• Bread for the Journey, John 6:25-35  (see below)
  by Dr. David Rogne 
   

• Knitted Together   Ephesians 4:1-16, by Rev. Randy Quinn  
   

• THRIVING ON BREAD AND WATER, Exodus 16:2-4, 9-15 & John 6:24-35, by Rev. Rick Thompson 
   

• David,  2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a, by Joe Harrington
   

• Confrontation,  2 Samuel 11:26-12:13a, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• Create in me a Clean Heart Psalm 51:1-12, by Rev. Thomas Hall
   

• How to Serve Man John 6:22-35, Pastor Mike Blitz
   

• Have Mercy on Me Psalm 51:1-12, Doug in Riverside

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Bread for the Journey
based on John 6:25-35
by Dr. David Rogne

In a movie based on Ernest Hemmingway's story, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" there is a scene in which two men are discussing with each other the difficulty of finding meaningful goals in life. Both are big game hunters, which enhances the symbolism that both of them know what it is to pursue something, yet neither has found what will really satisfy. One man tells the other of an incident, which provides the theme of the story. One day while he was high above the snow line of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa, he found the remains of a leopard, apparently frozen to death in that most unlikely place. The men speculated about what the leopard was seeking at that high elevation. They conclude that whatever it was, the leopard was seeking the wrong thing, in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and it destroyed him. The implication is that this is the way it is for humans as well: we aspire to something, pursue something, and if it is the wrong thing, or if it is sought in the wrong way, it leads to our destruction.

The New Testament deals with that same theme, the human search for meaning, in equally serious terms. Consider the passage we read this morning. A large number of people were on their way from Northern Palestine to Jerusalem to celebrate their most significant religious festival, the Passover. On the way, many of them had seen or heard about some of the unusual things Jesus of Nazareth was doing, and they turned aside to listen to him, and to see if he would perform some miracle in their presence. They stayed too long out in an uninhabited place, and Jesus was concerned that they should have something to eat. He took a small amount of bread and fish, blessed it, distributed it among the people who were present, and amazingly, there was enough for everyone.

Then Jesus withdrew and made his way back to the other side of the lake, even though the people were aware that no boat had put in to take him aboard. When they discovered that Jesus really had left the area, some of them began to suspect that perhaps he had miraculously crossed the lake during the night, and they had missed what would have been a fantastic trick. When morning broke, many of them arranged for boat rides to the other side where, they suspected, they would find Jesus. When they got to the other side, to the village of Capernaum, they sought for Jesus and found him. In this event, we have acted out for us the human search for meaning, and some lessons from Jesus on how to carry out that search successfully.

The first thing Jesus seems to say is that we should examine our motives.

There was no question that these people wanted to find Jesus. When they found him, their first question was, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" The implication was that he must have done something unique, since he had not left in the boat with his disciples, but he had made it to the other side anyway. "Did you go and do something slick, Jesus, and not give us a chance to see it?" Jesus didn't even answer the question. "You are looking for me, not because you saw signs," he said, "but because you ate your fill of the loaves." "You haven't followed me because of my ideas, or because you have developed loyalty to me or the things I stand for. You want only what you think you can get from me." [continue]