Bible Text: John 6:24-35 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
As I’ve mentioned before I enjoy Old Time Radio, especially comedy shows and routines. Well, one does not get far in the Old Time Radio comedy repertoire without one very famous act. In fact in 1999 Time magazine named this particular routine as the Best Comedy Sketch of the Twentieth Century. It actually started as a Vaudeville sketch in which plays on words and names were often used. I think it is most memorable within the American psyche because it deals with a very American tradition. Any guesses what I’m talking about? It is Abbot and Costello’s Who’s on First Routine. We don’t have time for the entire routine but it goes something like this…
Misunderstanding and miscommunication can happen just as easily and sometimes it isn’t as funny. Sometimes we ask the wrong questions and therefore have the wrong answers and sometimes even when we are prompted to ask the right questions we are not willing to let go of our former ideas. That seems to be quite the theme in our passage this morning. For the next couple of weeks we will work through John 6 and the imagery of Jesus as the bread of life or the bread from heaven or the everlasting bread and it will take the whole chapter to get the crowd to understand and even then, most walk away in confusion and misunderstanding.
Last week we began this chapter by reading the story of the feed of the 5,000. It is a miracle story that opens up this chapter with a concrete example. Jesus shares real bread, with real people, and really satisfies their hunger. The rest of the chapter is essentially spent unpacking the real meaning of that event and we discover that we end up on in an ever unwinding “who’s on first” scenario. In part this is because it would appear that the crowd missed the meaning behind this incredible miracle. That they failed to grasp the glory of what just happened. Instead of seeing the signs of God all around them they just want free food. Let’s be honest, I like free samples not because I get to test a new product but because it is free. So I understand where this crowd is coming from.
It becomes clear that sometimes it is about asking the right question, sometimes it is about listening, really listening, to the answer. This is a common theme throughout the Gospel of John. John often stands out because it rarely connects with the other three Gospels- what we call the Synoptic Gospels. The conversation that happens in this chapter is a fine example of that. As we heard last week the feeding of the 5,000 appears in all four gospels but John’s gospel is the only one to unpack it in such a way.
Jesus refuses to answer the question that the crowd asks, “When did you get here?” and instead redirects the conversation to more important issues. They have focused on the wrong bread- they want bread that will satisfy their physical hunger- Jesus wants to offer them bread that will endure. The word endure or meno in Greek is found throughout the Gospel of John as it means both endure and abide. It is often used to describe the relationship between Jesus and those who follow Jesus- those who believe in Jesus. Passages like abide in me as I abide in you. But in this story the bread which endures is not the relationship itself, but that which is made possible by Jesus. The bread which endures is Jesus- not just a relationship with Jesus.
Yet, again, however, the crowd is confused and I don’t blame them. Imagine trying to understand all that Jesus is saying about bread on an empty stomach. As far as we can tell the last meal they had was a day ago. They have gone at least an entire evening, night and morning without food. It is just one example of how easily we can be distracted by needs or desires, even physical ones, and as a result are unable to hear what Jesus is really trying to say. The crowd fails to hear about this wonderful gift and instead begins to focus on work. “Ok Jesus, what do we have to do to get some of that bread?” The crowd is now concerned about what they could, should, or must do rather than what God is doing right now- right in front of them.
This is another mark of misunderstanding because they begin to compare Jesus to Moses. They begin to say, Moses managed to have bread rain down from heaven, what are you going to do for us? They are looking for a sign that harkens back to “the good ol’ days of the exodus”. Talk about looking back through rose coloured glasses! They have not only wrongly associated Jesus with Moses but they are so busy reflecting on the past that they miss that God is right in front of them. We can also be distracted by what seemed like the good ol’ days of the past when faith was easy, when it was expected people attended church, when we didn’t have to work hard at making our church grow. We run the risk of being like the crowd- looking to the past, thinking it was better than it is today, and failing to see what God is doing right in front of us. Jesus explains this, even using the passage from Exodus about manna, the true giver was not Moses, but God, and the true giving was not in the past, but is in the present, the true bread is not manna, but it is bread of God that has now come down from Heaven. Jesus stands in front of the crowd trying to be subtle- gently pointing to himself and eventually it becomes this big waving of hands. “THE BREAD OF HEAVEN IS ME! I Am the bread of life.”
Finally the crowd seems to understand, if only for a moment, because they finally say the right thing. “Give us this bread always.” No matter how much they misunderstand the miracle, no matter how much they are distracted by their own desires, no matter how many times they reflect on the past rather than the present, Jesus continues to work with them until they understand. Until they finally say the right thing. Give this bread to us. For the coming weeks Jesus will begin to answer this request and so we join the crowd and ask, “give us this bread.” Amen
Excerpt from “Who’s On First?”
Abbott: Well, let’s see, we have on the bags, Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know is on third…
Costello: That’s what I want to find out.
Abbott: I say Who’s on first, What’s on second, I Don’t Know’s on third.
Costello: Are you the manager?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: You gonna be the coach too?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: And you don’t know the fellows’ names?
Abbott: Well I should.
Costello: Well then who’s on first?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: I mean the fellow’s name.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy on first.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The first baseman.
Abbott: Who.
Costello: The guy playing…
Abbott: Who is on first!
Costello: I’m asking YOU who’s on first.
Abbott: That’s the man’s name.
Costello: That’s who’s name?
Abbott: Yes.
Costello: Well go ahead and tell me.
Abbott: That’s it.
Costello: That’s who?
Abbott: Yes.
PAUSE
Costello: Look, you gotta first baseman?
Abbott: Certainly.
Costello: Who’s playing first?
Abbott: That’s right.