I’ve never known true, life-threatening hunger. There have been occasions where my stomach gnawed for food and where I felt the ragged edge of hunger pains. I’ve never known, however, the kind of hunger you see when you visit slums in Sierra Leone or refugee camps in the Sudan. That hunger is palpable in a place where people are barely holding on to life.
One day, Jesus had just performed one of His most astounding miracles—feeding thousands by multiplying a boy’s few small fish and chunks of bread (John 6:10-11). Jesus was concerned that the people have food, and so He provided it for them. As one might expect, the people were mesmerized by this miracle worker and were eager to stay near so that they would have a front row seat for His next feat. But Jesus knew their motives were shallow. “You want to be with Me because I fed you,” Jesus rebuked, “not because you understood the miraculous signs” (John 6:26).
In John’s gospel, Jesus’ signs were signals He used to reveal the deeper truth of who He was—Israel’s Messiah come from God to rescue them. He recognized, however, that the people didn’t want Him as Messiah. They only wanted the food. Or the miracles. They wanted the tricks, but they didn’t want God. But Jesus insisted that the true bread was not what they could stick in their mouths. The true bread was Himself. “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35), He said.
God doesn’t just meet our desires. God is not the means to getting “the bread,” whatever our “bread” may be: acceptance, power, sense of worth, control, safety, spiritual accomplishment, love, hope, sex, joy. Rather, Jesus is the bread.
Our problem isn’t that we’re too hungry; it’s that we don’t realize how starved we really are.
NLT 365-day reading plan passage for today: Luke 16:1-18
More:
Look back at the previous story (John 6:1-15). Why was Jesus concerned for the people? What did He do about it, and what does this tell us about God?
Next:
Where do you sense the greatest need and lack in your life? How do you believe God will meet that need?
daleproulx on August 16, 2012 at 6:20 am
Could it be that if we feed on Jesus as the bread of Heaven that God may meet some of our desires as the byproduct?
julie3344 on August 16, 2012 at 8:02 am
Sometimes He does, but not always. The key thing for me at least is that when I focus on Jesus, my other desires fade away and I realize exactly what kind of a role they should have in my life. Jesus helps me see that while those earthly pursuits are good things, they are not ultimate things that can replace Him in my heart. This really is a daily struggle but He is faithful.
tom felten on August 16, 2012 at 3:05 pm
Good thoughts, dale and julie. A verse came to mind as I thought about placing our focus on Jesus and loving Him with all our heart: God says, “If you look for Me wholeheartedly, you will find Me” (Jeremiah 29:13).
winn collier on August 20, 2012 at 2:55 pm
wholehearted. yes, that’s it.
winn collier on August 20, 2012 at 2:54 pm
yes.
The difficult is in this: “They only wanted the food. Or the miracles. They wanted the tricks, but they didn’t want God.”