John 6:30-36

So they said to him, „Then what sign do you do, that
we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform?
Qur fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is
written, ‚He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'“
Jesus then said to them, „Truly, truly, I say to
you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven;
my Father 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.“
They said to him, „Lord, give us this bread
always.“
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.
But I said to you that you have seen to me and yet do not
believe.“

Today’s text paints Jesus as the Bread of Life. The
expression „The bread of life“ is not an easy
one to understand. The real meaning often remains a
mystery to us in everyday life. Among other things Jesus
as „the bread of life“ means that the trust we
have in Jesus gives us a fundamental security in our
lives. To demonstrate this point, I have picked out three
questions from the bible text: 1) Property and purchase
are not the only meaning in life. 2) One can either be
successful or mistaken in ones association with others.
3) The fundamental trust in life does not stem from
knowledge alone.

I want to tell you three stories:
1) Twenty years ago, I studied in West Germany, for six
months. I got used to the lifestyle of the automobile
city, almost every student had a car and many families
possessed three cars, one for each child. There wasn’t
such a great difference between in the North of Europe
and Germany but one had to get used to the way of life,
the towns were full of cars and the parking facilities
were overflowing. At the beginning of Spring, I decided
to visit the Leipzig exhibition. It was a versatile
function where the East German Republic could show off
their know-how and achievements. There were many
attainments and cultural events offered, which one was
prepared for but neither the fine porcelain nor the
three-arched Church of St.Thomas could make this trip an
impressive experience. On the Sunday morning I was
looking out of the window and saw something new and
unusual, on the street stood a few cars, almost all of
them were Trabis. A man stood by one of the cars with a
bucket and cloth. His son also had a cloth in his hand
and was polishing the car. Father and son hardly spoke to
each other but it seemed that both were quite content,
the son polishing the father’s car, the father teaching
the son how to do it, working together, caring for their
personal achievement, their own car. I knew that in the
GDR the Trabi was valuable, despite having the means, to
buy one was very difficult. I was very impressed from the
joint interests and the togetherness of the family.
Father and son belonged together, enjoyed their work
together, it wasn’t the car that was important, rather
the family. One could almost reach out and touch their
happiness.
It was exceptional to be lucky enough to possess a car,
the number of vehicles were small in comparison with West
Germany and the northern countries. The possession or
non-possession of a car was not the important thing in
life. The atmosphere unfolded in the family and in the
community, it was not acquired through money, or bought
from the store.
On that Sunday morning in the streets of Leipzig, one
could feel the happy feeling of irreplaceable unity.

2) Everyday, one strives after a better life. What one
cannot achieve with money is often ignored. It is so easy
to read the adverts and to seek ones luck in the shops.
At first, all these things seem to be satisfactory. One
easily goes past the other people, nonetheless one needs
them, not as helpers but because they give our lives
meaning. This is often pointed out in Confirmation
classes. In Finland (in 1995) 90,8% of all 15-year olds
took part in Lutheran Confirmation classes, from these
82% visited classes in open air camps. The camp lasted
from a few days to up to two weeks but almost always
included in the programme was the emphasis on community
and joint experiences.

2.1 In the middle of the Confirmation class, John was a
little tired. The evening programme promised to be
somewhat unusual, the minister had asked him to take
towels and training shoes with him. When it was his turn,
outside the club, his eyes were bound by a towel and then
he was lead inside. He was told that his balance would be
tested, he was lead to a wide wooden board that would be
lifted into the air. He should support himself on the
other campers who stood beside him. That can’t possibly
be difficult thought John and went cheerfully along with
his companions. But the wooden board wasn’t as thick or
as wide and he could only put one foot on and not both
side by side and then the board was lifted in the air,
John held the hands of his fellow students and then held
onto their heads. He had a person holding onto each of
his hands, the board only swaying a little, now he was
lifted up, the heads of his friends sinking a little. It
was difficult to stay still when you couldn’t see. He
could only hold on the hair of his fellows, their heads
were now quite a way down but he held on tightly. Other
people were now very important, the board was still
swaying. The minister then asked John to jump off the
right side. It seemed foolhardy to jump at that height
without being able to see. John hung onto the others by
their hair and carefully tried to get into the right
position although he was a little scared because he
couldn’t see and then he jumped down….

Suddenly he felt the ground, he tore off the blindfold
and realised that he had hardly left the ground, those
beside him had only kneeled down lower and lower. The
whole class laughed and John laughed with them, it was an
amusing experience.

2.2 John realised that the other people were important.
One can be blindfolded but one can rely on others, they
can sometimes be underhand or out for their own good. For
John, everything that happened was half in jest but
occasionally one meets the real limits of life and asks
oneself, who can I rely on?

3) Margaret wanted to know how far she could push her
limits. She had already tried rapid-rafting,
mountaineering and marathon skiing and now she wanted to
try bungee-jumping. On the beach near the town, a bungee
jump had been set up for the reckless ! A crane reached
up above the houses and churches and at the top was a
basket for all the interested to jump from after paying
an immense amount of money. Margaret was a student and
did not have a great deal of money but as the opportunity
arose to try something new, she couldn’t resist. Somehow
the money would be made available, Two weeks going
without too much food and she would have the money. She
got into the basket.

Margaret was not alone in the basket. The man explained
the rules and fixed the band onto her ankle. He told her
that she should jump out across and downwards otherwise
she could hurt herself. He also asked her if she had
emptied her pockets of all heavy things, Margaret heard
all this rather mechanically and nodded her head. On the
outside she appeared rather calm. Can I rely on this thin
band, can I rely on the assurances of this man, she
thought, then her common sense came back. Thousands had
already done this and nothing had ever happened but the
waves of the sea were a long way below and the rope
seemed very thin. The church looked so small and the wind
was blowing. Even though the man repeated all that
Margaret already knew, she was not reassured. The wind
was swinging the crane more violently.

When the man gave the signal to Margaret to jump, over
one hundred metres, she hesitated a moment at the same
time murmuring a prayer to God. The words rushed through
her lips and then she jumped down. The waves were
approaching, waiting to engulf her, the wind whistling
through her ears and hair. The sea was coming even closer
and closer. And then, the rope tightened, it worked. The
blood went to her head, her ears rang, the rope dug into
her ankle. Please hold, she thought, I know it will hold
but what if it breaks, will my jump slow down before I
land in the sea? She saw the fish under the surface of
the sea, as though they were waiting for a guest. Then
the movement changed and she was springing upwards, she
felt a jerk downwards again. The feeling of being a
pendulum seemed to be lasting a long time but didn’t feel
as terrifying.

Margaret was let down and welcomed by the man who gave
her a towel to wipe away the sweat. It held, the rope
held. The man was right, it paid off to accept his word,
but she felt rather foolhardy even though the feeling was
starting to wear off. Only the power of the experience
was uppermost in her mind. One thing surprised Margaret.
She had prayed, she didn’t know why it had occurred to
her to do so, but it just happened and it gave her
courage. She couldn’t quite one hundred percent trust the
man’s word. The reassurance at her level of awareness did
not satisfy her. Another form of trust came from her
prayer and it comforted her. This experience, not the
bungee-jumping, but the involvement of prayer remained
supreme. The strength to live, stemmed from the knowledge
that she could pray to God, to Jesus. When she realised
that she could trust Jesus, that He sees and hears
everything in our lives, she found it easy to jump. It
surprised Margaret but at the same time pleased her.

4) The content of our lives cannot be purchased with
money. Happiness and community spirit are not attained
with money. Money buys things, products also experiences
and maybe friends but friends can also mislead as in the
case of John. Trust is a fundamental condition of a
mutual life. Margaret experienced that deeply. At the
same time she noticed that before an eventful experience,
it is good to trust in Jesus, one can really trust in
Him. Jesus was a god but was also a human being. He knew
what went through the minds of the people and because He
is Gods son, He can also help us. This gives us
foundation. From this we receive the bread of life.

The Gospel according to St. John, chapter 6, verse 35
And Jesus said unto them, „I am the bread of life:
he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that
believeth in me shall never thirst.“

Email: esko.ryokas@helsinki.fi

Esko Ryökäs
Docent, Assistent
University of Helsinki