The 11th Sunday after Pentecost 2024
Texts: John 6:24-35
Last week we heard the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with 5 barley loaves and 2 fish. This lesson today is what happens next.
Jesus and the disciples left the area and they went back to the other side of the sea. Yet, the crowd continued to follow them. We have to remember this was the same crowd that had initially gathered around Jesus because they were seeking healing for their friends and family.
What comes next is a strange conversation that shows many in the crowd were still very confused by Jesus. It kind of reminds me of that famous routine by Abbott and Costello, “Who’s on first, What’s on second, and I don’t know who’s on third.”
When the crowd found Jesus again someone asked a strange question, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus knows that some in the crowd are looking for food again.
He tells them “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.” Though Jesus has healed and fed them, what he has come to give people is much more important. It ultimately has to do with the salvation of their souls.
Too often in outreach ministry we are reluctant to pray with people or tell them about Jesus. People come to us with a particular need, as they did come to Jesus in need of healing and then hunger, but their need is for something deeper than they realize.
The people may have come to Jesus looking for bread, but he has wisdom to give them. This is the food that endures. So, the people then ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Yet, another strange question.
When it comes to having faith in Jesus it is God who does the work. Our good works do not save us. Jesus is speaking to his fellow Jews who would have known about the 10 commandments and following the law of Moses. Trying to keep the law had become pointless work for many. It had become separated from the trust in God that keeping the law was intended to engender. This can become a problem for us too. We are so busy doing good works that we forget why we are doing them.
The work that God has done is the sending of his son, who is the embodiment of God’s own truth and love. Here Jesus is teaching them to seek for something more than the food that perishes. Accepting Jesus as God’s Son, their long-awaited Messiah, does not take human effort. Jesus has taught them that no one can come to him unless they are drawn by the Father. This is the work of the Holy Spirit in particular. It’s a gift given to us. We yield to the prompting of the Holy Spirit—or as with many, we fight against it. It takes much more energy to fight against God than to accept Him. This is what the culture presses us to do—to deny the truth and love of God.
The crowd then asks another question that reveals they still do not understand what Jesus is talking about. “What sign are you going to give us, so that we may see it and believe?” The feeding of the 5,000 wasn’t enough? The healing of the sick wasn’t enough? What more signs did they need?
God draws us to him, but he is not going to force us to believe. We must understand who God is and come to him willingly. He created us with free will. We can accept or reject God.
Then, someone in the crowd tells Jesus that their ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, and that it was bread that had come from heaven. It’s from Psalm 78. Jesus tells them that the bread which comes from heaven is from his father, and this is what gives life to the whole world. The bread from heaven is truth. Truth brings life, it gives wisdom, it is a sacrament of wisdom that brings us to thank God for everything. Gratitude to God is a sign of wisdom in a person.
Finally, the people understand, and they say to Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” They understand their true need for God. Jesus had been very patient with their strange questions, and the people in the crowd had been persistent in asking questions. They were drawn to Jesus by their physical needs, but had now become aware of all that God wants to give them.
What God wants us to have is truly glorious. He imparts his own glory to the believer who trusts him with their whole heart. We see this in to many of our own parishioners, usually older people, who have lived full lives, serving God, raising a family, praying, trusting in God’s promises, forgiving those who have hurt them. There is a certain light in their eyes. One of the greatest joys I’ve had through the years of ministry is seeing this glory in people like Field Butterworth, and Glen Kirk, and Sally Davis. We often associate wisdom with older people for a reason. At the end of a long, often confusing conversation with God, they have come to accept and to truly know God in the depth of their heart.
The bread we need in this life is Jesus, his teaching, his presence. He is the embodiment of the wisdom of God. He has given us his body and blood so he can be with us. We have this in the Holy Eucharist. After we receive his body and blood today, please take the time to consider all that God wants us to have—not just food for the body, but that good food for the soul that feeds our deepest longing even in this life. Amen.
