Sunday school organization, her work on behalf of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, and her literary activity at the Lake Chautauqua, New York, summer assemblies in western New York.
The Chautauqua Institution, originally the Chautauqua Lake Sunday School Assembly, was founded in 1874 by two Methodists as an educational experiment in out-of-school, vacation learning. The Assembly’s ecumenical spirit and programming was successful and broadened almost immediately beyond courses for Sunday school teachers to include academic subjects, music, art, and physical education. Lathbury was so integral to the Assembly’s life that she was called the “Poet Laureate of Chautauqua.” It continues today as a retreat center in a beautiful lakeside setting with quaint period homes. It is famous for its large concert pipe organ, which is housed in an outdoor open-air (roof only) amphitheater, and which is featured in concerts of many kinds. Lathbury died on October 20, 1913, in East Orange, New Jersey, and was buried at Rosedale Cemetery in the same city.
Chautauqua’s ethos permeates “Break Thou the Bread of Life.” Lathbury composed this originally as a two-stanza hymn on the shores of Lake Chautauqua in 1877 for the Normal Class, the most prominent educational experience at the Assembly at that time for training Sunday school teachers during the summer. Methodist hymnologist Fred Gealy contacted Gladys E. Gray, an amateur historian and Baptist organist and music director from Geneva, New York, concerning the origins of this hymn. She wrote that “Break Thou the Bread of Life” was written as a “study hymn” for the Normal Classes. The Chautauqua movement started for the sole purpose of providing opportunity for Sunday School teachers to come apart and do some intensive studying in the preparation for better work in their local churches. It was included in “The Chautauqua Carols” later that year. This hymn and Lathbury’s “Day Is Dying in the West” were both written in the same year were sung regularly at the Institute’s Sunday evening vesper services for many years. More than sixty of Lathbury’s hymns have appeared in hymnals in the United States in the twentieth century, but these two are by far her most well-known.
Though sung often as a Communion hymn, this is one of the few classic hymns on Christian Scripture. It refers to Jesus as the bread of life on which we feed in the Word of God. “Break Thou the Bread of Life” focuses on the relationship between the Christ found in the “sacred page” and the individual reader of the Bible. Whereas William Walsham How’s hymn on Scripture, “O Word of God Incarnate” (1866), focuses on the relationship of Scripture to the church serving as a “beacon above the darkling world,” Lathbury’s message is that the Christ of the Scripture brings “truth,” breaks the power of “bondage,” and provides “peace” to each person who shares the bread of life.
She initially penned the first two stanzas at the request of Dr. John H. Vincent, a co-founder of the Chautauqua Institution, to accompany a Bible study program there. The lyrics are not merely about physical bread or even the communion meal, but about Christ Himself as the living Word who satisfies the deep hunger of the soul. Lathbury later added more verses as the hymn gained popularity.
The hymn begins with a prayer for Jesus to “break” the bread of life to the singer, just “as once He broke the loaves beside the sea.” This clearly alludes to the miraculous feeding of the 5,000, where Jesus described Himself as the bread of life, and connects it with the spiritual act of Christ feeding the hearts of His people with the truth of His Word. The second stanza continues with a request for understanding and guidance, asking Jesus to bless His truth and make it clear to the listener.
Mary Lathbury’s hymn has endured in hymnals and worship settings for almost 150 years. It remains one of the most gentle and beautiful prayers for divine revelation and spiritual depth. Its scriptural foundation and poetic expression have made it beloved among Christians of many traditions. “Break Thou the Bread of Life” reminds believers that true life is found not in earthly sustenance, but in the words and presence of Jesus Christ. It encourages a spirit of humility before the Scriptures, a desire for communion with Christ, and a trust in Him as the sustainer of the soul. Just as physical bread nourishes the body, Christ, the Bread of Life, nourishes and sustains the spirit, leading us into eternal truth and satisfaction.
Once again, we have a hymn text that is not “about” the Lord. It is addressed “to” the Lord. It’s likely that the Lord’s presence in our worship is one of the things that is too often missed. We give lip service to the idea, but may fail to experience the reality of it. How different might our singing be if we really believed that Jesus was present as we sing to Him. Or more accurately, according to Hebrews 2:12 if we were conscious of the fact that He is with us, singing the praises of the Father. And so here in Lathbury’s hymn, we are not expressing a vague hope to no one in particular, but are actually making our request that the bread of life, who is right there, would feed us.
Stanza 1 identifies the bread of life not only with Jesus, but also with the Scriptures, as the way we feed on Him. We experience that in our lives when we read God’s Word and find that it is indeed living and active (Hebrews 4:12). In words reminiscent of Psalm 42, we pant for the Lord Himself, “beyond the sacred page.”
Break Thou the Bread of Life,
Dear Lord, to me,
As Thou didst break the loaves
Beside the sea;
Beyond the sacred page
I seek Thee, Lord;
My spirit pants for Thee,
O Living Word.
Stanza 2 asks the Lord to bless the truth that we find in this living bread, this living Word of God. What a wonderful comparison as we long to find its effectiveness increased so enormously, so that just as Jesus’ blessing increased one little lunch to become enough food to feed 5,000 men, that even so might His blessing increase these divine truths to remove bondage and bring peace. And her final phrase is what we find in Dennis Jernigan’s song “You Are My All in All” (2000).
Bless Thou the truth, dear Lord,
To me, to me,
As Thou didst bless the bread
By Galilee;
Then shall all bondage cease,
All fetters fall,
And I shall find my peace,
My All in all.
Stanza 3 more specifically names Jesus as that bread of life of which He spoke in John 6. In the first half, we identify Him as the bread which has saved us. In the second half, we offer two verbs: “give me to eat” and “teach me to love.” This way we acknowledge that this bread of life will have a significant effect in our lives. We won’t be the same after we have eaten.
Thou art the Bread of Life,
O Lord, to me,
Thy holy Word the truth
That saveth me;
Give me to eat and live
With Thee above;
Teach me to love Thy truth,
For Thou art Love.
Stanza 4 concludes by asking Jesus to make Himself as this bread of life effective, by the work of the Holy Spirit whom He promised to send, so that we might see these divine truths “in Thy Book revealed,” which we would otherwise not be able to see. As Jesus touched the eyes of the blind in Israel, may His Holy Spirit touch our eyes as we come to feed on Him by faith.
Oh, send Thy Spirit, Lord,
Now unto me,
That He may touch my eyes,
And make me see;
Show me the truth concealed
Within Thy Word,
And in Thy Book revealed
I see the Lord.
William Fisk Sherwin (1826-1888) an American Baptist, was born at Buckland, Massachusetts. His educational opportunities, so far as schools were concerned, were few, but he made excellent use of his time and surroundings. At fifteen he went to Boston and studied music under Lowell Mason, famous for his many hymn tunes. In due course Sherwin became a teacher of vocal music, and held several important appointments in Massachusetts; in Hudson and Albany, New York County, and then in New York City. Taking special interest in Sunday Schools, he composed carols and hymn-tunes largely for their use, and was associated with Robert Lowry and others in preparing “Bright Jewels,” and other popular Sunday School hymn and tune books. A few of his melodies are known in Great Britain through Ira Sankey’s “Sacred Songs and Solos.” He composed the music for Lathbury’s hymn the same year that she wrote the lyrics to the first two stanzas. It carries the tune name BREAD OF LIFE.
Here is a link to the hymn being sung in London’s Metropolitan Tabernacle.
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