“Hungering for God”
August 1, 2021
John 6: 24–35
So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but 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, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do to perform the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” ’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘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.
Back when I was a child the “Jolly Troll” was a popular, all you can eat buffet restaurant. The place was dream-like for a small-town boy. It had magical forest and farmland scenes along the perimeter of the place peopled with life-size trolls. I recall being enthralled with them, some of which were mechanized for motions of waving, hammering, stirring or pumping. Only much later did I learn this was the theater of Scandinavian folklore.
At the Jolly Troll the food choices were extensive. Hamburgers, chicken, meatballs, and macaroni and cheese was just the start, because the dessert bar and the soft-serve ice cream station provided a glorious finish. I suspect that my parents found their own magic in the Jolly Troll because they ate with and left with happy children. A visit to this place was a glorious moment of satisfaction for the entire family.
A glorious moment of satisfaction occurred when Jesus fed 5000 with some bread and fish in the passage that precedes today’s verses from John chapter 6. But the people’s satisfaction didn’t last long for today we read the crowd has chased him down again. Jesus knows they are looking for another meal. But rather than fill their bellies again like some miracle chef, Jesus tells the crowd, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” They didn’t understand.
For some people being Christian requires understanding particular things. For some that entails accepting Jesus, or being “born again” or affirming a set of doctrines about who Jesus is and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection. Other people go further asserting that to be Christian entails agreeing with certain theological abstractions about God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the human condition, as well as the authority of the Bible and the Church.
The debate over whether Christianity is an intellectual assent to precise doctrines falls apart when you think seriously about Jesus’ words to the crowds after he’s fed them. “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” This is far more provocative and intimate. It is beyond understanding. Jesus calls himself our bread. He says, “Eat me and never be hungry again.”
What’s at stake in this strange invitation is whether we move past religion’s understandings, beyond abstractions and intellectual aerobics and into intimacy, into communion with God. Jesus saying “I am the bread of life” invites whole-life dependence on a God we can taste but never control.
In calling himself ‘the bread of life,’ — and not the the Godiva chocolate of life — Jesus is identifying with basic food, sustenance, that which speaks to the most elemental hungers of our lives. With the crowd that day, Jesus turns the focus away from physical bread that satisfies hunger for a time and points people to the true, life giving bread that brings eternal joy — himself. He is the Bread of Life that satisfies every one of our needs in this life and the next.
Hungering for God, yearning ravenously for the Bread of Life was what Jesus wanted the crowd to grasp. After satisfying their bodily needs with physical food, given without qualification or request, he asks the people to probe the deeper hungers that were driving them restlessly into his presence — hungers that only the “bread of life” could satisfy.
The Bible doesn’t tell us nor does John note the hungers Jesus saw in those people. So perhaps we have to ask ourselves what are the hungers? Maybe human hungers haven’t changed over the centuries. We still hunger for true meaning and purpose. A longing for acceptance, connection, love. A desire to know and to be known authentically. A hunger for delight, for hope and joy, And an ongoing need for healing, wholeness, and steady courage in the face of fear.
Of course, it’s one thing to know our hungers, but quite another to trust that Jesus will satisfy them. After all, we are adept at finding substitutes for communion with God. Can we really trust that Jesus is our bread? Our essential sustenance?
Inspired by Jesus’ miraculous feeding of a multitude, Jesus’ followers ask, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” In response, Jesus doesn’t give a formula. He tells them something far better. He affirms that a hungering faith expands our power to do God’s good works. How’s that for good news?
So, eat up my friends. Feast on the nourishment of the divine and share this life-saving bread with all the world.
