Revd Sara’s Reflection Sunday 4th August 2024
Take time to find something in your home that you hold as precious and important. It may be a photograph, a flower or personal item. Whatever you choose consider:
What is it that makes it important to you? - What memories does it hold?
How do you feel about it and what would happen if you lost it? Now imagine that God is holding you as precious and important. Loving and caring for you and your unique character, following your journey of faith, wanting never to lose you
Bible Reading: John 6:24-35
These verses from John chapter 6 do not mention boats or a storm, but if we read the few verses immediately before this teaching, we see that (in verses 16-20) the disciples have just travelled by boat across the Sea of Galilee back to Capernaum. During that journey, a strong wind blew up, the lake became rough and they were (once again) terrified, not least because Jesus wasn’t with them. Out of that frightening, dark scenario, Jesus approached them, walking on the water, telling them not to be afraid (which, we may imagine, only added to their terror!)
An experience like that would not be easily shaken off – their fear still clung to them as the backdrop for the verses we look at today.
Meanwhile, back on the other side of the lake, the crowd who have been around, who yesterday were fed with miraculous quantities of bread and fish by Jesus, are also confused. They had seen the disciples leave by boat and they knew that Jesus wasn’t in the boat, but that’s all they know. So when some more boats appear, they take the opportunity to get into the boats and cross the lake themselves, eventually finding Jesus and immediately asking a whole series of very varied questions, beginning with the practical issue of how he got there and becoming progressively more searching…
There’s a sense that the crowd too are still ‘at sea’. They sound confused, uncertain, doubting and wondering, calling out their questions and uncertainties… just who is this man who fed them with bread and fish in the wild? How can they know he is really from God? What does that mean for their lives?
So Jesus is speaking to people who are unsettled, who need stabilising. In that context, what does he say?
Jesus begins by telling them that their chief interest in him is to do with the food they received yesterday: ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves’. It’s as if he is saying, ‘Cut the piety and admit you’re more interested in free food!’
This is followed by a challenge to go beyond that response; ‘Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.’
The crowd answers by bringing up history – the miraculous feeding they’ve experienced has reminded them of the story from their scriptures of manna in the wilderness – what sign is Jesus going to give? Some conversation follows about where exactly that food came from (God, not Moses) then Jesus concludes: ‘For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’
It seems they have been won over, convinced, as they reply, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ And that leads to the well-known words of Jesus: ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
In a few verses their frantic questioning has become a plea for what Jesus is offering, ‘the bread of life’. Sadly, if you read on through the rest of Chapter 6 of John’s gospel, you’ll realise that whilst the crowd may respond in this way, the religious leaders have more questions, debates, doubts and difficulties to come. These words are challenging for the Jews to hear and in verse 60, even the disciples exclaim, ‘This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?’ But for today, we leave the story there and pause to reflect on what it may mean for us that Jesus describes himself as the bread of life.
Bread is still, in many cultures, the staple food. Whether it’s naan bread or baguettes, rye bread or chapattis, focaccia or sourdough, bread is very often readily available, relatively cheap, substantial enough to be satisfying and easily digested. Although today we may be much more aware of dangers and intolerances associated with bread, I think we can still accept that the image Jesus is offering is of a basic, important food. Think of me, he says, as bread – something you need, something which will not let you down, something which will ground you, stabilise you, hold you to life. Perhaps today we too need to hear that offer and accept it – in these days of uncertainty and questions, of doubts and complexities, the simplicity and nourishment of bread may be exactly what we need.
Some questions for reflection and/or conversation:
1. In John 6, the crowd are shown as confused, anxious, uncertain, full of questions. Think about society today, what may be the questions which people are asking?
2. Does the image of Jesus as ‘the bread of life’ work for you? If so, why? If not, why not?
love and prayers Revd Sara
This weeks picture is from our Mad Hatters Tea Party held at church recently...
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