So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “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.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. ~ John 6:24-35
There are going to be lots of bread images coming up because in the lectionary, the Gospel of John offers a long section on Jesus' Bread of Life discourse. He's going to talk a lot about being that bread.
Here he reminds his listeners about the manna from heaven - how it came down from heaven to sustain them.
Now there is a new bread from heaven, and it is meant to sustain on an even deeper level.
What does the image of Jesus as the Bread of Life mean to you? How is it relevant to us today? When we think of how important bread or other grains are to the sustaining of life all over the world, what does Jesus as the bread of life mean for us now...not just in some future time.
Jesus says that his bread sustains eternally - it fills us more than all of the other food that we consume.
What does it feel like to know that Jesus wants to fill us so completely?
Jesus, you are the bread of life. Sustain me. Amen
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