Grumblings and bread

The people started grumbling about him, because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven’. So they said, ‘This man is Jesus son of Joseph, isn’t he? We know his father and mother. How, then, does he now say he came down from heaven?’

Jesus answered, ‘Stop grumbling among yourselves. People cannot come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me; and I will raise them to life on the last day.’ (verses 41-44)

Read John 6:35, 41-51

Throughout time people have grumbled about God. The Israelites had a good old grumble only a month after God had rescued them from slavery. ‘Why did you bring us here to the desert where there’s no food?’ they grumbled. God’s response? He sent them bread from heaven. It saved their lives.

Many years later, the people listening to Jesus grumbled about him because he claimed to have come down from heaven when everyone knew he was the son of Joseph and Mary. Jesus’ response? He told them he was indeed the bread that came down from heaven. Bread that could save lives for eternity.

People still grumble about God today. ‘If there is a God’, they say, ‘why doesn’t he stop wars and child abuse and other horrors?’ God’s response? He still offers to a sin-sick world the life-saving bread: Jesus.

It’s an offer we need to pass on. When people are drawn to Jesus and filled with the life he gives, there won’t be so much for them to grumble about.

Jesus, may I always feast on you so that I can live forever. Amen.

by Grace Simpson, in ‘God’s Promises for each Day’ (LCA, Openbook, 1999)

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