Notes on John 6: 24 – 35
After our usual read through our first thought was why this passage began at verse 24. We thought that verse 20 would have been a better choice, especially as the congregation do need some background information to get the best out this passage. We felt that it was essential that congregants knew, for instance, that Jesus has just fed the five thousand (verses 1–14), which has been followed immediately by Jesus walking on water (verses 16 – 21).
The first thing we discussed was the relevance of this reading to Harvest Festival and how it fitted in with the other suggested readings for Harvest. We felt that they all, bar one (Genesis), could fit together under the theme of God’s harvest (Jesus), rather than as a literal Harvest from the land. Some felt that, in the light of famine and starvation in some areas of our world it was hypocritical to think only of produce. So the idea of thinking about “Jesus as the harvest” rather than a literal harvest meant that all people could give thanks for Jesus as “the bread of life”. If the harvest service dwells on Jesus as the bread of life, giving thanks for God’s salvation in Jesus, congregations are given a chance to reflect on the past year and how God has been active in their lives.
However, others in the group preferred a traditional Harvest Festival thanksgiving service and would therefore find this particular reading unhelpful. Do inner city churches have a problem with this type of Harvest celebration? Some thought yes while others disagreed. They argued that by buying produce we were helping farmers to live, and this was worth giving thanks for.
The passage begins at verse 24 with the crowd looking for Jesus. The first question they ask is somehow the wrong one. Jesus has just walked on the water so, instead of asking “Rabbi when did you come here?”, the question they should ask is “Rabbi how did you come here?” When the crowd is the protagonist in John’s gospel it asks questions which lead onto answers that point to Jesus’ identity.
Here Jesus, realising they have only followed him because they want to be fed again, tells them to work for the food which lasts (verse 27), which is, of course, Jesus the “bread of life”. We felt that this verse 27 would provide good material for a sermon. By using the word translated as “work”, we could link working for a living and getting caught up in the rat race of society with the reading from Deuteronomy, where God asks the Israelites to dedicate their first fruits to Him. If we concentrate on giving to God whatever we do then we are working for the things that last. To do this we need to make space for God in our busy lives. We must no longer work for ourselves but for God’s glory in all we do. In that way our harvest will be an everyday activity where we give thanks for God’s goodness to us.
Another strand of thought was to link this passage to the previous verses, where Jesus has fed the five thousand and walked on water. We felt that these two miracles, followed by the teaching in this passage, link well to the Eucharist; and a good sermon could be constructed from this link.
Throughout
chapters 5 and 6 Moses has been important to the crowd’s arguments and
questions. The evangelist (through the crowd) refers to Jewish history, culture,
scriptural knowledge and belief. It would help a reader or congregant to know
and understand these links with Moses as well as the crowd, but do congregants
today know the story of Exodus well enough to make the links needed? Is there
something from our culture and history which could make the links more
understandable to a modern congregation? We wondered if the story of Nelson
Mandela bringing