Bread To Eat
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series III, Cycle B
Object:
1. Text
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."
Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus tells the crowd that he is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never be hungry. Whoever believes in him will never be thirsty.
Second Point Of Action
Later, the Jews begin to complain about Jesus because Jesus said he was bread that came from heaven. They ask how Jesus can say he came down from heaven when he is the son of Joseph, whose parents they know.
Third Point Of Action
Jesus tells them not to complain among themselves.
Fourth Point Of Action
Jesus explains: First, no one can come to him unless drawn by the Father who sent him. Second, Jesus will raise that person up on the last day.
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah: "And they shall all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13).
Sixth Point Of Action
Jesus explains that everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to him. In saying this, Jesus does not want to suggest that anyone except himself, who is from God, has seen God.
Seventh Point Of Action
Using the "very truly" phrase, Jesus says he tells them, that whoever believes has eternal life.
Eighth Point Of Action
Further, Jesus himself is the bread of life.
Ninth Point Of Action
Jesus compares this bread to the manna in the wilderness that their ancestors ate. The ancestors died. The bread Jesus is speaking about came from heaven so they may eat of it and not die.
Tenth Point Of Action
Jesus repeats that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of it will live forever. The bread that he will give for the life of the world is his flesh.
3. Spadework
Bread
"Bread" occurs 300 times in the Bible. Of the 198 instances in Hebrew Scripture, the most frequent occasions are in Genesis (eleven times), Exodus (24), Leviticus (eleven), Numbers (seven), Deuteronomy (eight), 1 Samuel (eleven), 1 Kings (six), 2 Chronicles (nine), Job (six), Psalms (thirteen), Proverbs (twelve), Isaiah (thirteen), Jeremiah (five), and Hosea (thirteen). The writers of Matthew and Mark refer ten times each to bread. Luke and John both mention bread on thirteen occasions.
Bread In Hebrew Scripture. The initial reference comes as part of the Adam and Eve story. The eating of bread is a form of punishment for having eaten the prohibited fruit:
And to the man he said, "Because you ... have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
-- Genesis 3:17-19
Bread is synonymous with generosity and hospitality. This hospitality is to extend even in unfriendly circumstances: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21) and "Bring water to the thirsty, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema" (Isaiah 21:14). "[Reuel] said to his daughters, 'Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread' " (Exodus 2:20). See also Genesis 14:18.
Travelers and those about to embark upon a journey become guests at one's house, whether as expected or unexpected guests. Their host gives bread as a gift of hospitality and as fortification for the journey. Abraham sent Hagar and her child into the wilderness with bread (Genesis 21:14). Jacob gave Esau bread (and lentil stew) before Esau "went his way" (Genesis 25:34; 27:17). When God came to Abraham as three travelers, Abraham offered "a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on" (Genesis 18:5). When the two angels came to Sodom, Lot "urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate" (Genesis 19:3).
Bread is symbolic of God's dependability and of our being able to trust that God will provide what we need. Before Jacob began his journey, he made a promise of faithfulness to God, if God would provide for him what he needed on the sojourn: "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you" (Genesis 28:20-22). Food from God is first rate: "Also my bread that I gave you -- I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey -- you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and so it was, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 16:19).
The cry for bread went to Pharaoh throughout the seven years of famine. (See Genesis 41:54-55.) Obeying the order of Pharaoh to go leave the land of Egypt and return to the land of Canaan, Joseph provided his father and brothers with bread and other provisions. (See Genesis 45:23ff.)
Several biblical passages refer to refraining from eating or serving bread. Ezra abstained from eating bread while mourning the faithlessness of the exiles. (See Ezra 10:6.) Moses fasted forty days and nights on Mount Horeb for the sins his people had committed. (See Deuteronomy 9:18.) Reduced rations bread (and water) formed the diet of prisoners. (See 1 Kings 22:27 and 2 Chronicles 18:26.) God sometimes withholds nourishment: "When he summoned famine against the land, / and broke every staff of bread" (Psalm 105:16) and "For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and staff -- all support of bread, and all support of water" (Isaiah 3:1).
Bread As Gift. Bread was also the gift of a provident God to protect physical survival. The manna of the morning, as well as meat from the evening quails, affirmed God's presence and magnificence: "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God' " (Exodus 16:12). The source was God: "For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them" (Nehemiah 9:15) and "Mortals ate of the bread of angels; / he sent them food in abundance" (Psalm 78:25).
As reviving and satisfying as a tiny piece of communion bread to be shared in churches centuries later, the bread given lost and wandering Hebrews was neither to be hoarded nor feasted upon but, rather, gathered "as much as each of you needs" (Exodus 16:16). In the end, unlike the loaves and fishes that later would define the even-greater generosity of Christ, "those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed" (Exodus 16:18).
Bread Of The Presence And Holy Communion. Part of a conversation about bread embraces the "holy bread," the bread of the presence defined in 1 Samuel: "So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away" (1 Samuel 21:6).
When David was about to escape from by then mentally ill Saul, who sought to kill him, he had asked the temple priest to provide him and his journeymen with five loaves of bread or whatever was on hand. The priest agreed to share the bread provided the young men had kept themselves from women. David's response, particularly the portion in italics here, invites us to ponder this event as an usher to the tradition of Holy Communion. With Christ's action at the Last Supper, the everyday bread of supper is blessed on the spot and shared with the everyday person who is prepared to receive it at the table: "David answered the priest, 'Indeed women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition; the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is a common journey; how much more today will their vessels be holy?' " (1 Samuel 21:5). For other passages in Hebrew Scripture about the bread of the Presence, see Exodus 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Numbers 4:7; 1 Kings 7:48; and 2 Chronicles 4:19.
When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his hungry disciples to pluck and eat the grain as they walked through a field on the sabbath, he returned the Pharisees to David's story. As understanding of the depth and the personal nature of God's love blossoms into Christianity, the words that Christ quoted from his heritage take on new meaning: "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). (See Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4.) See also Matthew 12:4; Mark 2:26; and Luke 6:4.
Bread And Temptation. Early in the stories about Jesus' ministry, during his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus begins the drawing of us beyond the physical understanding of bread and toward matters of the spirit: "The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But [Jesus] answered, 'It is written, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" ' " (Matthew 4:3-4 and Luke 4:4). Here Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. (See above.)
Enough Bread. The petition for bread is the first of the petitions for ourselves in the Prayer of our Savior: "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). See also Luke 11:3. Based on the trust of God's response to this petition, all disciples can respond to Jesus' initial directive when calling the twelve to "[t]ake nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money -- not even an extra tunic." (See Mark 6:8 and Luke 9:3.)
From the disciples' viewpoint, Jesus' compassion sometimes outweighed his practicality. The crowd who followed Jesus to a deserted plain tarried. Jesus' disciples would have sent the crowd to town to fend for themselves. Jesus practiced the finest hospitality. (See Mark 6:37; 8:4; Matthew 15:33; 16:5; and John 6:5.) However, when his disciples neglected to bring enough bread on another journey, they received a chiding borne of impatience rather than understanding. Jesus' mind was on bringing another awareness, that of spiritual nourishment. (See Mark 8:14 and Matthew 16:7-8.)
Bread As Sacrifice. While, according to Hebrew Scripture, houses and households, kings, God, people, and rocks all received blessing, the closest Hebrew reference to blessing bread and the cup is in the offering of sacrifice: "With your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being you shall bring your offering with cakes of leavened bread" (Leviticus 7:13) and "The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest" (Leviticus 23:20).
Instructions for the laying of the table at the designated holy place indicate that both the "regular" bread and the consecrated bread of the presence were on that table. (See Numbers 4:7.) Adding the depth of his coming sacrifice, Christ gives the consecrated bread to the people. The bread Christ offers is for all. In the gospels, the bread is returned, brought to the table of those who prepared it.
Sacrificial offering of life-giving physical food for God at the temple deepens to God's sacrificial offering of Jesus as life-giving spiritual food. At each sharing of the supper of our Savior, we retell the story in word and tangible symbol. Religion has matured from the sacrifice of an animal to the bread that represents the sacrifice of Christ's body. It draws us toward giving our hearts in dedication to God rather than presenting our animals, "stuff," and other objects that symbolize an emptiness of spirit.
Christ used bread as a sign. He used yeast and bread as a metaphor when warning about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (See Matthew 16:11-12.) At the time of Passover, the festival of Unleavened Bread, he broke bread as a means of communicating to his disciples the depth of the changes that were imminent in his life (as well as theirs) and the act of communion that transforms both our understanding of bread and of sacrifice: "Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me' ..." (Luke 22:19ff). See also Matthew 26:6; Luke 24:30; and Mark 14:22.
Before his death, the act of communion was a sign of impending betrayal: "He said to [the disciples], 'It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me' " (Mark 14:20). See also John 13:18, 26. After the Resurrection, it became a sign of identification: "Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24:35). See also John 21:9.
Spiritual Bread. Through the reflection of the writer of the Gospel of John, Christ amplified the metaphor of spiritual bread:
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." Then Jesus said to [the disciples], "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."
-- John 6:31-35
Jesus' critics were focused on discrediting Jesus. Unable or refusing to hear what he was saying about "living bread," they heard only that Jesus was knocking the manna from heaven fed the early wilderness wanderers. In John 6, see verses 41, 48, 50, 51. For further discussion, see "The Chat Room" and Parable 7, Cycle B.
Hungry (Hunger)
"Hungry" appears on 47 occasions, and "hunger" 27 times. The word "hunger" returns students of the Bible to the hunger of the Hebrew people in the wilderness. To allow or force a person or a people to become hungry was a form of punishment and to feed them was salvation from God: "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3); "[T]herefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you" (Deuteronomy 28:48); and "You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry" (Job 22:7). See also Exodus 16:3; Deuteronomy 32:24; Isaiah 65:13; and Nehemiah 9:15.
The psalmist sings of God who sees that the hungry receive food: "The young lions suffer want and hunger, / but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing" (Psalm 34:10); "For he satisfies the thirsty, / and the hungry he fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9); "And there he lets the hungry live, / and they establish a town to live in" (Psalm 107:36); and [God] "who executes justice for the oppressed; / who gives food to the hungry" (Psalm 146:7).
Our aim is to live as giving people, even if the recipient is enemy: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21). Such a giving attitude will yield reward for the giver:
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry...? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly ... [I]f you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:6-10), and
"If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right ... does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment ... If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right ... he shall surely live, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 18:5-9).
Hebrew Scripture also addresses spiritual hunger: "The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, / but he thwarts the craving of the wicked" (Proverbs 10:3); "[T]hey shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them" (Isaiah 49:10); "I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations" (Ezekiel 35:29); and "You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you" (Micah 6:14a).
The writer of Matthew's Gospel refers to hunger or hungry nine times. Mark and John, one each; and Luke, eight. Of these gospel references, the collector of the Matthean passages places first chronological mention of spiritual hungering in the fourth beatitude: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Jesus speaks of his response to the physical hunger of his disciples on the sabbath as well as referring to David's earlier giving his hungry companions the holy bread of the temple. (See Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:25; and Luke 6:3.)
Whether the hungering is that of a traveler such as himself (Matthew 21:18 and Mark 11:12), a homeless person, or the crowds who listened to him on the hillside, Jesus sees and responds to physical hunger. (See Matthew 15:32 and Mark 8:3.) Jesus addresses hunger first in the "[F]or I was hungry and you gave me food" passages (Matthew 25:35-44).
The writer of the Gospel of Luke fills readers with compassionate stories about those who are hungry. In her Magnificat, Mary, the mother of Jesus, sings of God's sustaining presence with hungry people: "[H]e has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:53). Jesus addresses the hungry in the beatitudes/woes: "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled" (Luke 6:21) and the corresponding woe, "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry" (Luke 6:25). Physician/writer Luke highlights the younger prodigal son's literal, "here I am dying of hunger!" while the story suggests his spiritual starvation (Luke 15:17). He weeps with the hungry Lazarus at the town gate. (See Luke 16:20ff.)
John 6:35, part of the present reading, is the sole mention of "hungry" in the Gospel of John: "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.' " As in Deuteronomy 28:48; 2 Samuel 17:29; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 107:9; Proverbs 25:21; Isaiah 49:10; and Matthew 5:6, this verse couples hunger with thirst.
I Tell You
See Parable 7, Cycle B.
Manna
According to "the house of Israel," manna is "like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31). "Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like the color of gum resin. The people went around and gathered it, ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, then boiled it in pots and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna would fall with it" (Numbers 11:7-9).
For forty years until they came to "habitable land" that could support them, the Israelites ate this food of a foreign land. (See Exodus 16:35.) The day they ate of their own crops in the land of Canaan, the manna ceased to fall. (See Joshua 5:12.)
Manna was a humbling and a teaching experience, yet ultimately a good experience provided by a generous God: "You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst" (Nehemiah 9:20). See also Psalm 78:24, "[H]e rained down on them manna to eat, / and gave them the grain of heaven."
God "punished" Adam and Eve for being human, that is for succumbing to the nature of humanity, by having to eat bread, that is, the crops of the land that they worked with their hands. With manna comes the dialogue between manna as punishment and as the gift of a good-spirited God that further marks the way for the marriage of the elements of communion. Consider that one element of our rite of Holy Communion comes from a crop the farmer grows with hands and the other the farmer picks from the branch, both drawing us to further symbolic significance.
Thirst
Words related to thirst occur 57 times, nine of which are in gospel texts. Those with great thirst cry out: "But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?' " (Exodus 17:3). God responds: "You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst" (Nehemiah 9:20).
Again, "By then [after a great battle, Samson] was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, 'You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' " (Judges 15:18). God responds: "So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore, which is at Lehi to this day" (Judges 15:19).
Yet again, "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 'I am thirsty' " (John 19:28). The people respond: "A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. Then God responds: When Jesus had received the wine, he said, 'It is finished.' Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:29-30).
The psalmist addresses spiritual thirst: "My soul thirsts for God, / for the living God" (Psalm 42:2); "O God, you are my God, I seek you, / my soul thirsts for you / my flesh faints for you, / as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1); "[H]ungry and thirsty, / their soul fainted within them" (Psalm 107:5); and "I stretch out my hands to you; / my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Psalm 143:6).
The poets also express God's power to create or satisfy physical thirst: "For he satisfies the thirsty, / and the hungry he fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9); "He turns rivers into a desert, / springs of water into thirsty ground" (Psalm 107:33); "... [Makes springs gush forth in the valleys; / they flow between the hills, / giving drink to every wild animal; / the wild asses quench their thirst" (Psalm 104:10-11); and "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country" (Proverbs 25:25).
Writings from Hebrew prophets reflect the arid climate of the area. (See Jeremiah 2:25; Lamentations 4:4; and Ezekiel 19:13.) Of particular color is this metaphor within the metaphor for Israel as a prostitute from Hosea: "... [O]r I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land, and kill her with thirst" (Hosea 2:3).
Isaiah speaks of bodily thirst in Isaiah 5:13; 21:14; 29:8; 32:6; 35:7; 41:17; 48:21; 49:10; 50:2; 55:1; 65:13. In the following passage, however, the prophet blends water with a metaphor that harkens to Christ's later outpouring: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring" (Isaiah 44:3).
Warning of the approach of an accounting, Amos alludes to the coming of a spiritual famine: "The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). See also Amos 8:13. While Amos suggests that this famine might be a part of God's punishment, consider that the source of spiritual thirst within an individual might, like some depressions, be an indicator that all is not well within. The message reads, it is time to slow down and take stock.
In the beatitudes, Christ blesses those who thirst for righteousness. (See Matthew 5:6.) Those are blessed who give the physically thirsty something to drink. Any time they do so it is as if they were quenching Christ's thirst. Similarly, if we refrain from doing so, we cause further hurt to Christ. (See Matthew 25:35ff.) Note the parallel from Proverbs: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21).
Living Water. When Christ requests water from the Samaritan woman at the well, he speaks also of living water. In the same breath, she revealed both her practical nature and the thirst of her spiritual curiosity: "The woman said to him, 'Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?' " (John 4:11).
Moving beyond the image to the truth to which it points is an intricacy of a metaphor or analogy that may muddy understanding. When Jesus answers the woman at the well, she neither doubts nor hesitates to receive this living water. However, she does not understand yet its meaning as she equates it with physical water: "Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water' " (John 4:13-15).
The writer of the Gospel of John is the sole New Testament user of the term "living water" to which Christ alludes in today's text: "Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). John may have called forth the term from Jeremiah and the Song of Solomon. See mention of "a well of living water" (Song of Solomon 4:15), God as "the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13), and Israel as "the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 17:13).
Just as the "bread of life" fills the hungry spirit, according to the writer of this gospel, so the "living water" of belief in Christ quenches thirst of the spirit: "[B]ut those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). See also Joel 2:28; 3:18; Isaiah 44:3; 55:1; 58:11; Zechariah 13:1; and John 1:33; 12:16, 23; 20:22. Might we read from these words, then, that believers, in turn, will share this living water with others: "[A]nd let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water' " (John 7:38).
John says that Christ "cried out" for anyone who was thirsty to come to him. John has everyone from John the Baptist and Jesus to his opponents and the crowds who decided his fate "cry out" with emotion. (See John 1:15; 7:28; 19:1, 15.) Jesus appeared to reserve such passion for the intensity of his message. Time was getting late to finish his work: "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me' " (John 7:37). He also cried out when he was teaching in the temple. (See John 7:28.)
Scripture records this expression of great emotion on 117 occasions. People cried out during desperate or intense times in fear, grief, frustration, taunt, and suffering. Among those who cried out were Esau (Genesis 27:34), Joseph (Genesis 45:1), the enslaved Israelites (Exodus 2:23), Moses (Exodus 8:12), and the disciples (Mark 1:2; 10:48). See also Exodus 17:4; 1 Samuel 15:11; 1 Kings 17:20; Psalm 31:22; Ezekiel 9:8; and Matthew 14:2, 30.
The writer of Mark records that at the crucifixion Jesus "cried out with a loud voice" (Mark 15:34). In contrast, John stands at greater distance. Emphasizing the fulfillment of scripture, his report approaches the perfunctory, or might it have been that other reserve that extreme emotion also brings: "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 'I am thirsty' " (John 19:28). Compare that passage with "By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, 'You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' " (Judges 15:18). See also Psalm 69:21; Isaiah 41:17; 48:21; 50:2; and 2 Chronicles 32:11.
On the cross, when Jesus knew that "all was now finished" (John 19:28), was his thirst, only and ironically, a physical thirst from his ordeal? Was his thirst also an expression of already looking forward, a thirsting to return to God? Jesus' words become even more poignant because of his history of compassion toward others who knew thirst of either body or spirit.
My Flesh
See Parable 7, Cycle B.
Very Truly
This phrase, occurring 26 times, is exclusive to the Gospel of John. Each time attributed to Jesus, it is coupled with "I tell you." As a single word, "truly" appears 86 times in all four gospels. "Truly I tell you" occurs 78 times.
Most occurrences of this signature of the author of John are responses to the queries of Jesus' questioners. However the first is a prediction, the promise of something that will happen. Jesus speaks to his disciples: " 'Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.' And he said to him, 'Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man' " (John 1:50-51).
When Simon Peter refused to allow Christ to wash his feet, Jesus said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them" (John 13:16). He said, "Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me" (John 13:20) in the same conversation. He also spoke to his disciples about betrayal: "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me" (John 13:21) and "Jesus answered [Peter], 'Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times' " (John 13:38).
When Philip asked Jesus to show him "the Father," Christ responded, "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12).
Also in this lengthy presentation to the disciples about his coming death, Christ told them, "Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy" (John 16:20) and "On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you" (John 16:23).
Three of Christ's "very truly" responses recorded in John 3:1-21 are part of the heartfelt conversation with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who brought his questions privately "in the night" during the Passover festival after observing signs of what Jesus was doing: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" (John 3:3); "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit" (John 3:5); and "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony" (John 3:11).
The quiet intensity of the "very truly" further shows itself in the answers Christ gives to those who sought his death because he made himself equal to God. (See John 5:16-47.) Here in the questioning after his healing of the man beside the pool on the sabbath, he clarifies his relationship with God: "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise" (John 5:19) and "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (John 5:24-25).
Again they came to him with their questions, this time it followed his feeding of the multitudes. (See ch. 6.) Here Christ uses the bread metaphor that draws us to the truth of the passage in the present parable ("Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life" from John 6:47): "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves" (John 6:26); "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" (John 6:32); and "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). See Parable 7, Cycle B, for further discussion of this section of chapter 6.
Jesus told the Jews who earlier had believed in him that if they were to continue to believe in the words he taught, they would know the truth and the truth would make them free. When they asked what that meant, he answered, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34).
Did the Pharisees express further manipulation alone or genuine confusion in the interrogation? When he responded to his "Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death" (John 8:51), they were certain that he possessed a demon. They did not see him as greater than their heroes, Abraham and the prophets, who were mortal. Christ responds with continued intensity, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). After these words, the questioners began to stone Jesus, forcing him to hide and leave the temple.
After the Pharisees interrogated the healed blind man, Jesus sought out the man speaking anew to him and to the listening Pharisees about the other blindness of people. He then used the two "very truly" statements below within his parable of entering the sheepfold: "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit" (John 10:1) and "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7).
The this-is-how-it-is sayings include: "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18);
"Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy" (John 16:20);
"Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them" (13:16); and
"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (12:24).
4. Parallel Scriptures
All
Compare "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me" (John 6:45) with the prophetic inclusiveness of "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children" (Isaiah 54:13) and "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34).
Bread Of Life
"Bread of life" appears only twice in the Bible, both in chapter 6 of John. Both references credit Christ with saying he is the bread of life. The first is "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' " (v. 35). It focuses on Christ's being the bread of life. Whereas the second, "I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died" (vv. 48-49), moves toward a new understanding of bread.
Very Truly
Using "truly" rather than "very truly," Matthew 26:21 and Mark 14:18; Matthew 26:34 and Mark 14:30; and Luke 12:37 parallel the Johannine passages.
5. Chat Room
Jesus: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
Opponent: I cannot hear you, Jesus. I know only the bread that feeds my belly. I see plenty of people who will always be hungry. Look at your people, Jesus. They glean from the field. They line up at the soup kitchen and knock at the food pantry door. They come to a stranger's house. Their money is spent; their bread is gone.
Follower: The soup kitchen continues meal after meal. Food pantry shelves are restocked. Generous strangers slather bread with peanut butter and refuse to demean. How can you say Christ is not this tangible bread of life?
Jesus: "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
Opponent: "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can you now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" I cannot hear you, Jesus.
Jesus: "Do not complain among yourselves."
Opponent: Complain! We are protecting what we have. How dare you contaminate our beliefs, our Hebrew history, our traditions. I know your beginnings, your parents, your father's parents. I know you. You were a little child in the temple. You are as human as I. You are no God. How dare you undermine our authority with your claims.
Follower: To be sure, Jesus, you are fully human. Yet you draw us beyond your humanity, just as some voice greater than I awakens within me. It speaks of a higher presence. You are more than human, Jesus. You are greater, Jesus. Something about how you say what you say, what you do, what you point toward with your whole being connects me with the one I call to as God. There is an integrity about you, Christ.
Jesus: "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me."
Opponent: What right do you have, Jesus, to address God by as familiar a moniker as Father? How dare you elevate yourself to the position of God. How dare you lower God to your level. You are a contradiction to all I have learned in synagogue. I am learned; I am schooled; I have no ears for you.
Follower: I do not grasp all that you tell us, Jesus, about your relationship with God. When I am with you, Jesus, I myself feel closer to God than at any other time. It is as if God speaks through you to me.
Jesus: "[A]nd I will raise [you] up on the last day."
Opponent: Now those words are just plain hokey. That is over the line. You are false. You are power hungry, man.
Follower: I cannot comprehend, Jesus, how I could be raised up on the last day, on my last day. Part of me needs and wants to know the how of what happens when I die. I am curious. Yet I perceive evidence of resurrection all around in the natural world. Of equal importance is the renewal of hope, of my own spirit, the impetus to take heart when once disheartened, the sense of new vitality, new purpose and meaning in the now of my life. I already have a lifetime of God's providence. Because I trust God with my present life, I can trust God with what comes after physical death.
Jesus: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me."
Opponent: There you go again, using the words of the prophets for your own embellishment.
Follower: I don't think so. Everything you say and do pulls us back to Hebrew Scripture. You seem to fulfill those words. You complete what has been hoped for. You live the word of scripture. I attempt to see through your eyes, Jesus, that is, to engage the filter of Christ. I read the life stories of men and women in Hebrew Scripture who grapple with God's plan for them. Your words, Jesus, and your actions draw me closer to the active presence of God in my own life. I see you in the lives of those I care about. Again, God's presence is near but not that anyone can see God.
Jesus: "Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father."
Opponent: No person can see God. How can you presume to be so personal with God?
Follower: I do not pretend to have the connection between God and Jesus figured out. I am not certain that I need to have it all resolved in my mind. My heart confirms this close bond between God and Christ. And through you, Jesus, my understanding of God's hopes for us also deepens. Still, it is difficult to grasp. For me to consider God as parent gives flesh to this Holy Spirit. Yet, for a nonvisual person, as I am, there is no need actually to see God. I would suppose that a nonhearing person needs not actually to hear God either. My perception of this creator is rather of one whose concern for us continues beyond our initial creation. God offers an indwelling, present guidance that permeates all that we do. For me, that perception is as real. It is like the intangible presence that exists between two persons for whom the covenant of love has become a mutual cherishing.
Jesus: "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life."
Follower: I hear your quiet, intense, inviting "very truly," Jesus. I hear your "believe." I also hear your "whoever believes." I hear you. You do not make exceptions. I hear you. Your table is an open table. I hear you. I am already chosen. I hear you. It is my responsibility to come, to make the leap of faith that comes from having decided to trust.
Jesus: "I am the bread of life."
Follower: While the gift of bread that you break for us at the table is tangible, it is a symbol. It is a touchable and taste-able metaphor of the spiritual nourishment that you call "the bread of life."
Opponent: The manna that God gave our ancestors who wandered in the desert for forty years was the bread of life.
Jesus: "Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die."
Opponent: Where do you think that manna came from if it did not come from heaven? They did not die. They ate it until they came to a land where they could raise and eat their own crops.
Follower: So you are telling us that just as nourishment from physical bread gives life to our body, a different bread gives new life to our spirit.
Jesus: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Follower: What a gift.
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."
Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus tells the crowd that he is the bread of life. Whoever comes to him will never be hungry. Whoever believes in him will never be thirsty.
Second Point Of Action
Later, the Jews begin to complain about Jesus because Jesus said he was bread that came from heaven. They ask how Jesus can say he came down from heaven when he is the son of Joseph, whose parents they know.
Third Point Of Action
Jesus tells them not to complain among themselves.
Fourth Point Of Action
Jesus explains: First, no one can come to him unless drawn by the Father who sent him. Second, Jesus will raise that person up on the last day.
Fifth Point Of Action
Jesus quotes the Prophet Isaiah: "And they shall all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13).
Sixth Point Of Action
Jesus explains that everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to him. In saying this, Jesus does not want to suggest that anyone except himself, who is from God, has seen God.
Seventh Point Of Action
Using the "very truly" phrase, Jesus says he tells them, that whoever believes has eternal life.
Eighth Point Of Action
Further, Jesus himself is the bread of life.
Ninth Point Of Action
Jesus compares this bread to the manna in the wilderness that their ancestors ate. The ancestors died. The bread Jesus is speaking about came from heaven so they may eat of it and not die.
Tenth Point Of Action
Jesus repeats that he is the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of it will live forever. The bread that he will give for the life of the world is his flesh.
3. Spadework
Bread
"Bread" occurs 300 times in the Bible. Of the 198 instances in Hebrew Scripture, the most frequent occasions are in Genesis (eleven times), Exodus (24), Leviticus (eleven), Numbers (seven), Deuteronomy (eight), 1 Samuel (eleven), 1 Kings (six), 2 Chronicles (nine), Job (six), Psalms (thirteen), Proverbs (twelve), Isaiah (thirteen), Jeremiah (five), and Hosea (thirteen). The writers of Matthew and Mark refer ten times each to bread. Luke and John both mention bread on thirteen occasions.
Bread In Hebrew Scripture. The initial reference comes as part of the Adam and Eve story. The eating of bread is a form of punishment for having eaten the prohibited fruit:
And to the man he said, "Because you ... have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
-- Genesis 3:17-19
Bread is synonymous with generosity and hospitality. This hospitality is to extend even in unfriendly circumstances: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21) and "Bring water to the thirsty, meet the fugitive with bread, O inhabitants of the land of Tema" (Isaiah 21:14). "[Reuel] said to his daughters, 'Where is he? Why did you leave the man? Invite him to break bread' " (Exodus 2:20). See also Genesis 14:18.
Travelers and those about to embark upon a journey become guests at one's house, whether as expected or unexpected guests. Their host gives bread as a gift of hospitality and as fortification for the journey. Abraham sent Hagar and her child into the wilderness with bread (Genesis 21:14). Jacob gave Esau bread (and lentil stew) before Esau "went his way" (Genesis 25:34; 27:17). When God came to Abraham as three travelers, Abraham offered "a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on" (Genesis 18:5). When the two angels came to Sodom, Lot "urged them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate" (Genesis 19:3).
Bread is symbolic of God's dependability and of our being able to trust that God will provide what we need. Before Jacob began his journey, he made a promise of faithfulness to God, if God would provide for him what he needed on the sojourn: "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat and clothing to wear, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God, and this stone, which I have set up for a pillar, shall be God's house; and of all that you give me I will surely give one tenth to you" (Genesis 28:20-22). Food from God is first rate: "Also my bread that I gave you -- I fed you with choice flour and oil and honey -- you set it before them as a pleasing odor; and so it was, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 16:19).
The cry for bread went to Pharaoh throughout the seven years of famine. (See Genesis 41:54-55.) Obeying the order of Pharaoh to go leave the land of Egypt and return to the land of Canaan, Joseph provided his father and brothers with bread and other provisions. (See Genesis 45:23ff.)
Several biblical passages refer to refraining from eating or serving bread. Ezra abstained from eating bread while mourning the faithlessness of the exiles. (See Ezra 10:6.) Moses fasted forty days and nights on Mount Horeb for the sins his people had committed. (See Deuteronomy 9:18.) Reduced rations bread (and water) formed the diet of prisoners. (See 1 Kings 22:27 and 2 Chronicles 18:26.) God sometimes withholds nourishment: "When he summoned famine against the land, / and broke every staff of bread" (Psalm 105:16) and "For now the Sovereign, the Lord of hosts, is taking away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and staff -- all support of bread, and all support of water" (Isaiah 3:1).
Bread As Gift. Bread was also the gift of a provident God to protect physical survival. The manna of the morning, as well as meat from the evening quails, affirmed God's presence and magnificence: "I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, 'At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the Lord your God' " (Exodus 16:12). The source was God: "For their hunger you gave them bread from heaven, and for their thirst you brought water for them out of the rock, and you told them to go in to possess the land that you swore to give them" (Nehemiah 9:15) and "Mortals ate of the bread of angels; / he sent them food in abundance" (Psalm 78:25).
As reviving and satisfying as a tiny piece of communion bread to be shared in churches centuries later, the bread given lost and wandering Hebrews was neither to be hoarded nor feasted upon but, rather, gathered "as much as each of you needs" (Exodus 16:16). In the end, unlike the loaves and fishes that later would define the even-greater generosity of Christ, "those who gathered much had nothing over, and those who gathered little had no shortage; they gathered as much as each of them needed" (Exodus 16:18).
Bread Of The Presence And Holy Communion. Part of a conversation about bread embraces the "holy bread," the bread of the presence defined in 1 Samuel: "So the priest gave him the holy bread; for there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence, which is removed from before the Lord, to be replaced by hot bread on the day it is taken away" (1 Samuel 21:6).
When David was about to escape from by then mentally ill Saul, who sought to kill him, he had asked the temple priest to provide him and his journeymen with five loaves of bread or whatever was on hand. The priest agreed to share the bread provided the young men had kept themselves from women. David's response, particularly the portion in italics here, invites us to ponder this event as an usher to the tradition of Holy Communion. With Christ's action at the Last Supper, the everyday bread of supper is blessed on the spot and shared with the everyday person who is prepared to receive it at the table: "David answered the priest, 'Indeed women have been kept from us as always when I go on an expedition; the vessels of the young men are holy even when it is a common journey; how much more today will their vessels be holy?' " (1 Samuel 21:5). For other passages in Hebrew Scripture about the bread of the Presence, see Exodus 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Numbers 4:7; 1 Kings 7:48; and 2 Chronicles 4:19.
When the Pharisees criticized Jesus for allowing his hungry disciples to pluck and eat the grain as they walked through a field on the sabbath, he returned the Pharisees to David's story. As understanding of the depth and the personal nature of God's love blossoms into Christianity, the words that Christ quoted from his heritage take on new meaning: "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3). (See Matthew 4:4 and Luke 4:4.) See also Matthew 12:4; Mark 2:26; and Luke 6:4.
Bread And Temptation. Early in the stories about Jesus' ministry, during his temptation in the wilderness, Jesus begins the drawing of us beyond the physical understanding of bread and toward matters of the spirit: "The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.' But [Jesus] answered, 'It is written, "One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God" ' " (Matthew 4:3-4 and Luke 4:4). Here Jesus quotes Deuteronomy 8:3. (See above.)
Enough Bread. The petition for bread is the first of the petitions for ourselves in the Prayer of our Savior: "Give us this day our daily bread" (Matthew 6:11). See also Luke 11:3. Based on the trust of God's response to this petition, all disciples can respond to Jesus' initial directive when calling the twelve to "[t]ake nothing for your journey, no staff, nor bag, nor bread, nor money -- not even an extra tunic." (See Mark 6:8 and Luke 9:3.)
From the disciples' viewpoint, Jesus' compassion sometimes outweighed his practicality. The crowd who followed Jesus to a deserted plain tarried. Jesus' disciples would have sent the crowd to town to fend for themselves. Jesus practiced the finest hospitality. (See Mark 6:37; 8:4; Matthew 15:33; 16:5; and John 6:5.) However, when his disciples neglected to bring enough bread on another journey, they received a chiding borne of impatience rather than understanding. Jesus' mind was on bringing another awareness, that of spiritual nourishment. (See Mark 8:14 and Matthew 16:7-8.)
Bread As Sacrifice. While, according to Hebrew Scripture, houses and households, kings, God, people, and rocks all received blessing, the closest Hebrew reference to blessing bread and the cup is in the offering of sacrifice: "With your thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being you shall bring your offering with cakes of leavened bread" (Leviticus 7:13) and "The priest shall raise them with the bread of the first fruits as an elevation offering before the Lord, together with the two lambs; they shall be holy to the Lord for the priest" (Leviticus 23:20).
Instructions for the laying of the table at the designated holy place indicate that both the "regular" bread and the consecrated bread of the presence were on that table. (See Numbers 4:7.) Adding the depth of his coming sacrifice, Christ gives the consecrated bread to the people. The bread Christ offers is for all. In the gospels, the bread is returned, brought to the table of those who prepared it.
Sacrificial offering of life-giving physical food for God at the temple deepens to God's sacrificial offering of Jesus as life-giving spiritual food. At each sharing of the supper of our Savior, we retell the story in word and tangible symbol. Religion has matured from the sacrifice of an animal to the bread that represents the sacrifice of Christ's body. It draws us toward giving our hearts in dedication to God rather than presenting our animals, "stuff," and other objects that symbolize an emptiness of spirit.
Christ used bread as a sign. He used yeast and bread as a metaphor when warning about the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (See Matthew 16:11-12.) At the time of Passover, the festival of Unleavened Bread, he broke bread as a means of communicating to his disciples the depth of the changes that were imminent in his life (as well as theirs) and the act of communion that transforms both our understanding of bread and of sacrifice: "Then he took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me' ..." (Luke 22:19ff). See also Matthew 26:6; Luke 24:30; and Mark 14:22.
Before his death, the act of communion was a sign of impending betrayal: "He said to [the disciples], 'It is one of the twelve, one who is dipping bread into the bowl with me' " (Mark 14:20). See also John 13:18, 26. After the Resurrection, it became a sign of identification: "Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he had been made known to them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24:35). See also John 21:9.
Spiritual Bread. Through the reflection of the writer of the Gospel of John, Christ amplified the metaphor of spiritual bread:
Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, "He gave them bread from heaven to eat." Then Jesus said to [the disciples], "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."
-- John 6:31-35
Jesus' critics were focused on discrediting Jesus. Unable or refusing to hear what he was saying about "living bread," they heard only that Jesus was knocking the manna from heaven fed the early wilderness wanderers. In John 6, see verses 41, 48, 50, 51. For further discussion, see "The Chat Room" and Parable 7, Cycle B.
Hungry (Hunger)
"Hungry" appears on 47 occasions, and "hunger" 27 times. The word "hunger" returns students of the Bible to the hunger of the Hebrew people in the wilderness. To allow or force a person or a people to become hungry was a form of punishment and to feed them was salvation from God: "He humbled you by letting you hunger, then by feeding you with manna, with which neither you nor your ancestors were acquainted, in order to make you understand that one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord" (Deuteronomy 8:3); "[T]herefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger and thirst, in nakedness and lack of everything. He will put an iron yoke on your neck until he has destroyed you" (Deuteronomy 28:48); and "You have given no water to the weary to drink, and you have withheld bread from the hungry" (Job 22:7). See also Exodus 16:3; Deuteronomy 32:24; Isaiah 65:13; and Nehemiah 9:15.
The psalmist sings of God who sees that the hungry receive food: "The young lions suffer want and hunger, / but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing" (Psalm 34:10); "For he satisfies the thirsty, / and the hungry he fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9); "And there he lets the hungry live, / and they establish a town to live in" (Psalm 107:36); and [God] "who executes justice for the oppressed; / who gives food to the hungry" (Psalm 146:7).
Our aim is to live as giving people, even if the recipient is enemy: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21). Such a giving attitude will yield reward for the giver:
"Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry...? Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly ... [I]f you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday" (Isaiah 58:6-10), and
"If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right ... does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, commits no robbery, gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with a garment ... If a man is righteous and does what is lawful and right ... he shall surely live, says the Lord God" (Ezekiel 18:5-9).
Hebrew Scripture also addresses spiritual hunger: "The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry, / but he thwarts the craving of the wicked" (Proverbs 10:3); "[T]hey shall not hunger or thirst, neither scorching wind nor sun shall strike them down, for he who has pity on them will lead them, and by springs of water will guide them" (Isaiah 49:10); "I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations" (Ezekiel 35:29); and "You shall eat, but not be satisfied, and there shall be a gnawing hunger within you" (Micah 6:14a).
The writer of Matthew's Gospel refers to hunger or hungry nine times. Mark and John, one each; and Luke, eight. Of these gospel references, the collector of the Matthean passages places first chronological mention of spiritual hungering in the fourth beatitude: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled" (Matthew 5:6). Jesus speaks of his response to the physical hunger of his disciples on the sabbath as well as referring to David's earlier giving his hungry companions the holy bread of the temple. (See Matthew 12:1; Mark 2:25; and Luke 6:3.)
Whether the hungering is that of a traveler such as himself (Matthew 21:18 and Mark 11:12), a homeless person, or the crowds who listened to him on the hillside, Jesus sees and responds to physical hunger. (See Matthew 15:32 and Mark 8:3.) Jesus addresses hunger first in the "[F]or I was hungry and you gave me food" passages (Matthew 25:35-44).
The writer of the Gospel of Luke fills readers with compassionate stories about those who are hungry. In her Magnificat, Mary, the mother of Jesus, sings of God's sustaining presence with hungry people: "[H]e has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:53). Jesus addresses the hungry in the beatitudes/woes: "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled" (Luke 6:21) and the corresponding woe, "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry" (Luke 6:25). Physician/writer Luke highlights the younger prodigal son's literal, "here I am dying of hunger!" while the story suggests his spiritual starvation (Luke 15:17). He weeps with the hungry Lazarus at the town gate. (See Luke 16:20ff.)
John 6:35, part of the present reading, is the sole mention of "hungry" in the Gospel of John: "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.' " As in Deuteronomy 28:48; 2 Samuel 17:29; Nehemiah 9:15; Psalm 107:9; Proverbs 25:21; Isaiah 49:10; and Matthew 5:6, this verse couples hunger with thirst.
I Tell You
See Parable 7, Cycle B.
Manna
According to "the house of Israel," manna is "like coriander seed, white, and the taste of it was like wafers made with honey" (Exodus 16:31). "Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color was like the color of gum resin. The people went around and gathered it, ground it in mills or beat it in mortars, then boiled it in pots and made cakes of it; and the taste of it was like the taste of cakes baked with oil. When the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna would fall with it" (Numbers 11:7-9).
For forty years until they came to "habitable land" that could support them, the Israelites ate this food of a foreign land. (See Exodus 16:35.) The day they ate of their own crops in the land of Canaan, the manna ceased to fall. (See Joshua 5:12.)
Manna was a humbling and a teaching experience, yet ultimately a good experience provided by a generous God: "You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst" (Nehemiah 9:20). See also Psalm 78:24, "[H]e rained down on them manna to eat, / and gave them the grain of heaven."
God "punished" Adam and Eve for being human, that is for succumbing to the nature of humanity, by having to eat bread, that is, the crops of the land that they worked with their hands. With manna comes the dialogue between manna as punishment and as the gift of a good-spirited God that further marks the way for the marriage of the elements of communion. Consider that one element of our rite of Holy Communion comes from a crop the farmer grows with hands and the other the farmer picks from the branch, both drawing us to further symbolic significance.
Thirst
Words related to thirst occur 57 times, nine of which are in gospel texts. Those with great thirst cry out: "But the people thirsted there for water; and the people complained against Moses and said, 'Why did you bring us out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and livestock with thirst?' " (Exodus 17:3). God responds: "You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst" (Nehemiah 9:20).
Again, "By then [after a great battle, Samson] was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, 'You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' " (Judges 15:18). God responds: "So God split open the hollow place that is at Lehi, and water came from it. When he drank, his spirit returned, and he revived. Therefore it was named En-hakkore, which is at Lehi to this day" (Judges 15:19).
Yet again, "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 'I am thirsty' " (John 19:28). The people respond: "A jar full of sour wine was standing there. So they put a sponge full of the wine on a branch of hyssop and held it to his mouth. Then God responds: When Jesus had received the wine, he said, 'It is finished.' Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit" (John 19:29-30).
The psalmist addresses spiritual thirst: "My soul thirsts for God, / for the living God" (Psalm 42:2); "O God, you are my God, I seek you, / my soul thirsts for you / my flesh faints for you, / as in a dry and weary land where there is no water" (Psalm 63:1); "[H]ungry and thirsty, / their soul fainted within them" (Psalm 107:5); and "I stretch out my hands to you; / my soul thirsts for you like a parched land" (Psalm 143:6).
The poets also express God's power to create or satisfy physical thirst: "For he satisfies the thirsty, / and the hungry he fills with good things" (Psalm 107:9); "He turns rivers into a desert, / springs of water into thirsty ground" (Psalm 107:33); "... [Makes springs gush forth in the valleys; / they flow between the hills, / giving drink to every wild animal; / the wild asses quench their thirst" (Psalm 104:10-11); and "Like cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country" (Proverbs 25:25).
Writings from Hebrew prophets reflect the arid climate of the area. (See Jeremiah 2:25; Lamentations 4:4; and Ezekiel 19:13.) Of particular color is this metaphor within the metaphor for Israel as a prostitute from Hosea: "... [O]r I will strip her naked and expose her as in the day she was born, and make her like a wilderness, and turn her into a parched land, and kill her with thirst" (Hosea 2:3).
Isaiah speaks of bodily thirst in Isaiah 5:13; 21:14; 29:8; 32:6; 35:7; 41:17; 48:21; 49:10; 50:2; 55:1; 65:13. In the following passage, however, the prophet blends water with a metaphor that harkens to Christ's later outpouring: "For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon your descendants, and my blessing on your offspring" (Isaiah 44:3).
Warning of the approach of an accounting, Amos alludes to the coming of a spiritual famine: "The time is surely coming, says the Lord God, when I will send a famine on the land; not a famine of bread, or a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord" (Amos 8:11). See also Amos 8:13. While Amos suggests that this famine might be a part of God's punishment, consider that the source of spiritual thirst within an individual might, like some depressions, be an indicator that all is not well within. The message reads, it is time to slow down and take stock.
In the beatitudes, Christ blesses those who thirst for righteousness. (See Matthew 5:6.) Those are blessed who give the physically thirsty something to drink. Any time they do so it is as if they were quenching Christ's thirst. Similarly, if we refrain from doing so, we cause further hurt to Christ. (See Matthew 25:35ff.) Note the parallel from Proverbs: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21).
Living Water. When Christ requests water from the Samaritan woman at the well, he speaks also of living water. In the same breath, she revealed both her practical nature and the thirst of her spiritual curiosity: "The woman said to him, 'Sir, you have no bucket, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?' " (John 4:11).
Moving beyond the image to the truth to which it points is an intricacy of a metaphor or analogy that may muddy understanding. When Jesus answers the woman at the well, she neither doubts nor hesitates to receive this living water. However, she does not understand yet its meaning as she equates it with physical water: "Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life.' The woman said to him, 'Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water' " (John 4:13-15).
The writer of the Gospel of John is the sole New Testament user of the term "living water" to which Christ alludes in today's text: "Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty" (John 6:35). John may have called forth the term from Jeremiah and the Song of Solomon. See mention of "a well of living water" (Song of Solomon 4:15), God as "the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 2:13), and Israel as "the fountain of living water" (Jeremiah 17:13).
Just as the "bread of life" fills the hungry spirit, according to the writer of this gospel, so the "living water" of belief in Christ quenches thirst of the spirit: "[B]ut those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:14). See also Joel 2:28; 3:18; Isaiah 44:3; 55:1; 58:11; Zechariah 13:1; and John 1:33; 12:16, 23; 20:22. Might we read from these words, then, that believers, in turn, will share this living water with others: "[A]nd let the one who believes in me drink. As the scripture has said, 'Out of the believer's heart shall flow rivers of living water' " (John 7:38).
John says that Christ "cried out" for anyone who was thirsty to come to him. John has everyone from John the Baptist and Jesus to his opponents and the crowds who decided his fate "cry out" with emotion. (See John 1:15; 7:28; 19:1, 15.) Jesus appeared to reserve such passion for the intensity of his message. Time was getting late to finish his work: "On the last day of the festival, the great day, while Jesus was standing there, he cried out, 'Let anyone who is thirsty come to me' " (John 7:37). He also cried out when he was teaching in the temple. (See John 7:28.)
Scripture records this expression of great emotion on 117 occasions. People cried out during desperate or intense times in fear, grief, frustration, taunt, and suffering. Among those who cried out were Esau (Genesis 27:34), Joseph (Genesis 45:1), the enslaved Israelites (Exodus 2:23), Moses (Exodus 8:12), and the disciples (Mark 1:2; 10:48). See also Exodus 17:4; 1 Samuel 15:11; 1 Kings 17:20; Psalm 31:22; Ezekiel 9:8; and Matthew 14:2, 30.
The writer of Mark records that at the crucifixion Jesus "cried out with a loud voice" (Mark 15:34). In contrast, John stands at greater distance. Emphasizing the fulfillment of scripture, his report approaches the perfunctory, or might it have been that other reserve that extreme emotion also brings: "After this, when Jesus knew that all was now finished, he said (in order to fulfill the scripture), 'I am thirsty' " (John 19:28). Compare that passage with "By then he was very thirsty, and he called on the Lord, saying, 'You have granted this great victory by the hand of your servant. Am I now to die of thirst, and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?' " (Judges 15:18). See also Psalm 69:21; Isaiah 41:17; 48:21; 50:2; and 2 Chronicles 32:11.
On the cross, when Jesus knew that "all was now finished" (John 19:28), was his thirst, only and ironically, a physical thirst from his ordeal? Was his thirst also an expression of already looking forward, a thirsting to return to God? Jesus' words become even more poignant because of his history of compassion toward others who knew thirst of either body or spirit.
My Flesh
See Parable 7, Cycle B.
Very Truly
This phrase, occurring 26 times, is exclusive to the Gospel of John. Each time attributed to Jesus, it is coupled with "I tell you." As a single word, "truly" appears 86 times in all four gospels. "Truly I tell you" occurs 78 times.
Most occurrences of this signature of the author of John are responses to the queries of Jesus' questioners. However the first is a prediction, the promise of something that will happen. Jesus speaks to his disciples: " 'Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than these.' And he said to him, 'Very truly, I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man' " (John 1:50-51).
When Simon Peter refused to allow Christ to wash his feet, Jesus said to him, "Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them" (John 13:16). He said, "Very truly, I tell you, whoever receives one whom I send receives me; and whoever receives me receives him who sent me" (John 13:20) in the same conversation. He also spoke to his disciples about betrayal: "Very truly, I tell you, one of you will betray me" (John 13:21) and "Jesus answered [Peter], 'Will you lay down your life for me? Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows, you will have denied me three times' " (John 13:38).
When Philip asked Jesus to show him "the Father," Christ responded, "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father" (John 14:12).
Also in this lengthy presentation to the disciples about his coming death, Christ told them, "Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy" (John 16:20) and "On that day you will ask nothing of me. Very truly, I tell you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you" (John 16:23).
Three of Christ's "very truly" responses recorded in John 3:1-21 are part of the heartfelt conversation with the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who brought his questions privately "in the night" during the Passover festival after observing signs of what Jesus was doing: "Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above" (John 3:3); "Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit" (John 3:5); and "Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen; yet you do not receive our testimony" (John 3:11).
The quiet intensity of the "very truly" further shows itself in the answers Christ gives to those who sought his death because he made himself equal to God. (See John 5:16-47.) Here in the questioning after his healing of the man beside the pool on the sabbath, he clarifies his relationship with God: "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise" (John 5:19) and "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life. Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live" (John 5:24-25).
Again they came to him with their questions, this time it followed his feeding of the multitudes. (See ch. 6.) Here Christ uses the bread metaphor that draws us to the truth of the passage in the present parable ("Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life" from John 6:47): "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves" (John 6:26); "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" (John 6:32); and "Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you" (John 6:53). See Parable 7, Cycle B, for further discussion of this section of chapter 6.
Jesus told the Jews who earlier had believed in him that if they were to continue to believe in the words he taught, they would know the truth and the truth would make them free. When they asked what that meant, he answered, "Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin" (John 8:34).
Did the Pharisees express further manipulation alone or genuine confusion in the interrogation? When he responded to his "Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death" (John 8:51), they were certain that he possessed a demon. They did not see him as greater than their heroes, Abraham and the prophets, who were mortal. Christ responds with continued intensity, "Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58). After these words, the questioners began to stone Jesus, forcing him to hide and leave the temple.
After the Pharisees interrogated the healed blind man, Jesus sought out the man speaking anew to him and to the listening Pharisees about the other blindness of people. He then used the two "very truly" statements below within his parable of entering the sheepfold: "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who does not enter the sheepfold by the gate but climbs in by another way is a thief and a bandit" (John 10:1) and "Very truly, I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep" (John 10:7).
The this-is-how-it-is sayings include: "Very truly, I tell you, when you were younger, you used to fasten your own belt and to go wherever you wished. But when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will fasten a belt around you and take you where you do not wish to go" (John 21:18);
"Very truly, I tell you, you will weep and mourn, but the world will rejoice; you will have pain, but your pain will turn into joy" (John 16:20);
"Very truly, I tell you, servants are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them" (13:16); and
"Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit" (12:24).
4. Parallel Scriptures
All
Compare "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me" (John 6:45) with the prophetic inclusiveness of "All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the prosperity of your children" (Isaiah 54:13) and "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, 'Know the Lord,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more" (Jeremiah 31:33-34).
Bread Of Life
"Bread of life" appears only twice in the Bible, both in chapter 6 of John. Both references credit Christ with saying he is the bread of life. The first is "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' " (v. 35). It focuses on Christ's being the bread of life. Whereas the second, "I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died" (vv. 48-49), moves toward a new understanding of bread.
Very Truly
Using "truly" rather than "very truly," Matthew 26:21 and Mark 14:18; Matthew 26:34 and Mark 14:30; and Luke 12:37 parallel the Johannine passages.
5. Chat Room
Jesus: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty."
Opponent: I cannot hear you, Jesus. I know only the bread that feeds my belly. I see plenty of people who will always be hungry. Look at your people, Jesus. They glean from the field. They line up at the soup kitchen and knock at the food pantry door. They come to a stranger's house. Their money is spent; their bread is gone.
Follower: The soup kitchen continues meal after meal. Food pantry shelves are restocked. Generous strangers slather bread with peanut butter and refuse to demean. How can you say Christ is not this tangible bread of life?
Jesus: "I am the bread that came down from heaven."
Opponent: "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can you now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" I cannot hear you, Jesus.
Jesus: "Do not complain among yourselves."
Opponent: Complain! We are protecting what we have. How dare you contaminate our beliefs, our Hebrew history, our traditions. I know your beginnings, your parents, your father's parents. I know you. You were a little child in the temple. You are as human as I. You are no God. How dare you undermine our authority with your claims.
Follower: To be sure, Jesus, you are fully human. Yet you draw us beyond your humanity, just as some voice greater than I awakens within me. It speaks of a higher presence. You are more than human, Jesus. You are greater, Jesus. Something about how you say what you say, what you do, what you point toward with your whole being connects me with the one I call to as God. There is an integrity about you, Christ.
Jesus: "No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me."
Opponent: What right do you have, Jesus, to address God by as familiar a moniker as Father? How dare you elevate yourself to the position of God. How dare you lower God to your level. You are a contradiction to all I have learned in synagogue. I am learned; I am schooled; I have no ears for you.
Follower: I do not grasp all that you tell us, Jesus, about your relationship with God. When I am with you, Jesus, I myself feel closer to God than at any other time. It is as if God speaks through you to me.
Jesus: "[A]nd I will raise [you] up on the last day."
Opponent: Now those words are just plain hokey. That is over the line. You are false. You are power hungry, man.
Follower: I cannot comprehend, Jesus, how I could be raised up on the last day, on my last day. Part of me needs and wants to know the how of what happens when I die. I am curious. Yet I perceive evidence of resurrection all around in the natural world. Of equal importance is the renewal of hope, of my own spirit, the impetus to take heart when once disheartened, the sense of new vitality, new purpose and meaning in the now of my life. I already have a lifetime of God's providence. Because I trust God with my present life, I can trust God with what comes after physical death.
Jesus: "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me."
Opponent: There you go again, using the words of the prophets for your own embellishment.
Follower: I don't think so. Everything you say and do pulls us back to Hebrew Scripture. You seem to fulfill those words. You complete what has been hoped for. You live the word of scripture. I attempt to see through your eyes, Jesus, that is, to engage the filter of Christ. I read the life stories of men and women in Hebrew Scripture who grapple with God's plan for them. Your words, Jesus, and your actions draw me closer to the active presence of God in my own life. I see you in the lives of those I care about. Again, God's presence is near but not that anyone can see God.
Jesus: "Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father."
Opponent: No person can see God. How can you presume to be so personal with God?
Follower: I do not pretend to have the connection between God and Jesus figured out. I am not certain that I need to have it all resolved in my mind. My heart confirms this close bond between God and Christ. And through you, Jesus, my understanding of God's hopes for us also deepens. Still, it is difficult to grasp. For me to consider God as parent gives flesh to this Holy Spirit. Yet, for a nonvisual person, as I am, there is no need actually to see God. I would suppose that a nonhearing person needs not actually to hear God either. My perception of this creator is rather of one whose concern for us continues beyond our initial creation. God offers an indwelling, present guidance that permeates all that we do. For me, that perception is as real. It is like the intangible presence that exists between two persons for whom the covenant of love has become a mutual cherishing.
Jesus: "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life."
Follower: I hear your quiet, intense, inviting "very truly," Jesus. I hear your "believe." I also hear your "whoever believes." I hear you. You do not make exceptions. I hear you. Your table is an open table. I hear you. I am already chosen. I hear you. It is my responsibility to come, to make the leap of faith that comes from having decided to trust.
Jesus: "I am the bread of life."
Follower: While the gift of bread that you break for us at the table is tangible, it is a symbol. It is a touchable and taste-able metaphor of the spiritual nourishment that you call "the bread of life."
Opponent: The manna that God gave our ancestors who wandered in the desert for forty years was the bread of life.
Jesus: "Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die."
Opponent: Where do you think that manna came from if it did not come from heaven? They did not die. They ate it until they came to a land where they could raise and eat their own crops.
Follower: So you are telling us that just as nourishment from physical bread gives life to our body, a different bread gives new life to our spirit.
Jesus: "I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."
Follower: What a gift.
