Bread of Heaven

Last week we looked at John’s version of the feeding of the five thousand and thought about it as a collaborative effort, the result of God’s non coercive love, making it a sign of the Kingdom of God. We also mentioned that the Roman Empire controlled access to food. Author Diana Butler Bass has a helpful essay¹ that helps us understand more fully Roman control. One of the things she points out is that KIng Herod Antipas built a new Sea of Galilee port and capital city, named Tiberias (in honor of the Emperor). The Sea of Galilee became known as the Sea of Tiberias. She explains: “To make matters worse, the city and its port emerged as an economic center for the globalization of the Roman fishing industry, an extractive enterprise that exploited local fishermen, raised taxes, shipped the best fish to the richest parts of the empire, and left only scrappy remains to feed the residents.” She also notes the Roman practice of placating people by giving them free bread.

John, in his gospel, points out that “the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near.” John’s readers knew that Passover is the festival of liberation from the Egyptian empire. An important part of that epic story of liberation is the multiple year provision of manna, food for hungry people. Last week’s lectionary reading is filled with political implications. The disciples, in particular are challenged to imagine a different reality, a different society where there was food available for all.

This week the lectionary continues the story. Now Jesus is explaining the sign to “the crowd”.

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 are 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 in 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 NRSV

Often when we think about this text we “spiritualize” it. We assume that Jesus is talking about spiritual bread, spiritual hunger, spiritual feeding. But texts have layers of meaning. What if, Jesus is also concerned with their actual hunger?

Before we go on, we need to pause a moment and remember a few things about John’s gospel and life in the Roman Empire. John loves to tell us stories where Jesus and someone else talk past each other. Jesus says one thing and the other person misunderstands.² He uses ambiguous words, riddles, and even wordplay that results in misunderstandings. Nicodemus and the discussion about being born again/anew/from above. The woman at the well and living water. Just to name two. We should not be surprised that Jesus and the crowd seem to talk past each other in their discussion about bread.

In John’s gospel there are no acts labeled as “miracles”. John calls them “signs”. What John means is that these acts are signs pointing to who Jesus is and what God is doing. They are not meant to dazzle or show off. They are revelatory. They reveal something about Jesus and God. They are epiphanies. They declare who Jesus is.

When John uses the word “believe” it carries with it, the idea of “entrust”.³ People are not merely asked to believe concepts or doctrines about Jesus, they are asked to entrust themselves to him. Additionally in John’s gospel, “eternal life” is not, as we commonly used the phrase, living forever in heaven after we die. The Greek words translated “eternal life”, carry more of the sense of “life of the age” or “age to come”. This “eternal life” of God is in contrast to how Rome thought about itself, as the eternal city and the never ending empire.⁴ FInally, remember from Diana Butler Bass’ essay the very real economic situation of this area where the empire literally controlled access to food and the giving of “bread” was a means of control. The economics of bread distribution to the citizens impacted and shaped the Roman economy⁵.

Now let’s think about John 6:24-35 with a bit of summarizing and paraphrasing. The crowds lose sight of Jesus and the disciples and go looking for them. They ask Jesus “When did you come here?” Jesus doesn’t answer that question, he answers a different question, namely “why did you come here looking for me ? Jesus’ answer to his question is that they misunderstood the sign. They thought the feeding of the five thousand was an act like something the Roman Empire would do. They saw what happened through the lens of their previous encounters with the Roman Empire. Remember how they wanted to make Jesus king? Then Jesus tells them, don’t work for Roman Empire food, work for the food of the coming new age of God. The crowd says, “Okay. What do we need to do?” The reply, “Believe- entrust yourselves to Me.” The crowd, “How do we know that we should do that?” This is a smart and reasonable question. Shifting allegiance from the Roman Empire was a dangerous thing to do. It would literally get you killed. The crowd wonders, “How do we know we can trust you? Our ancestors escaped the Egyptian empire and were fed for years.” The implied question is are you another Moses? Jesus answers, “that wasn’t Moses, God did that. The bread of God gives life to the world. The crowd asks for the bread, always. Jesus replies with one of the seven “I am” statements in John’s gospel. “I am the bread of life.Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” “I am” is the name God gave Moses. Jesus use of the phrase “I am” is an echo of that encounter and more importantly a claim of divinity.

The lectionary reading stops here, mid conversation. Jesus and the crowds have more to say to each other.

When we read the gospels we cannot neatly divide “spiritual” from “physical” or “literal”. In the ancient world, in John’s world, in Jesus’ world, one could not separate “religion” and “politics/government”. The Emperor Cult was a state religion. Various emperors claimed to be divine or to be the son of a god. Messianic hopes of that time included the expectation that the Messiah would rid Israel of its Roman occupiers and restore the independent nation of Israel.

Feeding five thousand people was a spiritual and a political act. One of the hallmarks of the kingdom of God is that there will be enough food for people. Real bread. Real fish. Real food. This is an important claim in a world where people were chronically hungry. They were chronically hungry to the point of impaired health.⁶ People’s actual lives and bodies mattered to God then and they matter to God now. And they matter in the coming empire of God. This story is, at least in part, a confrontation of the empires- Rome (or Babylon, or Egypt, or any other empire). In the empires- of the world most people’s bodies and lives were not and are not valued other than for what they can provide for the elite rulers. All people matter in God’s empire, which is why Jesus heals, and feeds absolutely everyone.

Believing in Jesus, entrusting ourselves to Jesus is not, as the New Testament makes clear, a passive act. Entrusting ourselves to Jesus is not a matter of thinking the correct ideas. We are invited into action. When Israel received manna, they had to go gather it and prepare it. When the five thousand were fed, food had to be gathered, blessed, broken and distributed. It didn’t fall into everyone’s lap. Jesus invitation to come and to believe is an invitation to a way of living that is in distinct and probably dangerous contrast to the way of empire.

We are not finished with John chapter 6 and Jesus’ challenge to the disciples and the crowd. We are not finished with Jesus’ challenge to us.

1. You can read her essay here, It is worth your time to read it. Diana Butler Bass is always worth your time. ↩︎
2. Carter 112-118 ↩︎
3. Carter 94 ↩︎
4. Carter, 100. I am always reminded of the Lord of the Rings books and it’s “Age of Dwarves”, “Age of Elves”, etc. And in actual history, we talk about the bronze age or the Middle Ages. ↩︎
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cura_annonae This article gives us an idea of the scope of bread and grain distribution in the Roman Empire. ↩︎
6. Carter 33 ↩︎