The broad interpretation of the word ‘hunger’ as adopted from the “State of Hunger 2021’ report of the Trussell Trust in the UK is understood as ‘household food insecurity,’ which is defined as ‘a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food.’[1] The report also explains that the lack of food is one of the aspects of wider poverty. Nearly six million adults and 1.7 million children in the UK were struggling to get enough food between Sept 2020 and Feb 2021, with BAME, disabled and older people being the worst affected. There has been a significant rise in ‘food poverty’ and the pandemic has changed things from bad to worse, pushing many people to hunger. It is also reported that most severe ‘food deserts’ in the UK were in areas of Greater Manchester, London, Liverpool and Glasgow. On the other hand, ‘holiday hunger’ for children at schools has been unabated, and we see people like Marcus Rashford consistently making efforts in addressing issues of hunger of children.
In such a context, where ‘food poverty’ and hunger are the grim realities around us, how do we understand Jesus’ saying to the crowds in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.” As I read and reflect this text, my immediate reaction has been to seek a confession from God, for how we as churches and Christians over the period of history have conveniently interpreted this saying of Jesus to say that Jesus was speaking about people who are ‘spiritually’ hungry and thirsty, making no sense to people who are physically hungry and thirsty. Lord, in your mercy, forgive us.
When we read this text of John 6:24-35, we see Jesus speaking to the crowds right after feeding them with 5 loaves and 2 fish to 5000 plus people. The crowd were asking for a sign from Jesus to believe him, and they remembered how their ancestors were fed by the heavenly manna in the wilderness when they were in hunger (31v). Jesus had to explain to the crowd that it was not Moses who gave them manna, but God, who had fed them with the true bread from heaven. Jesus here in that context makes two profound faith statements, which are relevant for his times and also for our times today.
Firstly, Jesus says, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (33v). Jesus was reinterpreting the whole manna experience of their ancestors explaining that ‘the bread of God’ incarnates to give life to the world, food to the hungry-filled world. ‘The bread of God’ is not that which sits in the heavens untouched by the pain, suffering and hunger of the world. Out of God’s compassion to the hungry world, God shares God’s bread so that the hungry are fed and the thirsty are quenched, offering life to the world. ‘The bread of God’ is not about storing the bread for a rainy day, nor is it about accumulating bread and filling the heaven’s barns, rather is about coming down from heaven and is about reaching out to the hungry and giving life to the world. In giving life to the world, the bread becomes the bread of God. In other words, any bread that reaches out to the hungry and offers life, becomes the bread of God.
This discussion then brings into the relevance of our ‘Holy communion,’ for Christians understand the bread they receive at the ‘Holy communion’ as ‘the bread of God’ or ‘the body of Jesus Christ.’ I do understand and respect all the historical and theological traditions of the Eucharist. However, this text calls and challenges all those of us participating in the ‘Holy communion’ to understand and recognise that the bread we eat at this sacrament becomes ‘the bread of God’ when we as recipients go out into the world and feed the hungry, giving life to the world. The ‘heavenliness’ or the ‘divinity’ or the ‘spirituality’ of ‘the bread of God’ is in giving life to the world by feeding the hungry and meeting the needs of people who are being pushed into ‘food poverty.’ Next time, we partake in the ‘Holy communion,’ let us be reminded that ‘the holiness’ of the sacrament is in sharing food, offering food and in feeding the hungry, for we are joining with the ‘bread of God’ in giving life to the world.
Secondly, Jesus’ reply to the crowd who have asked him to give them such a bread of God always, as “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (35v) is of great significance. Jesus now communicates that he is ‘the bread of God’ who has come down from heaven to be the bread of life to give life to the world. Jesus firstly introduces ‘the bread of God’ and then implies himself to be the ‘bread of life’ who has incarnated into the world. The identity of Jesus is that he is the bread of life, and the purpose of his life is to be bread to the hungry and be a drink to the thirsty and give life to the world. Jesus then explains that whoever, no matter who they are, they will be fed by Jesus, with Jesus and will never go thirsty. The context into which Jesus was speaking was dominated by hunger and thirst, as the Roman empire was exploiting the people of first century Palestine with unjust taxes and by plundering the harvest grown by their hands in their own lands. So, when the crowd heard these Jesus words that he is the bread of life who addresses hunger and thirst, these words of Jesus sounded as real good news for them, for no one goes hungry and thirsty at Jesus and with Jesus. On the one hand the Roman empire plunders life from the world, creating more hunger and more thirst among people, and on the other hand Jesus, who has come from the bread of God, becomes the bread of life and has been on the mission of addressing ‘food poverty,’ giving life to the world. For this reason, there are about six incidents recorded in the Gospels where Jesus feeds people with bread and fish, which only explains Jesus’ mission of addressing hunger as his priority.
So, this text has a huge relevance for our times today in the 21st century, where the world is becoming more hungrier and thirstier for life. The call for us is to be like Jesus, grounding in the bread of God and offering ourselves to be the bread of life, sharing our gifts, resources, food and water with people who have been pushed into situations of poverty. It is easy to eulogise that Jesus is the bread of life and celebrate about it, but the challenge is in seeking the relevance of Jesus the bread of life who came down from heaven to give life to the world, for likewise we are called to come down from citadels of comfort and give bread, drink and life to the world. This is a huge ask, however this is the meaning of following Jesus faithfully today, to be the givers of life with Jesus to the world today.
This week I have read a story about Trinity Methodist church in Hull, who as part of their mission plan created a project called “Re:Uniform'' giving away free school uniforms to children, and about 1000 local children were benefited by this initiative over the past two years. This story has been very inspiring, where we find the relevance of a local church in the community, which as I read it understand that they are trying to be bread of life by distributing school uniforms freely for children, addressing the needs of children and families.
Our school pantry initiative of taking food to local schools has made some inroads in our reaching out to the community, for which I am thankful to all those who have supported it. There are several signs of hope in trying to be the bread of life to the world today. Thanks to Marcus Rashford who has been constantly channelling food to children and their families living in deprived situations of life.
I, for one think that if Jesus is the bread of life, we as his followers, as his church should be the bread of life to people around us, be a table for all people, sharing food and offering drink, challenging the systems that perpetuate ‘food poverty’ and be a place of bread and drink for all. We as a church will find our relevance by feeding the hungry, by questioning the powers that create a gap between the haves and have-nots and by striving for food justice for all people on our planet. We as a church should be known as ‘bread church,’ ‘rice & curry church’, ‘soup church’ ‘falafel church’ etc. where food and drink are available to all, so that we address the needs of the hungry and the thirsty. And in Jesus’ parable of last judgement in Matthew 25, the guiding principle for God’s justice code is about feeding the hungry, nursing the wounded, and releasing the captives. May we as churches and as Christians follow such a code and strive to make our world a better place to live in.
Allow me to conclude with a lyric that I have written in 2010 for a Lutheran World Federation General Assembly where the theme was, “Give us today our daily bread,” which is still relevant today:
Give us today our daily bread…
1. Give us today our daily bread,
Teach us today to thank on what we’re fed,
Help us today, realise many go to bed,
Without a meal and are nearly dead.
Refrain: Food for thought, food for life and food for all,
Good for thought, good for life and good for all,
Said our thoughts, said for life and said for all,
Live our thoughts, live for life and live for all.
2. Forgive us O God for we eat in greed,
For selfishness is what we breed,
Forgetting that sharing should be our creed,
Forever we are insensitive to those in need.
3. O God, the maker & the giver of life,
You have sent your son as bread of life,
Broken for us to save from death & strife,
Promising those that taste you, eternal life.
4. Is starvation swallowed up in the victory of sharing?
Its sting, accumulation broken by caring,
Root of greed is uprooted in that sharing,
Food for all and life for all will be its bearing.
Raj Bharat Patta,
29th July 2021
Pic credit: https://www.christianity.com/wiki/jesus-christ/why-is-jesus-called-the-bread-of-life.html
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