Got bread?

John 6.41-51

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’


Reflection

I was in a great mood yesterday. Then I saw the forecast for today: five or more inches of snow, followed by rain. For heaven’s sake! It’s supposedly spring! After the winter we’ve been through all I could think was “Make it stop.” Of course, given everything that’s going on in the world and how quickly whatever accumulation we receive will go away, it didn’t take long for me to admit that there are more important things to worry about, things that actually matter.


That’s what Jesus is telling his complaining interlocutors. Focus on the real bread, he says. Put aside the distractions, the false promises, the things that will keep you from leading a life of meaning, from leading the life God intended for you. Instead, look to what will help you live. These words speak to us today as much as they did to people in the first century, especially during this season of Lent. During theses weeks of prayer and reflection, we are afforded an opportunity to clear the decks so we can pay attention to and act upon the things that truly matter in our lives and in our relationship with God.

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