John 6:25-35
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’
Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
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When I was a child, I remember the time when my parents got a new kitchen. I was very excited. The old one was on its ‘last legs,' so to speak, and it was definitely time for something new. So, they had a new kitchen fitted, and they’ve probably had that one for about almost thirty years. There are tiles on the wall of this kitchen, and they were quite a nice yellowy beige colours that merge and blend into each other. Now, for years I saw these tiles, and they all looked the same to me. I never thought anything of it. Then one day in my twenties, (so, bear in mind that by this point they had probably had the kitchen for about twenty years) I saw that every few tiles, there were little images of kitchen implements on them; whisks, bowls, all kinds of things. I was completely blindsided. I had missed something that was staring me in the face. I had to ask my parents, ‘were there always those tiles there with the pictures on?’ and they said yes; they were surprised that I had never seen them. How could I have missed that; how could I have missed something staring right in front of me for so long?
Now, maybe this says more about my observation skills than anything else, but maybe not. Maybe it was my familiarity with them. there’s that saying isn’t there, ‘familiarity breeds contempt…’
People don’t like Christianity these days. Around 1% of the population go to an Anglican church on Sundays. and one of the reasons why I think this is because of our familiarity with it. we look at our own culture, our buildings, our laws, our religious history and practices with distain as if it were backwards, forgetting it’s source; forgetting where it comes from.
We are so familiar with these stories from the bible. We grow up hearing about them from our teachers, they have had a formative influence on our culture for the past two thousand years. And because they’re right there in front of us. we can’t see the wood from the trees, we can’t see what is being said, and what is at stake.
I grew up with the parables of Jesus, saying my prayers, learning the sayings of Jesus, the sermon on the mount. Yet for me, it was just words. I attended church for years; it was in my head, and I thought I knew it, but I missed the key ingredient. And so, rather than really looking and finding it, I thought I needed to look elsewhere for spiritual fulfilment. I thought I needed something new, but gradually I learned that what I was looking for was there all along.
“I am the ‘bread of life!’ says Jesus, ‘Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
What does that mean? It means that all our longing, all of our striving, all of our wants, and desires, ultimately find their fulfilment in him, and him alone. Faith in him is the spiritual bread that never runs out. Eat this bread, and you will never hunger for any other ever again.
How did I miss this reality, how have so many forgotten; how have we forgotten that Is in Jesus that we are fulfilled, that our striving for possessions, for money, for wealth for power won’t get us anywhere, that kind of food tastes sweet for a time; but quickly becomes ash in our mouths, bitter to taste and offering no sustenance at all.
"Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’"
Today we have brought food to church for harvest. And it’s wonderful that so much has been brought. We all know that we need food to eat. But we also know that this food that will only sustain us for a time, it’s good that we have it, and thank you or giving it. but as Jesus himself says when he is tempted by the devil in the wilderness, people cannot live by bread alone. Even the miraculous bread that the people refer to in the passage here, the manna from heaven, only lasts for a time, and cannot satisfy forever.
At the beginning of this chapter of the gospel, Jesus has miraculously multiplied the loaves and fishes and fed five thousand people. Jesus filled their bellies, and they wanted more. ‘Give us this bread from heaven!’ But here we see what being fed true bread means, it means faith in Jesus; for he is the one give us eternal life.
We search and search for things that perishes, money, or even, some spiritual experience that those people ‘over there’ can have. But we don’t need to do that at all. Jesus offers the bread of life to us here and now.
‘They say to him, Sir, give us this bread always.’ How are we to have the bread of life in our lives, how are we to have Jesus in our lives, to be filled day by day with the bread of life.
Bishop Ryle, a Victorian biblical scholar says the following:
“How are we to labour? There is but one answer. We must labour in the use of all appointed means. We must read our Bibles like men digging for hidden treasure. We must wrestle earnestly in prayer like men contending with a deadly enemy for life. We must take our whole heart to the house of God and worship and hear like those who listen to the reading of a benefactor’s will. We must fight daily against sin, the world, and the devil, like those who fight for liberty, and must conquer or be slaves. These are the ways we must walk in if we would find Christ and be found of Him.”
It’s the old lessons we’ve heard a hundred times before, pray, worship, avoid temptation like the plague, read the word of God. And maybe they’re the same answers because that’s where the truth lies. Perhaps the thing that we’re searching for has been here all along has been staring right at us and we just haven't seen it. perhaps the things that we were taught when growing up are in fact true, and not fairy tale. Perhaps it is indeed in Jesus that we can find all that we would ever need, just as he said it is.
Amen.