Bread of life

John 6 : 30 - 35

"Lord, give us this bread always"

I wonder how much we long for the 'bread from heaven'. The people Jesus addressed in his time sought bread as a sign, recalling the manna (Exod. 16: 15) that was given in the wilderness. Instead, Jesus introduced himself as the 'bread of life' who would satisfy the deepest longings of the human heart. His offer is always before us - a different kind of food, a spiritual nourishment, that truly satisfies.

But there are so many levels of need in a human person's life. I was reminded of this by a person I counselled many years ago - she quoted Maslow's theory. She came from a background of deprivation - and opened my eyes to a world very different from the one I have always known, and am in danger of taking for granted. There are many people whose basic needs have to be met before they can even give a thought to the 'gospel of salvation'. Indeed, we cannot feed 'spiritual' food to those whose stomachs are hungry and go away satisfied that we have done our part in sharing the gospel.

Although Jesus calls himself the 'bread of life', I'm sure it is not just the spiritual aspect that he is concerned about. His compassion in feeding the hungry crowd who came to listen to him is evidence of his concern for their physical needs. It was only when the physical needs are met that he challenges them with something deeper: that he is also the ultimate spiritual nourishment. The danger of course is that needs become wants and more wants until the pursuit of the material becomes the passion of one's life. To such people, Jesus was more direct: "Do not labor for the food that perishes......" (When the people became greedy and collected more manna than they needed, it all turned bad)

As I write this, I remember the wonderful smell of freshly baked bread that my friend Oli used to bring over quite often. Breads and buns of all shapes, with creative fillings.......a truly nourishing gift, of love and friendship. Food for body and spirit. She's many miles away now in Australia, but the memory lifts up my heart with gratitude.