“Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled." -John 6:26
That did not take long. Only about forty-five days. That is how long it took for God’s ancient people Israel to go from rejoicing in their deliverance from the strong hand of Pharaoh by the stronger hand of God, to bitterly complaining against God’s servants, Moses and Aaron, and by extension, bitterly complaining against God Himself. It was not just a few people who complained. It was the entire congregation who said:
“If only we had died by the LORD’S hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the pots of meat, when we ate bread until we were full; for you have brought us out into this wilderness to kill this entire assembly with hunger!”
The stomach is a strong contender when it comes to priorities and complaints. Strong enough that Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of porridge. The appetite craves satisfaction, but is never truly and completely satisfied. It doesn’t take forty-five days to get hungry and complain. It takes less than a day.
The whole theme here is that of contentment, or discontentment. The key to contentment is simple trust in the LORD God and His gracious provision from one day to the next. The cause of discontentment is a lack of such simple trust so that you seek to satisfy your appetite apart from the LORD God.
For God’s ancient people Israel, discontentment came also from looking back on their past and comparing it to what they had in the present, in the middle of this desert. There was no comparison.
But they forgot one thing. One very big thing: It was the LORD God who brought them there, and in doing so He not only saved them, but continued giving them life from one day to the next under His discipline in order that they may trust in Him for all things.
“Remember the good old days,” they thought to themselves. They completely forgot the oppression of Pharaoh. They completely forgot the salvation worked out for them by the mighty hand of God. It was just the big old pots of meat and so much bread they could eat till they were full that they remembered.
It is that same stomach hunger that causes the crowds to come to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “Rabbi, when did You get here?” They did not say, “Man, am I hungry. Can you give us some more of that bread?” That would have been too crass.
Jesus answers them and says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
So it is, that the stomach is not the source for true contentment. It is filled, but then it is emptied, and the appetite comes back. The stomach growls.
And really it is not just lack of food that can cause discontentment is it? The appetites of your fallen nature are all over the place. The comparisons that cause discontentment creep up again and again. “Look how so-and-so makes more money than I do, but he doesn’t do half the work.” “That’s not fair.” “I deserve better.” And then there’s the topper of them all: “Look at how so many people are grumbling.”
Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, has set His seal.”
About ten minutes from now I will be holding a silver chalice before your eyes. Within that chalice will be the blood of Christ Jesus, shed for you upon the Cross. Above that silver chalice I will be holding a small, circular piece of unleavened bread, with will be the body of Christ, given into death upon the Cross for your sins and iniquities. While I am holding those two things before your eyes, I will say these words: “The peace of the LORD be with you always.” Then you will say, “O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us, and grant us your peace.”
That there is the food that lasts unto eternal life. It is Christ Himself, the bread of Life, given into death for your sins and iniquities, for your wrongly directed appetite, for your bad choices, for your idle words, for your idolatry big and small, for your laziness, for your unclean thoughts, for your misdirected hatred, for your lack of love toward God and neighbor, for your misplaced discontentment, and for whatever else would cause you to fall into the pit of hell.
How do you work for this bread, which has already been given to you? Simple. You listen to what Christ Jesus says, and then you get up and come to His altar to receive Him into your body by way of your mouth, and your mouth shall show forth His praise. You act upon what your ears have heard. You ears hear Christ Jesus who says He is the bread of life, and your body responds by coming to this alar and taking His body and blood into your body and blood, for these things are not just signs and symbols, but they are what Jesus says they are: His body and His blood.
Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; the one who comes to Me will not be hungry, and the one who believes in Me will never be thirsty."
It is not that your stomach will never growl again, but that your soul’s deepest fear and complaint will be answered fully and completely. It is not that you will never crave something to drink again, but that your thirst for righteousness will be satisfied by the One Who made satisfaction for your sins and iniquity.
When you partake of the abundance God has laid before you in this body and life, you will do so with thanksgiving, knowing these things came from Him by His blessing, and not because you earned or deserved them. You will know that even if they take your body and life, goods, fame, child, and wife, let these all be gone. They yet have nothing won. The kingdom is yours through this Christ Jesus Who feeds you with Himself here and now.
No amount of daily food and drink will spare your life forever, but the One upon Whom God has set His seal? He will, and He does. Just as the Father’s seal was set upon your Christ Jesus as He is anointed by the Holy Spirit in the River Jordan and a voice from heaven says, “This is My beloved Son in Whom I am pleased. Listen to Him,” so the Father has set His seal upon you in your Holy Baptism, and you listen to Him, receive Him into your ears and body, and are saved from sin, death, the devil, and all that would hurt or harm you.
Because you are recipients of the Bread of Life, you are growing up in all aspects into Him who is the head, clinging day by day to His Word and His promise of forgiveness, forsaking the cravings of your appetite, rejecting the world’s counsel telling you to trust in yourself and live for yourself.
You are content with God’s arrangement not only for you, but for His whole Church on earth, where we are not in competition to see who can do the most for God, but to bear with one another in love, looking first to your need for forgiveness, knowing that forgiveness rains down upon us all through the mercies of God in Christ Jesus Who dwells with us by His Word and Baptism and Supper, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being diligent to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Yes, it took forty-five days for God’s ancient people to go from rejoicing to complaining. Would you be surprised if by the end of this day you were found to be complaining? If not outwardly, at least inwardly. That is not to say all complaining is wrong. In fact, complaints are part and parcel of living in a fallen world with your fallen flesh. Here is the problem: Complaints that are without faith and love; complaints that point the finger at others and at God.
Whether it is a simple baloney sandwich or a sumptuous steak; a glass of tap water or a glass of fine wine, a pair of old blue jeans or a tuxedo, a life of want or a life of riches, all things are yours in and through Christ Jesus, your Bread of Life. Therefore rejoice and give thanks at all times and in all places, even as Christ Jesus bears with you at all times and in all places, for He is risen from the dead and lives and rules eternally for you.
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