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“More
Bread” John 6:24-35 August 2, 2009 As good as it smells, as wonderful as it tastes, as nourishing as it may be, don’t you think that interpreting Jesus as a loaf of bread trivializes him? Have we reduced Jesus to the benefits of a sandwich, or is the point that since bread is everywhere, so is Jesus? The Gospel of John always seems to be the odd Gospel out. The first three Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are often called, the “synoptic” Gospels because one tends to “see them together.” They are much more similar than they are different. The Lectionary guys who put together our weekly scriptures build each of the three years around one of the three Synoptic Gospels. John has to be inserted in the middle of the summer and other special times when he won’t be noticed too much. John is different and it depends upon which part of the Christian spectrum you are sitting as to whether you appreciate John’s approach. Jesus’ identity in the first three Gospels is hinted at subtly, but never directly. In other words, Jesus does not run around declaring and promoting himself as the Messiah, though he never denies it whenever it slips out. To a degree, Jesus is an ordinary human being doing and saying extraordinary things in Matthew, Mark and Luke. Secular-minded Christians appreciate him here. But not in John. The last
Gospel written that made it into the New Testament has had time to think
about the place of Jesus Christ in the nature of things, and there is no
longer any doubt - Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, Jesus is God. Much more of the narrative is not a
narrative of events, but a series of long speeches by Jesus in which he pulls
no punches. He is the Messiah and
God the Father and he are One.
Jesus declares to all who would hear, “I Am ....” It’s more than a metaphor, for
“I Am” are the words God used from the burning bush as God’s
name. For those who have no
trouble identifying and perceiving Jesus as divine, John says it all quite
poetically. For those in the The wisdom of the early Christians is that they included all four Gospels rather than trying to decide upon one. That still drives us rational Christians nuts. We prefer only one answer, but with Jesus we usually receive four or more. Today’s answer is bread. But that is not what the people asked for. A demanding lot these Galileans - I
guess when you have a Jesus around, you squeeze every bit out of him that you
can. There is a mood of
irritation exuded by the evangelist’s description of the frustration
when the people found out that Jesus was not right where they wanted him. He’s a Finding him right there, they asked, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” I doubt the tone of voice was as neutral as the plain words imply. Jesus never answers the question, he speaks to the tone of voice. He hears what they want him to do for them and also hears all the heady adoration of the greatest man who ever lived, and names their game. “You think this is all great because you thought you saw some flashy miracles, signs of heaven, but I know it’s because you filled your stomachs!” Feed people and they will think the world of you until you stop feeding them, and then they will think nothing of you. It’s all about food, however, so Jesus tells them they are always going to be back to square one of hunger by the next meal, so you need the food which will never spoil, never lose its taste and keep nourishing you in the most important way. The spokesperson for the crowd seems to get the idea, “What must we do to do God’s works?” There isn’t a manual, a to-do list of religious chores, because it’s a relationship, it’s knowing God intimately and knowing whom God sent - which is Jesus himself - and believing in him, saying Yes this is the way I need to live. Believing is never as easy as it appears; there is no such thing as blind faith. They hesitate and keep poking away. “What kind of sign do you have to show us, to prove to us why we should believe you? Moses gave the Israelites in the wilderness manna from heaven to eat, what kind of bread are you going to give us to eat?” Jesus suspected this, that they thought it was entirely up to the quarterback to make the team win, but Moses didn’t give you bread, he went on, God did. Now he is giving you true bread, real bread. Naturally, the people want that kind of bread exclusively on their grocery list, “Give us this bread, always.” I am the bread of life. Eat my words. This is my body, eat me. An ordinary human being cannot talk this way; it only works if you are an extraordinary human being and no one qualifies like Jesus. We may be skeptical like many Christians about Jesus as the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity - and as many openly declare this divine Jesus doesn’t really matter. But I Am the Bread of Life only feeds you when Jesus matters. All this talk about bread undoubtedly has a lot to do with communion, for when we gather around the Lord’s Table and share the bread and wine, Jesus is present with and within us in any number of ways. The fad in recent years is to focus upon the actual loaf of bread and its wonderful, universal qualities. Many a congregation has a different member bake a loaf to be used in the sacrament. All of this is good and delicious. Yet, I believe that there is another deeper metaphor at play here. Jesus is the Bread of Life, and this is a sign of his divinity, so God is bread. Bread is everywhere around the world, no matter what religious faith or unfaith there may be in the culture. Indeed, is there an anthropologist in the house? Is there a culture known to social science that does not have or make some kind of bread? Certainly, the universality of bread does not mean that all breads are created equal and alike. Manna from heaven has different tastes and shapes, yet every one can claim being a genuine variety of the Bread of Life. I have not made bread, but I love to eat it, and I do not eat just one kind. Dark pumpernickel, rye and whole wheat, raisin bread, and of course, sourdough, and my wife’s freshly baked of any kind, are among my favourites and I am wide open to new interpretations of the genre. To understand bread and thereby to understand a little more about the diversity and wonder of humanity requires that I include all these breads in my mind and in my spirit as bread. I cannot say, “that isn’t bread!” God is Bread. I cannot imagine the various shapes and flavours of bread; I have never been able to comprehend God completely, too much God, infinitely too many aspects. People on the other side of the world, people often of a different faith, see and taste something that I don’t quite get. I cannot say, “That’s not God!” That’s a taste of God I have yet to enjoy. Bread of heaven, bread of heaven, feed me till I want no more. Preached by Robert Kitchen Knox-Metropolitan United Church August 2, 2009 |
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