Bread of Heaven

Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God.” Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.’

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. John 6:41-54
When I was a child, there was a bakery in our town, which we frequented, usually with my Dad. My Mom was a great baker, so we were usually there to pick out a surprise treat for her on a birthday or another important moment. We didn't care why we got to go, we just loved going. The smell was amazing and the baked delights were so very enticing. The women behind the counter would always hand us a cookie, so we were in kid heaven.
Jesus was having to explain himself to the religious leaders of his time. They wanted to humiliate him and distract his followers by talking about his origins. They thought they could turn his followers away. But when people see and know real delights, the real presence of God, there is no argument that can persuade folks from that love. We are invited to know love and God expressed among us and to be fed.

Today I ask God to help me embrace that Divine love and be satisfied, whatever else is before me. May we all delight in the living bread, love made real in our midst.