May 23, 2009

The Bread of Life - John 6

it seems for a while now that I've been going back and back again to John chapter 6. One night I was sitting somewhere. I don't remember exactly where, I think it was at the kitchen table or in my bed. I think I got around to thining about the eucharist and transubstantion and sacraments and stuff. And I remember being a little indignant over the dumb materialistic idea (that I generally associate with Baptists) that the eucharist is just 'remembering' the sacrifice of Christ, and that there's no literal spiritual benefit from it (kind of like the sacrament of baptism… yeah… let's not even go there…).

And somehow the idea of Jesus as 'the bread of life' stuck in my head. Jesus as metaphorical bread. Jesus as sustenance. Jesus as food. So I decided to look up the place where Jesus talks about himself being the bread of life, that is, John 6. I've read the chapter countless times before, but this time somehow it all seemed new. It was like I could see spiritually, my eyes were opened for a brief time as I sat and soaked in the passage. There was so much that I saw I don't think it would be possible for me to recount it here in a blog post… but I do want to just touch upon a few.

"I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst."

Even if everything I say makes no sense, and even if I'm completely wrong about everything, the one thing you can take from this post is that verse. Think about it. Repeat it to yourself over and over again. Figure out what the words mean. Look it up in different translations (it's verse 35).

"What shall we do, that we might work the works of God?" asked the people. They wanted to know how to live out the Christian life. They wanted the principles and laws and standards by which they were to live. They wanted the steps they had to take to get to their resurrection bodies, they wanted to know what they had to sacrifice in order that god might work through them. You know how Jesus responded?

"This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent."

Please think about that for a moment. It seems to me that this statement by Jesus throws a wrench into the entire system of modern evangelization theory. The ongoing work of God is to believe on Jesus. The goal above others is to believe upon Jesus, and to believe upon him more and more fully. This is not a one time mental statement of belief; no, this is a process of discovery and strengthening. To believe is not an easy thing. Belief is a progressive revelation by God. It is not something achieved by human endeavor or toil, it is a divine gift.

After this the people are like "Oh… so if you're the Son of God then prove it to us. I mean, our fathers were shown a sign: bread fell down from heaven to feed them. What sign are you going to show us to prove you're who you say you are?"

Jesus doesn't exactly answer their question. I think it's kind of funny, but many times it seems like Jesus answeres questions with more questions. Or he answers them with statements that seem to be somewhat unrelated to the question direclty at hand. He responds by saying the bread their fathers recieved from Moses was not true bread. I guess he means that the mana was physical and not spiritual. It only met temporary physical needs, not true spiritual needs. It wasn't real food, it was fake food.

For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world, says Jesus. So apparently true bread, according to Jesus, is that which gives life. That would mean that physical food, which gives us physical life and vitality, is not true bread, which in turn would mean that physical vitality is not true life. Your breathing body is not your life. It is your spirit that is your life. There is such a thing as a living dead person: someone who is spiritually dead. Dank rotted spirits clothed in breathing flesh.

Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. Our very *food* as Christians is the words of God. We cannot live on just material food. If we do, we'll shrivel up and die. All that is required of us in order for God to be spiritual sustenance to us is that we believe upon Jesus his Son. That is all. nothing more, noting less. We must believe.

I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. Believe upon Jesus brethren, for that is all that is required of you. Simply believe and God will follow. Believe.