Faith believes what it cannot see, for if faith could see what it believes, it wouldn’t be faith. That would be walking by sight, which doesn’t need faith. And so faith grasps the invisible mysteries of God, for it “sees” (if we want to use that word), not through our eyes, but through our ears.
In the Old Covenant, God promised His people that He would provide miracle-food to nourish them on their journey to the Promised Land. In the morning, when their eyes saw the mysterious, flake-like substance on the ground, they went out and gathered it to eat. Yet some gathered more than they needed for the day, contrary to God’s command. And what happened? The manna that was more than a day old started to rot, became infested with worms, and began to stink.
Those who wanted to live, based on what they could see, tried to collect more manna than God had commanded. That forced them to walk by faith and not by sight, trusting that God would continue to provide for their daily bread.
In today’s Gospel reading, we find a massive crowd that had been with Jesus out in the wilderness all day. They didn’t expect to be out there that long. So those there didn’t bring the food they needed–except a young boy. He had five loaves and two fish. And from that meager amount of food, Jesus miraculously provided for the crowd with what would have normally only fed a boy.
Jesus told His disciples to collect the leftovers. They did that and each disciple had a basket to carry back. Each disciple had a real-world object lesson in his hands about his Rabbi Jesus.
When the crowd noticed the 12 baskets of leftovers, they wanted to make Jesus their king. Yet, the next day, when Jesus talked about eating His flesh and drinking His blood for eternal life, they all scoffed. They just knew in their hearts that it couldn’t be. They let their own ideas override the Word of God that He spoke. And so they refused to believe Jesus’ own words about eating and drinking His flesh and blood for their salvation. Why were they that way? It’s because their eyes couldn’t see that Jesus was the Bread that they could eat and live forever.
Let’s face it. Faith is hard. Just think of Thomas, one of Jesus’ disciples. He refused to believe that Jesus had been raised from the dead, unless he first put his finger in His nail holes. To that, our resurrected Lord responded, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29).
Yes, we would all rather rely on what our eyes see, than have to believe what our ears hear. In that way, we are just like the crowd that wanted to make Jesus their king.
But their understanding of Jesus wasn’t wrong, not fully. Jesus did come to be their king. They just wanted a different king. That was because they insisted on understanding Jesus with their eyes, and not with their ears. They wanted Jesus to be their king only because He could put food on their tables.
Responding to such a selfishly-driven view of Him, Jesus told the crowd:
I assure you: You’re not looking for me because you saw miracles, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that spoils but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. After all, the Father has placed his seal of approval on him. [John 6:26-27]
Right now, we are in the season of Lent. As has been the tradition of many Christians, some choose to fast in some way during Lent. Now why would some Christians choose to do that? Is it to earn brownie points with God? No, for our status with God the Father is because of Jesus. Then why? It’s to confess that what we need to live–even more than the food we put into our stomachs–is Jesus Christ.
After all, the food we put into our stomachs every time we sit down to eat is but an image, a reminder. It should bring to mind that since food can only keep us alive for a short time, we need a more-enduring food if we are going to live into eternity. That food is Jesus Himself. Fasting is a way to “feel” that in your body, that you need the food of Jesus to have eternal life.
Jesus later told that crowd, “I am the Bread of life.” He then went on, “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” Then referring to Himself, Jesus said:
This is the bread that comes down from heaven so whoever eats it won’t die. I’m the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. The bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh [John 6:49-51].
However, the eyesight of those in the crowd was more powerful than their ear-sight. Although they heard Jesus’ words, their eyes would not let them believe. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat,” they retorted (John 6:52). And many of them–indeed, all but the Twelve–turned away and no longer followed Jesus.
But pastor, we’re Lutherans. We believe Jesus’ words about giving us His body and blood to eat. We don’t try to explain away the words of Jesus (at least we aren’t supposed to do that)! So why are you preaching to us what we already know?
It’s because we are closer to the crowd following Jesus that day than we realize. And it’s even worse than that. We are often like Adam and Eve, who wanted to eat of the Tree of death instead of life. We are like the Israelites who grumbled against God and Moses because they were tired of eating manna, which they soon began to despise. We are even like the crowd that chased after Jesus because they wanted more free bread.
Like them, we labor for the food that perishes. Like them, we worry about what we will eat and what we will drink? Your heavenly Father knows your needs, and as He did for the Children of Israel in the wilderness, so he has also provided generously for you. You have food to eat and water to drink. And yet, the next day you’re once again hungry and thirsty.
Yes, like the crowd long ago, we often prefer everything but what our Lord gives from His tree, His cross, His Altar. And that is why we often spend our effort, labor, and energy chasing after those lifeless breads that do not satisfy to eternal life.
Dear saints of God, here at this place is the Lord Jesus, the Tree of life, the Bread of life. Here, He gives you the Bread that has been blessed by His almighty Word. That means that it is no longer just bread, but the true Body Christ gave up on the cross for your salvation.
Here is also the wine, which is no longer just wine, but now His true Blood that He shed on the cross for your salvation. And our Lord has given me, your pastor, the authority to serve this precious Feast to you, His baptized children, even as He told His disciples to serve food that He had blessed to that crowd of 5,000.
Yet, unlike that food, whose benefits were just short-lived, the flesh and blood of Jesus are full of eternal nourishment, which satisfies into eternity. Indeed, they must, for you are what you eat. So when you eat the Bread of life, you are forgiven, you are righteous and holy in God’s sight. When you eat the Bread of Life, you are so alive that you will live forever.
And that is why, in the Church, Sunday is never a day of fasting. After all, it is the Lord’s Day. Sunday was when the One who died, not only rose again to win life for all, but now also comes in His precious Feast to give you His life. So dearly beloved, come, for all is now ready! Amen.
