I am the bread of life

Preached at Anisha Grange 13 October 2024 @ 15:00

Reading: John 6:35

Menu

If you go somewhere to eat and look through the menu, you will find bread in every meal. Toast for breakfast, baguette for lunch, a bread roll with your soup for lunch or dinner, and bread pudding for dessert. [Show the roll]

Bread is one of our staple foods. 2000 years ago in Jesus’s day, around the sea of Galilee bread and fish were the staple foods.

Background

So, it’s not surprising that our the story starts with five small barley loaves and two small fish. It is of course the feeding of the five thousand. Jesus prays over them and feeds the entire crowd. When they cleared up afterwards there was a lot left over. The huge crowd, seeing this, said “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus knew they would try to make Him king, so he left.

Free meal

If I could walk into a restaurant, choose anything from the menu, sit down and eat, then leave when I’m full without a charge, I’d go there every day. Even if they only served the staples, I’d go there a lot. So it’s not at all surprising that, in their agricultural economy, where a bad crop would leave them hungry, this miracle would get their attention. Of course they want free food, they don’t care what’s on the menu – with Jesus in charge, they need never be hungry again.

Crowd Find Jesus

Jesus has gone to the other side of the lake, but He cannot escape the crowd that easily; they have found Him on. Now, things are getting serious for Jesus. He’s not about to made their king – their meal ticket, or whatever they are expecting.

He says to them:

“you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. ²⁷Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

“What must we do?” they ask.

Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”

“What sign will you give, so that we can believe you?”

Asking for a sign

It’s rarely a good idea to ask Jesus for a sign, specially when He has just performed one of the most powerful signs of His time on earth. They are thinking of the Manna that God provided in the Exodus, that they call the bread of heaven, and they would like more.

Jesus tells them that He is the true bread when he says “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

By now he’s no longer talking about food, He’s talking about our spiritual life. The crowd around him realize this, but they still don’t really believe it. Then the grumbling starts and the crowd eventually disperses.

Bread and Water

We can live on bread and water for a very long time. My mum knew someone who only ate potatoes – another one of our staples, and who had lived a long and apparently healthy life.

Menu - Choice

All our menus have choices, we are rarely forced to live on staples. But, when it comes to our spiritual life, there really is only one thing on the menu. Jesus. If we come to Jesus, and accept him as the one God sent, then we can live, not just now, but for eternity.

You may look around at the world and see that there are other forms of spirituality on offer, but this is not a menu, where you can choose and mix it up a bit. To get any benefit of the food on offer there is only one choice, one staple, Jesus, sent from God to bring us to eternal life. Our choice must be to believe in Him. Feed on Him, Drink from Him. He has infinite resources, more than sufficient for each of us. If we can accept that Jesus is the bread of life, that belief will change our life now, and forever.

Amen