Merry Lent! In the name of Jesus. Amen. Hunger. Hunger is everywhere. Have you been hungry? Have you felt the uneasy sensation that hunger can bring? The Israelites did. They felt it as they walked in the wilderness. They felt it – and complained to God about it. God provided for them. He provided manna from heaven for them. He provided “bread from heaven.”

Wouldn’t bread-from-heaven be handy in the world? It is estimated that at least 10 percent of the world’s population is hungry and undernourished. Bread from heaven could feed all people of the world and would solve this instantly. Wouldn’t it be great to have an end to world hunger? Wouldn’t it be great to never have to feel the uneasiness that hunger brings? Have you heard the word “h-anger” before? It is a word to describe someone who is emotionally angry because they are hungry.

Whether it is fair to call what many people in first-world countries experience, “hunger,” in comparison to those whose bodies chronically waste away from lack of food is a topic for another day. We all know about hunger. We all strive after food to satisfy our hunger.

Jesus? He knows this. He provided bread for a mass of people and those people followed Him around because of how He was able to give it to them to satisfy their hunger. Jesus tells the crowd they only follow Him around because He gave them a good meal. He points them not to follow after Him because of the food He can give them that will be eaten, spoil, or soon be gone. Jesus tells that they need bread from heaven. Jesus tells them they need bread the Father sends down that gives life to the world.

Jesus says that He IS the bread of heaven and whoever comes to Him will not hunger. Jesus tells that those who eat of Him will live forever. Jesus says that He will raise all those who eat of Him on the last day. Jesus says that the bread He gives for the life of the world is His flesh.

Have you ever wanted Holy Communion so badly? Have you ever wanted food to eat that will always keep you satisfied? It is His promises we hear in His Word that He attaches to simple bread. It is the good news that Jesus gave His flesh, this living-bread of heaven, on the cross for your sins. It is the good news that because of His sacrifice He gives us bread from Heaven to everyone. This bread forgives your sins and my sins and gives us everlasting life.

We remember this Lent His body on the cross for you. His body takes away all of the awful things you have done in your past. All of the things in your past that leaves you hungering for a chance to go back and make right, He forgives and satisfies. Because of His Lent, He takes care of our hungering past so we can have a satisfied future with Him, forever.

Merry Lent! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.