Loving God, you are the one who provides for our bodies and souls, giving us all that is needed from day to day.  Draw us closer to you through Jesus, leading us into life in all its fulness, through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

           One of the things that is noticeable in Israel and Palestine is that every meal includes pita bread.  Often there is hummus.  Usually there are tomatoes and cucumbers.  But the pita bread is always there.  In Bethlehem (which means “house of bread”), there are even places along the road where pita bread and little cups of water have been set out for anybody who might be hungry or thirsty.  And then there is Jesus, who says, “I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35).

         Had Jesus been in other parts of the world, he might have said, “I am the rice of life,” or even, “I am the potatoes of life” (Sundaysandseasons.com).  After all, not everybody has bread with every meal.  In fact, in parts of the world where bread and wine are not readily available, Christians celebrate “coconut communion,” as the meat of the coconut becomes the body of Christ, and the milk becomes the blood of Christ.  However, in the culture in which Jesus lived, bread was the staple food of life.

         Biblically speaking, whenever people are hungry, it is bread that is provided – like the manna in the wilderness, or the cakes that an angel brings to a hungry Elijah.  We could also point to the bread of the presence that David and his men ate when they were hungry, or to the loaves and the fishes that fed thousands of people.  When Jesus points to himself as the bread of life, this is not an add-on that can be taken or left.  Rather, Jesus is essential for life.

         For those who would like to delve even deeper, it might be important to know that the rabbis referred to the Torah as the bread of life (among other things).  As we hear in Deuteronomy, “one does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (8:3).  Bread nourishes the body, but God’s Word nourishes the soul – and Jesus is God’s living Word – the one who embodies the Torah.

         As is often the case in the gospel of John, all of this discussion about the bread of life and the bread from heaven is intended to reveal who Jesus really is.  However, it becomes an academic discussion if we have no concept of why any of this matters – for us and for all.

         For those who are spiritually hungry and thirsty, Jesus comes to us as one who can satisfy the hunger and thirst in our soul.  He also can satisfy physical hunger and thirst through his followers, who share what they have in order that all might have enough.  While many may doubt that this is possible, the feeding of the 5000 started with one boy who was willing to share what he had, and God handled the multiplication from there.  We may not be able to feed everybody, but we can all feed somebody.

         At the same time, today’s gospel points us to resurrection and eternal life.  “Whoever believes has eternal life” (Jn. 6:47).  “All who see the Son and believe in him… have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day” (Jn. 6:40).  “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever” (Jn. 6:51).  The promise for all those who put their trust in Jesus is forgiveness, and resurrection, and eternal life.  We are reconciled with God through Jesus, and his life, death and resurrection.

         However, contrary to popular belief, eternal life is not a promise that only applies to the future.  Because it is eternal, it has no beginning and no end.  It is life that is entered into through Jesus, uniting us with God the Creator and filling us with the Holy Spirit – the Spirit of Life.  Many things in this world will seek to take this life from us – like the thieves and bandits described in John 10 – but we are invited to return again and again to Jesus, who gives us life in all its fulness.

         Unfortunately, it is painfully easy for us to be drawn away from the one who gives eternal life.  We only need to look as far as today’s reading from Ephesians to recognize how those who had put their faith in Jesus were already straying away from him.  They needed to be reminded, it seems, to speak the truth rather than lying, to stop stealing from others, to stop their anger from leading them into sin, to use their words to heal rather than to hurt, to forgive one another, and to live in love.  This is way back in the first century.  How many more distractions are there today that suck the life right out of us, rather than building us up in Christ!

         It is not a deficiency on the part of Jesus that leaves us hungering for more or even despairing of life itself.  Rather, it is all of those things that draw us away from Jesus that leave us broken, and unfulfilled, and bitter.  No matter what we might be dealing with today, may we be among those who are drawn to Jesus, and who find in him life in all its fulness, both now and into eternity.  Amen.

Lectionary 19(B)                              John 6:35, 41-51

August 11, 2024                               Ephesians 4:25-5:2

St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church

Pastor Lynne Hutchison

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