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Grace, mercy and
peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.
The
bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
Prayer: Dear Lord
Jesus, send to all of us your Holy Spirit, to me that I may preach well, and to
all of us that we may hear well. Amen.
Today’s Gospel
reading comes to us from John chapter 6, and our readings for the next two
weeks also are going to come from this same chapter. In our reading today, we
find the people coming to Jesus and asking him questions. But earlier in the
chapter, we read about two miracles that Jesus has performed. First of all, he
had fed 5000 people. He had sent out his disciples on a special mission, in
groups of two. They had gone from house to house, preaching and comforting
people. And we read that they even cast out demons and were healing various
sick people.
What the disciples
were doing made a great impression on people. They became very famous, and
their reputation spread far and wide. Even King Herod heard about it, and he
started to get worried, and to have a bad conscience about the fact that he had
killed John the Baptist. Herod recognised that these disciples that Jesus had
sent out were preaching the same message as John, and this message was coming
with power and with miracles.
And so, after all
of this hard work, the twelve apostles came back to Jesus and they told him
everything they had done. Jesus realises that they have worked hard, and that
they have done good work, so he promises to take them away by themselves so
that they can rest. They cross over in a boat to a place which was not
inhabited by many people.
But instead of
being alone by themselves with Jesus, we read that an enormous crowd followed
them. Even though the disciples were exhausted, here was a huge crowd of people
who were still wanting to see Jesus. Even though the disciples need a rest,
Jesus sits them all down, his twelve disciples and the crowd of over 5000
people, and teaches them all kinds of things. It must have been a wonderful
occasion to be there and to learn from Jesus’ mouth on that day. Can you
imagine having the opportunity to hear Jesus first-hand?
But then, something
very unusual happens: the crowd are all there, listening to Jesus, but the
place is a lonely, desolate place. There are no people living around there,
there are no shops, there are no villages, and places to buy bread. And the
disciples start to realise this and think that maybe it’s about time that Jesus
sent the people away so that they could buy some food. But instead of doing
that, Jesus tells the disciples to give them some food.
So just picture
yourself in this situation: there are 5000 people there. In fact, it is
possible that there were 5000 families there on that occasion. Depending on the
sizes of the families, this could have been an enormous amount of people. Where
are the disciples going to get food to feed all of these people? It turns out
as well, that the only food that is at hand and which is available are 5 loaves
of bread and 2 fish. How are these things going to feed 5000 people?
But what happens is
that Jesus blessed the bread and fish and gives it to the disciples who then
pass it around to all the people who are sitting down. And not only are they
all fed, but we read: They took up twelve
baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish.
So not only did
everyone have something to eat, but there was even more food left over than
when they started. How did this happen? How is that Jesus starts off with 5
loaves and 2 fish, feeds 5000 people and then collects up 12 baskets full of
the left overs?
I have heard of
stories from international missionaries, where there have been a large group of
people gathered for a seminar or something like that, and someone realises that
there might not be enough food for everyone. Then it turns out, that everyone
files past the stew pot, and takes something for themselves, and then at the
end, they realise they still have plenty. How is this that the people were fed?
Maybe this has even happened to you, and you haven’t even realised it. Maybe
you found yourself in a bit of tight spot one week, and you had a big bill come
in, and you were wondering how you were going to keep your family fed and give
them everything that they needed while also having to pay this bill. But then,
you look back and you realise that everything turned out fine, and yet you
can’t explain how it happened like that.
When Jesus feeds
these people with the 5 loaves and the 2 fish, he wants the people to realise a
very important fact: all the food in the world doesn’t simply come from the
shops, or from the truckies, or from factories, or from farmers. All the food
in the world comes from him. All the food in the world comes from Jesus.
In fact, it’s not
simply the case that all the food in the world belongs to Jesus, but all
the clothing, all the houses, all the money, or whatever we happen to need.
Maybe you struggle to make ends meet sometime. Who do you look to to provide
for your family? Do you think that everything you need in life simply comes
from hard work or that it comes from Jesus?
This is sometimes a
very hard thing for us to accept in our society. We think that things will
always work as they always have and will always work like that. You might
remember the story that Jesus tells about the prodigal son. This is a story
about a young man who takes his father’s money, his inheritance, and goes off
into a foreign country. Now, I remember hearing a story about a group of people
all together who were asked to tell this story off the top of their heads as
they remember it: half the people doing this were Russian, and the other half
were American.
When they told the
story, the Russians left out some details that the Americans kept in, and the
Americans left out some details that the Russians kept in. So what did both
groups of people not mention? The Americans said that the young man went into a
foreign country, and wasted all of his money. The Russians said that he went
into a foreign country and that there was a famine. Now, in the actual story
that Jesus tells, both things are mentioned: he wastes his money, and there is
a famine. But the Americans didn’t really know what it was like to be in a
famine, so they forgot to mention it. And the group of Russians didn’t know
what it was like to have a lot of money, so they forgot to mention it.
We probably also
live in a country where we don’t really know what it’s like to have a famine.
And this is a wonderful blessing of God. But then sometimes we forget that this
is a wonderful blessing from God, and we start to think that everything just
happens like this all because of our own work. It’s no proof that we’re right
with God just because we’ve got plenty to eat. There are plenty of evil people
who are fat—it proves nothing. We can look back at history and remember plenty
of cruel dictators like Hitler and Stalin and Pol Pot—I’m sure that they had plenty
to eat every day. And yet, so do we—we have plenty to eat, and we have such a
rich variety of things to enjoy. But do we thank God for it? Do we go to Jesus
and say thank you for our daily bread? You see, anybody can eat, but not
everyone has Jesus. But even if we had nothing, and had to count our pennies
from day to day, and had to live from hand to mouth, if we have Jesus, we have
everything. If we don’t have Jesus, we have nothing.
But let’s just come
back to the passage about Jesus feeding the 5000 people. We read there that the
people ate and were satisfied. I know that you eat, but are you satisfied? You have so many things in
your life to enjoy. Do you thank Jesus for it? That’s the important question.
It’s easy to eat, but it’s not easy to be satisfied. And yet, the people eat
their food, and yet they are satisfied not just with the food, but the food
satisfies because Jesus is the one who gave it to them. They are satisfied
because of Jesus.
Now, we come to our
reading for today, and we see there that there were some people who came
looking for Jesus after he had performed this wonderful miracle. So they come
up to Jesus and say: Rabbi, when did you
come here? And we read that Jesus
answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking 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 to eternal life, which the
Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
What is Jesus
talking about here? He is saying to these people: are you coming to see me
because of me and what I have to teach you, or are you just coming because I
gave you a good feed? He says: You are seeking me,
not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Here this group of people have eaten, and they were satisfied, but now
they are hungry again, and they think maybe they can go back to Jesus to be
filled up again.
And sometimes the
same thing happens to us: we can have all kinds of good things to enjoy, and
sometimes we receive good things from the church. We realise that it is Jesus
who has given us a wonderful gift—maybe he has allowed us to enjoy something
good. But then do we just want the gift, or do we come back to the person who
gave it? Do we only want what Jesus gives, or do we want Jesus himself?
Sometimes, we might even come to church or go to a bible study, and we have a
really great time, but then do we then just want to relive the experience, and
enjoy the people’s company, or do we come back to Jesus? Jesus gives many
gifts, but Jesus’ gifts are only his gifts. Plenty of people, and plenty of
evil people have Jesus’ gifts, but they don’t have Jesus. Even when we have
nothing, Jesus is still there. Jesus has died and risen again from the dead. He
promises us the forgiveness of sins, and even gives it to us in all kinds of
different ways. We have the bible, we have preaching, we have forgiveness
spoken to us in the church, we have baptism, the Lord’s Supper… you name it.
And yet, when we have Jesus, and when we have forgiveness, we have everything.
We even have eternal life.
And so, basically,
anything that we do or have that has nothing to do with Jesus, forgiveness and
eternal life is food that will perish. It is stuff that will eventually finish.
Even good times, and even religious experiences, will all come to an
end. They only go on for a time. So Jesus says: Do not
work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give to you.
But you might ask:
I need to work, don’t I? Jesus doesn’t want me to be lazy, does he? Christians
don’t just sit around and do nothing while their daily food just plops into
their lap, or a roast dinner just comes flying into their mouth!
And yet, here’s the
question: what are we working for? And what are we serving? Are we working so
that we can just eat and have a good life and to serve ourselves, or are
working in such a way as to serve Jesus and his kingdom? Jesus has given you so
much, and yet, what are going to use it for? How are you going to serve and
glorify him with it?
And so, Jesus says:
Do not work for the food that perishes, but
for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to
you. Jesus says in another place: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and
all these things will be added to you. Or there’s another
passage in the book of Romans, where it says: He who
did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with
him graciously give us all things?
And so the people
ask Jesus: What must we do to be
doing the works of God? Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you
believe in him whom he has sent.” Are you doing to
work of God? Or maybe we should turn this question around: Is God doing his
work in you, by creating faith in you so that you believe in Jesus, who is sent
from God? It’s so easy to trust in our own works, especially when it comes to
matters of day to day life and food and money. But when it comes to our faith,
our faith is something that is not our work. The Holy Spirit is the one who
creates faith in us, when we hear God’s word. And when we hear the word of God,
and believe it, this is God’s work. Anyone can come and hear God’s word. Anyone
can come and listen to it, but to believe it, this is something that God
creates in us. So sometimes, we might think, I just don’t know how to believe
in Jesus, and to trust in him. Or people might think: I’m going through a hard
time, and I just don’t know where to find Jesus in all of this. Never mind—just
come and listen to God’s word. The Holy Spirit will do the work. The Holy
Spirit will create the faith and give you the strength that you need. And even
you don’t think you have the strength, or whatever you need, when we have the
forgiveness of sins, then we have everything: We have the food that endures to
eternal life. And believing in this food, in this Jesus, this is not our work,
but it is God’s work.
And so the people
say to Jesus: What sign do you do,
that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the
manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to
eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses
who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from
heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to
the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
The funny thing is
that later in the chapter, the people don’t really want Jesus, they just want
some bread that he is giving. But Jesus says: The bread of heaven is me. I am
the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. Are you happy
to have everything that Jesus gives, but not happy to have Jesus himself? But
Jesus is the one who is the bread of heaven. He has come down from heaven, he
has taken upon himself every single one of your sins upon himself, even the sins
of being unhappy with what you have, your greed, and not being content in life.
Jesus has taken on himself all of your sins of working just to serve your own
flesh. Jesus has taken all of this on himself and has died for us, and he has
risen from the dead for us. And now, he gives himself to us and living food. He
is the bread of God who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world.
And when Jesus
gives us himself, what more could we possibly need?
Amen.
Dear Jesus, we
thank you for the wonderful gifts and blessings that you have given to us in
our lives. Forgive us for being so ungrateful. But we pray that you would send
us the Holy Spirit and work in us and living faith so that we may trust in you,
and have the desire to feed on you alone, the bread of life. Help us to work
not for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.
Amen.
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