August 3, 2003

Exodus 16:2-4,12-15 + Ephesians 4:17-20-24 + John 6:24-35

We move into our second week with John’s sixth chapter. Last week, Elijah opened our hearts for the Words of Jesus, and this week we turn to a familiar story from Exodus that prepares us to reap the harvest of John’s Gospel. Again, as I said I would through this series, I want to speak first and let God have the last word! Remember the vision the apostles had at the Transfiguration.

Jesus Elijah and Moses talking together. Today we complete the triptych we began last week now adding Moses to our reflection.

Last week it was Elisha and Elijah. This week it is Moses and Aaron. and these next verses of John 6 are heard in compliment with Exodus.

Manna and quail are common substances and are a simple phenomenon of nature. An insect secretion forms at night and falls in flakes from the leaves of the tamarisk thickets in the early morning. The heat of the sun melts them, and they are gone by late morning. It tastes sweet but cannot be preserved. It perishes.

Quail migrate twice a year. They make a long over water flight to and from northeastern Europe and Africa. Exhausted from the long over water flight they land in the Sinai Peninsula exhausted and are easily caught. These are delicacies.

People of faith see in ordinary natural things the providence of a loving God. People without faith are simply entertained by the wonder itself and they want more. Today John shows us this crowd. They want free food. They like the signs and wonders and have little interest in what this wonderworker has to say – they just want more entertainment. They are running all over the place looking for Him, not because of who he is, but because of what he can do for them. They are yet to ask: “What is this?” They stop short – they fail to see through the sign to the one who provides. This is the issue in the desert. These people Moses leads have yet to learn reliance on God that will enable them to face and overcome their struggles.

The demand for a sign comes from an Old Testament expectation that a prophet like Moses would come in the last days to work again the Exodus wonders. Now this is the heart of the message coming from a prophet like Moses who is Jesus. In John’s Gospel, if one stops short, captivated by the wonder, then one fails to understand the reason for the action: the gracious activity of the Father through the Son.

The people in the desert asked: “What is this?” They struggled with the identity of this bread. Their struggle defined their identity. Perishable food makes perishable people. Food that lasts forever makes people who live forever. The people of John’s Gospel struggled with the identity of Jesus. We who feast on this Word of God today may either stand back and wonder about this sign wanting more for ourselves, or we can enter into the struggle over what they mean and where they lead us. That struggle is called “discipleship”, and it is the work of God. Our discipleship demands that we continue to look at what God provides and ask the question: “What is this?” Look at our jobs, our homes, our possessions, and our relationships – look at it all and ask: “What is this?” If we do not see past these things and perceive the one who provides them, we cling to what is perishable and we shall perish along with it all. Moses and Jesus confront a lack of faith today. Moses and Jesus along with Elijah last week tease us with food. Gandhi once said: “With so much hunger in this world, can God come in any form except bread?”

It is time now to be fed at Wisdom’s table,  to examine the signs and wonders that are all around us, to quietly ask ourselves what it is we really need and who it is we are becoming; to recall that manna evaporated in the heat of day, and ponder the presence of Jesus who comes with food that will not perish. Whether it is manna shared in the desert or barley loaves on a grassy hillside overlooking the Sea, those who eat together are bonded together. What we shall come to understand in the weeks to come is that it is Christ who eats with us not only as the one who provides, but also as the food that is provided. Be attentive now to the Word of God.