You can hear a recording of this passage by the author here.<\/a><\/u><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\nReading the Gospel aloud<\/em><\/strong> invites the audience to experience human encounters with the divine as revealed in the Bible. We can leave interpretation and meaning to members of the clergy and other scholars. What we are most interested in as lay readers is the human experience found in the narrative.<\/em><\/p>\nFirst Impressions:<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhat is happening in this reading?\u00a0 What are those participating in the events recounted in the reading experiencing?<\/p>\n
A crowd pursues Jesus. But rather than evading them, Jesus patiently confronts the crowd with what may be uncomfortable truths. Not exactly what they are looking for or expect.<\/p>\n
The crowd seeks Jesus, the person. They seek signs from him. But Jesus tells them what they really seek is relief from the hunger they feel for an eternal life.<\/p>\n
A dialogue ensues, one to many.\u00a0 A chorus of voices from the crowd questions Jesus.\u00a0 What work must they do?\u00a0 What work does Jesus do?\u00a0 Still, they want signs. Like the manna from heaven. It\u2019s a curious mixture of emotional need and intellectual sparing on the part of the crowd.<\/p>\n
Jesus tells them he is the bread of life. How strange that must sound to be standing before a man who says, \u201cI am the bread of life.\u00a0 Whoever comes to me will never be hungry.\u201d<\/p>\n
How natural it is for the crowd to respond, \u201cThen give us signs that prove to us what you say is true.\u201d\u00a0 Here is the gap between faith and certainty.<\/p>\n
The crowd wants to believe and be certain at the same time.<\/p>\n
Text Analysis<\/strong><\/h2>\nHere we are looking for key words or phrases.<\/p>\n
This is a dialogue between Jesus and the world. The most repeated phrase is \u201cthey said\u2026\u201d\u00a0 There is a chorus of voices. Everyone seeks Jesus and has questions for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did you come here?\u201d\u00a0 i.e. did we miss anything?<\/p>\n
The next most often repeated phrase is \u201cJesus answered them\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Jesus is the answer.<\/p>\n
The voices of the crowd are searching, open, hungry for answers, but still uncertain, skeptical. They want signs. Proofs.<\/p>\n
What Jesus offers them is experience. Jesus\u2019 voice is calm and certain. Not signs, but \u201cYou ate your fill.\u201d\u00a0 You had the experience of not hungry. Not thirsty.\u00a0 That is an experience I can give you always.<\/p>\n
That is what we offer as readers. Experience over reason.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Reading this passage aloud<\/strong><\/h2>\nWhat we want the audience to experience.<\/p>\n
As in previous passages there\u2019s a sense of urgency on the part of the crowd. Jesus remains something of an enigma. They don\u2019t always know where he is, what he is doing, or understand what he says. \u00a0The crowd is trying to work through the issues.\u00a0 They are like reporters. Trying to ask the tough questions.\u00a0 Trying to understand.<\/p>\n
The crowd actually speaks with many voices. They represent everyone who seeks and has questions. So, try different tacts as you read each question: quick, probing, reasoning, etc.<\/p>\n
Jesus is patient and gives them their lede: \u201cI am the bread of life.\u201d Slow and clear so that all get the sound bite. I am the one on whom God the father has set his seal. \u00a0This is a brave thing for Jesus to say to a large crowd in a public setting.<\/p>\n
This is truly a bold encounter.<\/p>\n
\u00a0What do you hear in this passage?<\/strong><\/h2>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Reading the Gospel of John 6:24-35 \u2018I am the bread of life.\u2019 This passage from John 6: 24-35 is included in the revised common lectionary provided by the Vanderbilt Divinity Library. The text is from the NRSV. You can hear a recording of this passage by the author here. Reading the Gospel aloud invites the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":621,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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![\"Angel](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/412\/2018\/11\/Angel-2-300x180.jpg\")
<\/p>\n