Bread For Life
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series II, Cycle B
Friends told me recently that they had bought a bread-making machine. Such machines cost from under $100 on up. They can bake a wide variety of breads depending on the type of machine bought. They can make one to two pound loaves in a couple hours, or you can set the more expensive ones to bake over a longer period of time and have fresh baked bread ready when you want it.
Some people would not think of using a bread-making machine where you only put in the ingredients and the machine does the rest. They like to knead the dough and shape the loaves themselves. They get pleasure out of the bread-making process.
Jesus uses the familiarity and importance of bread that supports life to make a point about his own mission. In John 6 Jesus uses the word "bread" seventeen times according to the NRSV translation and in addition has four references to "loaves." He came to people to feed them. He did not hesitate to provide bread for the physical body when that seemed necessary. He even defended the right of his disciples to pick grain from the field on the Sabbath and to eat it raw when they were hungry and had no food available.
More important was Jesus' mission to feed the soul. He knew the hunger of people to know their true destiny. They needed to know the full meaning of their life. He offered them an understanding of the full significance of humanity and the way to experience it. In that larger sense he made the claim to be the bread of life (John 6:35) or the living bread (John 6:51).
Context
Context of the Gospel according to John
The account of the feeding of the 5,000 appears in all of the synoptic gospels. It is one of the few accounts other than the last week of Jesus' life which the Gospel according to John shares with them, assuming that the feeding of the crowd here is the same event. The feeding increased the expectations of the people. After the feeding they followed him around the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus tried in an extended discourse to use the interest aroused by the feeding to move the people beyond their awareness of physical food to the need for spiritual feeding. John places the chapter as a centerpiece of Jesus' ministry to the masses.
Context of the Lectionary
As is customary, this is the third Sunday in sequence with a part of John 6 as the Gospel reading. This section and next Sunday's, which conclude the series, are two of the parables or extended metaphors in the chapter. It is appropriate to devote this attention to John 6 since, as noted, this is the longest discourse by Jesus before the last week according to John's account. It also is a turning point in the Gospel account. The chapter ends by saying that the disciples found Jesus' statement difficult and some turned back from following him.
The First Lesson. (2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33) The reading reports the death of Absalom despite David's entreaty that he be dealt with gently. The Cushite who brought David the report of Absalom's death assumed that David would be pleased since it ended a rebellion against him. Instead David grieves at the death of his son.
The Second Lesson. (Ephesians 4:25-5:2) Paul advises the Ephesians on how they should live the new life in Christ. Much of what is contained in these instructions are elaborations of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Gospel. (John 6:35, 41-51) Jesus uses the symbolism of bread to call his followers to partake of his example and teachings to nourish their spiritual life. Whereas physical bread feeds the flesh that is corruptible, his bread feeds the spirit which endures eternally.
Psalm. (Psalm 130) The psalm begins with a plea for redemption. It proceeds through the affirmation that the psalmist waits with longing for redemption to the expression of hope that the power and love of God will lead to the redemption of Israel.
Context of Related Scriptures
Genesis 3:19 - The judgment that people would eat bread by the sweat of their face.
Exodus 16:13-33 - The account of manna provided in the wilderness.
Numbers 11:4-9 - The people grumble because they only have manna to eat and not the familiar foods from Egypt.
1 Kings 17:8-16 - Elijah fed bread by the widow of Zarephath.
Psalm 78:23-25 - God commands the heaven for all to open and rain manna, the bread of angels, on the Israelites.
Mark 6:31-44; Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17 - Parallel passages which tell of the feeding of the 5,000.
Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-39 - The feeding of the 4,000.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 - Paul alludes to the spiritual food and drink which the Israelites imbibed in the wilderness.
Content
Precis (John 6:35, 41-51)
Jesus makes the first of his "I am" claims by asserting that he is the bread of life. As he had earlier offered the Samaritan woman at the well living water that would never lead her to thirst again (John 4:13-14), he now offers bread that will not leave a person hungry or thirsty ever again. When the Jews complain about his claim that he has come down from heaven, Jesus reiterates his claim and indeed heightens it by saying that his bread is superior to the manna in the wilderness. His living bread can nourish for eternal life.
Thesis: Partaking of Jesus as the living bread leads to eternal life.
Theme: Identity with the person of Jesus is real life.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Bread of Life." (v. 35) Jesus uses a staple food that sustains life to call people to respond to his teachings which will nourish the life of the spirit.
2. "Never be Hungry ... Thirsty." (v. 35) These phrases clearly echo Isaiah's promise of God to Israel in Isaiah 49:8-10.
3. "Came Down from Heaven." (vv. 41, 51) John repeats the theme announced in John 1:1-18. Jesus as the Word (Logos) is of divine origin.
4. "Son of Joseph." (v. 42) The Jews have no awareness of a claim of virgin birth here. They assume that they know the earthly parentage of Jesus so his claim seems to them absurd.
5. "Drawn by the Father." (v. 44) Salvation is not initially the activity of persons. They come to salvation because of the initial attraction of them by God.
6. "It is Written in the Prophets." (v. 45) No doubt a reference to Jeremiah 31:33. Jesus was steeped in the scriptures of the Old Testament so that he quoted them frequently.
7. "Taught by God." (v. 45) Jeremiah called for a new covenant written on the heart. Jesus contrasts the law which was given to Moses, written on stone and taught by the rabbis, with the spiritual understanding of those who receive it directly from God.
8. "Seen the Father ... Except the One from God." (v. 46) Again John repeats a theme from the prologue to his gospel account. John 1:18 says "No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son ... who has made him known." This is at least an indirect claim of the identity of Jesus with the Son and therefore also identical with God.
9. "Whoever Believes has Eternal Life." (v. 47) Here again is a central theme in John's account. Eternal life is not something given after death but is already experienced in life in the world. It is not so much a measure of the length of life as it is a state of being, a quality of living.
10. "I am the Bread of Life." (v. 48) This affirmation is a repetition of v. 35. It is one of the numerous symbolic uses of language in John's account to establish the nature of Jesus.
11. "Ate the Manna in the Wilderness, and they Died." (v. 49) Again John contrasts the physical with the spiritual and uses Old Testament figures as a basis for comparison and contrast with Jesus. By implication Jesus is a different and superior type from Moses.
12. "The Bread I will Give for the Life of the World is My Flesh." (v. 51) Once again John plays on a theme from the prologue where it is announced that the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Here is both the theme of Jesus' incarnation and self-sacrifice for the world.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. The Passover Connection. In John 6:4, John notes that the feeding of the crowd and discourses on bread occurred as the Passover was near. The question arises as to whether he sees Jesus as a new deliverer who becomes the sacrifice for the people and who offers a bread better than the manna in the wilderness. The Jews believed that the new Messiah would bring a renewing of the manna.
Can we reinterpret the Passover legitimately as an event that must occur in every life? Is it no longer just an experience of the deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery as an historical event? But must it be a personal experience of each person? Each person must go through a wilderness experience that leads to a belief and trust in the living bread that is far better than the manna in the wilderness.
2. The Physical and the Spiritual. Jesus rebukes the crowd for coming to him primarily because they had received physical food when they were hungry. The real hunger of people is spiritual. The physical food gives immediate pleasure and temporary sustenance. To find the real meaning of life by responding to the action of God provides an enduring and real sustenance for living.
Though not directly included in the passage for today, the earlier section suggests that the feeding of the crowd led to a renewed temptation experience for Jesus. John does not record the temptations as given in the synoptic gospels. In John 6 Jesus is tempted to become a king (v. 15) and to continue to provide food miraculously (vv. 26, 30). Jesus turns the desires of the crowd from physical hunger and thirst to the need to receive spiritual food by coming to him and believing in him (v. 35). Because Jesus had at the beginning of his public ministry faced and rejected temptations to engage in the wrong kinds of ministry, he could now understand the desires of the crowd. He tries to redirect their desires away from the wrong means to the right spiritual means.
3. The Incarnation in Reverse. In Jesus the Word became flesh and dwelt among the people of Palestine. From the Latin word for flesh (carnes) comes the word for the doctrine of incarnation. Jesus manifested the degree to which the divine could be clothed in flesh and revealed most fully what the divine means in human beings.
Jesus calls those who come to him to accept him and his teachings and thus, in a sense, to enter into a reversal of the incarnation. As the Word became flesh as it came down from heaven and took on human form, people are to allow the word of God to enter their flesh by believing in the person and teachings of Jesus. In that way, to the degree that people manifest the same life as found in Jesus, the incarnation is reversed. Those who have been dominated by the desires of the flesh are enabled to be fed by the Spirit and show the divine in their life.
4. Divine Instruction as Bread. In Jewish thinking the Old Testament story of manna coming down from heaven was symbolic of divine instruction. It is God's teaching that nourishes the soul in a way similar to bread feeding the body. An issue which some raise is whether Jesus is saying that his teachings are divine instruction.
A question then arises as to whether Jesus meant that the bread he offers was his teaching that came down from heaven. Or is it the person of Jesus who came down from heaven? If the Word became flesh, can the flesh become the divine word as people take Christ and his teachings into their life? Can they become revealers of the divine teachings to others?
Contemplation
Bread is a source of energy and growth. Runners who want to store up energy for a race eat a high carbohydrate diet. Bread is one of the major sources for such energy. Bread also sustains growth.
Persons who want to grow spiritually need to partake of the life, example, and teachings of Jesus. He shares with those who enter into fellowship with him and believe in him an abundance of rich spiritual gifts.
Bread is eaten daily by much of the world's population. It provides strength for the day's work. In like manner persons need regularly, preferably daily, to meditate and think about the teachings of Jesus and his presence in their lives. Thus they too can be strengthened spiritually for their work and can grow into his likeness.
Homily Hints
1. An End to Hunger. (v. 35)
A. Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness
B. Feed on the word of God
C. Be Satisfied, Filled
2. A Gift of Bread. (v. 41)
A. A Gift Freely Given
B. Comes Down from Heaven
C. God is Shared with Us
3. Well Fed. (vv. 35, 51)
A. Infinite Grace Available
B. Spiritual Gifts: Variety and Richness
C. Abundant Life
D. Eternal Life
4. Spiritual Anorexia. (v. 43) Anorexia is a disease characteristic of persons who are obsessed with being thin. They always think they are too fat and so refuse to eat.
A. Denial of the Spirit. Refusal to believe that anything exists apart from the natural.
B. One-dimensional Living. Trying to live according to one's self-interest only.
C. Absence of Belief and Trust. Lack of nourishment for the soul.
5. Drawn by God to God. (vv. 44, 45)
A. Exposure to the Scriptures
B. Exposure to the Life of Jesus
C. Exposure to the Fellowship of Believers
6. Who Has Seen God. (v. 46)
A. Jesus Makes God Visible
B. The Vision Shared
C. Sight Needs Insight
Contact
Points of Contact
1. Divine Wisdom. In the Old Testament understanding wisdom was a gift to be sought. Wisdom was equated with divine truth. It was more than knowledge, facts, theories or even understanding. Wisdom was to experience and know spiritual reality.
People have a longing to know the full meaning and significance of life. They have an emptiness and a void if they do not find some larger purpose than simply to exist from day to day, to live three score years and ten, or if by reason of grace, more. They want to be part of some grander scheme of things.
Jesus offers a vision of an existence that is not directly seen but is very real. We need not only to see that vision but also to perceive the reality that supports it. It is not sufficient to know the facts of Jesus' life: that he was born, grew, labored, was crucified, dead, buried.
People need to experience the reality of the source from which his life and teachings flow. They need to have an awareness of that presence in their life today. Jesus needs to be encountered as the embodiment of the wisdom that comes from participating in the reality itself. He claims to participate and enable those who come to him to share in it as well.
2. Eternal Life. Belief is more than giving the assent of the mind to certain facts or propositions. It means believing in Jesus Christ enough to trust that his life and teachings are based on reality, on truth.
Eternal life is the consequence of faith that real life is following Jesus. Knowing that being faithful to Jesus grants the real meaning of life results in a trust that overcomes our fears. Death is no longer something to dread. Suffering in the vale of tears can be endured for it no longer affects the destiny for which we were created.
Life is not simply a shimmering appearance that floats upon the world for a time and then disappears forever. Life is a part of the eternal being that persists beyond the brief span upon this earth. Jesus in his death and resurrection points us beyond the passing of what we know in the world of change and decay. He discloses that which is incorruptible and permanent.
3. The Bread of Hospitality. In the Middle East traditionally bread is more than mere food. It signifies the sharing of life. When a person breaks bread with another person, it signifies the sharing of life with that person. The persons who share bread together share life and have a unity that should not be broken.
Jesus understood well that meaning of life. Those who broke bread with him entered into his fellowship and could achieve a unity with him. Through him they could realize the same unity that he shared with God.
Members of the church should share that same depth of fellowship both with God in Christ and with each other. Their sharing of the symbol of bread means that they have a life in common with each other and with Christ. If they share that life together, they have a concern, a desire to sustain, protect, and nourish the lives of those who take bread with them. It gives them a sense of mutual support in which they have strength to engage in their work in the world and their continued growth into Christ-likeness.
Illustrative Materials
1. Varieties of Bread. The importance of bread as a sustainer of life can be found in the varieties of bread. It can vary by the staple from which it is made: whole grain, barley, white flour, rye, cornbread, shortbread, enriched bread, carrot bread, pumpkin bread.
It can vary by what is added to it: fruit bread, nut bread, raisin bread, sweet bread, garlic bread.
It can vary by the shape given to it: round, square, French, Italian, buns, rolls, croissants.
2. Turkey Red Wheat. The hard wheat from which a high quality flour is made has an interesting history. Mennonites lived in the Ukraine, a part of nineteenth century Russia. Because of their opposition to war arising from their Christian faith, they decided to emigrate when Russia introduced military conscription. As families packed to leave, they selected the best of their Turkey red seed grain and filled a trunk to take with them.
When the Mennonite refugees migrated to the prairie provinces of Canada and the plains states of the United States, they brought the seed with them and found the prairie land receptive. From these trunks of wheat have come the hard flour that is preferred for many purposes over the soft wheat which was the only kind available earlier. This wheat made the prairies a breadbasket that has shipped wheat and flour all over the world.
3. Sliced Bread. How often have you heard the expression that something is the greatest thing since sliced bread? Everyone knows the convenience and uniformity of having the bread already sliced. Earlier, when people sliced their own, they often had difficulty getting it right. But nothing has excelled the greatest thing since Jesus offered himself as the bread for life!
4. A Supporting Fellowship. Germaine Burton of Birmingham, Alabama, was so violent and disruptive in school that he was in danger of being expelled and never graduating. He was constantly engaged in fights with other students. In the ninth and tenth grades he was sent to the library repeatedly for "solitary confinement." There he found a librarian who took a personal interest in him. To quote him, "She knew I was a better person than that." Ada Johnson would calm him down and try to persuade him not to go around fighting all the time. Her persistence and steady interest led him to reconsider how to deal with other people. Because she believed him to be better, he became better. On May 25, 1995, he expected to graduate. Her support was better than bread for Germaine. [Lynn Menton Reports, "Fresh Reports: 'She Knew I Was a Better Person than That.' " Parade Magazine, May 4, 1995, p. 20.]
5. Sugar and Starch. A report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest criticizes baby food as too laden with starches and sugar. Though the foods are not dangerous in themselves, they are overloaded with water, thickeners and fillers. As a consequence, the babies do not get the proper nutrition values from the foods at the price that is charged for them. [Report in Toledo Blade, April 2, 1995, p. 3.]
Does our television diet for children give too much sugar and starch and not enough wholesome bread for their diet?
Some people would not think of using a bread-making machine where you only put in the ingredients and the machine does the rest. They like to knead the dough and shape the loaves themselves. They get pleasure out of the bread-making process.
Jesus uses the familiarity and importance of bread that supports life to make a point about his own mission. In John 6 Jesus uses the word "bread" seventeen times according to the NRSV translation and in addition has four references to "loaves." He came to people to feed them. He did not hesitate to provide bread for the physical body when that seemed necessary. He even defended the right of his disciples to pick grain from the field on the Sabbath and to eat it raw when they were hungry and had no food available.
More important was Jesus' mission to feed the soul. He knew the hunger of people to know their true destiny. They needed to know the full meaning of their life. He offered them an understanding of the full significance of humanity and the way to experience it. In that larger sense he made the claim to be the bread of life (John 6:35) or the living bread (John 6:51).
Context
Context of the Gospel according to John
The account of the feeding of the 5,000 appears in all of the synoptic gospels. It is one of the few accounts other than the last week of Jesus' life which the Gospel according to John shares with them, assuming that the feeding of the crowd here is the same event. The feeding increased the expectations of the people. After the feeding they followed him around the Sea of Galilee.
Jesus tried in an extended discourse to use the interest aroused by the feeding to move the people beyond their awareness of physical food to the need for spiritual feeding. John places the chapter as a centerpiece of Jesus' ministry to the masses.
Context of the Lectionary
As is customary, this is the third Sunday in sequence with a part of John 6 as the Gospel reading. This section and next Sunday's, which conclude the series, are two of the parables or extended metaphors in the chapter. It is appropriate to devote this attention to John 6 since, as noted, this is the longest discourse by Jesus before the last week according to John's account. It also is a turning point in the Gospel account. The chapter ends by saying that the disciples found Jesus' statement difficult and some turned back from following him.
The First Lesson. (2 Samuel 18:5-9, 15, 31-33) The reading reports the death of Absalom despite David's entreaty that he be dealt with gently. The Cushite who brought David the report of Absalom's death assumed that David would be pleased since it ended a rebellion against him. Instead David grieves at the death of his son.
The Second Lesson. (Ephesians 4:25-5:2) Paul advises the Ephesians on how they should live the new life in Christ. Much of what is contained in these instructions are elaborations of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount.
Gospel. (John 6:35, 41-51) Jesus uses the symbolism of bread to call his followers to partake of his example and teachings to nourish their spiritual life. Whereas physical bread feeds the flesh that is corruptible, his bread feeds the spirit which endures eternally.
Psalm. (Psalm 130) The psalm begins with a plea for redemption. It proceeds through the affirmation that the psalmist waits with longing for redemption to the expression of hope that the power and love of God will lead to the redemption of Israel.
Context of Related Scriptures
Genesis 3:19 - The judgment that people would eat bread by the sweat of their face.
Exodus 16:13-33 - The account of manna provided in the wilderness.
Numbers 11:4-9 - The people grumble because they only have manna to eat and not the familiar foods from Egypt.
1 Kings 17:8-16 - Elijah fed bread by the widow of Zarephath.
Psalm 78:23-25 - God commands the heaven for all to open and rain manna, the bread of angels, on the Israelites.
Mark 6:31-44; Matthew 14:13-21; Luke 9:10-17 - Parallel passages which tell of the feeding of the 5,000.
Mark 8:1-10; Matthew 15:32-39 - The feeding of the 4,000.
1 Corinthians 10:1-4 - Paul alludes to the spiritual food and drink which the Israelites imbibed in the wilderness.
Content
Precis (John 6:35, 41-51)
Jesus makes the first of his "I am" claims by asserting that he is the bread of life. As he had earlier offered the Samaritan woman at the well living water that would never lead her to thirst again (John 4:13-14), he now offers bread that will not leave a person hungry or thirsty ever again. When the Jews complain about his claim that he has come down from heaven, Jesus reiterates his claim and indeed heightens it by saying that his bread is superior to the manna in the wilderness. His living bread can nourish for eternal life.
Thesis: Partaking of Jesus as the living bread leads to eternal life.
Theme: Identity with the person of Jesus is real life.
Key Words in the Parable
1. "Bread of Life." (v. 35) Jesus uses a staple food that sustains life to call people to respond to his teachings which will nourish the life of the spirit.
2. "Never be Hungry ... Thirsty." (v. 35) These phrases clearly echo Isaiah's promise of God to Israel in Isaiah 49:8-10.
3. "Came Down from Heaven." (vv. 41, 51) John repeats the theme announced in John 1:1-18. Jesus as the Word (Logos) is of divine origin.
4. "Son of Joseph." (v. 42) The Jews have no awareness of a claim of virgin birth here. They assume that they know the earthly parentage of Jesus so his claim seems to them absurd.
5. "Drawn by the Father." (v. 44) Salvation is not initially the activity of persons. They come to salvation because of the initial attraction of them by God.
6. "It is Written in the Prophets." (v. 45) No doubt a reference to Jeremiah 31:33. Jesus was steeped in the scriptures of the Old Testament so that he quoted them frequently.
7. "Taught by God." (v. 45) Jeremiah called for a new covenant written on the heart. Jesus contrasts the law which was given to Moses, written on stone and taught by the rabbis, with the spiritual understanding of those who receive it directly from God.
8. "Seen the Father ... Except the One from God." (v. 46) Again John repeats a theme from the prologue to his gospel account. John 1:18 says "No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son ... who has made him known." This is at least an indirect claim of the identity of Jesus with the Son and therefore also identical with God.
9. "Whoever Believes has Eternal Life." (v. 47) Here again is a central theme in John's account. Eternal life is not something given after death but is already experienced in life in the world. It is not so much a measure of the length of life as it is a state of being, a quality of living.
10. "I am the Bread of Life." (v. 48) This affirmation is a repetition of v. 35. It is one of the numerous symbolic uses of language in John's account to establish the nature of Jesus.
11. "Ate the Manna in the Wilderness, and they Died." (v. 49) Again John contrasts the physical with the spiritual and uses Old Testament figures as a basis for comparison and contrast with Jesus. By implication Jesus is a different and superior type from Moses.
12. "The Bread I will Give for the Life of the World is My Flesh." (v. 51) Once again John plays on a theme from the prologue where it is announced that the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Here is both the theme of Jesus' incarnation and self-sacrifice for the world.
Contemplation
Issues and Insights
1. The Passover Connection. In John 6:4, John notes that the feeding of the crowd and discourses on bread occurred as the Passover was near. The question arises as to whether he sees Jesus as a new deliverer who becomes the sacrifice for the people and who offers a bread better than the manna in the wilderness. The Jews believed that the new Messiah would bring a renewing of the manna.
Can we reinterpret the Passover legitimately as an event that must occur in every life? Is it no longer just an experience of the deliverance of the Hebrew people from slavery as an historical event? But must it be a personal experience of each person? Each person must go through a wilderness experience that leads to a belief and trust in the living bread that is far better than the manna in the wilderness.
2. The Physical and the Spiritual. Jesus rebukes the crowd for coming to him primarily because they had received physical food when they were hungry. The real hunger of people is spiritual. The physical food gives immediate pleasure and temporary sustenance. To find the real meaning of life by responding to the action of God provides an enduring and real sustenance for living.
Though not directly included in the passage for today, the earlier section suggests that the feeding of the crowd led to a renewed temptation experience for Jesus. John does not record the temptations as given in the synoptic gospels. In John 6 Jesus is tempted to become a king (v. 15) and to continue to provide food miraculously (vv. 26, 30). Jesus turns the desires of the crowd from physical hunger and thirst to the need to receive spiritual food by coming to him and believing in him (v. 35). Because Jesus had at the beginning of his public ministry faced and rejected temptations to engage in the wrong kinds of ministry, he could now understand the desires of the crowd. He tries to redirect their desires away from the wrong means to the right spiritual means.
3. The Incarnation in Reverse. In Jesus the Word became flesh and dwelt among the people of Palestine. From the Latin word for flesh (carnes) comes the word for the doctrine of incarnation. Jesus manifested the degree to which the divine could be clothed in flesh and revealed most fully what the divine means in human beings.
Jesus calls those who come to him to accept him and his teachings and thus, in a sense, to enter into a reversal of the incarnation. As the Word became flesh as it came down from heaven and took on human form, people are to allow the word of God to enter their flesh by believing in the person and teachings of Jesus. In that way, to the degree that people manifest the same life as found in Jesus, the incarnation is reversed. Those who have been dominated by the desires of the flesh are enabled to be fed by the Spirit and show the divine in their life.
4. Divine Instruction as Bread. In Jewish thinking the Old Testament story of manna coming down from heaven was symbolic of divine instruction. It is God's teaching that nourishes the soul in a way similar to bread feeding the body. An issue which some raise is whether Jesus is saying that his teachings are divine instruction.
A question then arises as to whether Jesus meant that the bread he offers was his teaching that came down from heaven. Or is it the person of Jesus who came down from heaven? If the Word became flesh, can the flesh become the divine word as people take Christ and his teachings into their life? Can they become revealers of the divine teachings to others?
Contemplation
Bread is a source of energy and growth. Runners who want to store up energy for a race eat a high carbohydrate diet. Bread is one of the major sources for such energy. Bread also sustains growth.
Persons who want to grow spiritually need to partake of the life, example, and teachings of Jesus. He shares with those who enter into fellowship with him and believe in him an abundance of rich spiritual gifts.
Bread is eaten daily by much of the world's population. It provides strength for the day's work. In like manner persons need regularly, preferably daily, to meditate and think about the teachings of Jesus and his presence in their lives. Thus they too can be strengthened spiritually for their work and can grow into his likeness.
Homily Hints
1. An End to Hunger. (v. 35)
A. Hunger and Thirst after Righteousness
B. Feed on the word of God
C. Be Satisfied, Filled
2. A Gift of Bread. (v. 41)
A. A Gift Freely Given
B. Comes Down from Heaven
C. God is Shared with Us
3. Well Fed. (vv. 35, 51)
A. Infinite Grace Available
B. Spiritual Gifts: Variety and Richness
C. Abundant Life
D. Eternal Life
4. Spiritual Anorexia. (v. 43) Anorexia is a disease characteristic of persons who are obsessed with being thin. They always think they are too fat and so refuse to eat.
A. Denial of the Spirit. Refusal to believe that anything exists apart from the natural.
B. One-dimensional Living. Trying to live according to one's self-interest only.
C. Absence of Belief and Trust. Lack of nourishment for the soul.
5. Drawn by God to God. (vv. 44, 45)
A. Exposure to the Scriptures
B. Exposure to the Life of Jesus
C. Exposure to the Fellowship of Believers
6. Who Has Seen God. (v. 46)
A. Jesus Makes God Visible
B. The Vision Shared
C. Sight Needs Insight
Contact
Points of Contact
1. Divine Wisdom. In the Old Testament understanding wisdom was a gift to be sought. Wisdom was equated with divine truth. It was more than knowledge, facts, theories or even understanding. Wisdom was to experience and know spiritual reality.
People have a longing to know the full meaning and significance of life. They have an emptiness and a void if they do not find some larger purpose than simply to exist from day to day, to live three score years and ten, or if by reason of grace, more. They want to be part of some grander scheme of things.
Jesus offers a vision of an existence that is not directly seen but is very real. We need not only to see that vision but also to perceive the reality that supports it. It is not sufficient to know the facts of Jesus' life: that he was born, grew, labored, was crucified, dead, buried.
People need to experience the reality of the source from which his life and teachings flow. They need to have an awareness of that presence in their life today. Jesus needs to be encountered as the embodiment of the wisdom that comes from participating in the reality itself. He claims to participate and enable those who come to him to share in it as well.
2. Eternal Life. Belief is more than giving the assent of the mind to certain facts or propositions. It means believing in Jesus Christ enough to trust that his life and teachings are based on reality, on truth.
Eternal life is the consequence of faith that real life is following Jesus. Knowing that being faithful to Jesus grants the real meaning of life results in a trust that overcomes our fears. Death is no longer something to dread. Suffering in the vale of tears can be endured for it no longer affects the destiny for which we were created.
Life is not simply a shimmering appearance that floats upon the world for a time and then disappears forever. Life is a part of the eternal being that persists beyond the brief span upon this earth. Jesus in his death and resurrection points us beyond the passing of what we know in the world of change and decay. He discloses that which is incorruptible and permanent.
3. The Bread of Hospitality. In the Middle East traditionally bread is more than mere food. It signifies the sharing of life. When a person breaks bread with another person, it signifies the sharing of life with that person. The persons who share bread together share life and have a unity that should not be broken.
Jesus understood well that meaning of life. Those who broke bread with him entered into his fellowship and could achieve a unity with him. Through him they could realize the same unity that he shared with God.
Members of the church should share that same depth of fellowship both with God in Christ and with each other. Their sharing of the symbol of bread means that they have a life in common with each other and with Christ. If they share that life together, they have a concern, a desire to sustain, protect, and nourish the lives of those who take bread with them. It gives them a sense of mutual support in which they have strength to engage in their work in the world and their continued growth into Christ-likeness.
Illustrative Materials
1. Varieties of Bread. The importance of bread as a sustainer of life can be found in the varieties of bread. It can vary by the staple from which it is made: whole grain, barley, white flour, rye, cornbread, shortbread, enriched bread, carrot bread, pumpkin bread.
It can vary by what is added to it: fruit bread, nut bread, raisin bread, sweet bread, garlic bread.
It can vary by the shape given to it: round, square, French, Italian, buns, rolls, croissants.
2. Turkey Red Wheat. The hard wheat from which a high quality flour is made has an interesting history. Mennonites lived in the Ukraine, a part of nineteenth century Russia. Because of their opposition to war arising from their Christian faith, they decided to emigrate when Russia introduced military conscription. As families packed to leave, they selected the best of their Turkey red seed grain and filled a trunk to take with them.
When the Mennonite refugees migrated to the prairie provinces of Canada and the plains states of the United States, they brought the seed with them and found the prairie land receptive. From these trunks of wheat have come the hard flour that is preferred for many purposes over the soft wheat which was the only kind available earlier. This wheat made the prairies a breadbasket that has shipped wheat and flour all over the world.
3. Sliced Bread. How often have you heard the expression that something is the greatest thing since sliced bread? Everyone knows the convenience and uniformity of having the bread already sliced. Earlier, when people sliced their own, they often had difficulty getting it right. But nothing has excelled the greatest thing since Jesus offered himself as the bread for life!
4. A Supporting Fellowship. Germaine Burton of Birmingham, Alabama, was so violent and disruptive in school that he was in danger of being expelled and never graduating. He was constantly engaged in fights with other students. In the ninth and tenth grades he was sent to the library repeatedly for "solitary confinement." There he found a librarian who took a personal interest in him. To quote him, "She knew I was a better person than that." Ada Johnson would calm him down and try to persuade him not to go around fighting all the time. Her persistence and steady interest led him to reconsider how to deal with other people. Because she believed him to be better, he became better. On May 25, 1995, he expected to graduate. Her support was better than bread for Germaine. [Lynn Menton Reports, "Fresh Reports: 'She Knew I Was a Better Person than That.' " Parade Magazine, May 4, 1995, p. 20.]
5. Sugar and Starch. A report from the Center for Science in the Public Interest criticizes baby food as too laden with starches and sugar. Though the foods are not dangerous in themselves, they are overloaded with water, thickeners and fillers. As a consequence, the babies do not get the proper nutrition values from the foods at the price that is charged for them. [Report in Toledo Blade, April 2, 1995, p. 3.]
Does our television diet for children give too much sugar and starch and not enough wholesome bread for their diet?
