Thoughts for the Day

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.

(Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The "I am" statements appear only in John's Gospel. There are seven statements that Jesus makes about himself and his mission on earth. The prelude to this, the first saying, is the Feeding of the 5,000 and has the people in the crowd scurrying to find him to give them more bread as we saw yesterday. When asked to give them a sign (John's word for a miracle) as Moses did when the people received manna in the wilderness, Jesus reminds them that it was not Moses but God who provided the food. If their minds are still on bread to eat, we see that Jesus has moved on to look at the symbolic meaning of bread. He has just told them that he is the 'Son of Man' (the Messiah) come to save them, and when they ask to be given God's bread, he answers, "I am the bread of life".

Jesus uses the metaphor of bread as something that the people of Israel must have needed every day. It's hard for us to realise how important daily bread was 2,000 years ago, since we can buy bread at any time. Though I remember my son buying a sack load of flour during the first Covid lockdown, and putting out measured bags on the doorstep in a hastily organised shared scheme, and the offerings we were left by others was amazing. Of course for the ancient world bread was a part of their staple diet. It was a daily chore for the housewife, or her daughters or servants, to bake bread. Jesus says that just as bread is essential for life, so is he essential for life!

If we don't think of bread as being essential to our daily life, perhaps it might be easier to think of the last image Jesus uses: "Whoever believes in me will never be thirsty". As a society we have taken to carrying bottles of water everywhere to keep ourselves hydrated. Imagine never having to be thirsty again! Jesus says we will never be spiritually thirsty again when we believe in him, for he offers eternal life.

Lord Jesus,
many of us are fortunate enough not to lack food,
and we can hardly understand true hunger.
We have clean water on tap
and often freely waste it.
So help us to understand these images
and our need for you in our life.
Give us the confidence
to come to You each day,
and to trust in Your words,
Amen.