His pretending's real

"I am the bread that came down from heaven," Jesus said. The people answered, "You're a person, and you're from this town, not heaven!" But Jesus said, "I am the bread of life. People who believe in me will follow my Father and live forever with God in heaven."

Doesn't it bug you when you're playing, and the people around you won't play along? "I'm a butterfly," you whisper, flapping a blanket draped over your arms like beautiful butterfly wings -- and someone just has to say, "No, you're not. You're a kid."

Some people have no imagination! You know that for that moment when you're pretending, you are a butterfly. You can feel what it must be like to be silent and pretty, flying from flower to flower on big wings.

Jesus went through the same thing as you, and He didn't even have to pretend. In this week's Gospel (John 6:41-51), He tells everyone, "I am the bread of life" -- and no one believes Him!

Even though you don't want someone to ruin it, you know you're just playing at being a butterfly. For Jesus, saying "I am the bread of life" was real. He could nourish people with words about God just like food; and by getting that food, people could live forever in heaven.

Sometimes, when people say they're something else, they mean they feel like that thing. If you're really happy, you might say, "I'm a bird!" Your happiness makes you feel like you can fly.

Jesus' work teaching people about God made Him feel like bread, like food. But we really see Him as bread all the time: Whenever we go to Communion at church, Jesus is there.

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