John 6:22-29

John 6:22-29

After Jesus had fed the five thousand, his disciples saw him walking on the water. Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’

Jesus answered: ‘I tell you most solemnly, you are not looking for me because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?’ Jesus gave them this answer, ‘This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent.’

Food for thought!

Since last week, and much of this week, we are in Chapter 6 of the Gospel of St. John. The events in this chapter took place in Cafarnaum. At Cafarnaum Jesus multiplied bread and walked on water (we missed this miracle because of a feast day). These two miracles of Jesus served as a preparation for a long sermon that Jesus was about to preach, which begins today and covers much of the week.

With 5 small loaves, and 2 small fishes Jesus fed a multitude at Cafarnaum that probably neared 15,000 people. No wonder the people liked Jesus of wonders because he provided them with food. The people were more interested in the bread of Jesus more than the Jesus of bread. And Jesus knew it. When they found Jesus, they asked him, "Rabbi, when did you come here?" To that question Jesus simply did not reply; he knew their real question. You see sometimes we beat around the bush when we go to the Lord in prayer; he knows what we know and understands what we want. So we do well to be straight with Jesus. Tell him what you want, you feel, you like.

Jesus went straight to the heart of the matter. "You have seen," he said, "wonderful things. You have seen how God's grace enabled a crowd to be fed. Your thoughts ought to have been turned to the God who did such miracle; but instead all that you are thinking about is bread." It is as if Jesus said: "You cannot think about the Jesus of bread for thinking solely of the bread of Jesus." This is true today. Many people are interested in the miracles of Jesus and not in the Jesus of miracles; interested in what Jesus gives and not in He who gives; interested only in the gift and not in the giver.

Jesus is talking about those people who seek him only when they're afflicted, when they run into problems. Yes, sometimes we go to Jesus only when we have problems; when things are going on well with us, when life is ok, we don't need Jesus. So we think. It is like some people who come to us only when they need our help. Whenever they show up, it is because they seek something from us. These are the people Jesus is condemning. And they're many.

Jesus' point is that all that these Jews were interested in was physical satisfaction. They had received an unexpectedly free and lavish meal; and they wanted more. But there are other hungers which bread cannot satisfy; hungers that money cannot satisfy; hungers that material things don't and can't satisfy. There is a hunger that only Jesus satisfies. This is what he means by saying, "Do not work for food that cannot last, but work for food that endures to eternal life, the kind of food the Son of Man is offering you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal." (Tomorrow Jesus will elaborate more on this).