Who Is Jesus? The Bread of Life – John 6:25-40, Rev. Connie Frierson, 4-21-13

John 6:25-40 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for 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 for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.’ Who is Jesus? The Bread of Life I have a routine that I go through with the boys about twice a week. See if this seems familiar to you. I am stumped about what to make for dinner. And then I ask the question, “So what are you hungry for?” Now by the time I ask this question I am already out of ideas. And the boys know this. I have made the everyday entrée’s of tacos and roasted chicken and broiled salmon and chili. I have a pantry full of staples but none of it seems to fit. I’m asking for a lifeline here and, as my boys are not menu planners, they usually respond with something like, “Uh. Hmm. I don’t know.” If I ask the question “What are you hungry for” They might answer honestly and say, “Let’s have Cinnamon buns or cake and ice cream or Nanny’s Spaghetti and Meatballs that need to simmer for six hours.” But by the time I ask the question it is already too late to meet the heartfelt need. Heck, I might as well just skip the searching all together and go directly to ordering pizza. But then I started turning in my mind this question, “What are you hungry for.” Gosh that question, “What are you hungry for?” is as profound as it is practical. We are asking who Jesus is in this sermon series. Jesus is the one who let’s us ask this profound question “what are we hungry for.” and gives us the answer that nourishes. Jesus is profound and practical. Jesus is the master of taking the concrete and helping us to see the spirit, taking our fleshy, physical selves and helping us to answer the cry of the soul. In our passage today we have one of the answers; Jesus says he is the bread of life. But perhaps in our land of plenty we don’t understand quite what Jesus is saying. So let’s look at what the people of Jesus time ate and then we may have some insight into this Bread of Life. The world of ancient Palestine was a bread culture. If Jesus had been speaking to an Asian culture perhaps he might have said, “I am the rice bowl of life.” And in paraphrases of missionaries to Asian cultures that his how this passage might be adapted. But in a bread culture Jesus spoke to a thought pattern and a heritage that valued bread above all else. Bread was the most important part of the meal. In our culture, when we go to a restaurant we generally focus on what kind of entrée we’re going to order, The basket of bread on the table is usually secondary. In Jesus’ day, meat was a side dish, often meat that was sauced so bread was dipped but bread was never overshadowed like our modern entrée. If we look at our own culture we might say we are a beef culture or maybe a snack culture, or even worse a Twinkie culture. But we once were a bread culture and have old memories so we understand in part, but not the whole loaf. Here are some of the images that this Bread of Life metaphor would have conjured. When Jesus says that he is the bread of life, he is saying that he is the most important part of life. Jesus is saying, “I am central. I am necessary. I am so basic and foundational to life that you have an urgent need of me. But there is more. Everyone had access to bread. Poorer people used barley to make bread while the wealthier used wheat, but most everyone had the means to make or buy bread. By using this metaphor, Jesus is saying that He is available to everyone. Jesus did not say, “I am the Filet Mignon of Life. I am the champaigne of life. I am only for the wealthy or for those who have their life in order or only for the successful, or the religious. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life and I am for everyone. In the Middle East, hospitality was taken very seriously. And bread was the means of fellowship. When you broke bread with someone, you were friends for life. You created obligations by sitting down together. To break bread together meant there is peace between us and I will care for you. As a host at a dinner, you pledged to protect, defend and care for your guest. Jesus likewise offers a friendship, care and concern by sharing in this bread of life that will never end. Bread symbolizes God’s presence. Bethlehem means the “house of Bread,” and the temple was continually filled with the show bread. This can be interpreted as “show up bread” or in Hebrew terms, “face bread.” This bread was a heavenly symbol of God himself, and a reminder to his people that every time they eat bread, they should think of him. Interestingly, if a person would see a scrap of bread on the road, he would pick it up and put it on a tree branch for the birds to eat. Bread was never to be trampled under foot in the common dust because it carries with it an element of mystery and sacredness. This is the culture that Jesus was talking to a culture that sees bread as necessary, for everyone, the main thing, a way to intimate friendship and above all sacred. When Jesus says he is the bread of life he is saying, the presence of God is in me and I am for you, with you, intimate with you and sacred. But the people of Jesus day were just as focused on just the material world as we are. Despite this culture that has all these fabulous associations with bread, the crowds that followed Jesus were still focused just on the physical. And they had good reason to be focused on bread. Earlier in this very chapter Jesus fed the 5,000. Jesus took a little boy’s lunch, 5 barley loaves and 2 sardines and multiplying it so much there were 12 baskets left over. The crowd is now following closely looking for breakfast, for a miracle, for another miraculous sign. But Jesus is trying to take their preoccupation with the physical and lift it into something more profound. Jesus is trying to move us from our preoccupations to look to him as the answer to the supreme hunger. What is this supreme hunger? St. Augustine said that every person has a God-shaped hole in his soul. We can attempt to fill that cavity with a host of other things, but finally nothing satiates our hunger for significance, peace and comfort except Jesus. We all try to make the physical answer the big needs of the heart. So we look for externals to feed our internals. But money can buy you a house, but not a home; money can buy you an education, but not wisdom; money can buy you a bed, but not restful sleep; money can buy you influence, but not respect; it can buy you medicine, but not health; a spouse, but not love; quiet, but not tranquility The answer to supreme hunger is right under our noses, as ordinary on the outside as bread but as vital as the breath of life. In his best selling book called, “Into Thin Air,” Jon Krakauer relates the hazards that plagued some climbers as they attempted to reach the summit of Mount Everest. Andy Harris, one of the expedition leaders stayed at the peak too long and on his descent, he became in dire need of oxygen. Harris radioed the base camp and told them about his predicament. He mentioned that he had come across a cache of oxygen canisters left by the other climbers but they were all empty. The climbers who already passed the canisters on their own descent knew they were not empty, but full. They pleaded with him on the radio to make use of them but it was to no avail. Harris was starved for oxygen but he continued to argue that the canisters were empty. The problem was that the lack of what he needed had so disoriented his mind that though he was surrounded by something that would give him life, he continued to complain of its absence. This is so like our own situation. We are starved for God, but our God starvation disorders our spirit so that we refuse to believe God can be found. We have a yearning for the Bread of Life. But sometimes we just settle for just bread. In his book entitled “God’s Psychiatry”, Charles Allen tells this story. As World War II was drawing to a close, the Allied armies gathered up many hungry orphans. They were placed in camps where they were well fed. Despite excellent care, they slept poorly. They were nervous and afraid. Finally, a psychologist came up with the solution. Each child was given a piece of bread to hold after he was put to bed. This particular piece of bread was just to be held—not eaten. The piece of bread produced wonderful results. The children went to bed knowing instinctively they would have food to eat the next day. That guarantee gave the children a restful and contented sleep. We hold things too to help us sleep. Remember that question, “What are you hungry for?” If you asked me I might answer, “I am hungry for homemade bread, like my mom made. Most weeks as I was growing up, my mother would make bread. I can remember hundred’s of moments when I sat at the counter and watched mom’s strong blunt hands knead the bread. This bread was ever present in my early years. It might not be the best bread. It wasn’t whole wheat. It didn’t have wheat germ added. It certainly was not fashionable artisan bread. But it meant love and security and dear memories to me. So in the years following my mom’s death, I made this bread almost weekly. I was like those orphan children holding the bread to help me sleep. But as time went on and my faith grew I was able to let go of making that bread. I could let go because I experience the bread of life. I experience God’s love and care for me. The Bread of Life healed me of that grief. I was able to entrust my mom to God. I was able to entrust my own life to God. And then I didn’t need to make that bread anymore, unless it was just for memories sake. God really does want us to be able to eat our fill, to fill our stomachs and not be hungry. But Jesus wants us to move beyond, our preoccupations with the physical, or with whatever trick we have jerry-rigged to make our life work. God wants more for us than even we want for us. So the Bread of Heaven has come down for us. “Taste and see that the LORD is good,” Amen.