Reflection on John 6:24-35

 

Looking out the tent opening, all she saw was a vast expanse of…well…nothing.  How long had they been stuck out in the wilderness?  As she nursed her baby in the first hints of light on yet another day that would be meager wilderness wandering, she feared that she had little nourishment to provide the child.  She could already see her own bones.  This wilderness was something quite short of bountiful as far as food was concerned.  Looking at her child, she wondered who would take care of him after she died from starvation.  Would he survive?

There were grumblings from others in the group that maybe everyone should turn back and return to Egypt.  At least slaves got a regular meal.  They slept on their deliberations while she exhaustedly struggled to think clearly early in the morning as she nursed her child.

She did not know what to think.  All she knew was that she loved her little boy, and she wanted to protect him; but when there is no food, there is no food.  Zero plus zero equals zero.  That is really pretty simple math.

That very moment is when she saw the first flake laying on the ground.  She might have mistaken it for an insect, but she saw another and another further still.  She was the first to see the grace of God, though she did not yet know that.  She was the first to witness the gift that would save them all. 

Reaching out the tent opening in curiosity, she picked up one of the accumulated flakes.  

“What is it?” she whispered…in her language the question sounded like, “Manna?”  She smelled it.  It was like bread; bread from heaven.  She tasted it and her stomach jumped with delight.  The nursing session was cut short as she gathered a handful and put some in her baby’s mouth.  The Lord had provided them bread from heaven.

The manna was a gift of bread for the stomach, that is true, but it was also a gift of trust.  If you remember the story from Sunday School, or have read it recently, you will remember that the bread from heaven only lasted for a day.  It spoiled if you tried to keep it for the next.  But, there was no need to keep it for the next because God provided more the next day.  The people had no choice but to trust that the Lord would provide.  The manna provided the gift of trust in God during a time of struggle in the wilderness.

We still hear the voices of people struggling in the wilderness, people who could use the gift of trust in God.  They are people close to us.  They are neighbors who struggle to get by in life.  They are family who struggle with the affects of addiction.  They are friends whose lives have been upended by unforeseen events.  They are us when we fail to see a glimmer of hope in the future.  They are people who look at the clock and see dust collecting on the hands, as if there is no turning…as if there is no future. 

Would it not be nice to see a little manna falling from outside the tent door?  Would it not be nice to be given a little bit of that trust that God has it all handled?

The problem with struggle is that it is sometimes hard to see the provision of God while in the middle of the struggle.  It is as if we are walking around with telescopes attached to our eyes, and all we can see it what is directly in front of us.

This was the case with those 5000 people who ate their fill from the five loaves of bread and two fish that Jesus handed to them with his own hands.  Even after that glorious event of bread from heaven, they still asked if they could have a sign from God.  This may seem ridiculous to us, one of the greatest miracles ever to occur on the face of the earth just happened, and they ask for a sign?

It reminds me of a great Red Skelton joke.  I know that I have told it to you before, and I know that you probably have the thing memorized, but I will tell it again anyway because it is about floods and flooding was on my mind with this week’s rains.  A flood surrounded a man’s house and the waters had reached the edge of the porch.  A rescuer came in a row boat and said, “Climb on in!” but the devout man said, “Oh no, the good Lord will take care of me.”  The water continued to rise to the level of the porch roof and a rescuer in a motor boat came by and said, “Climb on in!” but the devout man said, “Oh no, the good Lord will take care of me.”  Soon the man found himself on the roof of the second story and a rescuer came by in a helicopter and said, “We can pull you up!” but the devout man said, “Oh no, the good Lord will take care of me.”  Well, the man died you see, and when he got up to heaven he asked God, “What happened?”  “I don’t know,” God responded, “I sent two boats and a helicopter for you!”

The 5,000 people who ate their fill of bread from Jesus and asked for yet another sign were like that man.  They had tunnel vision.  They were not able to see God’s provision happening right around them.  Sure they were amazed and ate their fill, but they only received the gift of bread.  They failed to receive the gift of trust.

Jesus seemed to know that though.  He does not chastise them for failing to believe.  He does not chastise them for continuing to worry as they wander in their own personal wilderness seeking nourishment.  He does not chastise them for wanting more bread.  Jesus is not in the business of kicking people while they are down.

Instead, Jesus offers them the gift that will get the hands on the clock moving again, knocking off the dust.  He offers them the gift that will give them hope for the next day, just as God did long ago for that mother out in the wilderness who had her fill of bread.  Jesus offers us the gift of trust.  Jesus offers the gift of himself.

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Weather warnings have long been a thing in our household.  There was one day a few years back that we had a tornado warning, and the kids all learned how to go down into the basement in order to take shelter.  They also learned to fear the weather warning. 

Even to this day, whenever a weather warning in issued, the fear level raises to somewhat inappropriate levels in our house.  Granted, I am from Nebraska where tornado warnings are regular enough that they are not a cause of seeking shelter but pulling out the lawn chairs to take a look.  So, I guess levels of inappropriateness are probably a subjective thing. 

But, when a flood warning came blaring from our phones a few years back, Ember gave a sweet gift to everyone in our household who was quaking with fear.  “Don’t worry.  Remember, Jesus is always there for us.”  That is the gift of trust.

"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”  Those words are a gift of trust.

Are you struggling to find your way forward in life?  Then come and eat the bread of life. 

Are you wandering in your own wilderness of suffering?  Then come to Jesus and eat the bread that gives life to the world. 

Today, Jesus provides you words that can open up that precious, vital gift of trust.  "I am the bread of life,” he promises.  “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”