Read the Sign

Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.  Do not labor for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal." -- John 6:26-27

I am still more than moderately fried, and today was supposed to be a vacation day.  I was going to get the bike out and cruise for a few hours.  That's not going to happen.  I might get off early enough to ride over to Lambert's and catch a biscuit.  I suppose that leaves me laboring "for the food that perishes".  Paul, though, said if I didn't work, I shouldn't eat, so there's that. 

I don't think Jesus is chastising anybody for honest work or for fielding a "throwed roll".  This passage follows John's account of the feeding of the five thousand, the fourth miraculous sign recorded in his Gospel.  The first sign was turning water into wine at Cana, the second was healing an official's son at Capernaum after He had returned to Cana, the third sign was healing the sick man at the pool of Bethesda.  Signs were given and miracles wrought not so much to convince those who refused to believe but to assure and encourage those who did.  A sign does not create faith; it is more like adding a catalyst.  Faith is activated when it sees a sign.

Those to whom Jesus spoke were not people who had faith in Him, whose faith had been quickened by seeing His power and authority impacting their material existence.  They were people who had eaten, filled their bellies, and started thinking that their days of having to work for a living were over.  They did not care who Jesus was.  They would have followed the devil himself just as quickly and devotedly if he had fed them.  It has happened before, is happening now, and will happen again.  Far too many people -- and many who sit on church pews, have their bellies as their god, living, so it seems, only to consume.  They try to fill their emptiness with everything from food and drink to all manner of material possessions to the life force of other people whom they would drain dry. 

Jesus offers only Himself.  He is the Authentic, the one sealed by the Father.  He will do things in our lives to demonstrate His presence, His love for us, His goodness and mercy.  None of these things, though, have ultimate meaning apart from Him.  What He gives us is His body, His blood, His life.  For our wandering spirit, its homelessness and loneliness and sense of isolation, He gives His body.  For our sin, shame, and guilt, He gives His blood.  For our death, He gives His life. 

The Sign of the Prophet Jonah

We don’t see any signs for us.  There is no longer a prophet.  And none of us knows how long this will last. – Psalm 74:9 (HCSB)

Thinking about the Fall, at some point, man became aware of God and of his connection to God.  Not long after, man became aware of a problem in that he is inclined to go his own way and not listen to the voice of God speaking in his heart.  Though oneness with the Creator is clear at times, the separation and disunity is equally evident on other occasions. 

Even as man came to grips with the Fall, as envy and pride and even fratricide were manifest, humanity longed for a resolution to the separation for the Bible says, At that time people began to call upon the name of the Lord.  We developed codes and rules, and we offered sacrifices.  We tried to create our own gods who did not demand the impossible.  We tried by technology to build our way into heaven, to touch God on our own terms. 

For a while, our best efforts were directed horizontally.  We sought unity in our families, in a social structure, and in the development of cities and civilizations.  It seemed for a time that these unifying efforts might work, but our most powerful cooperative achievements lead ultimately to confusion and fragmentation.  No matter how good our intentions are as we start out, we inevitably build a hierarchy, a pyramid with its power concentrated at the apex.  There will invariably then come to that point of power individuals who are corrupted by it.  Jesus, quoting from Psalm 82, said, “You are gods” , and that is what the man or woman standing on the platform at the top of the tower hears.  Looking down, it does seem that the people are sheep without a shepherd.  For a moment the confusion is gone, and the leader sees clearly that they are to be united under him or her.  It makes so much sense.  So much can be achieved.  It is so efficient and effective.  Surely it must be God’s will.  Of course, at first, the leader means only to be a priest or a stand-in for the living God, but there are crises and disasters and people really need a leader who understands.   

It is the exceptional individual who can resist the allure of the pyramid’s peak.  Washington did it, but he was a rare man.  Others have not done so well.   It doesn’t have to be a nation or a religion.  You can see it on a smaller scale in almost any group or organization, in local churches and in cities.  When the hubris has run its course and reaped its certain and unavoidable harvest, the certainty and stability that everyone sought and worked to preserve dissipates.  We are left with the emptiness of separation and chaos. 

Confusion will lead to despair.  We are like radioactive atoms seeking the stable state of a lower level even if it is miserable.  This instability and lack of grounding is too disruptive and destructive for us to long endure.  Even settling in the mud is restful by comparison.

It had happened to Israel as they were successfully invaded by an enemy who attacked the focal point of their existence as a people:   They said to themselves, We will utterly subdue them; they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.  By destroying all the altars and physical points of contact, the enemy seeks to destroy the hope and will of God’s people, and for a moment confusion and despair do seem to gain the upper hand. 

We can feel it even today.  There are no signs that we can see, except the signs of destruction and hopelessness.  Lawless hangs over our heads like the highwayman’s cutlass.  The poniard is at our throats.  Have we any prophets?  Is that a joke?  Every prophecy has failed with even the prophets of doom coming up short.  None of us knows how long it will last.  That is the worst.  If we knew when the end would come, perhaps we could steel ourselves to hold out. 

In our darkness we cry out:  How long, O God, is the foe to scoff? Is the enemy to revile your name forever?

Though there are no signs and no prophet speaks, God is still sovereign.  As the Psalmist reminds himself and us,  God my King is from of old, working salvation in the midst of the earth.  Wait a minute.  God divided the sea to give us deliverance.  He stopped the rivers to let us into our land of promise.  He destroyed Leviathan – the chaos monster.  God rules the day and the night.  In this world, created and sustained by His Word, deliverance will come.

Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs, and a foolish people reviles your name.

 Do not deliver the soul of your dove to the wild beasts; do not forget the life of your poor forever.

Have regard for the covenant, for the dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.

Let not the downtrodden turn back in shame; let the poor and needy praise your name.

Arise, O God, defend your cause; remember how the foolish scoff at you all the day!

Do not forget the clamor of your foes, the uproar of those who rise against you, which goes up continually!