John 6:24-33
So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.” They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?” Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” They answered, “Show us a miraculous sign if you want us to believe in you. What can you do? After all, our ancestors ate manna while they journeyed through the wilderness! The Scriptures say, ‘Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat.” Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, Moses didn’t give you bread from heaven. My Father did. And now he offers you the true bread from heaven. The true bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Today’s scripture is a short excerpt from a larger story retelling how Jesus, at the absolute height of His earthly ministry, went from the most revered religious leader in all of Israel to the most infamous and despised person of His time. One day He was teaching and feeding thousands who came and hung on His every word, and the next day He was left with little more than 12 disciples, and a few of them were shaky. One totally lost.
You may wonder, what made the difference? Well, like so many today, the masses lost their appetite for Truth and Righteousness. Given the choice, they’d rather have fish and loaves!
The Gospel of John recounts the story of the life and times of Jesus from the beginning of His ministry, His death, burial, resurrection; and concludes with His final encounter with the disciples for a farewell breakfast. Ironically, the meal consisted of fish and bread. So it certainly is not lost on us how often the writer mentions food in connection with the ministry of Christ. But while Jesus did wondrous things in connection to food, like turning water into wine, and feeding 5,000 with 2 fish and 5 loaves; His most significant role was presenting Himself as the True Bread of God. But replacing the physical food for Spiritual food often leaves folk feeling uneasy. It’s amazing how quickly we can become accustomed to the creature comforts that make us feel good. It only takes a few moments for us to become so enamored with gifts, blessings, favor and peace that we consider them birthrights. The generosity of God, absent context, can make the undisciplined believer believe they are privileged and needn’t strive anymore to maintain the blessings of the presence of the Lord. And nothing could be further from the truth.
The banter between Jesus and those He had so richly blessed signifies how selfishness and self indulgence spoils the mind, mood and makeup of the Child of God. Yes, Jesus provided food for the masses because at the time food was needed. And yes, He has the ability to provide fish and loaves all day, everyday. But none of that is what matters. The mission of the physical food was to retain the audience long enough to hear His message about the Spiritual food. Sadly, the food served to attract folk that saw the relationship with Christ as a temporary solution to their immediate need…or greed. But Jesus came to exchange the ravenous hunger in their souls for eternal fulfillment, joy and satisfaction. They missed that. As many of us are today.
I am compelled to ask anyone reading this, what are you hungry for? Are we hungry for the thrill of religion, the lore of prestige, power and position? Or are you honestly and truthfully enamored with Jesus and Him alone?
At the conclusion of the chapter we’re reading this morning, you will find not only had Jesus lost the attention of pretty much everyone that was following Him, but they failed to desire to understand more. Being confused about what He was expressing is understandable. The correlation between the physical and spiritual are sometimes difficult to navigate. I’m not sure the disciples totally understood. I’m fairly certain that they did not. But the exchange between Jesus and Peter says it all:
“From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?” But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.””
Isn’t that outstanding? Although they had tasted of the fish, loaves, wine, healings, miracles, blessings, and physical things of Christ, there remained a hunger and thirst that can only be quenched by the power of Jesus. They still had a hunger to serve. A hunger to love. A hunger for souls to be saved.
What are you hungry for?
God bless
