“The Food That Endures”

John 6:24-35

After reading the comments of Jim Wallis and Tony Campolo with reference to “Red Letter Christian Movement” within evangelicalism, a movement that is focusing on the words of Jesus that many translations print in red, I made two decisions. One: To preach the Gospel lectionary texts all summer, without referring to old sermons or old sermon notes. In other words, to start my sermon research from scratch every week. Two: To make the focus this coming year’s Sunday night Bible Study the Beatitudes, probably the best condensed version of Jesus’ message found in Scripture.

Decision number two has evolved into a formidable task, one that has me reading six new books. The Beatitudes cannot be understood apart from the Sermon on the Mount that begins with them. The Sermon on the Mount cannot be understood apart from the teachings of Jesus concerning the Kingdom of God. So the first book I’m reading is The Upside-Down Kingdom, by Donald B. Kraybill.

Jesus didn’t just preach and teach about this Kingdom; he lived it. He began living it in the face of the Devil’s wilderness temptations, one of which was to become a popular Messiah by miraculously feeding the masses. Jesus refused to do that. Listen to Dr. Kraybill’s commentary on Jesus’ response to that specific temptation:

“If [Jesus] had the miraculous touch, why not use it to feed the masses in one grand smorgasboard? Why not achieve economic justice in one bold stroke?

But Jesus finally rejected the live-by-bread alone option. A miraculous feeding was a short-term fix. Hunger would return with the miracle baker’s death. Jesus offered a new alternative. His life, his way, his teaching would form a new foundation for living. This would be a permanent bread of life. As people [digested] this bread, it would begin to fill them with a new spirit and vision. And those so blessed would begin to share their material bread in a new way.

Near the mid-point of his ministry Jesus fed the five thousand and the four thousand with loaves and fishes. The feeding sprang from his compassion for the crowd’s hunger. But the big picnic was also a messianic sign: Jesus himself was the living bread, the long-awaited Messiah… The crowd feeding wasn’t a ply to establish Jesus’ identity as a miracle worker. Indeed, a few days later [according to the 26^th verse of today’s text] Jesus told the crowd the only reason they followed him was because they were fed. He understood that miraculous feedings didn’t cultivate serious disciples.

However, by breaking the bread, Jesus disclosed his messianic identity, not as a miracle worker, but the architect of the upside-down kingdom.”

Hear the words of Jesus as he spoke to that crowd, in verses 35-40 as paraphrased in The Message: “Jesus said, ‘I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don’t really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don’t let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.”

Jesus came to accomplish the will of the One who sent him – the will of God. Those in the Kingdom of God will follow the will of God. They will follow that will because they have partaken of the Bread of Life, because they have found in the life and teachings a Jesus a new foundation for living. To partake of this Bread of Life, this Bread that will not leave us hungry or thirsty; is to follow Jesus – not just because he can work miracles but because following him is the only way one can enter the Kingdom.

Why were those folks in today’s text following Jesus? Because he fed them. They had equated the abundant life Jesus had come to offer them with having a full belly. Furthermore, as Jesus spoke of the Bread of Life their immediate impulse was to equate it with the heavenly manna of the forty years their ancestors had wandered in the desert. They compounded this misunderstanding by speaking of it in terms of something Moses did, as in, “Just as Moses fed them, you are now feeding us.” They still wanted Jesus to produce another sign of his Messiahship, to work another miracle for them.

At which time Jesus reminded them that the manna from heaven was not the result of some miracle of Moses but a gracious gift from their merciful Father in heaven. And that he himself, not some miracle he performed, was also a gracious gift from their merciful heavenly Father.

The emphasis was and is on two very important words: gracious gift. Those listening did not have to work for this Bread of Heaven in the traditional sense of laboring for something. They could not earn it. They could not buy it. All they could do was accept it by believing that Jesus really was who he said he was, thus being filled with a new spirit and vision as they anchored their lives in the life, way, and teachings of Jesus. Or as it says in The Message, by coming running to Jesus. Not running after him in desperation, hoping to earn his favor, but by joyfully, willingly running straight into his outstretched arms.

One example of such joyful, willing running to Jesus is found in the hymn “Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah.” The setting of the hymn is our exodus journey through a barren land. Although the references are straight out of the Old Testament, the hymn’s meaning is found in a true understanding of today’s text, especially as “The Bread of Heaven” is understood as “The Bread of Life.”

“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty; Hold me with Thy powerful hand: Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more, Feed me till I want no more.”

Only by partaking of the Bread of Heaven, by fully accepting the Abundant Life that is offered by Jesus, can we ever be filled. Only then will we never hunger or thirst again for those things that really matter: the justice, mercy, righteousness, and peace of God. Jesus states this another way in one of the Beatitudes: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” The abundant life is not defined by a full belly, full refrigerator, or a full bank account. The abundant life is a life defined by the life, way, and teaching of Jesus; a life, way, and teaching that reveal the will of God.

We cannot earn this Life Abundant. It is a gracious gift from a merciful God, a gift made available to us in Jesus Christ. All we have to do is joyfully and willingly run to Jesus and claim it as we follow the example of his life, his way, and his teaching. Although we must be cognizant of the whole body of Scripture, a good place to begin understanding this life, this way, and this teaching is to read, study, and prayerfully ingest those red letter words of Jesus found in the Gospels.

Although we cannot fully understand Jesus apart from the Old Testament, especially the words of the prophets concerning a coming Messiah, and although we cannot fully understand Jesus apart from the ethics and theology contained in the letters of Paul and others, we cannot even begin to understand him until we read about his life, his way, and his teaching – until we read those red lettered words of the Gospels.

Jesus is the Bread of Life. Jesus is the Bread of Heaven. Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah and Son of God. Jesus is the Word made flesh who came to dwell among us. Jesus is the God who was – and is – with us. It is in the life, way, and teachings of Jesus that we grasp the underlying basis of Christian ethics and theology, that we find the underlying basis of Christian living.

The truth is that we can’t really understand the Old Testament until we understand Jesus; we can’t really decipher those letters written by Paul and others until we understand Jesus. Remove those red-lettered words of Jesus from Scripture and what’s left will have no meaning. A Bible without Jesus is not a Bible. Just like a life without Jesus is merely existence.

One thing Jesus made very clear was that the Abundant Life is not some precious gift that we’re allowed to keep to ourselves. We who partake of the Bread of Life must also share it. Disciples of Jesus, those who model their lives on his life, way, and teaching, must go forth to make other disciples. We who have the Bread of Life must share it. We who live Abundant Lives must find ways to invite others to come running to Jesus. We who hunger and thirst after righteousness must ignite that same hunger and thirst in others. We who are full must reach out to those who are empty.

Long, long ago Isaiah asked this question, one that we must ask others: “Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” Why indeed? Listen again to the words of Jesus: “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.” Amen.