“Utterly perplexing?”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Saturday, January 29, 2022

John 6:16-27 (Forward, p. 92) CEV p. 1107

Sometimes I find Jesus rather exasperating, and I’m sure that His original audiences probably felt this way at times as well. Here He miraculously ‘appears’ on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee and the crowd wonders about it, seeing as they had seen only one boat leave the other shore, and that without Jesus in it. So, as might be expected, they ask, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (I would have asked, ‘how did you get here?’, but same idea.)

But Jesus avoids the question—a rather reasonable question, I would think—and launches into an entirely different and unrelated topic. He launches into the topic of food and what truly satisfies:

“I tell you for certain that you are not looking for me because you saw the miracles [signs], but because you ate all the food you wanted. Don’t work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life” (verses 26-27a).

It would seem that Jesus perceived what their underlying motive was in asking when (or how) He had gotten there, namely that they were looking for a ‘repeat performance’, another miraculous feeding of the multitudes. And, why not? Wouldn’t that be a very popular and welcome thing to do? It would be a real crowd pleaser, like Caesar’s ‘bread and circuses’.

But Jesus nips all this in the bud, and directs them to a different kind of food, namely Himself. Furthermore, He begins to tell them just how to access this food:

“The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so” (verse 27b).

So far He has not been explicit in naming Himself as the food, the bread, that would truly satisfy, the food that never spoils and indeed gives eternal life, but that explanation was to come (see verse 35). Just now, He is leaving them with a ‘teaser’, which was probably frustrating as well. Indeed, His whole later discourse about eating His flesh and drinking His blood (verses 48-58) likewise probably left them quite perplexed and in the dark. We Christians, having the benefit of hindsight and knowing about the Crucifixion and the institution of the Lord’s Supper, can clearly see a foreshadowing of those events in Jesus’ words here, but His original audience had nothing of that benefit. So, what was Jesus ‘original’ message here, for surely He wanted them to get ‘something’ from His words? I think that He simply wanted them to believe in Him, to trust in Him, to accept Him into their hearts and lives by faith:

“’What exactly does God want us to do?’ the people asked. Jesus answered, ‘God wants you to have faith in the one he sent’” (verses 28-29).

“’I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty’” (verse 35.)

And so, wonderfully, this is something accessible to each one of us, attainable regardless of who we might be. The wonderful thing now, in our present age, is that what Jesus was ‘getting at’ is no longer perplexing, but something that each and every one of us can enter into, if only we will have faith and trust in Him. Amen.

Forward notes: “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” (verse 27).

“I try my best to eat healthy. Still, some days, I crave an unsightly amount of salt or sugar. I indulge and then quickly drink lots of water and get back into my yoga routine. This is the same routine I take when consuming news or spending too much time on social media. The intake of yelling match after yelling match on social media can draw me in and cause me to lose friends or view someone differently based on their opinion in a hot minute. This type of food is no good for our spirit; it is no good for our nourishment.

“Our bodies require a healthy amount of wisdom if we are to continue making strides toward peace and toward reparations. God has gifted this wisdom to us in the form of story and in our elders. Our nourishment should not come from hot takes and instant replies but from blessed and measured wisdom that provides true nourishment, holding us accountable, sharpening our minds, and feeding our spirits.”

Moving Forward: “Who provides the soul food for your life? Make plans to spend some time with that person soon.”