"I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty." (John 6:35)
The miracle of the feeding certainly attracted the attention of the populace. As John tells the story the crowds noticed the travel arrangements of the disciples (a boat trip), and the absence of Jesus. When they found him at Capernaum the theological discussion ensued.
This week's gospel passage develops around the theme of bread and 'signs' (John's choice of term for miracles). At the heart of the discussion is why people were so interested in Jesus. He was able to provide bread to fill their stomachs, and meet their physical needs as Moses had done for their ancestors - and Jesus recognized their responses as coming from their bellies rather than their brains.
It is in this context that Jesus utters one of the memorable "I am" statements 'I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty' (35). This statement is clearly metaphorical; to read it otherwise is to believe that Jesus is a loaf of bread.
In Tanzania the staple food is a stiff maize porridge called 'ugali'. This dish has little taste, but is always eaten with a side dish of meat or some vegetable mixture. No matter how much other food is available it is the ugali that fills and sustains. In Zambia the same dish is called 'nshema' and in Zimbabwe 'sodzo'.
If there was ugali there wad no hunger. Without it, the Tanzanians were not satisfied.
Jesus was saying that without him we will never be satisfied, something will always be missing. To take the metaphor a little further we could say that Jesus needs to be part of our lives every day for without him our lives will never be complete.
Other readings:
2 Sam 11:26-12:13a
Eph 4:1-16
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