Bread of Life

I like to think of myself as a rational being, one who thinks logically and is not easily duped.  Show me, as our friends in Missouri would say, and I’ll believe.  After all, seeing is believing.  In our modern, scientific world, I am in good company. 

But for Jesus, seeing may not be enough.  Oftentimes, I put on blinders that hinder my sight.  As a physical, material being, my blinders limit what I see – and thus what I believe in – to those things which are also physical and material.  And thus I see, but do not believe; at least I do not believe that which is truly important. 

The people Jesus addresses in John 6 have just seen an amazing miracle – the feeding of the 5000.   But like me, they only see with earth-bound eyes.  They see that Jesus, like the good kings of old, might be the one that will provide for them, protect them from their enemies, and bring back the same earthly glory that they enjoyed in the times of David and Solomon. 

Jesus tries to remove their earth-bound blinders.  In yesterday’s passage, we heard him warn the crowd that this miracle, much as it satisfied their bodily hunger, was simply pointing to something much greater – food that feeds their souls, food that sustains eternal life.

Today, Jesus drives the point home by identifying himself as the Bread of Life, a life which is more than mere temporal existence, but true life that endures forever.  And like the bread that is essential for our survival here on earth, our belief in Jesus as the one who is sent by the Father, who gives us everything that the Father gives him, and who will lead us to the Father, is the essential nutrient for the new life that Jesus has won for us.

When we believe in Jesus, the Bread of Life; when we let ourselves be fed and nourished by Jesus, the Bread of Life, we do not simply survive, we thrive.  We do not simply exist; we live truly and deeply.  We are transformed. 

Fed by the Bread of Life, leavened with God’s mercy and justice, our hunger for revenge is sated that we might seek reconciliation and peace.

Fed by the Bread of Life, leavened with God’s almighty power, our hunger for power is sated that we might be gentle and without fear.

Fed by the Bread of Life, leavened with God’s infinite love, our hunger for prestige and respect is sated that we might live with humility and kindness.

Fed by the Bread of Life, leavened with God’s benevolent providence, our hunger for possessions is sated that we might be generous and compassionate.

See and believe.  Believe and eat.  Eat and live – on earth as you will in heaven.