Aug. 5 2012 10th Sunday After Pentecost

24 Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.

 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”  26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”

28 Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?”
29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”
30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’[a]”

32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”

 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.


"When People Seek Jesus”

The people in our text were looking for the easy way out.  They wanted a free meal;  a life without difficulty, pain, suffering.  They came to Jesus for the wrong thing.

For Jesus came to give life a fulness;  to open life up to all its greatness as we discover the dynamic of creative living, nourished by His presence and His spirit,  nourished by the Bread of Life.

Jesus didn’t come just to give us answers; Jesus came to give us himself, a living, dynamic, creative presence with us which enables us to live abundantly no matter what.


They wanted Jesus “Not because (they) saw signs, but because (they) ate their fill of the loaves.”

They wanted Jesus for the wrong reason - and so do we.

We want Jesus as an insurance policy against bad things happening to us.

Even if we are careless, greedy, indifferent.  It isn’t that we want to be “renewed in the spirit of our minds”  We want to have our bases covered.

But this is not how it is with God.  God did not send Jesus to dwell among us so life could be a bed of roses.  God sent Jesus to dwell among us so that life could be different - strangely, powerfully, eternally different!

Faith doesn’t change anything in our world.  It changes something in here (heart) and here and here and here!  ((eyes, ears, head)  Then everything takes on a new meaning and purpose.  Nothing is left untouched by this new and different perspective, which makes a new and different person.