John 6:22-35
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life."
If you do a quick search of the NIV you find that bread is mentioned in scripture about 270 times. I would say that an overwhelming number of those references are related to sustenance. The Middle East in those days was and for the most part still is an agrarian society in a harsh arid climate. Food could be scarce for farmers and herders let alone the traveler. Because of the difficulty in finding food during their travels it was customary to offer bread to travelers.
The first reference we have to bread is in Genesis when Melchizedek king of Salem, priest of God Most High, offered bread and wine for Abram and blessed him. To me this is curious because Melchizedek's name means "the king of righteousness" or "my king is righteousness" and Salem or Jerusalem means "peace." Abram gave this priest-king of Jerusalem a tithe of a tenth of everything he owned because he recognized Melchizedek was speaking and acting in behalf of the one true God. We find in Hebrews Jesus identified as a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. There are also other references to Melchizedek in apocryphal writings as well.
I could go out on a limb like some and say Melchizedek was Jesus, but I rather say the priest of God Most High offering bread and wine to Abram, whom was given the promise, is an interesting parallel worth mentioning.
Of course another place where bread is mentioned is in the Old Testament reading where the people wandering in the wilderness grumble about lack of food. God hears their complaints and the prayers of Moses. He provides them with the equivalent of school cafeteria food, manna. By the way manna translates literally to "what is it".
In this reading, we are joining Jesus and the disciples after the feeding of the five thousand and that little thing about walking on water. They have crossed the Sea of Galilee from the northeastern shore near Bethsaida to Capernaum on the northwestern shore.
Jesus had sent the disciples on ahead so the people thought He was still with them near Bethsaida. When the people realized Jesus was no longer with them the next morning they were puzzled because there was only one boat, the one the disciples used to leave the evening before. So the people set out in search of Jesus and they found Him in Capernaum.
At Capernaum Jesus criticized the people because they were seeking Him to fulfill their physical and temporal needs rather than satisfying their spiritual hunger. They weren't prepared for this rebuke from Jesus, and they probably didn't understand it.
Even with the witnessing of miracles, many of the people at Capernaum were still focused on the fulfillment of physical nourishment. Jesus saw that in their hearts it was the earthy needs that attracted them to follow Him not the fulfillment of their spiritual hunger.
The food analogy of Jesus being the bread of life is lost to us because we don't have that daily concern to find sustenance. However, the daily search for food is not what Jesus is talking about. Rather it is a metaphor for the faith relationship in which God saves us. The spiritual hunger can only be satisfied by a personal relationship with Him.
The people press Jesus for a sign. They say, "Moses gave us bread in the wilderness." Their assertion is incorrect, Moses didn't give them bread. God gave them bread in the form of manna each morning after Moses prayed to God on their behalf. Jesus himself broke the loaves and gave them bread on the hillside and made sure that it was enough for all to eat and be satisfied. If that was not a sign that was even greater than that with Moses then no miracle was going to satisfy their demands.
The problem here is they lacked faith. They lacked a relationship with God. They were blinded to Him who is Savior and giver of life itself. Without the faith relationship nothing Jesus does makes sense to the human mind. You can see miracle after miracle and not get it. Blessed are those who don't see and yet believe, said Jesus. That is a far greater thing than the seeing of miracles.
True believers follow Jesus simply because they know he is the truth and his way is the way to live. They truly understand to step aside and let the Spirit do the work. Since we are not perfect, it's difficult for us to completely surrender to Christ. It makes us uncomfortable.
Often we are puzzled about what He wants us to do. Jesus' answer is simple we must believe on Him whom God has sent. Right in the middle of our Gospel reading Jesus has supplied us with the answer to everlasting life. An everlasting life in the midst of God Himself. If we really accept Him then our lives reflect it.
Satisfying God does not come from the work we do, it comes from whom we believe in, Jesus. If we jump back to Genesis 12, we read about the call of Abram. His calling was before any law was established, before any rituals were established. So why did God call Abram? What could Abram have done of his own accord to earn God's favor? All Abram could do is have faith, he trusted God, despite being 75 years old he moved his family from Haran to Canaan as God commanded him to do.
To the best of my knowledge, only Christianity lacks a prescription of personal deeds to enter into heaven. Only faith in the promise that Jesus has made the final sacrifice for us on the cross opens the door to heaven. Not just some superficial faith either, it's a commitment to a personal relationship with Jesus. That means we have to live it.
Relationship building is the model Jesus used to show us how to build the kingdom of believers.
In John 4, we read about the Samaritan women coming to the well to draw water. Jesus used the question "Will you give me a drink?" to open up a dialogue. Water was an opening to develop a relationship with the women so He could share His message of hope and healing with her.
The other important thing Jesus teaches us about relationships is not to be selective in who we initiate relationships with. As the woman herself said Jews didn't associate with Samaritans. Be open to the Spirit's urging when the opportunity is presented. Paul was keenly aware of this fact and encouraged relationship building in his letters. The epistle reading today is focused on the unity of all under one faith and that can't be achieved without relationships.
I ask myself am I building the relationships that open the door for the Holy Spirit. I think that is a good question for all of us to ponder in our daily lives.
In the name of our risen Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
