John 6:24-35 "He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." (v. 33)

John 6:27   “. . . the food that perishes.” 

The crowds were seeking Jesus because they had witnessed his miracle of the feeding of the 5,000, and they wanted to see more and to eat more. Jesus reproved them because they were seeking him for the wrong reason. So he said, “Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life which the Son of Man will give to you.” (John 6:27)

Of course, Jesus understood that we need food and drink. He understood very well the importance of friendship and family and work. He valued good health. Many of the miracles of Jesus were healing of the sick; Jesus taught values that would make for good relationships and productive lives. Jesus understood the desire for longevity. He raised the dead. Still, he said, “Do not labor for the food that perishes . . .” Finally, everything perishes; everything in this life slips away from us. We are mortal.

The good news, the gospel, is the message that Jesus has come to bring us eternal life. Indeed, the nature of this gift is such that when we seek God’s gift, God’s kingdom, God’s will, then, all the other things in life are added to us in their proper proportion. When we eat the bread of heaven, that is, when we receive Jesus into our lives we can enjoy the life we have now because we see this life as a hint of the wonders yet to come.

Paul wrote to the church at Corinth to say that “ . . . we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

Paradoxically, those of us who are able to think more about heaven are, also, more able to enjoy this mortal life. When we come to Jesus we receive abundant life now. We receive a taste of heaven which makes every good gift in this life a pointer to God’s love, and every sorrow becomes an affliction that will pass with us into a glory beyond all comparison.

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Branch. Recently I was in a meeting with a group of church leaders who were interviewing me as a potential interim pastor. One member of the group is a banker and she inadvertently referred to the church as a branch. She quickly corrected herself and explained that her job took her to a different branch in her bank’s network everyday. Actually, I liked her reference to the church as a branch. Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (John 15:5)  The image became even more poignant for me as we later joined together in worship. The first song we sang was the last song I had sung 7,500 miles away with another church a week earlier. Same song, same faith, just a different branch. 

John 6:1-15 The Feeding of the 5,000

John 6:14   “. . . the people saw the sign Jesus performed.”

All four Gospels record the feeding of the 5,000, and in John’s Gospel the account of this miraculous sign and the response of the people takes almost as many verses to record as the resurrection does. Clearly, for the early church this event in the life of Jesus was important. On the surface of the telling we see the compassion of Jesus for hungry people, and his response to their hunger gives us a model for our own ministry to the needy. However, Jesus spiritualized this event so that the miracle more importantly became a sign of salvation than an act of compassion for the physically hungry. Jesus said to the people who received the food that he had distributed, “. . .you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life.” (John 6:26-27)

Following the example of Jesus and taking a spiritual interpretation of this feeding ministry we observe that Jesus used this event in the wilderness, first, to confront his disciples with the fact of their spiritual scarcity. They did not have the ability to feed the people, physically and more importantly spiritually. Philip, exasperated with the instructions to provide food for the multitude of people, complained to Jesus that it would take eight months of wages to give everyone even a bite to eat. (v.7) Before we can see the miracle of provision the church first acknowledges its inadequacy. We cannot feed the hunger of people for God. We cannot even fill our own spiritual need for God. We look at what little insight we have, and we are like Andrew who looked at the five barley loaves and two fish, and said, “how far will they go among so many?” (v. 9)

However, it happens in John 6 and in the church again and again that we witness the power of God when we acknowledge our own limited resources. When we face our spiritual scarcity then we hear Jesus say to us as he said to his disciples, “Have the people sit down.” (v. 10) We stop looking at our empty pockets and our scarce resources and we simply follow the instruction of Jesus. When we do we discover that the people will be able to eat their fill with food left over. (v. 12) When we simply give people the Gospel of Christ, not in our own strength, but in obedience to the instructions of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, we discover a spiritual abundance that fills our deepest hunger and the hunger of those to whom we preach. 

God revealed this Gospel principle to Paul. He wanted to be strong, but he suffered an infirmity that made him weak. He pleaded with God to have his infirmity, his thorn in the flesh, removed. Then he heard God’s response, “. . .my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Cor. 12:9) The church receives power to feed the spiritually hungry when it recognizes its own limitations, its spiritual scarcity, and awaits the instructions of Jesus who will say at the right place and the right time, “Have the people sit down.” 

Mark 6:30-52 It is Hard to Understand

Mark 6:52  " . . .their hearts were hardened."

People disagree about the meaning of hardened hearts as described in the Bible. I'm putting an idea out for reflection that I have found helpful to me this week, but I know my view does not explain all the passages in the Bible on this important topic: why does it seem so hard to understand what God is doing?

This question came to me in a practical personal way recently. Through a tanslator I had a conversation with a man from Syria. He asked me why Christians in his country are called upon to suffer so much. Suffering of the innocent is a mystery, and I simply acknowleged that I didn't know the answer. He didn't let me escape the question with such a facile response. We struggled together to explore the question, and because everything was being translated we had to keep things simple, even a bit raw. He didn't want to hide behind nuances, and our exchange didn't allow me to hide either. Finally, we finished with his testimony: he said, we want to do God's will, and we are prepared to continue to suffer if that is our calling whether we understand fully or not.

The disciples saw the miracles of Jesus as recorded in Mark 6:30-52. They were immersed in the wonder working ministry of the Lord, so much so, that they often did not have time to stop and eat. They saw and heard Jesus as no others have. They saw him feed 5,000 men from five loaves of bread and two fish. They saw him walk on water. They saw the sea go calm in his presence. Still, the text says, "They were completely amazed for they had not understood about the loaves and fishes; their hearts were hardened." (Mark 6:51-52)

They did not understand the good work, the miracles, Jesus performed. God hardened their hearts because they were not ready to understand. For the time, amazement, was enough. They knew Jesus. He calmed their fears (v. 50), and that was enough. They did not yet need to understand. Later, after the cross and the resurrection and the day of Pentecost they would understand much more. The time would be right.

On many subjects--particularly the suffering of the people in the world's oldest churches--our hearts seem hardened. We don't understand, at least, not fully. The time is not right.

In amazement, in shock, in near but not total despair, the persecuted church continues to give witness. May God soon help this suffering church. May they and all who care for them and pray for them, find a way to go forward in the trust that the time is coming when all will be clear, and all will be made right.

Mark 6:14-29 Speaking the Truth to Power

Mark 6:20   ". . . he liked to listen to him."

John was arrested by King Herod because John criticized the king for violating the biblical standards of morality (v. 17). Even though the king had John arrested and eventually executed he still understood that John was a man of God; he found John's prophecy worth hearing (v.20).

Herod's birthday party provides the setting for the account of John's arrest and execution. During this party Herod's wife and her daughter manipulated the king into a decision to execute John. A dance performance followed by a prideful boast and an unwillingness to bear embarrassment before his guests led Herod to order John's execution through beheading and the shameful, public display of John's head on a platter at the banquet.

Speaking the truth to power on a moral issue of rightful marriage led to John's death. Hints in the text (v. 16, v. 20, v. 26)) suggest that Herod acted against his best judgment. Wanting to seem a certain way before his wife and guests led him to violate his own conscience.

Moral issues eventually reveal one's strength of character and conviction. Herod believed that God had power to raise the dead (v. 16), and Herod believed that John was a prophet, but Herod did not have the moral character to stand for truth; instead, he misused his power, and he failed the opportunity for redemption that John's message brought to him.

True religion includes moral decision making. Truth requires the choice for right or wrong. Wanting to seem one way or another, wanting to please our significant others, wanting to protect our pride--all efforts to avoid the decision that's required--will not keep us from finally making a choice. We will be forced to use our power--great power or little power--to make a decision, to take some action. Either we will decide based on the word of God, as John did, or we will be manipulated into a decision we ultimately regret. Prophets will speak truth, and those who hear will have to decide.