He Knows My Hunger
Scripture Reading: John 6:22-59
Meditation
Less than twenty-four hours ago, Jesus had taken a little boy’s lunch, looked toward heaven, blessed the five barley loaves and two fishes, multiplied them, and threw a kingdom picnic for more than five thousand growling stomachs.
Those gathered on the grassy hill ate as much as they wanted. They stuffed themselves to the full. And when they had finished eating, there were twelve baskets overflowing with leftovers. Jesus, just like Moses, had delivered bread from heaven. When the people saw this miraculous sign they began to wonder if Jesus could be the Messiah.
Talk around the picnic blanket centered on the possibility of Jesus being the long awaited Prophet, the Anointed One who was promised to come out from among his own people. With bellies full and guts empty of any worries, the table talk moved from conversation to consensus: Jesus just might be the next Moses—provider, deliverer, miracle worker, and leader of a new exodus.
“This is the Prophet for sure,
God’s Prophet right here in Galilee!” 1
As the sun began to set, talk turned to action. Driven by the satisfaction in their stomachs, the crowd coalesced and marched up the hillside set on crowning Jesus as their king. But before the crowd could reach him, Jesus slipped away and escaped to a secluded place up the mountain.
Reaching a quiet place, Jesus begins to pray.
As he prays, his Father reminds him of his temptation in the wilderness, the forty-day fast. At the end of the forty days, he was more than hungry; he was famished. That was his weakest and most vulnerable moment and, in that moment, Satan suggested that he turn stones into loaves of bread. But as the fangs of the fast bit into his gut, the bread of Scripture sustained his soul.
Jesus rebuked the suggestion of the Serpent,
“It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.”2
In the wilderness, Jesus had shunned the coronation of a physical kingdom by the Evil One and now, on the mount in Galilee, he does the same. He is a king but not the type of king that the crowd is looking for. They want a king that is constantly cooking in heaven’s kitchen—a Messiah who rules the mess hall. They’re dreaming of a Christ who will provide unlimited food and drink, anytime, anywhere, prepared any way they want it.
But Jesus wants to give his followers more than bread; he wants to give life—lasting life. Bread from heaven might fill the stomach for a day but Jesus wants them, by faith, to sink their teeth into something more substantial: the Bread of Life that satisfies for an eternity.
The next day, as the crowd wakes up, their stomachs begin to growl and they go looking for Jesus. When they can’t find him, they take some boats and set out for Capernaum, where his disciples had gone without him the night before. When they reach the other side of the lake, they find Jesus walking the shore and they wonder when he had arrived.
Jesus sees the real craving behind their search.
“You’ve come looking for me not because you saw God in my actions but because I fed you, filled your stomachs—and for free.”
“Don’t waste your energy striving for perishable food like that. Work for the food that sticks with you, food that nourishes your lasting life, food the Son of Man provides. He and what he does are guaranteed by God the Father to last.”3
A growling stomach, and not an ache in the soul, drives the crowd to look for Jesus. The masses are hungry and they’re on the hunt. They want someone like Moses who, morning by morning, will fill their stomachs, gratify their cravings, soothe their hunger pangs, and satisfy their appetites with a constant flow of manna.
Jesus sees beyond their growling stomachs. He sees the emptiness and the cravings that hold them captive.
Yesterday, he had filled their stomachs.
Today, he wants to fill their souls.
More than barley bread that gets stale and grows mold, Jesus wants to offer himself.
“I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever.”4
But before the people sink their teeth into Jesus, they want a sign. Popular opinion has it that the Messiah would be one who would be greater than Moses. He would lead another exodus and would, along the way, satisfy every physical craving.
They compare Jesus to Moses.
“Jesus fed five thousand but Moses fed an entire nation.
Jesus filled our stomachs one time; Moses did it for forty years.
Jesus gives ordinary bread; Moses gave ‘bread from heaven.’ ”
Jesus responds,
“I’m telling you the most solemn and sober truth now: Whoever believes in me has real life, eternal life. I am the Bread of Life. Your ancestors ate the manna bread in the desert and died. But now here is Bread that truly comes down out of heaven. Anyone eating this Bread will not die, ever.
I am the Bread—living Bread!—who came down out of heaven. Anyone who eats this Bread will live—and forever! The Bread that I present to the world so that it can eat and live is myself, this flesh-and-blood self.”5
The proof is in the eating. Manna may satisfy for a day but the Messiah satisfies for a lifetime.
Reflection
What does it mean to have a full stomach but an empty soul? Which do you have?
What is the recurrent hunger in your life? How is Christ using that hunger to draw you to him?
How is the Bread of Life nourishing your soul?
When Jesus says, “It takes more than bread to stay alive. It takes a steady stream of words from God’s mouth.” (Matthew 4:4), what does that mean?
Prayer
Father,
Many times I have run after your Son looking for food for my stomach rather than nourishment for my soul. I see Jesus as a bread king and not the Messiah—a cook in the kitchen and not the Savior on the cross. All too many times, in all the wrong ways, I crave that which sustains the body but cannot sustain the soul.
During this day, give me faith so that I might have a belief that bites into the reality of Christ. Though it’s hard for me to understand, help me feed on your Son’s flesh and blood. May I sink my teeth into the words that come from his mouth so that I might swallow, in faith, the promise of the Bread of Life. As I swallow, may Christ live in me in a mysterious way. Show me today that manna satisfies for a day but the Messiah satisfies for a lifetime.
It’s in his name that I pray. Amen.
1John 6:14 2Matthew 4:4 3John 6:26-27 4John 6:35 5John 6:47-51
All Scripture references in the meditation are marked by italics and are taken from the Gospel reading for the day. Those verses quoted outside of the chosen reading for the day are noted. All Scripture quoted in this post is taken from THE MESSAGE: Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001 & 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.