Proper 13
Exodus 16:2–15
Ephesians 4:1–16
John 6:22–35
Jesus Is the True and Living Bread from Heaven
Having rescued Israel “out of
the land of Egypt” (Ex. 16:6), the Lord manifested His glory and made Himself
known to His people. He fed them with “meat to eat” in the evening and with
“bread from heaven” in the morning (Ex. 16:4, 8, 12). But now, the “true bread
from heaven,” which the Father gives to you, is the Son, “who comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world” (John 6:32–33). Whoever comes to Him “shall
not hunger,” and whoever believes in Him “shall never thirst.” He is “the bread
of life,” who gives Himself to you as “the food that endures to eternal life”
(John 6:27, 35). By the gracious working of God, you believe in Him by the
calling of one Spirit through the Gospel, so that you also have “one Lord, one
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Eph. 4:4–6). As you eat His one
body in the Holy Supper, so you belong to the one body of His Church, in which
you “are to grow up in every way into him who is the head” (Eph. 4:15).
Merciful Father, You gave Your Son Jesus as the heavenly bread of life.
Grant us faith to feast on Him in Your Word and Sacrament, that we may be
nourished unto life everlasting; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
According to the concessions
manager the following items were sold at the Indiana v Wisconsin game, on
Saturday, March 12, 1994...
400 1bs of hot dogs,
3,000 popcorn boxes,
8,200 cokes (about 1,000
gallons)
684 candy bars,
436 nachos,
284 boxes of caramel corn,
917 soft pretzels,
247 polish sausages,
100 sandwiches,
179 bags of peanuts,
50 muffins,
160 cups of coffee.
This was for a 2 pm tip where
the crowd had already had breakfast and possibly lunch! And they had to pay for their food!
22 Τῇ ἐπαύριον
ὁ ὄχλος ὁ ἑστηκὼς πέραν
τῆς θαλάσσης εἶδον ὅτι πλοιάριον
ἄλλο οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖ εἰ μὴ ἕν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ συνεισῆλθεν
τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς
εἰς τὸ πλοῖον
ἀλλὰ μόνοι οἱ
μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπῆλθον·
On the next
day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had
been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with
his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone.
6:22 narrated from Jesus'
disciples - assessing the situation, the crowd could not figure out how Jesus
could have crossed the sea.
23 ἀλλὰ ἦλθεν
πλοιάρια ἐκ Τιβεριάδος
ἐγγὺς τοῦ τόπου ὅπου ἔφαγον
τὸν ἄρτον εὐχαριστήσαντος τοῦ
Κυρίου.
Other boats
from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks
6:23 Tiberius Greek city on the
Sea of Galilee, mentioned only in John 6:1; 21:1 Herod Antipas built it in AD
16-22 and named it in honor of the reigning Romans emperor.
"Having given
thanks..." does this make the text Eucharistic? It's bread but more than bread...he comes to
us, then when He came and now as He has compassion and teaches.
24 ὅτε οὖν εἶδεν ὁ ὄχλος ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ οὐδὲ οἱ
μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐνέβησαν
αὐτοὶ εἰς τὰ
πλοιάρια καὶ ἦλθον
εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ ζητοῦντες
τὸν Ἰησοῦν.
So when the
crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into
the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus
25 καὶ εὑρόντες
αὐτὸν πέραν τῆς
θαλάσσης εἶπον αὐτῷ Ῥαββί*, πότε ὧδε γέγονας;
When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said
to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?”
26 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς
ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ζητεῖτέ
με οὐχ ὅτι εἴδετε σημεῖα,
ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἐφάγετε
ἐκ τῶν ἄρτων
καὶ ἐχορτάσθητε.
Jesus answered
them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs,
but because you ate your fill of the loaves
6:26 faith in Jesus was the
purpose of all the signs. At the miraculous feeding, the crowds saw only the
gifts, not the Giver. You saw and had
your bellies filled...they saw but did not understand.
Look at the change of verbs...
27 ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν
τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, ἀλλὰ τὴν βρῶσιν
τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον,
ἣν ὁ Υἱὸς
τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν
δώσει· τοῦτον γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν ὁ
Θεός.
Do not work
for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will
give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.”
6:27 labor - food. Jesus posed
an absolute contrast between physical and spiritual "food" without
denying the importance of the physical. Set His seal...see Jeremiah 32:10
"Stop working for the
perishable food" bread that we eat will not keep you alive forever...it's
the bread you work for after the fall which comes from the cursed earth and
your sweaty brow...you still die.
The Orthodox use this
terminology of "seal" for baptism.
28 εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτόν
Τί ποιῶμεν ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ
Θεοῦ;
Then they said
to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
6:28 don't trust in your daily
labor
29 ἀπεκρίθη ‹ὁ› Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς
Τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ
Θεοῦ, ἵνα πιστεύητε
εἰς ὃν ἀπέστειλεν
ἐκεῖνος.
Jesus answered
them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has
sent.
6:29 "work of God, that
you believe" The crowd asked about righteous "works" but Jesus singled
out one necessary work; faith in Him, which is God's gift.
30 εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ Τί οὖν ποιεῖς
σὺ σημεῖον, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ
πιστεύσωμέν σοι; τί ἐργάζῃ;
So they said to him, “Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you?
What work do you perform?
6:30 what sign do you do that
we might understand? Who are in the crowd?
The Pharisees? Mocking...they use
the same verb for work. See Matthew 12 show us a sign...
31 οἱ πατέρες
ἡμῶν τὸ μάννα ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ,
καθώς ἐστιν γεγραμμένον
Ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν
αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν.
Our fathers
ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread
from heaven to eat.’”
6:31 the crowd quotes the OT
to support their demand that Jesus perform a miracle like Moses had done, which
they assumed was greater thatn Jesus' signs. Like Mary and Martha only one
thing is needful...
32 εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ
Μωϋσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἀλλ’ ὁ Πατήρ
μου δίδωσιν ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν ἀληθινόν·
Jesus then said to them,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from
heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.
6:32 Jeus corrected the crowd on two points -
manna came from God not Moses and Moses' bread was not the "true bread
from heaven." Only the Father gives that bread.
33 ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ
Θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ
καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς
τῷ κόσμῳ.
For the bread
of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.
6:33 the one who gives life
for the world is a person, the one Whom the father sends
34 εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτόν
Κύριε, πάντοτε δὸς ἡμῖν τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον.
They said to
him, “Sir, give us this bread always.
35 εἶπεν αὐτοῖς
ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς· ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ,
καὶ ὁ πιστεύων
εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ διψήσει
πώποτε.
Jesus said to
them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and
whoever believes in me shall never thirst.
6:35 "I am" Jesus
clearly identified Himself as the sources of real life, which lasts forever.
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