Sermon: 08 - 02 -09
Psalm 78:1-4 & 23-25 John 6:24-35 & 41-51
Bread of Life?
PRAYER
Have you noticed how people were fascinated by Jesus? His preaching, teaching, and miracles, it seemed as if the people couldn’t get enough of him. The day after the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand, the crowds wanted to take Jesus by force to make him king, but he withdrewagain to the mountain by himself.
The crowds saw Jesus and his disciples crossing to the other side of the sea and they went to find him in
Don’t become preoccupied with the food that still leaves you hungry, but with the food that endures for eternal life.’ Jesus is not ignoring the physical need of the people. After all, he has just fed five thousand with all they could eat. At the same time, life is more than eating, and until the crowds understand that, they will not grasp who Jesus really is and what he is about.” (Brueggemann, Text for Teaching, Year B, pg. 455)
Why are we following Jesus?
Are we looking for him for all the wrong reasons?
Are we seeing Jesus as our food supplier?
Sounds like a good idea if we don’t have to work for our food?
Are we grasping the miracles of Jesus as provision only in the physical sense or are we grasping the essence of who Jesus really is and what he is about? “Jesus miracles are extraordinary deeds that rectify the situations of needy people, the sick, the hungry, the dying. But the results are not lasting unless the miracles are perceived as signs pointing to the eternal gift of God in Jesus. The crowds’ preoccupation with the benefits of the temporary, have moved from perceiving what really matters. Do they not mirror many modern people who endlessly pursue satisfactions…” (idem) that gives not enough sustenance, remedy or fulfillment?
What must we do to perform the works of God? John 6:28b
“Instead of doing “works,” the crowds are directed to “believe” in Jesus as the one sent by God… Sound like a simple answer…: Trust in God’s special agent, have faith in what he says and in what he shows himself to be. And yet, the answer is not as simple at all, for if we keep reading the chapter, the disciples find themselves having difficulty understanding.” (idem) Jesus said to them: “It is the spirit that gives life (and understanding).The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” John 6:63).
“The miracle that really matters is the miracle of faith, when God breaks through the misconceptions we have held about life… The crowds in pursuit of understanding asked Jesus: “What signs are you going to give us then so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you going to perform?
These questions seems like a strange request in light of the miracle of the resent feeding of the multitude…the crowds seem to want Jesus to do it again, to be their source for physical food. They compare the feeding to the manna their ancestors ate in the wilderness, which came daily… so they quote a text from the law: “God gave them bread from heaven to eat.” (idem)
In other words, if you are one with God, are you not going to continue giving as bread daily “Jesus immediately offers a reinterpretation of the text. Let’s be clear “…it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven… but it is my Father who gives freely and without limit. The true bread from heaven is not manna, but Jesus himself. They wanted physical bread. Jesus answered by saying: “I am the bread of life.”
We move then to a reactive response from “the Jews,” on v.41-51
What are the implications of making such claim? I am the bread of Life. 6:48
Following the tradition of their ancestors, the Jews complained at the exodus, and are complaining here about the assertion that Jesus is the bread from heaven. They ask: (Who is this man?) How can a person whose name and address are well documented claim to be from a heavenly origin.
They could not be open to the divine claim of Jesus, instead they are using common-sense logic, blocking their understanding and keeping them from the knowledge that really matters.
Jesus answers the “complaint” of the authorities with a simple command not to complain. (Jesus doesn’t argue)… there is no way to argue with accepting that Jesus comes from above.
Coming to and believing in Jesus is an invitation made, but at the same time “No one can come to Jesus unless drawn by the Father…” 6:44
Another role of the Father is found in the text of Isaiah, a praise song to the everlasting covenant of peace declaring that “they all shall be taught by God.” Isa. 54:13. God not only attracts but also instructs people in the divine intentions for the world, an instruction that leads to faith in Jesus…
On the one hand, invitations are given to which humans can respond. On the other hand, those who respond are drawn by divine power, for nothing else can produce faith… belief in Jesus is the work of God. 6:29.
This text also gives a new and critical dimension to the symbol of the “bread” (in Christ). The bread from heaven is identified with the “flesh” of Jesus given (for you, for the spiritual life and salvation) of the world. The bread as of heavenly origin is specific and historically an expression of the crucified Jesus, (broken for you). In contrast with the crowds interpretation and misunderstanding that the feeding proposed by Jesus is by no means a free lunch but a costly giving up of life in order to find life.” (idem, 464).
We see then, “…the underscored difficulties of faith, the intellectual, cultural, and even religious barriers that stand in the way of believing. The barriers are both ancient and modern. But the difficulties are overcome by grace, by the “work of God” that makes faith possible.” (idem, 456). Amen!
BENEDICTION
Let us give thanks to God for the bread,
For the spiritual bread that feeds each one of us,
And also for freshly made oven baked bread. Amen.
