Seek living bread!

John 6.26-29.

Jesus doesn’t tell a lot of parables in John. Some Christians claim he doesn’t tell any, but that’s not accurate. He doesn’t tell full parabolic stories; he uses one-liners. He talks to Nicodemus about wind; Jn 3.8 tells the Judeans about sheep in a pen, their shepherd, and thieves; Jn 10.1-6 talks about a grain of wheat that bears fruit when it dies. Jn 12.24 He uses metaphors and analogies throughout his lessons in John. In speaking about the bread of life, he constantly says “bread,” but you know he doesn’t literally mean bread. Or at least you should know this. Those with ears to hear, and all that.

The crowd of Galileans came to Jesus seeking literal bread. A few days ago, he fed ’em bread, and they were hoping for more. Lots, so they could regularly be full. An abundance of it; so they were seeking a wealth of this material. Do I have to spell it out any more? Fine: Material wealth. That’s all they wanted.

And a lot of Christians are the very same way. How many of us are hoping to make it to heaven so we can have a crown filled with jewels, and a mansion on one of the streets of gold?

Jesus instead wants us to have living bread. Which—spoilers—is Jesus himself. Jn 6.35

John 6.26-27 KWL

25In reply Jesus tells the crowd, “Amen amen!

I promise you² you² seek me,

not because you see miracles,

but because you² eat of the bread²

and are filled.

27Don’t work for perishable food,

but food which lasts for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give to you²,

for Father God will seal this man.”

28So the crowd tell Jesus,

“What could we do,

that we could do God’s works?”

29In reply Jesus tells them, “This is God’s work.

So you should trust in that man he sends.”

Again, “that man he sends” is Jesus himself. Seek him. Not material wealth.

Jesus’s line “Don’t work for perishable food” is a similar idea to what he told the Samaritan about living water. Which likewise isn’t perishable, ’cause those who drink it will never thirst again. Jn 4.13-14 He’s offering us something eternal, and wants us to stop settling for the temporary and fleeting. Food and drink are really good examples of this. Here today, eaten tomorrow; and if not eaten it spoils. And of course you remember in the Sermon on the Mount when he teaches about treasures in heaven: Stop putting your trust in the perishable.

Since the imperishable “bread” Jesus speaks of in this chapter is himself, obviously he’s talking about our eternal relationship with him. “Whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Jn 3.16 KJV

And of course this confused the Galileans completely, because they were fixated on literal bread. This bread metaphor still confuses Christians; just look at all the Catholic and Lutheran ideas about how literally communion bread represents Jesus, deduced from John 6—and this chapter isn’t even about holy communion! But y’know, those with ears to hear.

Working for it—but not that way.

Here in verse 28 we see the Galileans start to get confused about just what Jesus means. He says, “Don’t work for perishable food,” and they immediately leap to the idea of working for the bread of life. Earning it. Works righteousness.

You know how stingy Christians like to misuse this passage to rebuke people who want free handouts? (I wrote about it in the previous passage.) Ancient Israelis weren’t big on free handouts either. They wanted to merit this bread by doing God’s good works. It’s human nature to imagine things work on karma, not grace.

Jesus had to set ’em straight: No this is a grace thing. It’s God’s work. Not yours. You don’t earn it. You just trust the one he sent. You trust the Son of Man. You trust Jesus. Put your faith in him. Believe him. Follow him. It starts with trust.

Which, obviously, was something the Galileans didn’t have. Hence from this point forward, Jesus’s talk with them deteriorates, and they couldn’t make sense of him. Couldn’t reason with him. Couldn’t accept him. Because they didn’t trust him.

The Twelve did. (Well, except the one dude.) Jn 6.67-69 They followed Jesus long enough to know better. But the other Galileans only saw a few miracles, got their bellies filled with bread, and leapt to a bunch of extrabiblical conclusions, based on speculative Pharisee End Times timelines, and their desires for a political savior who’d smite the Democrats the Romans. (And, incidentally, give them free bread like the Romans did for the citizens who lived in their capital.) Anything beyond this mindset, they didn’t care to hear.

I’ve seen this mindset myself. Materialistic Christians, who don’t wanna hear that maybe God wants ’em to do without. Fearful dark Christians, who envision a world with devils round every dark corner, who can’t love their neighbors because they’re too afraid of them. These folks think they’re following Jesus, but they’re too busy following their favorite interpretations instead of the Sermon on the Mount.

Let’s not make their mistake. Or the Galileans’; it’s the very same mistake. Trust Jesus. Seek him, the living bread.