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Wednesday 17 April 2013

the other side of the Sea...

"When they found him on the other side of the sea..."
John 6: 25

Reading
John 6: 25-35

People found Jesus after he fed them with bread on the other side of the sea. They were looking for him in earnestness finally when they found him on the other side, they could no longer accept him (John 6:60). What went wrong so quickly?

If we take this whole episode in an allusion to the Exodus[1] of the people of Israel from Egypt, people of who followed Jesus had their liberation when they had fullness of bread. They were seeking Jesus across the sea. When they found him Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." Now the words "comes" and "believes" carry a huge significance in the light of Exodus event. The word "comes" in Greek means "to follow" and "believes" means "to entrust". In Exodus event people of Israel were given "manna," bread from heaven, but later they murmured and did not trust God. Here in the same way Jesus had given them bread, now if they need life they need to follow and trust him in order to receive eternal life.

How are we coming to Jesus? Are we coming to him as to follow or to receive something? How are we believing in Jesus? Believing as in to completely trust him and entrust our life? He is the bread of life and in order to receive it and be free from hunger and thirst, we should receive Him.

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[1] Many scholars have consensus on this view for example cf. James F. McGrath, John's Apologetic Christology Legitimation and development in Johannine Christology, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001, 172-182.

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