Better, not more
For more commentary on this week's readings, see the Reflections on the Lectionary page, which includes West's current Living by the Word column as well as past magazine and blog content. For full-text access to all articles, subscribe to the Century.
The lectionary has focused our attention on bread for a very long time. One might think that five barley loaves transformed into a feast plus baskets full of leftovers would be news enough, but Jesus goes on to talk about the bread for another 36 verses. He would be a dream interview for today's 24-hour news shows, with their incessant need for commentary on the latest attention-grabbing headline.
In this last Sunday of the bread discourse (let the preachers say Amen!), it may be helpful to remind ourselves how the feeding of the 5,000 fits into the wider context of John's Gospel. The first thing Jesus says in this Gospel is "What are you seeking?" What are you looking for? It is a question worth considering, and the preacher may choose to name the sorts of answers that ring truest in the congregation's particular context.
