John 6:1-14 and 32-35
Once again, Jesus is before a multitude; this is the same multitude he fed the day before. They followed Jesus to the other side of the lake and when they found him, they wanted to know how Jesus got there. Jesus ignored their questions and protests about the real reason why they had followed him. The real reason: they wanted more bread; they followed Jesus because he gave them bread and they became hungry again and wanted to be feed once again. They wanted more. As a great teacher, Jesus sees in here the opportunity to give them another lesson and he took them back in history, to the wilderness; he took them back to the book of Exodus and talked about the manna, the bread from heaven. It is ironic that this multitude asks Jesus for a sign to prove he is a messenger from God. It is ironic because in verse 14th we find that they followed Jesus because the miracles he had done “After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Says John. Just a day before, they saw him multiplying the bread and fish, and now they are asking for a sign.
In verse 35, we find what I believe is the center of this story, a beautiful metaphor Jesus did about himself. “I am the bread of life,” those who come to me will never be hungry; those who believe in me will never go thirsty. This is the first of several “I am” that we find in the gospel of John.
In the interpretation of the gospels, there are three moments: The first moment is when the related event happened, second moment when the gospel writer wrote the event and shared it with his community and third when it is read by those who did not participate in any of the previous moments. When Jesus told the multitude “You follow me because you ate until you were satisfied” and “do not work for the bread that spoiled but work for the eternal bread.” That was the first moment of our story and He meant to say, I came to give you something more meaningful, I came to feed your faith and your hope, not your body only; all the miracles I have performed are to show you, I am the ONE you are waiting for; I am the ONE God sent. Come to me, believe in me and stop waiting.
Second moment of our story happened about 60 years later when the writer of the Gospel of John decided to share this story with his community. This time was not a multitude as when Jesus did, this time it was a church; it was not a multitude of Jews, it was a Greek community; they were not the people who expected the Messiah, but people who had embraced the new faith of the Messiah, and for some reason the writer of the Gospel believed this story was meaningful for their relationship with Jesus.
Let us not forget that the Greeks were philosophers, they had an almost natural search for truth; they were followers of new teachers and new doctrines, their hunger for knowledge, their thirst for knowledge was never satisfied; they were always in the move in search of new philosophies. As Paul describes it in Acts 15 when he was in Athens. And here we have the writer of the Gospel of John telling them that Jesus is the bread who will take that hunger and thirst away. By sharing this story, the writer meant to say to his community, his Greek Church: the knowledge you are hungry for is food for your brain; Jesus is food for your soul. Philosophy does not satisfy your hunger for knowledge because it’s not absolute, it always changes, Jesus is absolute, his love, his commitment with his creation never changes.
The Jews who came looking for Jesus wanted bread for their bodies, Jesus offered them eternal bread; Greeks wanted food for their brains, the writer Gospel shared with them the faith in Jesus the Christ that is bread for the soul.
Now we come to the third moment in the interpretation of the gospel: our times. Jesus did not say “I am the bread of life… and who ever come to me will never be hungry and who ever believes in me will never be thirty again” exactly for us; the Gospel was not written with us in mind (even when some will argue that yes). But even thou God’s message is relevant for us today, because it reveals a God who is always searching for the lost sheep; it reveals what we have in our heart and what is I God’s heart. What we have in our heart is a deep desire for a better world; we as human beings are the same, we have not changed since Jesus’ times. We are creatures who need the guidance of his creator; we are men and women searching for the path, so we can return home.
What John 6:35 can tell me, can tell us today? Can John 6:35 tell us something about our reality? The answer is yes, because today as before, humans are hungry and thirsty for hope, forgiveness and salvation among many things. Our world is hungry for HOPE. Jesus is the bread that can feed us with HOPE. He can transform our lives and the lives of everyone who comes to him; he is the one who can change our mourning into joy.
Our world is hungry for FORGIVENESS. We are carrying our GUILT and there is not exercise or meditation that can remove it, only Jesus’ blood has the power to clean our lives, our hearts… and make us new creatures. He is the ONE who died, so we can live; he paid off our debt and made us debt free.
Our world is hungry for SALVATION. What will happen to me after my physical life ends? That is the question many people have in mind. Only Jesus can give eternal life. Why is he the only one? because when he died on the cross, he defeated death, he said, “I am the resurrection, and the life, whoever believe in me, even when he die, he will live.” John 11:25.
Our world is hungry to fill the EXISTENTIAL EMPTINESS of our souls. Saint Agustin said, “There is within every man a God-shaped vacuum, an emptiness that only God can fill,” he also said, “You had made us for yourself O God, and the heart of man is restless until it finds its rest in you.” There is no substitute for the bread of life Jesus can give us. He and only he is the answer and solution to the questions and needs of our lives and this world. Do not search anymore; do not feed your soul with any other kind of bread. Come to Jesus, come to his table and feed your life.