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John 6:24-35
I invite you to open your folders or your Bibles and turn to our Gospel lesson for today, John chapter 6, as we consider what we are to learn from Jesus’ teaching that he is the Bread of Life from Heaven.
The word bread can have a lot of different meanings. At one time it was a slang word for money. It’s a word that is used by Jesus to mean basic necessities, as he teaches us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Give us this day our daily bread.” And, Jesus calls himself The Bread of Life to remind the people that he is our basic spiritual necessity. With him we live. Without him we starve spiritually and eventually die eternally.
The day before Jesus called himself the bread of life he had gone with his disciples to an unpopulated place across the lake from Capernaum so that they could get some needed rest away from the crowds. But, the people had figured out where they were going and were waiting for them when they arrived. Jesus didn’t send them away and say, “I can’t deal with you today, I’m on vacation.” His heart went out to them and he spent hours teaching them. It was getting later in the day and Jesus was concerned about their physical welfare too. If they tried to travel back home without a meal they might faint along the way, so he fed them, all 5000 men, plus the women and children, with a few loaves of bread and two fish, and there were twelve basketfuls of leftovers after everyone had eaten all they could.
During the night the disciples had struggled to cross the lake back to Capernaum until Jesus came to them walking on the water. In the morning some of the people realized that, although the disciples left without Jesus, and they had taken the only boat that was there at the time, he was no long there. When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats (that had arrived that morning) and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
That sounds great, doesn’t it? People were looking for Jesus. They wanted to be near him. They wanted to listen to him. They wanted to find out how he had crossed the lake when the disciples had left with the only boat. How wonderful that they were so interested in Jesus! But it turns out that it wasn’t so wonderful because they were interested in Jesus for the wrong reason.
Jesus knew their hearts and he calls them out: “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
Jesus knew the real reason they were looking for him. He knew that they wanted to make him king, and the reason they wanted to make him king was so that he would continue to provide them with free food. That becomes clear when they suggest that he be like Moses through whom God had provided all of Israel with Manna for forty years.
We are tempted to think, “how foolish. At least we know better than that.” But sometimes we fall into a similar temptation. We are tempted to look for Jesus, to be active in the church, to do the right things, because we think that then our lives on earth will be better. We are tempted to think that if we hang out with Jesus then we will always have plenty of “bread”, food and money. We are tempted to see Jesus as the one who grants our wishes for an easy, pleasurable life one earth. But Jesus calls out anyone who looks at him that way. He reminds us that we are not to focus on earthly things that spoil, but on the things that last forever. He reminds us that’s what he came to do, to give us food that endures to eternal life. And we can be sure that he is telling us the truth because the Father has given his approval. He did that audibly at his Baptism when he declared that Jesus was the son he loves, and every miracle was a sign of the Father’s approval, as Nicodemus recognized when he said that no one could do the miracles Jesus was doing unless the Father was with him.
The crowd seems to get that Jesus wants to talk about spiritual things, so they ask him what they think is a spiritual question. What should we do to carry out the works of God? What do we have to do to get into God’s good graces and have eternal life?
Of course, their question revealed that they were still in unbelief. The natural unbelief of mankind always thinks that we have to do something to get into God’s good graces before we can have any hope of eternal life. That thought still lurks in your heart, even though you may know better. It rears its ugly head when something bad happens in our lives and we say, “what did I do to deserve this,” which implies that you thought you had done something for God to deserve better.
Behold the loving patience of Jesus. After hours of teaching the day before, and after his warning about seeking things that spoil, they still don’t get it. But he continues to patiently instruct them. Often we don’t get it. But he continues to patiently instruct us. He says, This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent. He keeps pointing them, and us, back to himself. He keeps reminding them, and us, that even believing is God’s work in us. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit working in us that we can believe that God exists, that he loves us and sent his only perfect son to save us. No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.
Surely they got it now, right? Surely they saw that Jesus was the one the Father sent, the promised Messiah. Surely they believed and gave up their desire to have him serve as their earthly king who would make sure they always had plenty of food to eat. Unfortunately not.
It’s good to remember that Jesus himself, the perfect teacher, is the one who is teaching them, and they still don’t get it. It’s a good reminder for us not to get discouraged. If, when Jesus taught, not everyone immediately believed and praised him as their savior; we shouldn’t be surprised if, when we tell people that Jesus is their savior, we don’t see immediate conversions.
The people showed what was still governing their hearts. They asked Jesus to perform a sign, a miracle that would prove to them that he was the one the Father sent. Apparently feeding 5000 with five loaves of bread and two fish wasn’t enough of a sign for them. In fact, they suggested what might do it for them. If only Jesus would be like Moses and not just feed them one miraculous meal, but provide all the food they needed for forty years, or as long as they thought they needed it. Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’
Again, Jesus demonstrates great patience with them. What a good reminder that is when we realize that we have been focusing too much on the things that spoil, when we have allowed ourselves to be distracted by earthly things, by our busy lives, and failed to focus on Jesus and eternal life. Jesus is patient with us too. He reminds us that he always overcame that temptation for us. He reminds us that he went to the cross to pay for our lack of focus on him and eternal life. He patiently works to bring our attention back to him where it belongs.
Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” “Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!” “I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.”
Don’t get too excited about Manna. God gave manna to Israel, and it was wonderful, but those who ate it still died. God still gives us daily bread, but no matter how much daily bread we have, it won’t, it can’t give eternal life. But there is bread from heaven that’s better than manna. It’s not food for the stomach, but food for the soul. It’s not just for Israel, but for the world! If you eat this bread you will never be hungry. Who wouldn’t want such bread? Where is it? How can we get it?
Jesus said, I am the Bread of Life. You get it through faith, by believing in me.
Jesus said that those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, not for earthly food and drink, are blessed. Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness? Do you have a hunger to be right with God? Have you tried to satisfy that hunger by trying to be a good person, by pretending to be religious, by trying to make up for your sins? That doesn’t work because you can never make yourself right with God by anything you do. You will always fall short and your hunger will continue to gnaw at you. The only thing that will satisfy your hunger, your desire to be right with God, is the Bread of Life, Jesus. He was not only perfectly righteous in your place, but he paid for your unrighteousness on the cross. He now comes to you, as he did the crowds in Capernaum, and says, “come to me, believe that I am the one who came down from heaven, that I am the only one who can satisfy your hunger. Believe that I Am The Bread Of Life, the Son of God who has life, and who wants to give you eternal life for free.
Unfortunately there are many today who are like the crowds who came to Jesus looking for the wrong thing. We are constantly tempted to join them and to look to Jesus only, or primarily, for what he can do for us right now. Listen to Jesus’ warning. Don’t look to him for food that spoils, but for what lasts for all eternity. He is the Bread of Life! Come to him. Believe that he is the Son of God, your savior. Let him feed your soul every day by feasting on his word, and you will see that your daily bead is provided as well, for he has promised, seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all these things will be given to you as well.
