Thursday of the Third Week of Easter
Today’s Gospel reading is part of a masterful account in which John weaves together Jesus’ miraculous feeding of the five thousand with his stunning Bread of Life discourse. John presents us with the opportunity to consider the extent to which we trust Jesus to truly satisfy us in our innermost being. Let’s contrast true satisfaction with transient satisfaction.
Previously in John 6, we encounter Jesus feeding the five thousand. After the crowds follow Jesus to Capernaum, a fascinating dialogue ensues. Jesus tells the crowd, Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill (John 6:26). The people ate and were temporarily satisfied – their physical hunger was assuaged but soon after they felt hungry again. It was a temporal satisfaction they sought.
Imagine the people’s bewilderment as Jesus declares, “I am the bread of life.” How can a man be bread? And what does “bread of life” mean? Jesus promises, “whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” How often do we, like the crowds in our Gospel, look for Jesus to meet our immediate needs, forgetting that the Source of all we need dwells within us? When we go searching for him, as the crowds did, what motivates our search? Do we seek the Lord when we have an unmet, urgent need, asking him for miraculous help and then disperse, as it were, to go about our business on our own?
Jesus promises so much more than meeting our acute needs. Jesus promises us his very self, he offers us himself wholly and completely as the Bread of Life. In this way, Jesus satisfies us, not merely our felt needs. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus assures us, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled [satisfied]” (Matthew 5:6). If we approach the Lord simply to have our needs met or to find help for particular situations, we may enjoy the temporary satisfaction of those answered prayers. But if we seek to know the Lord as the Bread of Life, we can find true satisfaction in the deepest depths of our heart and soul. When the Bread of Life takes up residence within us, we find indwelling sustenance! The deepest needs of the human soul are satisfied. Our “hunger and thirst” to know God and for love, acceptance, forgiveness, grace, mercy, security, peace, comfort is perpetually assuaged. Divine provision dwells within us. Truly, we hunger and thirst no more. Sometimes we seek to have our spiritual hunger filled by “manna” of various forms that are transient and temporary. Just as the five thousand ate and were temporarily satisfied and then went searching for Jesus again, we too, at times pursue spiritual disciplines at a surface level and miss the bounty Christ offers continually. Do we focus on our needs or on the Source that ultimately meets every need? We can seek to have our needs met or seek the Source of all fulfillment.
As we come to the Lord’s Table this week and receive the Bread of Life in the Eucharist, let’s be particularly thankful that Christ offers us his very self. Let’s allow the reality of Christ’s presence to permeate our souls, nourishing us and strengthening us richly and profoundly. From that place of true satisfaction in our soul, we can face our daily needs with greater confidence and assurance knowing that our ultimate need for love, acceptance, and forgiveness has been met. From that place of abundance, we can better serve others, as well. Oh, Bread of Life, thank you that truly we never hunger nor thirst; thank you for making us alive in you!
Elizabeth Wourms