Exodus 16:2-15; Psalm 78:23-29; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:24-35
John 6:24-35
I sometimes, but not as often as I should, ask myself: “Am I following Jesus for my sake – or for his sake?”
Do I follow Jesus because Jesus makes me feel good?
Or because Jesus is God and I owe my life, my breath, my very existence to him.
* * *
Without asking ourselves these questions, our religion can simply become another product designed to suit us.
* * *
I worry that our churches, our worship, our preaching has become about what we want, more than about what we need.
We pay attention to whether
- the music is the stuff we like,
- the preaching is entertaining and comforting
- the seats are comfortable
- the service is at a convenient time
- and our friends will be there
We want this Jesus to satisfy our needs – but we don’t really want to know about his needs – what Jesus asks us to do.
* * *
In John 6, the gospel reading for today Jesus challenges those who are following him:
“…you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”
- John 6:26
Earlier in this chapter a great crowd had gathered to hear Jesus by a lake – in Mark 6 we’re told that Jesus taught this crowd; but later they were hungry.
All they had was some loaves and fish provided by a young boy. When Jesus gave thanks for and shared the food – there was more than enough.
12 baskets left over.
His teaching was quite something – but I’m guessing that the miracle was the most talked about event of the evening.
We like this Jesus.
But are we so sure about the Jesus we encounter in 24-35, a Jesus who challenges us to respond to who he is with our lives – rather than just watch him do stuff?
Lets have a closer look at John 6:24-35:
Context
In order to best understand a passage of scripture, we need to ask why the gospel writer is saying this here and now…
Gospel writers had many events to choose from, but they inserted specific events in a specific order.
So why does Jesus respond as he does to the people he encounters in John 6:24, you’re following me because you ate your fill?
Broad
Clue 1:
John gives us his reason for telling the story the way he does in John 20:31:
“…so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name.”
- John 20:31
Broad purpose of John’s gospel:
1 – So that we would believe in Jesus.
2 – Flowing from that we would have ‘life’ in his name.
Clue 2:
The story before this:
In Chapter 5 Jesus is in Jerusalem, and there he heals someone on the Sabbath.
News of Jesus activity reaches the religious authorities and they begin to persecute him.
There is a good reason for that:
“Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day shall be put to death.”
- Exodus 31:15
Then, Jesus refers to God as his Father, scandalous, by calling God ‘Father’ he has claimed to be ‘equal to God’ (John 5:18).
Jesus’ teachings seem to be contradictory to what people are familiar with.
People don’t believe in him (cf Clue 1 – ‘These things are written so that you might believe’.
There are strict instructions about what to do with people who teach new things about God, Deuteronomy 13 explains that you should:
“Show them no pity or compassion and do not shield them. But you shall surely kill them…”
- Deuteronomy 13:8-9
* * *
The religious people of Jerusalem take the Bible – Moses’ law – very seriously, and very literally and plan to do what (in their understanding) the law of Moses requires: Put him to death.
Clue 3
In danger of death – because according to the religious authorities he has broken Moses law, Jesus gets out of Jerusalem, and in Chapter 6 we find him “on the other side of the sea of Galilee.”
The region as far North, as far away from Jerusalem as you can go without actually leaving the country (about 110km, Israel is not as big as South Africa).
* * *
And here, out in the wilderness Jesus performs a Moses like miracle, the miracle of the loaves and the fish. The people eat, have their fill and there are twelve baskets full left over.
It is Moses like because it reminds us of Exodus 16; miraculous food supplies in the wilderness when the Israelites were escaping Egypt (Exodus 16).
Clue 1 – John’s purpose in writing is so that we might ‘believe’ and in turn, ‘have life’.
Clue 2 – Jesus is in danger of death because people don’t believe him, but favour Moses’ law.
Clue 3 – Jesus performs a Moses’ like miracle in Galilee. Which accompanies (in Mark’s account – Mk 6:34), Jesus’ teaching.
In this passage:
Because you ate your fill…
Jesus response to those following – which at first was compassionate and kind, is now so challenging that in John 6:66 we eventually read…
“Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.”
- John 6:66
His challenge –
‘…you are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves, do not work for the food that perishes; but for the food that endures for eternal life.’
- John 6:26-27
A reminder to those following that there is more to life than just our temporary bodily needs for comfort and security. These things perish – they fade away, disappear.
Rather work for food that endures, the food that the
‘…Son of Man will give you.’
- John 6:27
And what is the work that we have to do to get this bread?
In Verse 29 –
‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’
- John 6:29
The work: To believe in Jesus.
The food: Jesus’ the bread of life.
* * *
Today, we understand what he was speaking about. When we break bread at communion we remember Jesus body broken for us. We remember the cross – Jesus’ death, and resurrection.
As we receive this bread, it is God’s free gift for us.
And all we need do – to receive it is do one thing – believe.
Just believe.
And believing is less than the lifting of a finger or the blink of an eye – it is our simple response to Jesus…
Yes, you are who you say who you are.
And
Yes, it is as you say it is.
Clues
These things fit in with our clues:
The first:
These things are written so that we will believe and have ‘life in his name’.
And with our second:
Jesus was in trouble with the Jews because he had broken Moses’ law.
The reason Moses had authority, the reason people believed and followed Moses, was: God confirmed Moses authority with ‘Signs’.
And so the third
Just as God confirmed Moses’ authority with signs, so with Jesus.
The staff of wood turned into a snake, the plagues, the parting of the sea, the water from the rock in the desert, manna in the wilderness.
Jesus’ ‘Moses’ like’ miracle – helps us to see that Jesus has ‘Moses’ like’ authority
* * *
From being in trouble in Chapter 5 for claiming to be the Son of God.
In Chapter 6 we begin to see that what he is saying, is true.
* * *
Even though Jesus is the Son of God – God revealed to us, and the real and everlasting food he offers us is his love on the cross. We Christians would rather he was a God on our terms.
We read of the Israelites in Exodus – being freed from slavery, but in the desert, during the passage of their escape, they long to be slaves again, they daydream about Egypt:
“…when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread…”
- Exodus 16:3
God on God’s terms
We want God to be God on our own terms.
We want God to be the God who does tricks for us, who meets our desires, we want God to be the one who finds us good parking at the mall, and acts as an all powerful security guard watching our car while we’re in there.
But perhaps we need to re-think, to humble ourselves and listen. To let God be God; to accept the grace that God offers.
To recognize the way in which Jesus humbles himself for us as the gift of grace that it is.
And to respond as we should to the creator of the universe:
In humble adoration and worship.
Then I believe we will begin to see the Kingdom of God in this place.
Amen.