How many times during the day do you think about food? I never realized how much food occupies my mind until I had a day when I couldn’t have anything but clear liquids. A routine medical procedure that required a day of a liquid diet was an eye-opener. I discovered that during my morning run, all I think about in the last mile is what I will make for lunch. In the afternoon, my mind is pre-occupied with dinner plans. Even a late afternoon boat ride was consumed with what kind of drink/snack I would usually be enjoying instead of the unsatisfying can of diet Sprite that I was allowed. Food, glorious food! I had to avoid Facebook, as my feed is filled with recipe posts and pictures of things I couldn’t eat. When the procedure was finally over, my first thought wasn’t about the results. All I could think about was coffee and a breakfast biscuit. And more coffee.

In our reading today, the people had followed Jesus across the lake not because they wanted to see more miracles, but simply because they were hungry. That truly speaks to the power that food has over us. They sought food that perished but Jesus corrected them and suggested they seek food that endures for eternal life. People are always more attracted to material things than spiritual things. 

John 6 (Common English Bible)

²⁵ When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

²⁶ Jesus replied, “I assure you that you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate all the food you wanted. ²⁷ Don’t work for the food that doesn’t last but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Human One will give you. God the Father has confirmed him as his agent to give life.”

Jesus understood our obsession with food when he proclaimed that he is the true bread of heaven. What better way to demonstrate his supreme importance in our lives than to tap into our most basic need for sustenance! The body can’t live without bread. The soul can’t live without the bread of heaven. And thus when they ask what God required to obtain this bread, he tells them that they must believe in him, whom God has sent.

²⁸ They asked, “What must we do in order to accomplish what God requires?”

²⁹ Jesus replied, “This is what God requires, that you believe in him whom God sent.”

When Jesus came, people struggled to understand what he was offering. For him to plainly say, “I am the bread of life” was as simple, and yet as profound, as it could be.

The people, hungry for answers, reminded Jesus that Moses gave their ancestors manna in the wilderness. It was like throwing down a gauntlet. Can Jesus top what Moses did?

³⁰ They asked, “What miraculous sign will you do, that we can see and believe you? What will you do? ³¹ Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

³² Jesus told them, “I assure you, it wasn’t Moses who gave the bread from heaven to you, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ The bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

But they were wrong in their thinking. It wasn’t Moses, it was God who provided the bread. And their ancestors’ bread was only lasted a day. The true bread of heaven is not just manna for one day, it is manna for eternity. 

How many times have you thought about food today? How many times have you thought about Jesus today? Jesus provides the bread that will never end; a bread that comes down from heaven above. 

May we think about God today as many times as we think about food.

³⁴ They said, “Sir, give us this bread all the time!”

The Heavens Above by Becca Ziegler