+ 10th Sunday after Pentecost – August 1, 2021 +
Series B: Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians 4:1-16’ John 6:22-35
Beautiful Savior Lutheran
Milton, WA
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
That’s one big mouthful of a promise if you think about it. Hunger Thirst. Longing. In this life it seems we’re rarely satisfied. We can relate to Bono when he sings, I still haven’t found what I’m looking for. Or when Keith Richards wrote those famous lyrics, I can’t get no satisfaction. Even Disney’s Little Mermaid with all of her gadgets and gizmos aplenty wants something more.
Satisfaction is a fleeting feeling on this side of Eden. No matter how many Red Robin’s bottomless fries we hork down, eventually we'll be hungry again. No matter how many free refills we fill up we’ll still find ourselves thirsty. One way or another, we’re always searching, longing, hungering, and thirsting for more.
Despite Jesus’ compassion on the crowds, despite his day long teaching, despite their fill of the loaves and fish on the green grass of Galilee, the crowds follow Jesus to Capernaum wanting more.
Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.
The crowds saw Jesus more like a divine food-truck than the promised Messiah. To be sure, the healing, teaching, feeding he was doing part of his ministry. But those were signs meant to lead the people to who Jesus is and where he was going.
As good as the food was that Jesus served up at the feeding of the 5,000, he had something better in store for the crowds.
Same is true for us. Like the crowds we are constantly longing, looking for something more. We’re never satisfied. The crowds’ problem. Our problem, however, isn’t that we expect too much of Jesus, but that we expect too little.
C.S. Lewis observed this in The Weight of Glory, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
For us, as for the crowds, Jesus gives more. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
The bread we eat is for this life, not the life to come. And while it may build strong bodies twelve ways, it won’t lengthen your life or bring eternal life. The bread God gives is completely different. The manna was a picture/type of it, but only a type. Like other bread, it went bad after a day and the eater still died. But the manna provided a foretaste of the true bread that God gives in the sending of His Son. This isn’t bread you work for, but bread that is given you as a gift of grace. This isn’t bread that fills your temporal hunger pangs but bread that goes straight to your soul, a bread that will raise you up on the Last Day.
This is the bread that God alone gives. No man on earth can bake it. “What must we be doing to do the works of God?” they asked Jesus. Listen carefully to His answer. “The work (singular) of God (God does it) is this: That you believe in Him who He has sent. That you believe in Jesus. Faith is a work. That’s right. Faith is a work. Not a work we do, but a work that God does. Salvation is God’s work. Forgiveness is God’s work. Justifying sinners is God’s work. Faith is God’s work and gift to us, the means by which we receive the forgiveness, life, and salvation Jesus died to win for us. Without a mouth, you can’t eat bread. Without faith, you can’t eat the Bread of Life. And without Jesus, the Bread of Life, nothing else truly satisfies.
Like the crowds in Capernaum, we’re constantly searching. Searching for a happier home life. Searching for medical treatment that will work. Searching for more recognition, more vacation, more income, more security, more something. No matter how satisfied we are for a moment, the moment always passes.
In Jesus the Bread of Life, however, our thirst and hunger find their true satisfaction.
“Whoever comes to Me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in Me shall never thirst.” When Jesus promises He can relieve hunger and thirst for good, He is talking about more than food or drink. Luther calls it a “spiritual hunger” (Luther’s Works 23:43).
To satisfy it, Jesus offers something which does not perish—namely, Himself. He alone is imperishable, for He alone has risen from the dead, never to die again. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
Does that mean we will always be satisfied with everything in this life? No, but it does mean that our desires will be shaped and met by the only One who can satisfy.
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus says to you. “Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” The feeding of the 5000 with bread multiplied beyond measure was a foretaste of the feast to come. That deep hunger that you feel – no bread from this world can fill it. That deep thirst in your soul that leaves you restless and thirsting for something more – no drink in this world can quench it.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness; they will be satisfied. Come to Jesus, the Bread of Life. Eat and drink of Him by faith in His Word. Hear His Word forgiving you. Eat and drink the bread of His Body, the wine of His Blood, the gifts of His cross for you. He won’t let you down. He won’t leave you hungry for more. He won’t make you thirsty. Trust Him. He is true Food, the likes of which cannot be found anywhere else. He is true Drink. The deepest longings of your soul will find strength, and nourishment, and refreshment in Him.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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