Never Hungry or Thirsty Again—Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 11B (John 6)

John 6:24-35 New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

²⁴ So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” ²⁶ 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. ²⁷ 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.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” ³⁰ 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? ³¹ Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² 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. ³³ For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ 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.

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                When Moses led the people out of Egypt toward the Promised Land, they fed off the bread from heaven (manna). Every day they would gather the manna from the ground and make bread from it, and this bread sustained them during their sojourn in the wilderness. After Jesus fed the 5000 the people were eager for a repeat performance. If Moses could provide bread from heaven, then could it be possible that Jesus, having already fed so many with so little, could do it again? That question serves as a backdrop to the later conversations in John 6. The answer to the question raises several questions about Jesus’ ministry, including what this passage has to say about the Eucharist. Since John’s Gospel lacks an institution narrative for the Eucharist, whereby Jesus gives directions about what the Eucharist entails, could this passage be part of John’s institution narrative? If so, what might it say to us about the meal the church celebrates in honor of Jesus’ death and resurrection? As we ask this question, we might also ask who is invited. Is this an exclusive meal or an open one?

                Our reading begins the morning after Jesus fed the 5000. In John’s telling, the crowd, having been fed by Jesus, got it into their heads that Jesus might make a good king, especially if he was a king who could feed them (Jn. 6:15). Sensing what they were up to Jesus withdrew to the mountain while his disciples headed off across the lake. The next morning, when the crowd discovered that Jesus and his disciples had departed, they got in boats and headed across the lake to Capernaum, where Jesus was known to hang out, hoping that they might find him there. When they find Jesus in Capernaum, they want to know how he got there. Jesus ignores their question and addresses what’s really on their mind. That is, they went looking for him because their bellies were empty, and they hoped Jesus would fill them. While that was their hope, Jesus chose to change the subject from their bellies to their hearts. He told them they shouldn’t  “work for the food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (Jn. 6:27). They want bread, and Jesus is willing to give it to them, but it’s not the kind of bread they thought they were seeking. This is spiritual bread.

We need to take a step back here because we can easily misunderstand what Jesus is saying. When Jesus talks about working for food that endures for eternal life, he’s not unaware that we need food and water to live. We are material beings, even as he was. Therefore, this is not a call for his followers to quit their jobs and go sit on a hill waiting for Jesus to return. Paul had to address just this problem in his ministry with the Thessalonian church, to whom he had to give instructions concerning work (2 Thess. 3:10), telling them that if a person doesn’t work, they shouldn’t eat. Jesus isn’t suggesting that food isn’t important. This is not a false call for asceticism. But as he does with the woman at the Samaritan well, he wants the folks following him to understand the nature of his ministry. The Roman government might distract them with bread and games, but he has something else in mind. He seeks to address the weightier matters of the Spirit. As he does elsewhere in other ways, he speaks of spiritual sustenance, much as he does when speaking to the woman at the well (John 4:7-15).  

                While they likely are still thinking in terms of food for the body, they ask a pertinent question: What do we have to do to do the works of God? Jesus responded by telling them that the work of God required of them is to believe in—that is, put their trust in—the one God had sent. By that, Jesus means himself. They get the point. They respond by asking for a sign so they can believe in him. That offering of bread the day before was a good start, but they wanted more. If they’re going to give Jesus their allegiance, they want to know what’s in it for them. That’s when they bring up the manna Moses gave their ancestors. Moses gave them bread from heaven to eat. Might Jesus do the same? If he did this, they would be glad to join his group.

As is often the case in John, Jesus turns the physical into the spiritual. They want bread—like the bread Moses provided in the wilderness (though truth be told the people got tired of manna and asked for an expanded menu)—but Jesus had another kind of bread in mind. He told the people that it wasn’t Moses who gave the people bread, it was God. Now God was offering them a different bread from heaven. This is the true bread from heaven that gives life to the world. That sounds good to the crowd who ask that Jesus give it to them.

The crowd asks Jesus to give them the bread of heaven. He responds with words that they find difficult to comprehend. “I am (ego eimi) the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (Jn. 6:35). As John 6 continues—the lectionary will take us to verses 41-51 in the coming week—we’ll learn more about what this means. We’ll also learn that the people weren’t happy with Jesus’ explanation. They want free bread, not this spiritual stuff that seems rather mystical. However, it is this mystical stuff that gives depth to the church’s eucharistic theology and to the Christian faith itself. If we connect Jesus’ declaration that he is the bread of life to the Eucharist, the question we face is how “realistic” we should take Jesus’ words about the bread and wine being his body and blood. That conversation is coming, but our text isn’t quite there. For now, however, we have this invitation to come to Jesus and believe in him. If we do, then we’ll never hunger or thirst, at least spiritually.

                As we gather to hear this word from John 6, especially if we’re gathering at the Table (my tradition gathers weekly at the Table—if not more often), then this lectionary passage offers us the opportunity to explore and meditate on the meaning of the Eucharist. The passage offers us the opportunity to ask how these seemingly bare elements—just common food and drink—can communicate to us the life-giving presence of Jesus. If we read John 6 in a eucharistic way, this might help us envision what happens at the Table in a way that transcends memorialism. It might bring to life what happens at the table such that it draws into the life of Jesus and thus the life of God. John Zizioulas connects Jesus’ declaration that he is the bread of life with the Lord’s Prayer, such that what is prayed for when we ask God for daily bread, is Christ, the Bread of Life.

Christ’s answer to this question provides an explanation of the term artos (bread) in the Lord’s Prayer: ‘I am the bread of life’. And in the prayer itself, we must understand the expression ‘our Father’ in association with the expression ‘our bread’. This is the bread of the community that lived this prayer, and it is no coincidence that in the first centuries there was an identity between this community and that formed by those who received communion at the Eucharist.  [Zizioulas, The Eucharistic Communion and the World (p. 26). Bloomsbury Publishing. Kindle Edition].

Let us embrace Jesus’ call to work for the bread that brings us eternal life by entrusting our lives to his care.