This last week, we opened a new section in the Gospel of John that runs from chapter 5 through the end of chapter 10. This section is framed by the healing of two men, one blind and the other lame, and conversations around their place in the Temple. The other element which provides structure for this section is Jesus’ interactions with the Jewish Feasts: Sabbath (5:1-47), Passover (6:1-72), Tabernacles (7:1-10:21), and Dedication (10:22-42). Each of these feasts looks back to what God has done in the life of Israel and looks forward to what he has promised to do again. Feasts, celebrations, traditions, and other things that shape the ebbs and flow of religious life are good and beneficial. We must remember their purpose as two-way signposts pointing back to what God has done, to then point us forward to what God is doing, so that we can have hope in whatever situation we are in right now. When the signposts become the focus, we fail to continue on the journey. Jesus interacts with these feasts to remind God’s people of what he is doing in the world and giving the feasts new meaning through his presence.
With that framework in place, let’s read John 6:1-15. This is the sign that leads to the proclamation at the end of the chapter. Take some time to read the whole chapter and get the bigger picture in your mind. While you do that, be thinking of Moses and Israel in the wilderness. There are “Moses Connections” all over the Gospel of John (and the other Gospel accounts as well).
John places this story and these conversations within the context of the “Jewish Passover Festival.” Here’s the short synopsis of what this festival celebrates: The Passover is the celebration of the Exodus, where God carried his people out of slavery. During the last plague of the Egyptians, the first born of every living being in the land was going to die except for those who had the blood of the lamb on their doorposts. When the Death Angel saw the blood, he passed over the house. Within the house, they were preparing themselves for their journey into the wilderness. They made bread without leaven in it because they needed to be ready to go when God called them to move. This bread also is represented in the bread provided for them in the wilderness, called Manna.
This feast looks back to the liberation God provided from slavery and looks forward to the liberation the Messiah will bring. Jesus embodies this feast and gives it new meaning because he has brought liberation, not only to Israel but to the whole world. He has liberated the world, not only from their sins, but also from the hold that the powers of this world have on them. In the other Gospel accounts, Jesus implements the Lord’s Supper (Communion or Eucharist) within this feast. When we break bread together each Sunday, we are to look back to what God did for Israel in the Exodus, what Jesus did for us in his death and resurrection, and then look forward to the liberation he is bringing to all things when he brings heaven to earth in the Resurrection and New Creation.
In this passage, Jesus is the Moses who knows how to provide for the people (unlike Moses questioning God for how to feed everyone in Num 11:13). The bread Jesus provides never goes bad and never runs out (unlike the manna in the wilderness in Exodus 16:8, 12, 16, 18, 21). Jesus is the one who invited the multitude to prepare to eat where there is plenty of grass (Psalm 23 comes to mind). In verse 11 John follows the Lord’s Supper ritual instituted in the other Gospel accounts: “Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed…” Jesus provided the greatest wine at the wedding feast in Cana and now he has provided the abundant bread on the mountainside.
The people in response to his bread in abundance intended to make him their king by force but Jesus, like God, is not the king of any one nation. His kingdom is not of the same substance of this world (John 18:36). Therefore, no nation can lay claim that he is their king. The Kingdom of God is bigger than borders and boundary lands. It is bigger than flags and anthems. In this, there are echoes of Joshua 5:13-14 when Joshua asks if the Lord is “for us or for our enemies?” To which he received the reply, “Neither…”
From the head to the heart, prayers for reflection:
Sit with Philip – Where are you failing to see beyond the limitations you see in front of you even though you’ve seen Jesus do incredible works?
Stand with the little boy – What seemingly meager gifts do you have that in the hands of Jesus would do incredible things? Pray for the Spirit to reveal what you’re holding on to and what you need to hand over to Jesus.
Walk with the disciples – Where is Jesus calling you to be his hands to bless others with his gifts? Are you following his word obediently in your distribution of those gifts?
Prepare to eat with the people – In what ways to do you try to make Jesus your King by force rather than accepting his Kingdom and all he welcomes into it?