God, the bread of life, nourish our life and faith today with your spiritual food, the living Word from heaven. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing to you, our God the eternal love. Amen!
As human beings, we all need food to sustain our life. When you are hungry, how would you feel?
For myself, I am a very biological being. If I feel hungry, I will easily lose patience, and I will even lose my temper. I have difficulty to tolerate hunger. My husband knows me very well regarding my impatience with hunger. Thus, he is very smart to feed me well and make sure I eat before I start making complaints because of my empty stomach.
The first reading today from the Book of Exodus describes a biblical account of the Israelites complaining about Moses and Aaron when the people are starving in the wilderness after fleeing from Egypt and seeking their freedom. The words used by the Israelites to their leaders are really harsh.
In 16:3, they grumbled, “If only we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the fleshpots and ate our fill of bread; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this whole assembly with hunger.”
They question their leaders: Why do you bring us to this wilderness? You bring us here to be killed with hunger!
If you were Moses and Aaron, and if you were God, how would you feel? If I were them, I would say in my heart that you people live with hunger, but I am now lived with anger! Dare you say this to me as I have done so much for you to set you free and bring you out of the land of slavery!
Unlike me though and perhaps you, God is not angry. Moses and Aaron also appear to calmly handle these complaints from their own people.
Rather than being angry, God took the people’s complaints seriously. God promised to give people food. And God did it! In the morning, God gave them manna and meat at night. God gave some variety to them. God is really good!
From God, Moses and Aaron, I see one very important quality as leaders—an open heart to listen to the needs and even complaints from the people. The Israelites were in need of food. It is a very real and desperate situation when you are hungry. Although their way of expressing their anguish was a bit harsh, God and the leaders did not neglect them but tried to address their needs. The way that God and Moses responded to the people, however, was very different from many leaders in the world who punish those who make complaints or challenge their authority.
God and Moses’ reaction to the people’s complaints is a great reference for leaders in all settings, especially those who are in positions of authority to make important decisions that affect many people. They should learn from this scripture.
As we continue to read the biblical account, God will test the people to see whether they will follow his instructions or not (16:4). From today’s lectionary reading, the verses 5–8 on God’s instructions were skipped. Please go and read these verses by yourself later.
Instead, the readings from the Book of Exodus today jump from God’s promise to provide food to highlight how God revealed himself to the people—his action and his purpose for his action.
There is the profound verse taken from 16:12: “I have heard the complaining of the Israelites; say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread; then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’ ”
This verse concludes with (1) God listening seriously to his people’s cry for help, (2) God taking the people’s complaints seriously and acting accordingly without delay and (3) God making it very clear why he responds in this manner: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”
I would like to invite my dear sisters and brothers to stay for a little while on this significant verse: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”
While the Israelites were focusing on the food itself and their physical needs, God directed them to look at something more important and deep, that is, their relationship with God.
There are times when we forget about God and complain about him because we are in great trouble. We think God is absent; God is doing nothing. There are other times when we forget about God because we live a very good life, and we think it has nothing to do with God. It is through my own efforts that I have made these good results.
Dear sisters and brothers, I would like to invite you to meditate in the coming week on this verse: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord your God.”
Through your meditation, reflect on your relationship with God, the one who creates and sustains the world and all lives, the God who is the God of history. This God, who was with the ancient Israelites in the wilderness, is with us today. God reveals himself to us through Jesus Christ, who came to the world in the form of human flesh.
Let me now move to the Gospel reading today that is taken from John 6:24–35.
After Jesus performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 people, he had become more popular and more people came to follow him. Jesus asked and challenged those who followed him though if they came because of the food they received and not the signs he performed. Jesus did provide food for the people out of compassion. But Jesus did not just stop there. He led them to think deeper and to reflect on their lives in different and deeper levels that bring eternal value.
The question from Jesus to the crowd is also for us today as Christians, What is our motive to follow Jesus and become his disciples?
Do we follow Jesus because we are given good food, good housing, a good family and a good life after all? Do we follow Jesus because we are able to live a life free from difficulties, problems and suffering?
Are these the reasons? Do we just focus on all these earthly material things in life? What is our motive and reason to be a Christian? This is a question worthy of our deeper reflection.
In Jesus’ message, he linked his work of feeding the hungry to his ancestors.
According to 16:31–33 of the Gospel of John, “Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ ”
Jesus through his words reminds the crowd that it is God, the Ultimate, the Creator of all lives, that provides them with food. Everyone who receives the bread should realize that it is the God from heaven who gives life to the world, the one who is I AM.
Jesus wanted his followers and us to see this significant relationship between God and us. We are God’s beloved children, wonderfully and beautifully created in God’s holy image. We are forever connected to God in this life and our life after this earthly pilgrimage.
With this spiritual awakening, we will then have full trust and deep peace in God knowing that we lack nothing in life no matter how our lives look like right now. God will provide for us what we need in his time. Like the Israelites in the ancient days, God provided them with manna and meat every day.
In today’s Gospel, another profound message of Jesus is found in 6:35: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ ”
Come and believe in Jesus. You will be hungry and thirsty no more. It is very attractive—right? But what does it mean?
Come and believe in Jesus; we will then have a never-ending provision of food and drink on earth so that we will be hungry and thirsty no more. It is because God will provide. In this promise of God, we can trust.
There is yet another level and dimension to understand Jesus’s remarkable statement.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.” Today is the first Sunday of the month; and in our church, we will have the celebration of Holy Communion. We will share the bread that is broken. In the Reformed Church tradition, the bread is a symbol of Jesus’ body, broken and shared to give life for others. The broken bread reveals God’s sacrificing love and his power to overcome suffering and pain brought by the broken world.
As Jesus’ disciples, we are called to come before him and receive the bread that is broken and shared with many others so we will be nourished spiritually. With this spiritual food from Jesus, we are filled with love and strength to continue his mission on earth. Being fed by the sacrificing love of God through the broken body of Christ, we are hungry and thirsty no more. Instead, we are filled with power and courage to face difficulties and challenges in our lives and in our world.
When we are able to follow Jesus and claim this identity—“I am the Bread of Life”—we are then fully connected to God. In that state, in that very being, we are self-sufficient, and thus, we no longer need the external bread and juice.
Jesus said, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” In today’s Holy Communion, I invite you all to be more aware and to focus on the bread and the juice that you will take. Pray to God: God, help me to follow your footsteps, to be the bread of life, to be broken and shared with others so your will be done and your Kingdom come.
Lastly, I would like to share one testimony.
Kowloon Union Church set up an emergency relief fund for Covid 19 to help people locally and overseas who have been severely hit by the pandemic. With the generous support from many individuals and the Hong Kong Christian Council, we have been able to share funds with hundreds and even thousands of people living in poverty in the midst of the pandemic.
Here is one of the testimonies we heard from a recipient in Bindal Pool Basti in the Indian state of Uttarakhand.
During the relief distribution, a woman and her child came to collect their food bags and said, “Jesus answered my prayers. Because the previous day, my neighbour ran out of food, so I shared the little food I had. I am thankful to KUC and HKCC for their generosity and to God for listening to my prayers.”
I am so moved by hearing her testimony. Actually, I am thankful to her for how she demonstrated her real generosity. She offered her very little leftovers to her neighbour who was hungry. In her, I see how she demonstrated Jesus’ life: “I am the Bread of Life.” Amen.
