Week 30 of the Church year
പെന്തിക്കോസ്തിക്കു ശേഷം ഒന്നാം ഞായർ
The day after Jesus fed five thousand people, the crowd finds him again. They want more bread. He tells them he is the bread they really need.
The crowd follows Jesus across the lake after the feeding of the five thousand. He says they came for the bread, not the sign. They ask for a sign like the manna in the desert. He tells them he is the true bread from heaven.
After Pentecost the Church begins a long run of ordinary Sundays about life in the Spirit. It starts with what feeds that life.
We spend most of our energy on food that runs out. Jesus offers food that lasts.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
The parable of the sower: seed on the path, the rock, among thorns and in good soil.
Woe to the towns that saw Jesus’ mighty works and did not repent.
Pharaoh sets Joseph over Egypt: a man in whom is the Spirit of God.
Israel leaves Egypt in haste, carrying unleavened dough.
Israel eats the produce of the promised land, and the manna stops.
I know the plans I have for you: to give you a future and a hope.
The Bereans search the Scriptures daily to see if what Paul says is true.
If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; now is the day of salvation.
Do not work for food that perishes; I am the bread of life. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesJoseph is given charge of Egypt’s grain, and Israel leaves Egypt in haste. The manna stops when Israel eats the produce of the promised land. Jeremiah promises God will bring his people home, and Paul says we are a new creation.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
You are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves, says Jesus, not because you saw signs. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that lasts to eternal life.
Jesus does not despise their hunger. He fed them yesterday. He wants them to see what the feeding pointed to.
They ask what they must do to do God’s works. This is the work of God, Jesus says: that you believe in the one he has sent.
They ask about “works”, plural. Jesus answers with one work, and it is believing.
They ask for a sign. Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness; Moses gave them bread from heaven.
They have just eaten miraculous bread and still ask for a sign. Signs do not create faith on their own.
It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven, Jesus says, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven, which comes down and gives life to the world.
Manna fed one people for forty years. This bread gives life “to the world”.
Lord, give us this bread always. Jesus says: I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.
This is the first of the seven “I am” sayings in John’s Gospel.
The verse to keep
“നശിച്ചുപോകുന്ന ആഹാരത്തിന്നായിട്ടല്ല, നിത്യജീവങ്കലേക്കു നിലനില്ക്കുന്ന ആഹാരത്തിന്നായിട്ടു തന്നേ പ്രവർത്തിപ്പിൻ; അതു മനുഷ്യപുത്രൻ നിങ്ങൾക്കു തരും. അവനെ പിതാവായ ദൈവം മുദ്രയിട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു എന്നു ഉത്തരം പറഞ്ഞു.”“Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has sealed him.”
The crowdപുരുഷാരം
Fed by Jesus the day before, now looking for more.
“—”
Mosesമോശെ
Through whom God gave manna in the wilderness.
Probably “drawn out” (Exodus 2:10)
നിലനില്ക്കുന്ന ആഹാരം
The crowd had a good reason to look for Jesus. Yesterday he had fed them for free, and they were hungry again. Jesus does not blame them for being hungry. He tells them that their hunger points to something deeper, which bread from a bakery will never satisfy.
We know this from our own lives. We work hard for things that do not last: a better phone, a bigger house, the approval of people who will forget us next year. None of it is bad. But we come back hungry every time. Jesus says: I am the bread that lasts.
After Pentecost the Church settles into a long season of ordinary Sundays. This is where faith is fed or starved, week by week. Coming to the Qurbana, reading the Scriptures, praying at home: these are how we eat the bread that lasts. Like daily food, they work best when they are regular.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
What do you spend most of your time and energy working for? Does it last?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.Give food to someone who needs it this week, and pray for them when you do.
Lord Jesus, bread of life, give us this bread always. Feed us with your word and your body, and teach us to work for the food that lasts. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 2 of 18 in Pentecost