Dare to ask for more from Jesus!

John 6:30-35

The people replied: "Why don't you give us a clue about who you are, just a hint of what's going on? When we see what's up, we'll commit ourselves. Show us what you can do. Moses fed our ancestors with bread in the desert. It says so in the Scriptures: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Jesus responded, "The real significance of that Scripture is not that Moses gave you bread from heaven but that my Father is right now offering you bread from heaven, the real bread. The Bread of God came down out of heaven and is giving life to the world." They jumped at that: "Master, give us this bread, now and forever!" Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.

Food for thought!

As we saw yesterday, the people are still stuck with material bread; they just can't think of anything better; they just can't go beyond the gift to the giver, can't go beyond the bread of Jesus to the Jesus of the bread; can't go beyond the material to the spiritual. All they ask of Jesus is that He give more physical bread. But this is too little. To come to Jesus to ask for mere bread is just too little. Jesus givens much more than food for the stomach; he gives food for eternity; he gives himself. 

Sometimes all we ask of Jesus is bread or some material thing, some physical healing. This is too little to ask Jesus; this is reducing Jesus to a social worker. Don't ask Jesus merely material things; this is too little. Dare to ask for bigger things, like wisdom, love, humility, faith; ask for eternal life. In today's gospel, the people even remind Jesus of the Old Testament miracle of the Manna. They tell Jesus that Moses gave the children of Israel Manna, and they want to know what He is capable of doing. Christ's response is to remind them that Moses was not responsible for the Manna, but that it was the provision of God. He goes on to tell them that the true bread from Heaven is a person. In fact, it is Jesus himself who is the Bread of Life.

What does it mean for Jesus to be bread of life?

Bread (food) is a substance known and used by every society on the face of the earth; bread is consumed by people everywhere. We cannot live without bread; we can skip a meal, but can never skip all meals all the time. Why? Well, because bread sustains physical life. It is that without which biological life cannot go on.

Jesus is to our souls what bread is to our body. Physical bread can sustain human life for long periods of time. However, after a time, the body will still die, even though it is well fed. Jesus, on the other hand, is bread that gives everlasting life. When Jesus is received, He gives a salvation that lasts for all eternity.

In other words, the Bread of life is not a system or a denomination, or a church, but He is a Person. This truth simply serves to remind us that we can never be saved by some religious system or method. Salvation comes through Jesus and Jesus alone! Acts 4:12.

What Jesus is teaching us in today´s gospel is simple. He is saying that He is «indispensable»; that we cannot live without him, cannot do away with him; that we need Him; that we do well not to ignore him or forget him; that we do well to welcome him and be with him as he is with us.