"When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" Jesus 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. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you." (John 6:25-27a)
One of the best things about living in France is the bread. A fresh baguette every day. Made into sandwiches, or sliced and smeared with cheese, or in chunks sopping up the sauce from a delicious meal. But if there is some left the next day, it is hard as a rock. Even the "fancy" breads, like croissants or pains au chocolat, lose their delicious taste and texture overnight. Give us this day our daily bread. The manna in the wilderness.
You can also go to the grocery store and buy packaged bread -- sliced sandwich bread, even croissants and other yummies -- that doesn't go bad after a day. It is not as delicious, and no matter how expensive it is, it lacks the texture of freshly-baked bread. But it is convenient not to have to shlep to the bakery every day, particularly if it is rainy or if you're not feeling your best.
I wonder if sometimes we treat Jesus like packaged bread, rather than as our daily bread. We keep him in our cabinet, wrapped up in a neat plastic bag, and when we are hungry we take out a slice or two and put the rest away. "That's enough Jesus for now."
We don't follow Jesus around because we are physically hungry, like the folks in this story. And we see here that Jesus doesn't want them to follow him just because he can satisfy their physical hunger; he wants them to connect their every day need for bread with their every day need for the bread of life. Jesus wants us to follow him because we are spiritually hungry. Jesus wants, every day, to feed our souls.
I'm off to buy a baguette.
