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What if it IS True? Blog

Discovering, wrestling with, and trying like crazy to live Gospel virtue.

05/05/14

John 6:22-29

[After Jesus had fed the five thousand men, his disciples saw him walking on the sea.]
The next day, the crowd that remained across the sea
saw that there had been only one boat there,
and that Jesus had not gone along with his disciples in the boat,
but only his disciples had left.
Other boats came from Tiberias
near the place where they had eaten the bread
when the Lord gave thanks.
When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,
they themselves got into boats
and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
And when they found him across the sea they said to him,
“Rabbi, when did you get here?”
Jesus answered them and said,
“Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me
not because you saw signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Do not work for food that perishes
but for the food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of Man will give you.
For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”
So they said to him,
“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus answered and said to them,
“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

Our appetites can easily get the best of us. Sometimes it may seem like what we are seeking is good, or at the very least no bad. Was it so bad for the crowds to seek Jesus out for more food? On the human level that doesn't seem to be such an ignoble pursuit. But it seems like Jesus had a serious problem with this. Why? It appears that either priorities were out of line or the people just didn't get it. Or, it could've been a little of both.

Word travels fast when free food is involved. I'm reminded of a classic story of a radio sales guy who was visiting businesses on the outskirts of his station's listening area. At one place he visited, a local burger joint, the manager told him that no one listened to the station. So the sales guy asked if he could prove that the station could get response if he'd be willing to advertise. The manager curtly agreed so the sales guy asked if he'd agree to let him have free reign on the content. Again, to simply get rid of the sales rep, the manager agreed. So the sales guy went back to the station and promptly produced a commercial that promoted free burgers at the restaurant if they mentioned they had heard the ad on the radio station. As the story goes, it was only a matter of hours before the restaurant manager was calling the station demanding that the spots be stopped. To which the sales guy responded, “I don't see how it could have been us, after all, no one listens, right?”

Power to connect is always in the message. Look at the videos that go viral. It's not the slickest best produced videos that people watch. Nor is it the messages that could be truly life altering. No, it's the kid biting his brother's finger. Or, it's the baby panda sneezing and startling his mother. Digestibility is what these have in common.

Believing that Jesus was the son of God was a lot harder than thinking simply that this guy had free food. Now that the multitudes brought even more multitudes after the word had gotten out Jesus knew full well what these people were up to. So the question for us is what makes us hungry? Do we crave the temporally satisfying or the eternally satiating? Only proper priorities will achieve the right answer. And, the right answer is still free.

Good luck and God bless,

Leo Brown