A reflection for Easter taken from the latest edition of our parish newsletter.

Tasting the Bread of Life by Rev. Joshua Peckett

During the Easter season, we hear many of the great ‘I am’ sayings of Jesus in the Gospel according to St John: ‘I am the Good Shepherd... I am the resurrection and the life... I am the true vine...’

The first of these sayings of Jesus is ‘I am the bread of life’ (John 6.35-40) and it is a saying which always speaks to the need in our world and in our hearts which God addresses through his beloved Son.

There are few conditions of humanity as raw as hunger. If you’ve ever been truly, deeply hungry, the sting is unforgettable. From somewhere deep inside us, the emptiness makes itself known. It distracts us, drains us, and demands to be addressed. Try working when you’re hungry and you’ll know that soon your attention goes, until that hunger is satisfied.

It is shocking how many people around our world today continue to go without enough food, and we support endeavours which try to correct the horrendous inequality and greed which lead to this state of affairs. However, the hunger in the world isn’t only physical. It is also spiritual. Deep within each of us is a hunger – a spiritual hunger not easily recognized but always present. Something missing. And this seems to be especially true in the modern, secularized West. Perhaps it is feeling unwanted or unloved, forgotten, a sense we cannot achieve what we desire. These are things so many of us know as our hunger. And they are as great a poverty as having nothing to eat, because we cannot live by bread alone.

This spiritual hunger often isn’t satisfied. Because we try to fill the emptiness with hollow, material things or deny that it even exists. Jesus knew that behind all our hunger lies one cause: our estrangement from God that causes us to wander into danger and disaster. He warned his listeners that they should not work “for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life”, which Jesus himself will provide (John 6.27).

There is a long tradition in the Old Testament of the life-giving bread of God that nourishes the hungry, physically and spiritually. The Israelites, having escaped from Egypt, are fed by manna – heavenly food – during their desert wandering. Both the concept of Wisdom (the dynamic, creative aspect of God that teaches truth) and Torah (the Law and the way of life that flows from it) are seen as the bread of God. But this food is not enough. Instead, Jesus said: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry” (John 6.35). In Christ, God extends an invitation to eternal life and asks that we feed upon one who satisfies the physical and spiritual hunger of the world.

In the Eucharist, we encounter the bread of life that satisfies all hunger: heaven and earth met in Christ – his own flesh and blood, taken, broken, blessed and given for our hunger and our thirst. Christ meets us in word and sacrament, bringing rest for the restless soul and fulfillment for the hungry in heart.

And yet, we may also find ourselves with a new appetite; a hunger for justice, for mercy, for freedom, for healing, for God. Wherever we meet and offer the Eucharist, Christ feeds us, giving himself into our hunger and drawing us into his, so that his body, given for the life of the world is not just the sacrament we receive, but the life we offer as we leave the church to be his body in the world.

To receive this bread of life, we do not have to work miracles. We simply have to extend our hands and receive Christ. The one thing God wants of us is that we believe in Jesus and, through our faith in him, God will work his wonders to satisfy our longing. We are often like hungry guests invited to a feast who stand outside, too afraid of the host, too afraid of ourselves, to enter. But hear Christ’s words in the voice of one who truly loves you: “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

As we trace the impact of Easter on the first Christians, hearing how the resurrection inspired them and the Spirit empowered them to proclaim good news throughout their world, I hope and pray that we may all feed on the bread of life and be likewise ready to speak into the hunger of our present age. Thank you to all who support the work of charities supplying food to those in need; thank you to all who give financially; thank you to all who spend time cheering and comforting the lonely; thank you to all who help those in trouble or who feel lost. Thank you to all who proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ in word and deed. May God bless you all and prosper your work.