Today is a fitting time to talk about food given that tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day and today we are featuring through our Minute for Mission segment, the Essex Food Grains Project, an important organisation committed to providing food to many who suffer from food insecurity.
In looking at our text, we must bear in mind that it follows an important sign earlier in St. John 6 verses 1-14 where Jesus fed over five thousand people. Although this miracle or ‘sign’ as John calls it is entitled ‘Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand’, we know that it only referenced the men present but the gathering also included women and children so it could have been well above the five thousand that was mentioned in the story. I am mentioning this just to give us some perspective on how extraordinary this event actually was.
Our present text follows the situation as Jesus leaves and crosses the Sea of Galilee or Lake Tiberias as it is sometimes called, only to have the people follow him around the other side of the lake. People then are really no different from today. Food will always be a strong incentive or motivator for us. If we want to get people’s attention just make sure that food, especially free food, is provided. It works practically every time. I know it well.
In my home country Jamaica, you will always find that events are well-attended as long as it is known that free food is going to be available. I strongly suspect the same applies here and in most places across the world. Let’s get back to the text though.
As the reading tells us, we see that the people have followed Jesus and when they met him they asked Jesus when he got there. Jesus, as perceptive as usual, and knowing people as well as he does, knew right away what they were really after despite the seemingly innocent question that they asked him. They were following him for the food and nothing else and he told them so rather bluntly. Responding further he tells them, “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give you.” (See St. John 6:27 NIV) A little later in the text, in response to the people’s own request for this true bread, he tells them, “I am the Bread of Life.” Let us unpack what is happening here and what is being said for our own reflection.
- What’s on the menu?
On the surface, the circumstances here where the people were with Jesus for a good portion of the day created a genuine need for food and as such Jesus provided for a legitimate need. However having consumed all that they could and even having leftovers suggested that the people no longer needed a supply of food. Sometimes though, when people’s needs are supplied, they become overly dependent on the source of their provision. They can’t get enough even when there is no immediate need for that provision. Physical food is one such thing that most people can never have too much of and people will do anything to get more and more and more. Yet physical food is not long-lasting and not ultimately satisfying. It is undoubtedly extremely important to human existence for sure. None of us can deny that. That is why the devil chose to test a very famished Jesus in the desert with food at the first opportunity to do so. (See St. Luke 4:4) Yet the way to our stomachs can also be our downfall. You may remember the story of Jacob and Esau where Esau without deep thought gave away his birthright because he was very hungry (See Genesis 27). The question though is what is your food? When we go to a restaurant or some other place to eat we have to look at the menu and decide exactly what we want because we obviously won’t need and certainly can’t have everything on the menu? The menu is the means by which we discern what we need and certainly what we can have based on our desires and what we can afford and especially what is healthy for us. The menu board or pamphlet allows us the opportunity to prioritise what we will or can have. You may not realise it but Jesus was asking the people to do the same thing. The people then also needed to realise that food is important but the real issue is what type of food are you looking for. Sometimes we need to decide whether the menu has any food that we need or whether we need to look somewhere else for the food that is really important to your dietary needs.
- What’s the best food for me?
Very often we, in our greed or ostentatiousness or even stupidity, do not stop to think about the food that is best for us. We make rather poor choices because we don’t stop to think what is best for us. In this story, Jesus used the opportunity to show the people that their desires were quite misplaced. Food is indeed important but the question is what is the most important food and are we seeking after that food. We must see food here as symbolizing more than just what we eat physically. We must see food here as also representative of our desire for material things instead of what is spiritual and eternal. In this light, we can see that all of us have misplaced desires all the time. The things we want most are the things that easily perish and are therefore temporal and temporary. These things do not last. Yet we have the opportunity to gain and have the one thing that lasts but for many it is not good enough. It seems quite unpalatable. This is why we see that later in the same chapter many of those who were following him left in frustration and disgust because they literally thought he was offering them his physical flesh to eat. (See Ch.6 vs. 51-52) In the same way, many of us find the bread that Jesus offers unpalatable because we much prefer the things of the world than what Jesus offers to us. Remember this is why Jesus told the people then as he tells us today, “Do not work for the food that spoils but for food that endures to eternal life…” (See St. John 6:27 NIV) This food is his body, not literally his human body, but the spiritual body which is the life in the Spirit that we gain from a relationship with him.
- Yearn for the ‘Bread of Life’ that truly nourishes and sustains all humanity.
What is on the menu is bread, but not any ordinary bread. It is the only bread that can truly satisfy the human need. Bread was always symbolic of the staple food of the ancient Israelites and other peoples too. Nearly every human society had some kind of starchy food as a staple to go along with the variety of proteins that they could find. In the Bible, starting with the provision of manna in the wilderness journey, the people came to see bread in varying forms as a most important part of the meal. Bread had even more importance to the Israelites after the departure from Egypt as the account tells that in their haste they had to prepare unleavened bread which became the main staple in the annual passover festival. Jesus, as a man of his times, knew very well the value of bread to the every day diet of his people and it is for this reason that he used the bread to symbolize what he offered to the people of the time and what he offers to all of humanity today.
As we share our thanksgiving meal today for some people, and tomorrow for most people, let us pause to think of that first time that Jesus offered the primary ingredient for human nourishment and sustenance, his own body.
The human body needs food to nourish itself and sustain it day after day. Food isn’t just a desire, it is a necessity. Jesus therefore says to us that he is the “bread of life” because he alone can truly nourish and sustain us physically and spiritually, and this happens when we are in a constant relationship with him. We see him as the staple food simply because in the same way the body cannot do without food, we cannot do without him. So many people have convinced themselves that they don’t need Jesus in their lives because they are doing okay by themselves. But the truth is that for these persons they may seem to be doing well for themselves in a physical sense but they are really malnourished spiritually and the human body is not really healthy unless both the spiritual and the physical part of us are equally nourished. In fact, Jesus even tells us that we must seek first that which is spiritual and then the physical needs will be taken care of. (See St. Matthew 6:33 NIV) It is not one or the other but a harmony of both which makes our body and souls completely nourished and satisfied.
As we share this Thanksgiving with family and friends today and tomorrow, may I urge us all to remember to give God thanks, for the physical meal that we share and the relationships that we have with family and friends, but also to welcome into our hearts and homes the living Saviour who provides the all-important ingredient in every Thanksgiving meal and in all of our lives day by day. May we share the love of Jesus with each other this Thanksgiving and always as we remind ourselves that He alone is the “Bread of Life” who gives life to all humanity now and through to eternity. May God continue to bless us and speak to us as we reflect on these words. Amen.