August 1, 2021 – Pentecost +10B

“So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “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. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” John 6:24-35

The issue of signs is important in the Gospel of John — not the kind of physical signs that we might see along a highway like “Left Lane Merge Only” or “Lane Ends in 1000 Feet”. No the signs John is talking about are the signs that Jesus does, the signs Jesus performs that reveal something really important about who he is — and in turn they reveal something important about G-d. But, as we know, signs can be tricky — if not confusing — especially in Pennsylvania.

The Gospel lesson we have today is the second of 5 or 6 Sundays where we will encounter the 6^th chapter of John. Last week it was chapter 6, verses 1-21 — where we heard about the Feeding of the 5000 miracle and Jesus walking on water — another miracle. It was the beginning of these weeks in August where we will encounter Jesus and his miracles, and his teachings, such as dividing 5 loaves into enough food to feed some 15000 people — which leads today to calling himself “The Bread of Life”. Some theologians see the 6^th chapter of John as Jesus’ attempt to prepare his disciples for the actions that will take place in the Upper Room, at the Last Supper. It is there where he takes the bread, gives thanks, blesses and distributes it to his disciples while saying “This is my body — do this for the remembrance of me.” It would have been a meal of mystery for them — and it continues to be a meal of mystery for us as well. But seeing the similarity between the two meals — in the feeding of the 5000 and the Upper Room — where he blesses, brakes and distributes bread to the masses — we begin to see how Jesus, who calls himself the Bread of Life, we begin to see the depth of the teaching, the depth of his love, and the tension that exists between feeding people not only food, but feeding them life and salvation.

The Holy Sacraments become external expressions — these “Words and Elements” — are tangible expressions of his love and forgiveness. Jesus loves us, and feeds us, even with all of our blemishes and sins, he does all of this before we have learned what they really mean. In other words, there is nothing we could do to earn this love and acceptance. For, even while we were sinners, Christ died for all people. And even though we are sinful people, Christ gives us spiritual food and spiritual drink — these tangible elements of his presence and acceptance and love. They are, yes, “Signs” of His Gracious love.

Pastor Dave