Photo by Nico Smit on Unsplash
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
In the list of frustrating things, near the top of the list might be – searching for something we can’t find but know is around here somewhere. We run all over, often right past what we’re looking for as it hides in plain sight. This happens to me when I’m working in the garage, and I can’t find the one tool needed to fix the thing I’m working on. After chasing all over – I take a deep breath to clear my mind – and there it is, amazingly, right where I put it.
People in Jesus’ day had a similar problem. Only it was they who were broken and looking for the one thing that could fix them. In John 6 Jesus travels back and forth across the Sea of Galilee. He goes across the sea to feed over 5000 with five loaves and two fish. Then He walks across the sea to His disciples as they struggle in the strong wind. The crowds saw that Jesus didn’t cross the sea with His disciples. But they also couldn’t find Him. Like me in the garage looking for tools, they got in their boats and chased to the other side looking for Him. And they found Him, but they didn’t find what they were looking for.
Nourishment is necessary for physical life. The crowds sought someone to nourish them with bread, the key food of Jesus’ day. They only saw Jesus as their “bread giver” who would solve their hunger problem. While Jesus could do that if He wanted, that wasn’t what they needed. What they needed, and what they couldn’t see hiding in plain sight, was the solution to their real problem – their sin which causes eternal death. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger … he will live forever” (John 6:35,51).
Do we see Jesus as the Bread of Life who gives eternal life? Or do we, like most in Jesus’ day, continue looking, even though He’s hiding in plain sight?
In Our Father’s Love,
Pastor Jim