Come to Me . . .

For many of us in lockdown, particularly the elderly and isolated, every day can seem like Groundhog Day. Especially if you are one of those wonderful self-disciplined folk who rise with the lark, go to bed at sundown, religiously adhere to your morning quiet time, your exercise routine and your daily diet. I admire you, especially in these times when its so easy to lose focus. Sadly, that is not me. I am more owl than lark, more disorganised than I care to admit, and at the moment my primary focus is on grabbing as much rest as I can in between bouts of breathlessness.

But my greatest need in this strange, disturbing new world, is that I might deeply, authentically connect with God. Solitude exposes all my underlying fears and anxieties, but the gift it also brings is the opportunity to connect with the only one who can still those anxious thoughts. I don’t need religious ritual, pious pontificating or easy cliches. They have never done anything for me, and they certainly don’t now. I need Jesus. The real, genuine article, not gentle Jesus meek and mild, not Jesus the good teacher and kind man. I don’t need religious platitudes, I need to know what Jesus actually says about himself, and how that impacts my life and that of the world he has created.

So this week I have been pondering the claim Jesus made, recorded in John Chapter 6, that “I am the bread of life”. What exactly did he mean by this?

The first 14 verses of John 6 set the context - the famous story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people - actually around 20,000, as they only counted the men, so if you add women and children . . but who’s counting, it’s still a miracle! Or, in John’s words, a SIGN - every miracle Jesus performed was a sign pointing to his true identity and mission.

Obviously those who were fed on that day didn’t get that - they were just happy to have their bellies filled. Like all non-industrialised, agrarian communities they worked every day just to feed their families. Jesus’ miracle had given them a day’s holiday, and they wanted more of the same - perfectly understandable.

In our Western, materialistic society we work to buy stuff, wear stuff, enjoy stuff, accumulate stuff . . oh, and eat. There are still places around the world of course where, if you don’t work, you don’t eat . . and they are those countries where Covid lockdown has hit the hardest. My son and his wife can testify to the hundreds of families in their town in Paraguay who are now dependent upon food parcels in order to eat because they cannot work.

So providing bread, their staple food, was a powerful experience, and the crowd follow Jesus to ask for the miracles to keep on coming. Jesus knows exactly why they’ve come, even before they open their mouths and ask him to outdo Moses, who, they say provided Manna every day in the wilderness for his people. Jesus reminds them that it was God, not Moses, who provided the Manna, and tells them the real bread they so desperately need, is not to have their bellies filled, but their souls. What they really need is not food from Jesus but the food that IS Jesus.

Now that hits home to me. In my claustrophobic world right now, it is all too easy to come to God for things - anything to help me through each day in lockdown - contact with friends and family and the knowledge that they’re safe, a food delivery, the sun to shine, sleep, healing and breath in my body . . . nothing wrong with asking for any or all of those things, but what I actually need above all else, is the life and peace that only Jesus can give.

The crowd, like all religious people, think Jesus is asking them to work for his approval - even as evangelical Christians who believe we have been saved by grace through faith, we still insist on teaching that there are certain things we MUST do to be pleasing to God.

That is not what Jesus says!

He says “The work of God is to believe in the One he sent” - just come to me, trust in me, “the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world”.

It’s a gift - and the gift is LIFE - not just breath, but LIFE. Two Greek words the New Testament uses for life - Bios - natural life, from which we get biology . . and Zoe - life in the fullest sense of that word - everlasting purpose, fulfilment, shalom, life in God’s presence - that’s the word Jesus uses throughout this dialogue -

“the one who feeds on me will live because of me” . . .

“Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life”

This isn’t a reference to Communion, it’s a powerful picture of how, if I feed on Jesus I will have life in all its fullness, in this world and the next.

In these past months I have had to come face to face with the practical paucity of my faith. I know I believe, but where is the evidence of my faith in my life, in the way I love, in the way I treat others? Maybe it’s not just me? Perhaps this is an opportunity for Jesus to help us to be truly His Church, to step out of our well worn path of repetitious rituals and rule keeping religiosity; to stop judging and distancing ourselves from those who are different from us, think differently, behave differently. I know I can’t do it on my own. I need to feed on Jesus so that I can walk as Jesus walked, love as Jesus loved. If I accept His invitation daily to feed on him, then I will begin to know life in all its fullness.

If I’m honest, I want so many other things so much of the time, but the reality is that Jesus is all I need for life. I would love to be physically healed, I don’t want to leave my family, my friends - but if I can get to the place where I am satisfied with Jesus alone - then I will truly be free.

“When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come ..... it’s all about you, Jesus”

Matt Redman.