Lammas, an old English word first found in the writings of King Alfred, meaning ‘Loaf Mass’, is celebrated on the first Sunday of August, when the first wheat and barley from the harvest are brought to the mill to be ground. Some of that wheat flour is then made into the loaves that will be used to celebrate Mass in thanksgiving for the gifts of creation.

Bread, of course, has a central role in our Western world where it is considered a staple of life, and has become a symbol of God’s gift of life itself in our religious traditions. In most European countries and South America, it is put on the table first, and no meal would be complete without it.

In Asia it is rice that plays this role as a staple of life, in East Africa, Manioc or Cassava, in West Africa and the Caribbean it is Plantains. I remember a meal I had once as a young volunteer in Kenya, where I was given a large plate of ‘Ugali’, which is what manioc is called. It is served as a porridge and eaten before any other food is served, the idea being to fill your stomach so that you do not leave the table hungry!

In China they speak of having two stomachs, the rice stomach and the stomach, that only if any other foods are available, can be satisfied. All this speaks to an understanding of life’s essentials, only when they have been satisfied can we move on to other foods.

Pieter Claesz. ‘Still life with Turkey’ 1625

This thought is taken up in many of the Dutch still life genres that served as decorative additions to the rich and as a vehicle for moral instruction. In Pieter Claesz's ‘Still Life with Turkey’ all the trappings of the rich man’s table are on display as advertisements of his wealth and international connections. The turkey from the Americas, the spices from the Dutch spice islands, the fruit and olives from Southern Europe, the fruit bowl from China, in addition to the expensive silverware.

The message is not, however, one of wealth and well-being but of waste and wantonness. The pie is half eaten, the meal abandoned and the bread in the centre of the painting untouched. The essential staple of life ‘Bread’ is ignored and the luxuries have taken its place. This message is accentuated by the precarious way in which the plates are arranged. In the foreground, the plate is balanced on the edge of the table, to the right the fruit bowl is tipped at a strange angle resting, again precariously, on a bowl. The apples appear to be maggoty, and the stuffed turkey is very dead! All things pass, so seek the things that are eternal.

The Miracle and the ‘Sign’

The miracle of the loaves and fishes brought the crowds following Jesus to the other side of Lake Galilee to the town of Capernaum where he had gone with his disciples. They are looking for another miracle but are disappointed when Jesus points them away from the miracles and instead tells them not to seek for food that perishes but for ‘The food that endures for eternal life’ John 6: 27

The miracles of healing and feeding are in one sense incidental to the ministry of Jesus, they are described by John as ‘signs’ pointing to a greater truth, the truth of Jesus’ identity.

‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent’ John 6: 29

It is as if Jesus is speaking of that second stomach, not the one he has filled with food, but the one that can only be filled with ‘The bread from Heaven’John 6: 32

Jesus has come not only to fill our stomachs but to satisfy our souls, our second stomach, with foods that: ‘Endures to eternal life’

John 6: 27

As the Dutch still life artists so creatively described in their paintings, there is a part of us that neither riches nor power can satisfy, and that is the part of us that has, as sometimes described, a ‘God-shaped hole’. That space can only be filled as we ‘feed on Jesus’.

‘It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.' John 6: 32-33

John makes it clear that these words were not heard or understood by the crowds, indeed the disciples themselves were confused. This should not surprise us as they are words that are not heard or understood by us either. How do you ‘feed on Jesus’? The expression sounds barbaric, the Roman authorities interpreted the words as evidence of cannibalism. Those questioning Jesus used their knowledge of scripture and tradition, citing Moses in the desert, but none of what Jesus says can be comprehended by the tools we usually employ to make sense of our world, just as none of the identities that we employ to understand Jesus make sense. He is not a King, as they had thought nor is he a Prophet, Priest, or Rabbi, he is all and he is none of these.

Jesus, however, has left us with a meal, the Eucharist, in which we can ‘Feed on Jesus’. We may not understand what that means, and many have disputed the sense in which the bread and wine are indeed the body and blood of Jesus, but I believe, it is not necessary to understand, only to receive in humility the gift of God that ‘Comes down from Heaven’

‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ John 6: 35

John Calvin when asked to explain the Eucharist said he would rather ‘experience it than understand it.’

As we receive the bread and wine today we are reminded that all that we have is a gift of God, not to be grasped but to be received with humility and thanksgiving.

Rev. Simon Brignall