“Grateful for the Manna”

Scripture: John 6:25-35

Last week, we heard the Lord tell Israel to go and serve their false gods is they really wanted to, but that one day, they all would come back to him. “You will know that I am the Lord, when I deal with you for my name’s sake and not according to your evil ways and your corrupt practices” (Ezekiel 20:44) This would be the evidence of the new covenant that he was creating for them, and he tells them that they will see it, and know it, and will not miss it.
But it would be several hundred years before this new way would come to be, before the new covenant would be put in place. There would be several hundred years of struggle, of sinful ways, of continued reliance on the old covenant, of defeat and occupation, of an exodus that wasn’t in a physical wilderness, but one that was surely in a spiritual one. In our text today, Jesus is reminding the people of that first wilderness experience, and uses it as an analogy for their present state.

Read John 6:25-29

This is a time that immediately follows John’s telling of the feeding of the five thousand, but interestingly enough, he offers nothing of the sermon that Matthew spends 3 chapters on. It appears that for John, the truth of the sermon lays in the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish. Think about it – Matthew’s version of that day, laid out in detail in chapters 5-7, are all about how to live in this life. And while that is vitally important for us to understand, John focuses on how the Lord feeds us, and not just in a physical way.

The story isn’t just about Jesus’ caring for our existence, but rather how he cares for us. Jesus recognizes the fact that the people are hungry. There is no place nearby where they could buy food, and even if there was, Philip tells him that there is no way that they could afford to buy all that food. And at about that time, Andrew brings a young boy to the Lord with a meager fare of 5 barley loaves and 2 small fish.
The people can’t feed themselves, the disciples can’t even begin to meet their needs, but the meal will come to be through the working of both the generous faith of a boy and the power of God. Jesus could so easily sustain us and nourish us without ever using physical food, and yet, he doesn’t. And he doesn’t use just any food – he blesses the poorest food. 5 barley loaves – a poor person’s meal, and 2 little fish – probably the size of sardines.

It wasn’t the generosity of a wealthy man who says “I’ll sponsor the meal for every one here.”
It wasn’t a score of women who humbly offer to go to the kitchen and prepare the meal for everyone else.
It was a young boy who had nothing to offer except a paltry amount of food that would barely be significant for his own needs.

Did Jesus tell the boy to go away because he had no concept of what feeding thousands and thousands of men, women and children entailed? Did Jesus announce to the crowd that they were going to take up an offering, and if it was enough, the disciples would go over to the town of Tiberius and buy lunch for them? NO! Jesus received the scant offering, and it was enough. It was more than enough, for there were 12 heaping baskets of food left over!

And in this follow up to the miracle, Jesus reminds the crowd that they follow him for no other reason than because he can fill their stomachs, and not because he can satisfy their souls. “Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life." Jesus is the Bread of Life; Jesus is the Living Water, and all we need to do to receive it is to follow the example of a young boy who has little to give, and yet he gives it all – to believe without hesitation that Jesus can work wonders through a faith that knows without question that while we can’t, he can.

Read John 6:30-35

Remember the story regarding the manna? (Exodus 16) The people were complaining that out there in the desert, they didn’t have enough to eat, but if they had stayed in Egypt, there would have been plenty to eat! So God tells them “I will rain down bread from heaven.” You would think that this would be enough, but when the food comes, gratitude only lasts a short time, and the nation begins crabbing all over again – “How come we don’t get any meat? We had lots of meat back in Egypt!” Now personally, I think their memories were a bit clouded, because they were slaves back there, and the food would never have been quite as good as they seemed to remember it!
But the Lord remembers their grumbling, and tells them that he will send them plenty of meat in the form of quail – so much, in fact, that they are going to get sick of it. (Numbers 11) But they never quite got the point that it wasn’t about the filling of their stomachs, or even about wandering aimlessly for 40 years! It was about discovering the glory of all that could be theirs if they would but show an all abiding faith to the God who lead them and cared for them and loved them. (Deuteronomy 8:3) “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”

What is there about God’s benevolent and generous nature that we can’t seem to appreciate? He gives us manna where there is no food at all, and it doesn’t make us happy. He feeds us with a never ending supply of barley loaves and sardines, and we complain that it isn’t angel food cake and salmon. He gives us his word for the living of our lives, and we decide that we can rewrite it and make it better. He dies at Calvary and only asks that we believe in him to receive his salvation, and we decide that salvation should be for everyone regardless of what they believe.
Why can’t we see his goodness and grace as being enough? Probably because we don’t fully understand what it can do for our lives. We don’t trust him enough; we don’t depend on him enough; we don’t surrender enough of ourselves to let his grace even begin to work in our lives!

The Apostle Paul had prayed over and over that the Lord would relieve him of some unnamed trial in his life – he called it “a thorn” - but God’s only reply was “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9)
Jesus never told us that it would make sense – only that it was true.

“You must be born again” didn’t answer a single question that Nicodemus had that night – it only created more. (John 3:1-8)
“Whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother … cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26) I have to what??
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44) You’ve got to be kidding!
“Power is made perfect in weakness” – shouldn’t that be the other way around?

We need to be grateful for manna, not because it is so delicious, but because it keeps us from starving to death.
We need to be thankful for simple meals like barley bread and sardines, simply because it cares for our need and we don’t have to pay for it or prepare it.
We need to rejoice in his word – not because it is easy and exactly what we want it to say – but because it is what our Lord wants us to know
We need to trust in his redemption and salvation – not because it saves everyone, but because it welcomes everyone.


There’s a great old hymn that sums it all up!
1. When we walk with the Lord in the light of his word, what a glory he sheds on our way.
While we do his good will, he abides with us still,
And with all who will -- trust and obey.

3. But we never can prove the delights of his love until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor he shows, for the joy he bestows,
are for them who will -- trust and obey.

Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus,
but to trust and obey.

The Almighty will provide blessings that sometimes are big and sometimes are small, but they will always be the right size for the moment. If we are to feed 10,000 people, the manna will come is huge amounts. If we are to provide a word of grace to one person who is struggling, the word will be just right. If we need the power to slay a giant, it will be there. If we need the wisdom to calm a troubled soul, it will be there, too.
That’s the promise of the new covenant – that no matter how great or how small our wilderness may be, no matter how wonderful or how tasteless our manna may be, God’s giving grace will be sufficient in all ways - and through it all, we need to give thanks to the Lord for every one of his perfect blessings.