Wednesday 12 July 2023
- Bible Book:
- John
‘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.’ (vs 32-33)
Background
Today we return to the feeding of the multitude and the discussion about it, which forms the remainder of the chapter and the remainder of our week’s studies. Key concepts today are the origin and the qualities of the bread of heaven.
A common saying when something new turns up in our lives is ‘It’s the best thing since sliced bread’. However, recently many of us have realised that mass-produced sliced bread is not such a good thing after all. Thus, sourdough and other artisan breads have become very popular. The housewives of the 1940s may have thought sliced bread was fantastic. It meant they didn’t have to bake anymore and packaged bread was much tidier than slicing the crusty homemade variety. However, something that was once thought to be a fantastic gift, which enhanced modern lifestyles, is proving to be unhealthy and damaging. Baking is back in fashion.
In the Old Testament when the Israelites fled Egypt, God provided manna (a bread-like substance) for them to eat. The people of Jesus’ time perhaps looked back on the miracle of manna in the desert with rose-tinted glasses – the description of it in scripture isn’t exactly appealing but given how hungry they were at the time their enthusiasm is understandable. While looking for some similar sign to that in the past were they failing to appreciate what was all around them in the present?
It seems that they may have been giving the prophet Moses the credit for providing manna rather than giving God the credit. They connected ‘bread’ with the law and wisdom but couldn’t look beyond that. Jesus steps in to correct them on various levels. It wasn’t Moses who gave the manna but God; what they were looking back on so keenly was perishable, but God wants to offer them something eternal (heavenly); and instead of looking back to the past they should look for the life of God in the present, which is right before their eyes in Jesus. God gives the bread. Jesus is the bread of life.
To Ponder:
- Why do you think the groups that challenged Jesus didn’t recognise his feeding of the crowd as that sign they were looking for?
- Where might we need to remove our ‘rose-tinted glasses’ so that we can see God around us in the present?
Prayer
Lord, keep me from being diverted by the latest ‘best’ thing and keep me from the deceptive easy way. Help me to find you there in the ‘messiness’ of life, and to recognise you where your children are being fed in body, mind or spirit. Amen.