For Sunday
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Collect

Let your continual mercy, O Lord, cleanse and defend your Church; and, because it cannot continue in safety without your help, protect and govern it always by your goodness; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Reading

From John 6:24-35

“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.”

Reflection

The crowds keep looking for Jesus. This means 1) they want more and 2) he’s not where he was. From their perspective, then, it seems natural, right? Just go look for him!

From Jesus’s perspective, though, we see something different. We see people chasing after something. Not what he’s offering them, exactly. Something like just more of the same. Free food.

The discussion that ensues when they finally catch up to Jesus displays this gap. Between what they are seeking and what Jesus is offering. Between what they think they want and what Jesus is actually giving them.

I think we try to refrain from impugning the motives of the crowds that follow Jesus because we think the point is for Jesus to collect everybody. And because we don’t want to worry about our own motives for following Jesus.

But Jesus is direct with them: “you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” In other words, they followed the miracle, not because of the miracle; but because they benefited from it.

Jesus’s side of the discussion is not about convincing them (that’s their side—they expect to be convinced). It’s about seeing the kin-dom at work. It’s about God.

They keep telling Jesus he needs to prove it. Prove that God’s work is in what you do. Show it, like Moses. And that’s when Jesus cuts to the heart of their misunderstanding. Moses didn’t give the bread: God did.

Last week, we confronted the fact that the story isn’t about Jesus. It’s about us. This time, we’re getting pushed to rethink how we understand the miracles themselves and their purpose. That it isn’t something God does for hanging around or because we’re deserving or because we’re on the right team.

The point is that we are not supposed to be lining up for seconds. Because, remember, we’re the ones who are supposed to be doing the feeding.