RUNNING ON JESUS!
John 6:24-35
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Lectionary 18), Year B
Analysis by Robin Lutjohann
24So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25When they found him on the other side of the lake, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” 26Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” 28Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” 29Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” 30So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? 31Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.” “ 32Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
35Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
“You cannot MAKE yourself love more, hope more – but you can receive the love that God gives you for free.”
DIAGNOSIS: Running Out of Life
Step 1: Initial Diagnosis (External Problem): Restless
“hey themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for Jesus…” (v.24)
How are you? “Fine,” we say, or even, “Good.” Or maybe a half-ironic “Living the dream!”, accompanied by a weary smile. But if we were really honest, if the masks came off, and we dropped the act for a moment, we would have to admit: We are tired. Tired of running a race that seems to lead nowhere. Tired of running on fumes. Tired of keeping on keeping on. Even when our schedule sweeps us away from one thing to the next, “tossed to and fro and blown about by every wind” (Ephesians 4:14), with nary a moment to think, we can’t shake that haunting feeling: Is this all there is?
Someone somewhere said it perfectly: “What do mortals get from all the toil and strain with which they toil under the sun? For all their days are full of pain, and their work is a vexation; even at night their minds do not rest.” (Ecclesiastes 2:22-23)
Step 2: Advanced Diagnosis (Internal Problem): Fruitless
“Then they said to him, “What must we do…?” (v. 28)
We’ve been taught that a good life involves striving after good things: virtues, goals, relationships, and possessions. But we find that these are never quite as attainable as they seem. The goal posts move, and the ladder we climb keeps getting longer. The moment you think you finally “made it”, it turns out there’s another rung. And so we keep climbing.
And even when we do succeed, for the moment, at getting what we hoped for – it turns out that the satisfaction brought by this achievement is fleeting at best.
What was it again I heard someone read in church once? “I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had spent in doing it… all was vanity and chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 2:11)
Step 3: Final Diagnosis (Eternal Problem): Pointless
“Do not work for the food that perishes…” (v. 27)
Let’s be honest: We have worked for things that perish – food, money, stuff, accolades, titles, projects, and even our own bodies – but none of them last in the end. When we made these perishables our raison d’etre, we might as well have hitched our wagon to a ride that’s driving off the cliff.
Was it all for nothing? Will anyone even remember anything I did? What even is the point of carrying on, if it all amounts to jack squat in the end?
There’s that voice again: “Vanity of vanities… all is vanity…” (Ecclesiastes 12:8)
PROGNOSIS: Gaining the Bread of Life
Step 4: Initial Prognosis (Eternal Solution): Grateful“
…but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” (v. 27)
Was it really all in vain? “No!” comes the objection from another voice: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
“Not perish.” Could it be? Taking a quick mental inventory of our life so far, we realize, the voice is right! There were moments that we would not want to have missed, people we cherished, lessons learned, and oh so many memories!
Coming to think of it, the very best things are those things that we did not generate ourselves. The most redemptive features of our life are those that came to us as gifts: The storylines we couldn’t have made up in a million years; the persons who entered into our lives like angelic aliens on a rescue mission; and the unexpected joys that pierced our darkness and found us at just the right moment. And most of all: Jesus, the gift of God’s only Son. And here’s the clincher: All those things do last. In fact, they last forever.
The familiar voice becomes louder: “Your dead shall live; their corpses shall rise. Those who dwell in the dust will awake and shout for joy!” (Isaiah 26:19) “For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth…” (Isaiah 65:17)
Step 5: Advanced Prognosis (Internal Solution): Faithful
“This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (v. 29)
Hold on! Weren’t we taught that a good life involves striving after good things? But if the best things are actually gifts that we receive for free, then what are we supposed to do with our lives?
Well, that’s just it. We leave the doing and accomplishing to God. Our job is to trust – and be changed by the trusting. Love, faith, hope, joy – these are all gifts, too, and not accomplishments! They aren’t ginned up by our effort from the inside; they invade our consciousness from the outside! You cannot MAKE yourself love more, hope more – but you can receive the love that God gives you for free.
As many of us heard a couple weeks ago in church: “The Lord is our righteousness.” (Jeremiah 33:16)
Step 6: Final Prognosis (External Solution): Bountiful
“Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” (v. 35)
But wait, does this mean we do nothing? Just sit around and eat bon bons? Not at all! Folks who “walk by faith” (cf. Habakkuk 2:4; Romans 1:17) end up having plenty to do, but not by running around like headless chickens. They have a direction. Since they are “coming to Jesus”, following his call, their plate is filled by him, not by their own agendas. In other words, since we trust in God’s work and not our own, we get to busy ourselves only with what God places into our hands at every moment. No more, no less.
It’s ironic. When we are running our own lives, we always run out of gas. It’s never enough. But knowing that Jesus has done enough on our behalf, we run on a different kind of fuel. And it’s a different kind of running: Not like running in a hamster wheel; more like running like a kid at recess.
“hose who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary
they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)
