The Only Thing On The Menu

“Then Jesus declared, ‘I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.’ “-John 6:35-

Sometimes big moments can cause big problems.

*The actor’s mind goes blank at the moment of his big line.
*The singer is forced to mouth “watermelon” as she forgets the words of her song.
*The NBA player air-balls a free throw at a clutch moment.
*The bride can’t stop giggling through the entire ceremony. Or crying. Or some really awkward combination of both.
*The preacher calls the groom by the wrong name. (I may or may not have done this. Twice.)

Maybe you’ve witnessed one of these scenarios. Maybe you’ve found yourself in one.
I was about to have one of these big problems when I was struggling to decide what to preach on Easter Sunday. Big crowd; pressure was mounting. Finally, this thought crossed my mind: I wonder what Jesus preached whenever He had big crowds. How did He handle the big moments.
John 6 tells us of one such occasion. With a little by’s sack lunch of 5 loaves and 2 small fish, Jesus feeds a crowd of more than 5000. He has never been more popular. After dinner, the crowd decides to camp out for the night so they can be with Jesus the next day. But the next morning, when the crowd wakes up hungry and looks around for Jesus, aka their meal ticket, he is nowhere to be found. Starving, the crowd is hoping for an encore performance, but Jesus has decided to shut down the all-you-can-eat buffet. In John 6:26, Jesus says to the crowd: “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.”
Then Jesus offers the hungry crowd himself. The question is, Would that be enough? Jesus says, I am the bread of life.” Suddenly Jesus is the only thing on the menu. The crowd has to decide if He will satisfy or if they are hungry for something more. Here’s what we read at the end of the chapter: “From this time many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him.” (John 6:66.)
You see, it wasn’t the size of the crowd Jesus cared about; it was their level of commitment.

Following Today

In your prayers, what do you usually ask Jesus for? Think of a time when He didn’t answer your prayer the way you had hoped. How did that affect how you felt about Him? Read the rest of the story in John 6. Think of a time when it felt like Jesus was all you had. How did He meet your needs during that time?