John 6:35, 41-51
John's gospel gives us signs and wonders. Signs from and about God, maybe this is why we are spending so much time in this chapter during the lectionary, so we can more fully explore these signs. John has recurring words which occur, they are meant to bring us directly to this revelation. Jesus is the bread of life. The one we can receive our whole life from.
Take today's reading. Think of John's examples to us: light-darkness, see-blind, night-day, belief-unbelief, death and life. They are all wrapped together, equivalents of one another. These words mean the whole of what the gospel is. Do we choose to see or not? Do we believe or not? Do we choose death or life? Do we feed on the bread of life or do we just see what is simple and plain in front of us?
Look at the people today. They choose not see Jesus as something greater, someone who can feed them because he comes from the God. They start saying, "Now wait a minute, isn't this Joseph's boy? He played with my kids." They choose to see less than what is in front of them.
This is what John hits home to us constantly. Who sees and who doesn't. So we need to ask ourselves today do we choose to see? Do we choose to see, experience, delve into what is this bread of life. What gives life to the world around us when nothing else does? Because right now we need some bread of life for the world, to heal our world, to draw us together instead of push us apart.
This is what John means when Jesus says that people will be drawn to him by God. In John 12:32 Jesus says that once he is lifted up he will draw all people to him. Drawn to him, John is the only gospel who uses these words. What draws us to church, to be here this morning, to God, to Jesus?
Do we even bother to ask these questions?
This week in St Benedict's Toolbox we are reading about the first part of the vow in Benedictine spirituality. It is about stability. Our stability in Christ, in God. How do we find it in a particular place, people, time? We seem to be in a time of instability in our world. Bombings, shootings, things which keep us in fear of what might be happening next and we have lost our bread in the midst of it. It seems old and stale, without much substance, just like the people saying Jesus is just Joseph's son. This is why John's gospel keeps us in touch with the words as signposts so we don't loose our way. So we might see in the midst of all troubles, in the times where we feel most at risk that God is wanting to draw us to Jesus, the one true bread.
All it takes is a change of focus. A stability within us to accept what is here, what is now and eat the bread which can bring us out of the wilderness. It's about what we choose to see. Do we choose to live in fear, do we choose to question whether we are in control or God is, do we choose to not delve deeper and grab onto the stability of where we are now and know deep down God is present here. Do we choose to eat the fast food bread of our own control, our own knowing, our own gates of protection? This is not the bread which will sustain us.
Jesus' bread of life is a gentle urging. A waiting for us to recognize where God is at this moment. When we take the times to note this, to give thanks for this, to dwell on where we are grateful the bread of worry disappears. I am the bread of life, given freely to the world because God so loves us. All we need to do is recognize this love. Recognize it in those present with us. Recognize it in the stranger. Recognize it in the blessings we have received. This is the bread which gives life, not only to us but to one another. Go and partake of this bread.
John's gospel gives us signs and wonders. Signs from and about God, maybe this is why we are spending so much time in this chapter during the lectionary, so we can more fully explore these signs. John has recurring words which occur, they are meant to bring us directly to this revelation. Jesus is the bread of life. The one we can receive our whole life from.
Take today's reading. Think of John's examples to us: light-darkness, see-blind, night-day, belief-unbelief, death and life. They are all wrapped together, equivalents of one another. These words mean the whole of what the gospel is. Do we choose to see or not? Do we believe or not? Do we choose death or life? Do we feed on the bread of life or do we just see what is simple and plain in front of us?
Look at the people today. They choose not see Jesus as something greater, someone who can feed them because he comes from the God. They start saying, "Now wait a minute, isn't this Joseph's boy? He played with my kids." They choose to see less than what is in front of them.
This is what John hits home to us constantly. Who sees and who doesn't. So we need to ask ourselves today do we choose to see? Do we choose to see, experience, delve into what is this bread of life. What gives life to the world around us when nothing else does? Because right now we need some bread of life for the world, to heal our world, to draw us together instead of push us apart.
This is what John means when Jesus says that people will be drawn to him by God. In John 12:32 Jesus says that once he is lifted up he will draw all people to him. Drawn to him, John is the only gospel who uses these words. What draws us to church, to be here this morning, to God, to Jesus?
Do we even bother to ask these questions?
This week in St Benedict's Toolbox we are reading about the first part of the vow in Benedictine spirituality. It is about stability. Our stability in Christ, in God. How do we find it in a particular place, people, time? We seem to be in a time of instability in our world. Bombings, shootings, things which keep us in fear of what might be happening next and we have lost our bread in the midst of it. It seems old and stale, without much substance, just like the people saying Jesus is just Joseph's son. This is why John's gospel keeps us in touch with the words as signposts so we don't loose our way. So we might see in the midst of all troubles, in the times where we feel most at risk that God is wanting to draw us to Jesus, the one true bread.
All it takes is a change of focus. A stability within us to accept what is here, what is now and eat the bread which can bring us out of the wilderness. It's about what we choose to see. Do we choose to live in fear, do we choose to question whether we are in control or God is, do we choose to not delve deeper and grab onto the stability of where we are now and know deep down God is present here. Do we choose to eat the fast food bread of our own control, our own knowing, our own gates of protection? This is not the bread which will sustain us.
Jesus' bread of life is a gentle urging. A waiting for us to recognize where God is at this moment. When we take the times to note this, to give thanks for this, to dwell on where we are grateful the bread of worry disappears. I am the bread of life, given freely to the world because God so loves us. All we need to do is recognize this love. Recognize it in those present with us. Recognize it in the stranger. Recognize it in the blessings we have received. This is the bread which gives life, not only to us but to one another. Go and partake of this bread.
Comments
Post a Comment