John 6:24-35 Come and Get It

John 6:24-35 (Evangelical Heritage Version)

24When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 25When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

26Jesus answered them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled. 27Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

28So they said to him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?”

29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.”

30Then they asked him, “So what miraculous sign are you going to do, that we may see it and believe you? What miraculous sign are you going to perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’”

32Jesus said to them, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

34“Sir,” they said to him, “give us this bread all the time!”

35“I am the Bread of Life,” Jesus told them. “The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Come and Get It

I.

“Come and get it, before I throw it away!” Greasy apron around his waist, the cook standing beside the chuck wagon called to all the riders herding the cattle to let them know their meal was ready and waiting. The riders were hungry from a long day of herding cows, so they didn’t have to be told twice—they came immediately.

Hunger can drive a person, can’t it?

It wasn’t hunger—at least, not exactly—that drove the people that day. It was a missing person. “When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus” (John 6:24, EHV). After the miraculous Feeding of the 5,000 they had seen Jesus load his disciples on their boat and send them off. Jesus hadn’t gotten on the boat with them, however; he stayed behind. “Where had he gone,” they wondered.

Some enterprising fishermen must have figured out that it would earn them a more certain denarius to carry curiosity-seekers than to put down their nets. They ferried the crowds back across the sea in their quest of Jesus.

“When they found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, ‘Rabbi, when did you get here?’” (John 6:25, EHV). Miracles were piling up. Jesus hadn’t gotten on the boat, yet he was already back to the other side before they could chase him down. How did he move so fast?

“Jesus answered them, ‘Amen, Amen, I tell you: You are not looking for me because you saw the miraculous signs, but because you ate the loaves and were filled’” (John 6:26, EHV). Like a great politician, Jesus doesn’t answer their question about his speedy journey. Unlike a politician, Jesus can see exactly to the heart of what the crowds were really looking for.

They had eaten, and were filled. Not one person had left those grassy hills on the other side of the lake hungry. It was like the Friday after Thanksgiving; they had all eaten until they were stuffed, and still the disciples had picked up twelve baskets full of leftovers.

But like the Friday after Thanksgiving, other things were on their minds. It was time to load up their shopping carts with more stuff. The best part was, they wouldn’t even have to pay for it. Jesus had the potential to be an American Express Card—no limits. That’s what they were really looking for—more stuff.

I wonder how many still follow Jesus for the promise of more stuff. After all, he has promised to take care of us, no matter what happens. Maybe that’s what people are still looking to Jesus for: a bigger house, a nicer car, greater increases in the 401(k), health problems disappearing with just a little prayer.

II.

As he teaches, Jesus pulls the crowd closer and closer to his real topic. They heard his background, now he gets more pointed. “Do not continue to work for the food that spoils, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval” (John 6:27, EHV).

Food spoils, says Jesus. Even with refrigeration and freeze-dried packaging, food doesn’t keep forever. But of course, other physical things spoil, too. That bigger house will need constant maintenance. No matter how nice your car, cars depreciate and need maintenance, too. Increases in your 401(k)s look good one day, but market downturns are relentless, and eventually you need to take something out of that account. As for health problems? As my optometrist told me a number of years ago when I first needed bifocal contacts, you aren’t getting any younger. Health problems—and eventually death—are inevitable.

You don’t really want stuff that can spoil, Jesus tells you, you want food that endures to eternal life.

That sounded great to the crowd. Really, however, they only listened to the parts that fit their desired narratives. They heard the word “work” in there, “So they said to him, ‘What should we do to carry out the works of God?’” (John 6:28, EHV). Come and get it! That’s what they heard. Jesus said some things that didn’t make much sense to them, like eternal life. But food that endures? Let’s get our hands on some of that. What do we have to do to get that stuff?

Come and get it. Food that endures sounds pretty good to us, too. We focus on the things we can see and taste and touch and smell. We focus on health and wealth and what money can buy. Some of the younger generations aren’t as interested in wealth and things, but focus more on relationships and experiences. They realize that what a person has isn’t as important as the family members and friends gathered together, or the experiences one enjoys with them. Nothing can replace the wealth of a lifetime of experiences a person can look back on and enjoy.

The problem is that such thinking, both of the crowds who had eaten the loaves and of us today, is that we tend to be earthbound. Even Christian people who have the benefit of biblical hindsight tend to focus on the food that spoils. Our prayers even focus on the food that spoils—the things of this life—that would make us more comfortable and, we think, happier. Come and deliver it, we demand of our God.

Originally the crowd had just wanted Jesus to give them stuff—lots of stuff. Jesus got more pointed as he approached his topic: there was a better kind of stuff. “What should we do to come and get it?” they had asked. For the better kind of stuff they were willing to do some work.

“Work” had been a word that had perked up their ears. They understood that; they were willing to do some work if it would get stuff that didn’t have any expiration date, or chance of depreciating. But they had completely ignored part of Jesus’ sentence. About that better stuff Jesus had said it was stuff: “...which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval” (John 6:27, EHV).

III.

Jesus hones in a little further as he continues to teach. “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent’” (John 6:29, EHV).

“Come and get it!” the cook called out from the chuck wagon. Dutifully, the cowboys stuck out their tin plates and food was ladled onto them. Their plates weren’t cooking the food, just receiving it.

“Come and get it!” Jesus said. Believe in the One God sent. But you still have to go back to the first part of what Jesus taught: even believing isn’t something you can credit to your own skill or effort, Your tin plate held out under the ladle isn’t work, your hand is merely receiving the work of God.

Since they asked what they could “do,” they are thinking of faith as a thing a person produces. But even thinking of it that way, in their minds faith is not a big enough thing. Faith is not something a person can see or taste or touch.

“Then they asked him, ‘So what miraculous sign are you going to do, that we may see it and believe you? What miraculous sign are you going to perform? 31Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, just as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat”’” (John 6:30-31, EHV).

Whatever, Jesus. If you are such hot stuff, give us a sign. That feast you put on the other day when you fed more than 5,000 with a picnic lunch was all well and good, but where’s your encore? Moses kept up the flow of manna for 40 years. We need a constant flow of stuff. That would be convincing. Or maybe there’s something else? What great sign is there that you can give us to prove to us why we should believe you?

“Jesus said to them, ‘Amen, Amen, I tell you: Moses did not give you the bread from heaven’” (John 6:32, EHV).

Perhaps it’s a common human trait to mislabel sources, even miraculous sources. Moses himself didn’t think he was the one who was providing food. Moses said in our First Reading today: “This is the bread which the LORD has given to you as food to eat” (Exodus 16:15, EHV). The crowds had access to the works of Moses; they should have known that Moses didn’t try to steal the glory from God for this 40-year-long miraculous food source.

Moses did not give you manna, “...but my Father gives you the real bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”” (John 6:32-33, EHV).

The manna that fell day after day, six days a week for 40 years, spoiled. Every day the leftovers had to be dumped out. Friday manna gathered for the Sabbath would last an extra day, but the people had to trust that God would send the next day’s supply. God was teaching his Old Testament people to trust.

Real bread from heaven does not spoil. Real bread from heaven is God sending the One who gives life—real life—to the world.

IV.

Come and get it! Jesus was talking about spiritual bread, spiritual food. “‘Sir,’ they said to him, ‘give us this bread all the time!’” (John 6:34, EHV). The Word of God is powerful. The words of Jesus are so moving that some of them, at least, want to learn more about what he was offering. Their understanding was limited, at best, but who wouldn’t want to come and get it, when what was being offered was so awesome?

If you aren’t new to Christianity, you might recognize this as Jesus’ Bread of Life Discourse, or Bread of Life Sermon. All of this was really just the introduction. He hadn’t given them the theme until this very moment.

“‘I am the Bread of Life,’ Jesus told them. ‘The one who comes to me will never be hungry, and the one who believes in me will never be thirsty’” (John 6:35, EHV).

So far Jesus has really only taught that the expectations of the crowds pale in comparison to what Jesus has to offer. He leaves us hungering for more of this Bread of Life. You will get more from him in the two weeks to come. He got to his topic of the Bread of Life, but he will go deeper and deeper as he keeps on teaching his Bread of Life discourse.

The cook at the chuck wagon ladled food onto the plates of hungry cowboys. The cowboys, for their parts, had worked hard for that food. They had chased cows and herded cows all day long before hearing “Come and get it!” from the cook.

While we’re waiting for him to get clearer and clearer about himself as the Bread of Life, go home with these words of Jesus on your mind from the middle of this reading: “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent” (John 6:29, EHV). All too often we focus our attention on superficial food—the stuff of this world—rather than on Jesus. He made the perfect sacrifice for all our superficiality. All that we really need is the Bread of Life—faith in the One who saved us from those sins. And faith is the work of God, not of us. God ladles out saving faith in Jesus onto the tin plate of your heart. Come and get it! Amen.