Sermon – Rev. Judith Perry

Let us pray: O God, in Your Son Jesus Christ You richly bless us with all that we need, bread from the earth and the bread of heaven, which gives life to the world. Grant us one thing more: grateful hearts to sing your praise, in this world and the world to come. Amen. 

 

Let’s have a few words about this gospel in general. Most scholars think that this work was the last gospel which was written. If the John mentioned in the other gospels wrote this, he would have been well into his 90s. 

 

The writer is however the same person who wrote the letters attributed to John, but not the Book of Revelation. That was another John. John was a very common name. 

 

There is very little in this gospel that corelates with Matthew, Mark or Luke.  

 

Much of the gospel consists of long monologues attributed to Jesus.  

If they were written down say 60 years later then you know that they cannot be word for word what the man Jesus actually said. 

 

So, what are we to make of it? There is that kind of empirical, rational, logical knowledge that we are taught. This isn’t that kind of knowledge. It is metaphoric, mystical, spiritual soul language. 

 

It speaks of the spiritual experience of the early followers of Jesus’ Way. As such it is very real and opens the experiential door and invites us to enter the mystery. 

 

We know this kind of language from poetry. Poetic language points to something else rather than the words themselves. Gather ye rosebuds while ye may” is not about picking flowers. 

 

Likewise, the bread in the gospel passage is not about bread. 

 

Here’s how much of this gospel is written: There is a setup line. When they tracked him down on the far side of the lake, they questioned him, “Rabbi, when did you arrive here?” 

 

This comes after the feeding of the thousands. Which is, incidentally, the one thing which is common to all four gospels. 

 

Jesus then replies something like: “If the truth be known, you’re not looking for me because you saw signs of God in what I did, but simply because you got a free meal out of me.” 

 

In this style these disciples are used as dupes to move the dialogue along. They take the place of the rational skeptics for whom this gospel is addressed. 

 

Then something happens. Jesus no longer speaks to them in the first person.  

 

It moves to the third person. The “Son of Man” gives the believer food that endures for eternal life. And "This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent." 

 

It is a language shift into poetic, metaphoric language which points to the truth that believers experience. 

 

This mysterious experience is available to everyone. If I do nothing else in my time with you, perhaps, I will leave with more mystics than when I came. 

 

John’s gospel is a series of entry points into the experience of God’s presence. You don’t waste time analysing it. Just live with it. 

 

Take the sentence at the end of the passage which moves from the third to the first person: "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” 

 

Just sit with that sentence. Take a walk with it. Weed the garden with it. Wash with it. Let it saturate your being, and you will be changed, and you will be satisfied. Use even just the first sentence: “I am the bread of life”. 

 

Saturate your life with this prayerful presence, and your life will be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving.