Introduction
Well, if you’ve made it to this week and you haven’t made other plans, then it looks like you might be preaching on the Bread of Life for the next 5 weeks. And truthfully, I’m glad you’re here. While it may seem redundant, convoluted, and boring, there is a beautiful path toward exploring a whole host of theological points that are important for our faith communities. But it takes some planning. If you don’t map out where you’re going early, it’s easy to step on the toes of your next sermon and take away some of the bite of the following weeks.
So, I am publishing all 5 weeks at once. And you can look ahead at each of the commentaries on my website to begin some of your planning.
Here are the readings and the general themes I am going with:
July 28th – John 6:1-21 – Feeding of the 5,000 (This Week)
August 4th – John 6:24-35 – Is it About the Food or the Community?
August 11th – John 35, [36-40], 41-51 – Cast Me Not Away From Your Presence!
August 18th – John 6:51-58 – Holy Communion/Holy People
August 25th – John 6:56-69 – Stay Until the End/We’ve Seen Too Much!
Today – Feeding of the 5,000
But first we start with the story that launches the Bread of Life discourse. Today’s gospel text refers to a very familiar miracle. Often known as the feeding of the 5000. It’s one of the most well-known miracles because it appears in all four gospels and it’s the only miracle that is in all four gospels.
But in today’s gospel, the gospel of John, we get a few very specific and unique details that give greater meaning to this story.
Context
If you read some of the other Gospels you will also get the details of five loaves and two fish. You hear that Jesus blesses and breaks the loaves. You’ll get other details like the disciples went out and gave the food to everyone who is there 5000 in total not including women and children. You hear that all ate and were filled. You’ll get details like they collected 12 baskets full of leftovers.
But there are a few details that are unique to John. And two details that comes that is so important is the boy has 5 “barley” loaves and 2 “dried fish”. Whereas the Synoptic Gospels use ἰχθύας (the Christian symbol and generic word for fish (fresh)), John calls these fish, ὀψαρίων (already cooked and dried fish). Barley loaves and dried fish. It’s a very specific detail. John doesn’t tell us what the weather is like or what the people are wearing. But John lifts these details. Barley loaves and dried fish.
And that is because it is the specific detail that illustrates who is invited to this meal. In the Synoptics Gospels, Matthew, Mark, & Luke, Jesus takes bread and fish, generic terms. But in John, Jesus takes barley loaves and dried fish. According to tradition, barley, was the bread commonly available to the poor (some argue the poorest of the poor). And dried fish is for people that labored during the day and needed their lunch to easily accessible to just stop working and start eating. So, not only do we know that there are poor people in this crowd, but the food comes from a poor young boy who only has 5 barley loaves and 2 dried fish. If we wanted to find a comparison today, maybe its saltines or Triscuits and jerky or Slim Jims.
If we wanted to break the Gospel barrier, we could also look at the contrast of the King we heard about two weeks ago with King Herod and the crowd trying to make Jesus’ king in verse 15. A contrast of banquets. A contrast of leadership. But I’m not sure that we need to go there.
Because in this Gospel, 5,000 people are given their fill of food. 5,000 people of all different backgrounds, jobs, economic and social status. All of them sit together in the green pastures and eat a meal catered by a poor young child with no social standing. A banquet. A banquet provided by the poor, set for all, and all are satisfied.
Another unique detail that we get in the Gospel John is that when Jesus asks everyone to sit down, we hear that there is a “great deal of grass.” A great deal of grass where everyone can sit and be comfortable. It recalls another image from the 23rd Psalm that we heard last week. “The Lord maketh me to lie down in green pastures.” The Good Shepherd has heard the needs of his flock, comforts them, and cares for them (foreshadowing to the Good Shepherd passages in chapter 10).
Jesus Distributes Himself?
The final detail that is different than the other Gospels is that Jesus distributes the food himself. In each of the synoptics Jesus blesses and breaks the loaves and then ‘gave them to the disciples to set before the crowds.’ It’s a really good preaching moment for us in other years. Jesus gives the disciples the bread to be a part of the distribution of Jesus. In the synoptics, it’s already passing of the ministry and a theological foreshadowing of “do this in remembrance of me” when we pass the bread to one another.
But in John is says, “11Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated; so also the fish, as much as they wanted.” It will be the disciples who gather the remainder, but it is Jesus who distributes the bread here. Why?
Karoline Lewis writes, “Contrary to the Synoptic Gospels, where the disciples are given the loaves and fish to distribute, it is Jesus alone who metes out the food. This underlines the emphasis on relationship noted above. Not only is Jesus the source of abundant life, but it is being in relationship with him that is also the source. For Jesus to feed the crowd is another means by which this Gospel restates 1:18, ‘No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known.’”[1]
Lewis goes on to write, “Jesus as the Bread of Life cannot be understood merely as metaphor, but rather as a literal revelation of who Jesus is and what abundant life entails. Bread, an essential component of daily life in the ancient world, is what Jesus is. This promise hinges on John’s central theological claim of the incarnation. If the incarnation is only euphemistic imagination, then it defies its own logic. To stake an entire theology and Christology on God becoming human requires that at every turn the incarnation is completely present. As a result, Jesus as the Bread of Life, first and foremost, before rendering its interpretation through the lens of the Old Testament or eucharistic liturgical practices, must be grounded in bread as a necessity for sustenance as a human being. Anything less could very well undermine what is at stake in the contention that the Word became flesh.”[2]
There being a historical distinction between John and Synoptics is not important in my mind. We don’t lose anything by there being a difference. What John illustrates here is a beautiful theological promise. While Karoline Lewis doesn’t want to jump straight to the Old Testament illusions or the Eucharist, there is such incredible promise to be found there (that get alluded to in the weeks to come). God didn’t just provide the manna in the wilderness; God was the manna in the wilderness. Jesus doesn’t just provide the meal at the Lord’s Supper; Jesus is the meal the meal, the abiding presence of God that is with and among us through this meal. But John has to illustrate that first.
Whereas the manna falls from heaven in Exodus and where the pastor distributes the bread in worship, Jesus breaks the bread and distributes it himself in John. Jesus’ presence is passed directly to each person gathered. Each person experiences the real presence, the incarnate I AM, who provides more than we could ever ask for in this moment.
Karoline Lewis is exactly right. In order to understand this importance, we have to think of bread as a necessity of life. Ancients would have eaten it every single day. And so we need to connect the necessity of bread with the necessity of Jesus. And it is Jesus who meets that need directly. Placing it right into our hands.
Preaching Possibilities
A Banquet for All Where All Are Satisfied
John wants to make it perfectly clear that all people are welcome to this meal that is set before them. They are all invited to be seated in the grass. They all receive bread and fish. They all are filled.
We’ll talk more about food next week (so be wary about going too far down that rabbit hole), but there’s an interesting plot hole here in the human experience. We know that this was not the best food. Even if Jesus pulls a wedding at Cana and makes the barley loaves and dried fish the best tasting bread and fish in the world, this isn’t the most extravagant meal. There are no drinks/wine provided. There are no additional sides.
If it’s 2024, somehow, I know someone would complain about this. “Barley loaves and dried fish? I expect better service in my green pastures.” I’m being snotty here. But I’ve seen the survey results after gatherings and events, Synod Assemblies, and conferences. People will complain incessantly that their every need isn’t taken care of.
Now, there are good reasons for that. If we say all are welcome but don’t list our limitations, then we better be ready to be handicap accessible, have interpreters and translators of multiple languages (including ASL), and we better be thinking about inclusive meal options.
And… these days, I feel like we’re often looking for a reason to be mad.
Next week we’ll talk about how communities make meals better. But I’m also wondering if there’s a possible learning from this. The only food available for 5,000 people are 5 barley loaves and 2 dried fish. Everyone knows what this meal will be. And being connected and in community with one another is enough. People eat what they need to be filled and they are satisfied.
When we host large events, we need to think about the needs of others.
But when we’re attending the small events, when we’re at the local potluck, when we’re at the 170-year-old small congregation that doesn’t yet have handicap accessibility, when we’re throwing something together last minute to celebrate or mourn together, maybe we could have a little more grace for each other and for the hosts. Maybe we can lower our guards and expectations so that we can be fully present in the moment and not readying our angry tweets or emails for battle. Maybe we can just appreciate being in the Body of Christ together.
Experiencing The Presence of Christ
We’ll talk about this a bit more in week three, but John is clearly emphasizing the importance of Jesus’ presence. It is Jesus who distributes the bread. Walking it around to every seated person.
Of course, Church is not just a place of comfort. We are not just supposed to sit back and do nothing. And yet, there is sometimes a place for that. To just be able to sit down. Laying down whatever is on our hearts or minds. And to just be in the presence of Jesus who is giving himself to and for us.
Sometimes we need to hear that Jesus is here for us too. We too are invited to sit in the green pastures and be cared for by our Good Shepherd. We too are given the Bread of Life because he is a necessity that we need each and every day.
Give us this day our daily bread.
We don’t need to be so strong that we don’t need Jesus. In fact, we are encouraged every single day to realize that we can’t do this without him.
Give us this day our daily bread. Give me Jesus every day.
[1] Karoline Lewis, John, 83.
[2] Karoline Lewis, John, 84.
Micah Krey 
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