In the Gospel of John this week, the crowd is once again looking for Jesus. This time they have hiked around the lake to the other side. The new location is going to provide a new context for the interpretation of the previous text: the multiplication of the loaves and fishes. The crowd is still trying to understand what happened and to make sense of it. 

In today’s text, we witness first the crowd, then the disciples trying to understand Jesus by using the tools their religion has given them: the evidence of miracles, tradition and scripture. Yet none of these tools is adequate to explain to them who Jesus is, because he can’t be fully explained, only experienced. 

The crowd is looking for miracles, but John shows us that miracles don’t necessarily produce faith in those who witness them and often result in confusion and division. The Gospel of John doesn’t use the word “miracles” but refers to these works of Jesus as “signs”, symbolic markers pointing towards a bigger truth. Last week’s Gospel about the multiplication of the loaves and fishes was such a “sign,” preparing the way for Jesus to talk about himself in ways that are both puzzling and challenging, not only to the crowd and the disciples, but to us hearing them today. 

The crowds who are following Jesus just don’t “get it”; even his disciples who are with him all the time, don’t “get it”. We know that Jesus attracted great numbers, but John tells us not to attach too much importance to the numbers. Many are attracted to Jesus because of his great works and it doesn’t go much deeper than that. They didn’t get it when Jesus spoke to Nicodemus about being born again or when he told the Samaritan woman that he would give her living water. When Jesus says “I am the bread of life,” they immediately think of physical food. When Jesus feeds them with the loaves and fishes, they want to make him into a worldly king. They just don’t get it. Their “faith” is in their idea of a savior. By rejecting their attempt to make him a king, Jesus is reshaping their understanding of kingdom just as he has been reshaping their understanding of temple, birth, water, and life.  

There are things that make life possible and there are things that make life worth living. Food and water and shelter make human existence possible, but what makes life sweet and beautiful and rich? Today’s text holds some clues. Why did the crowd follow Jesus to the other side of the lake? Were they hungry for more of the food that Jesus had given them the day before? I suspect many of them were. Were they puzzled about the way Jesus had produced such an abundance of food and curious to see if he would do something like that again?  I’m sure many of them were. However, I believe that at least some of the people may have followed him for another reason. 

Perhaps they wanted to go deeper, the ones who sensed a hunger in their souls that no earthly food could satisfy. Perhaps they had a sense that somehow, Jesus could fill this hunger in some mysterious way. 

Puzzled, because Jesus began to speak about bread metaphorically, some are still focused on physical sustenance. They ask for something like what their ancestors experienced when God used Moses to liberate them from slavery. When their ancestors were travelling through the wilderness, God provided them with manna. When they were stumbling around in a dry, rocky wilderness wondering if they would have another meal, God provided what they needed to survive and the energy to keep moving forward.  

Now, 1200 years later in the time of Jesus, the people see him as the new Moses and look to him to provide them with food. But Jesus offers more than Moses was able to offer, he offers them food for their souls. Jesus says “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.”  He is teaching them to seek spiritual food which will feed their spiritual hunger. 

Bread is a fundamental food in every culture, so in describing himself as bread, Jesus is telling us that he is essential and central to our spiritual well-being. Jesus wants his followers to think about him in a way that is spiritually comparable to eating a piece of bread. He invites us to chew on his teachings and ministry. He wants his wisdom and action not to remain outside of us but to be something that enters into our mind, our heart, and our soul, so that Jesus becomes a part of who we are. 

As flour and yeast mixed with water, kneaded into dough, and baked into a loaf of bread can satisfy our physical hunger, Jesus, the bread of life, can satisfy our deepest yearnings. If you are anxious, the bread of life can produce in you a calm serenity; if you carry a burden of guilt, the bread of life can ensure a liberating forgiveness; if you are weighed down by sadness, you can recover a spirit of joy; if you feel empty, you can find a sense of purpose; if you fear death, you can receive hope of eternal life.  

Your presence in worship demonstrates that you get it. You understand that we are more than physical creatures. We are also spiritual beings. You know that despite our culture’s constant clamoring about the importance of possessions, power, and prestige, none of these is capable of satisfying the deepest hunger of our souls. Abundant life comes from the one who is the bread of life. Will you trust Jesus? Will you pursue him? Will you embrace him? If you do, he will penetrate your mind, heart and soul, and bring about beautiful changes within you. Joy will take root, kindness will become second nature, hope will brighten your outlook, empathy will revise your thinking, passion for justice will guide you, and love will bless you.  

In worship, in contemplation of scripture, in prayer, in music, in sharing God’s love with others, in celebrating the Lord’s Supper, you can taste and see that Jesus, the bread of life will satisfy your deepest hunger.  Amen.

 

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Faith in Formation