About a man who ate his cello

Bread of Life, 2019

20x10 inch

Acrylic on Canvas

This artwork is titled Bread of Life, taken from John 6:48, where Jesus says

"I am the bread of life."

You might be wondering, if this artwork is reflecting John 6:48, where's the bread?

Before I go into the details, I want to talk about a man who ate his cello.

I was attending a musician's conference one day, and our guest speaker was one of the world-known cellists. Everyone was excited to directly ask him a question. 

One of the attendees raised his hand and said,

"How can we play our instrument more musically?"

To that, he said,

"You must eat your cello."

The audience bursted into laughter, some confused, some rolling their eyes.

I thought it was quite profound. I think what he meant is that we must be ONE with the instrument. We'll be acquainted with every part of the instrument, perform with great accuracy and preciseness, playing with every part of our soulful being, not just with our hands.

But Jesus said something more shocking. 

So Jesus said to them,

“Truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,

you do not have life in yourselves.  

The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life,

and I will raise him up on the last day, 

because my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.  

The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

John 6:53-56 (CSB)

I love how Jesus always used something ordinary (like bread) to explain to us simply, yet with depth. He is not asking us to take it literally and be a vampire. He is giving us the answer to our thirst and hunger of the deepest yearning of our soul. 

 “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them.

“No one who comes to me will ever be hungry,

and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.

For this is the will of my Father:

that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him will have eternal life,

and I will raise him up on the last day.”

John 6:35-40 (CSB)

Because Jesus is the bread of life, we are in Him and He is in us. There's nowhere in the world that He is not WITH us. 

We may not visibly see the BREAD, but He is all around us and within us. 

We may not visibly see Jesus face to face just yet, but He is all around us and within us. 

This is the core of what I yearned to express through this artwork, Bread of Life.

Whether 2024 was off to a great start or a painful start, may we be reminded each day that we are not left alone like an orphan. As we come to Him, there’s no hunger/thirst that He cannot satisfy only if we only come to Him and place our trust in Him. 

Keiko Iris Yamada

Music Director at Vine International Fellowship

Scripture quotations marked CSB have been taken from the Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible® and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.