“What are Our Hungers Today?

August 4, 2024

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. ***

This is the second in a series of five Sundays that draws on John 6 for the Gospel. Through the five readings, John

moves from the story of the miraculous feeding (of the 5000+) to the discourse in which Jesus will develop the theme of himself being the Bread of Life that comes down from heaven. The transition is made by reference to traditional Jewish expectations that the Messiah’s appearance would be validated by certain “signs,” including miraculous bread from heaven.

When I arrived in Galveston County, TX in August 1985 for a one-year internship at a local Lutheran Church, I had no idea the explosion of Texan culture that awaited me. One of the first was learning the prominence of the Sunday morning dining event at the nearby Luby’s cafeteria just up I-45.

At Luby’s the food choices were extensive and so were the lines. The Lutherans learned this and were reminded if they did not arrive before the Baptists. A long-winded preacher could change the attitude of the entire family that encountered a line at Luby’s. Everyone was eager to get a tray and begin the selection process. Chicken-fried steak, burgers, ribs, and macaroni and cheese was just the start. The dessert bar and the soft-serve ice cream station provided a glorious finish. I suspect the children who had sat through long sermons found Luby’s an acceptable reward. A visit to this place was a glorious moment of Sunday satisfaction for the entire family.

In the mid-80’s Luby’s and its major competitors — Morrison’s, Piccadilly, and Furr’s had built themselves into a cultural phenomenon. By 1985 Luby’s alone would feed 45 million people.

The people Jesus addresses in this chapter have memories of glorious satisfaction when some five thousand plus were fed with some bread and fish. However, as this passage in John tells is, the satisfaction of this crowd did not last long and we learn they were chasing after Jesus again looking for another meal. This time, Jesus has a different response. Rather than fill their bellies again like some Luby’s chef, He 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 did not understand.

For some people being Christian requires understanding particular things. That may entail the action of “accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior,” or being “born again.” Other people insist that being Christian requires affirming a set of doctrines about who Jesus is and what he accomplished through his death and resurrection. For some being 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 individual confession or intellectual assent to precise doctrines falls apart when you think seriously about Jesus’ words to the crowds after he is 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 is at stake in this strange invitation is whether we move past religion’s understandings, beyond abstractions and intellectual aerobics and 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 Godiva chocolate of life — Jesus 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 does not tell us, nor does John note the hungers Jesus saw in those people. So perhaps we have to ask ourselves what are the hungers we live with? Maybe human hungers have not 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, forgiveness, wholeness, and steady courage in the face of fear.

Of course, it is 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 does not 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 is 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.

Image: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/the-bread-of-life-hermel-alejandre.html