At the end of last Sunday’s selection from the sixth chapter of John’s
Gospel we read that after feeding the crowd of about five thousand men, Jesus
retired to the mountain alone in order to pray. He was always in contact with
his heavenly Father in order to know his will, to ask for his help to do it,
and to thank him for being able to do it. When evening came, while Jesus was
still on the mountain, his disciples went down to the lake, got into a boat,
and started across the lake to Capernaum. Jesus himself had asked them to do
so. When it was dark, a strong wind started blowing and the waters became
rough. They were afraid. When
they saw Jesus walking on the rough waves and coming near them, they were
terrified. They thought it was a ghost. Jesus said to them, ‘It is I, do not be
afraid.’ They asked him to go with them in the boat and immediately they
reached the land where they were going.
Today we did not read this part of John’s story, but it is important to
remember it because it tells us that Jesus is not afraid to face the rough seas.
It tells us also that when things become difficult for his disciples and they
invite Jesus to be with them, to enter their boat, their life, he will be there to help them.
Today’s gospel tells us that, the next day the crowds were looking for
Jesus. When they
saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got
into the boats and went to Capernaum looking for him.
Three actions were taking place. Jesus was praying on the mountain, and
then he went to meet his disciples. Then there were the disciples who were crossing
over to the other side of the sea, and who during the night were having a difficult
time rowing against the winds. Lastly, there were the crowds who wanted to find
Jesus for he had given them food, and it was free. They wanted to make him
king.
When the crowds met Jesus they asked him: “Rabbi, when did you come here?”.
This is not really the question they wanted to ask him. Behind this question is
another one they were afraid to ask. The question is: “Why did you abandon us?
We wanted to make you king.” That is why Jesus answered them: “Very truly,
I tell you, you are looking for me because you ate your fill of the loaves”.
This would mean that the crowds were not really interested in Jesus, in his
signs and in his teaching. They wanted abundant food, and free.
What do we want from him?
Jesus then told them: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the
food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you”.
Indeed, food and other human needs are important, but they perish. You eat, and
you are hungry again, and again, and again. That is why in Matthew Jesus told the
crowd: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust
consume and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves
treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do
not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be
also” (Mt 6, 19-21).
Then they asked him: “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus
answered: “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent”.
He asks them to believe in him, in his person, not in a list of doctrines or
laws. Faith in him is what saves us, for he is the saviour sent to us by God. We
are invited to follow him.
That is why we are called Christians, because we are asked to be
Christ-like.
They asked another question: “What sign are you going to give us then, so
that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing?”. They had
benefited from the multiplication of the five loaves and two fish. Did they
need more signs in order to believe? In truth, they wanted to compare him to
Moses who gave their forefathers manna in the desert. Jesus answered that it
was not Moses who gave them the bread from heaven. It is his Father who gives
the true bread from heaven ... that which gives life to the world”. The people
then told Jesus: “Sir, give us this bread always”.
Where they still thinking of the bread and fish that Jesus gave them after
asking for God’s blessing? But Jesus distinguished between the bread made by
human hands which he multiplied so that all could eat and be satisfied, and the
true bread that comes from heaven, that which leads humans to eternal life. In his
prayer Jesus taught us, his disciples, to ask his Father: “Our Father, ... give
us this day our daily bread”. Here he does not distinguish between material
food and spiritual food, for he knows that we need them both, and we need them
daily.
In today’s reading, John is leading us to the great revelaton, that for
many was and still is difficult teaching. For in answer to the people’s
request: “Sir, give us this bread always”, he answered: “I am the bread of
life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will
never be thirsty”. The Jews began to complain because of these words, for they
knew him to be the son of Joseph, and they knew his family. This is where their
knowledge of him stopped. But he was asking them to go beyond it, to believe that
he is the true bread of life sent by God his father. A little later he
confirmed his teaching when he told them: “The bread that I will give for the
life of the world is my flesh”. Indeed, Jesus does not only give us food; he is
our food! He does not merely give us gifts; he himself is the gift!
Let us ask God to give us three things that are necessary for our
salvation, that is: to know what to believe, to know what to hope for and to
know what to do. We ask him to help us believe that he lives in us. We ask him
to strenghten our hope which is the great desire to be with him in his glory.
We ask him to help us share his Good News and his own Body and Blood in the
Eucharist, for this is what we ought to do. It is our mission.
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