1. After the miracle

We are learning about the miracle of the loaves and fish. It is reported that Jesus fed 5000 men with 5 loaves and 2 fish. Last Sunday we reflected on the event by reading the concerning passage in the Gospel according to John, 6:1-15.

There Jesus satisfied the hungry crowd, who had followed him after hearing his teaching. He could feed the audience of about more than 5000 persons with that small quantity of food. Normally his disciple thought it was impossible but Jesus successfully done it by performing a miracle with faith in God. The belief that God always gives humans what they need made impossible possible.

We leared from the lecture that we can increase value of resources if we use them for God’s works. Jesus showed us that through the miracle. Today our reading portion is the same chapter, from the verse 24.

The miracle impressed strongly the people. John described astonishment of people;- “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world."(John 6:14)

In that era humans, without advanced agricultural knowledge, suffered very often from shortage of food. Abnormal weather generated easily severe mortal famine. Therefore people were aspiring to before all sufficient supply of food, regardless of climate conditions. So much so when they witnessed Jesus’ power which increased original quantity of food enormously they crowded him. They though they should never be hungry if they made him their king. But ;- Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself.(John 6:15)

John commences to portray people’s reaction in todays reading part. ;- Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (John 6:25)

“Rabbi” is one who studies or teaches Jewish law. They must say the phrase with a tone of reproach because they felt their desire was ignored. To such people ;- Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, you are looking for me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.(John 6:26)

Jesus gat insight into their mind. They followed him for future food. Therefore he gave the lesson ;- Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."(John 6:27)

The crowd did not see the real meaning of miraculous act as a signt. They saw there material bread alone. They should have sought “bread for eternal life” instead of earthy necessities. Because the latter is already promised by God. They must look for spiritual bread to arrive to eternal life by believing in God.

Indeed, humans can not live without material needs therefore we work every day to obtain them. However we should not forget the most important thing for our life is another one, spiritual bread. Big wealth or high social status can not make us authentic “human”. Neither professional achievements. Majority of us
spend long time gaining enough money to grown up and educate children or to buy a house. Then, after achieving life-plan, we find ourselves very old and feel approaching death. At that moment we might wonder if we should not have looked for a more important thing. The answer is written in the Bible, “Man does not live by bread alone”. We must recognize that material sufficiency can not make us happy.

2. Bread for eternal life

“Food that endures to eternal life” means bread that remains in spite of consumption. But the crowd did not understand what was that exactly. So they asked the question ;- Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’(John 6:31)

“Manna” is food accorded by God to Jewish people who were wandering in the desert after their escape from Egypt. The book of Exodus tells us what it looked like ;- thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor.(Exodus 16:14)
And Numbers gives additional explanations ;- The people went around gathering it, and then ground it in a handmill or crushed it in a mortar. They cooked it in a pot or made it into cakes. And it tasted like something made with olive oil. (Numbers 11:8)

Referring to those scriptures the crowd imagined manna as “food that endures to eternal life”
However Jesus’ answer was ;- “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who 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."(John 6:32-33)

He said that God gave them manna through Moses but now he would give them “the true bread from heaven” through Jesus. Impressed by Jesus’ response the people, who were always threatened by risk of famine, they cried immediately ;- “Sir,” they said, “from now on give us this bread."(John 6:34)

They misunderstood again. So Jesus tried to rectify their way of thinking ;- Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.(John 6:35)

They were strongly disappointed because what they wanted was bread as material, daily food for physical life. They did not want “spiritual bread” promised by Jesus. Thus they rejected it.

“I am the bread of life.” is translated from Greek text ”Ἐ¦Ãώ( I ) ¦Åἰ¦Ì¦É(am) ὁ(the) ἄ¦Ñ¦Ó¦Ïς(bread/food) of ¦Óῆς(the) ¦Æ¦Øῆς (life /genitive)”

Please pay attention to the word “¦Æ¦Øῆς” which represent “life real and genuine, a life active and vigorous, devoted to God”. And it is distinguished from “¦Âί¦Ïς” or biological life in Greek.

Today we heard about complaints of those who live in institutions for senior citizens. They consider very often the place to be a prison regardless of materially comfortable environment. Why? I think because apparently they do nothing useful there and feel redundant for the outside world. They can not find any more active motivation to live. In fact we need spiritual motivation to live an authentical life. If not our life should seem to be a mere biological or physical one.

The gap between Jesus and people is misunderstanding of “life”. They desired food only for biological life
They could not feel happy with spiritual bread. We are similar to them. Therefore we are spending excessive time gaining money, as earthy bread, more than necessary. But Jesus teaches us that such way of living made us to miss “food that endures to eternal life”

3. God feeds us !

Today’s invocation verse is Deuteronomy 8:3 ;- He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.

The book of Deuteronomy contains teachings given to the Jewish people by Moses at the entrance of the land Canaan. After 40 years of wandering in the desert, Moses had accomplished his task as the leader and prepared upcoming death. Therefore he gathered the people and pronounced the verse above.

They must keep in their mind that it was God who fed them with manna for 40 years. God led them into the dessert in order that they learn he would always provide them with necessities. And Moses said the time had come for them to commence a new life by trusting in God,

Please try to imagine how Jewish people felt during those 40 years. Were they filled with hope to live in a land “flowing with milk and honey”? Yes, at least just after the event of Exodus. Because their desire was to be emancipated from slavish status in Egypt and to enter into the promised land. But God had made them to wait 40 years before the promise was achieved. Waiting time was long and painful. Though slavish works were hard, they could have enough food in Egypt. So life in the desert, even materially more difficult than in Egypt, seemed to them like a sort of torture.

But could they be happy with sufficient necessities in slavish status ? Never. Therefore they, longing for freedom, strained to get out of Egypt. They knew that sonly materially satisfied life could not make them happy.

We think likewise. Actually we have basic needs for life, food, clothing and shelter. Nonetheless we seek always to posses more in order to feel assured. Presently Japan is in period of election campaign for the House of Representatives. The most important feature of two major parties’ manifesto is common: social welfare. The fact shows that Japanese people give priority to governmental medical insurance and adequate pension system. And such an attitude reminds me crowd’ appeal in John 6:34 “From now on give us this bread.”

But even if we obtain financially well supported life I think we won’t be happy only with that condition . Because “we do not live by bread alone”.

The Bible shows us what the Jewish people became in Canaan. There, a very fertile and fruitful land, they commenced cultivating the soil by abandoning life of nomad. Life based on agriculture allowed them storage of excessive products. They built more than more granaries. Then they thought their life was ensured with those stocks and became ungrateful for God’s love which made them live. Earthy wealth took over God’s place in their mind. Possibility of storage generated also social difference between the rich and the poor. Because some could obtain more harvest than others.

When the gap became outrageous they should think the life in dessert might be better. Because all social members were equal there. In severe environment they needed to help each other. Thus they learned that material wealth could not realize happiness for all the nation.

How about us ? We must ask now what we need to be happy. I say “bread for eternal life”, more exactly the faith in God who feeds and supports us physically and spiritually. With that faith we must not be desperate in any conditions. God knows and understands feelings of those who cry tears of sadness. How can we have such a faith ? It must be given through Jesus, sent by God, filled with compassion on us.

Mark wrote that Jesus, filled with compassion, reached out his hand and touched a man with leprosy and cured him by saying “Be clean!” (see Mark 1:40-45)

Luke reported another miraculous act of Jesus also motivated by compassion.;- When the Lord saw a mother who was crying for her dead son her, his heart went out to her. So he went up and touched the coffin. Thus Jesus made the dead alive again gave him back to his mother.(see Luke 7:11-17)

We meet God through Jesus. Thus we begin to spread the good news that ;- the bread of God is he(Jesus) who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."(John 6:33)

Yes, Jesus is the very bread of God for our eternal life. And the salvation is the fact that we believe in him, the Son of God. That is exactly the good news which we will keep in our mind today.