The Gospel of St. John, Chapter Six.
Monsignor Joji Vadakara, Vatican City
Our Gospel today is the Gospel of St. John, Chapter Six, Twenty-Five to Thirty-Three, the Gospel of the First Sunday after Pentecost. Here we read of a crowd coming from Tiberias on one shore of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum on the other. We too are on a journey across the ocean of life on this earth in search of the other side. Therefore, our thinking today should help us to think about the relationship between the people who sought Jesus and us.
Jesus was the main reason that motivated this crowd to travel from the shores of Tiberias to the region of Capernaum. But one of the reasons they draw their attention to that man is that he satisfies a large crowd of about five thousand men with just five barley loaves and two fish. For some people, there is a second reason why crowds go after Jesus. That is, they found in Jesus a prophet and a leader who were strong enough to fight against Roman domination. Others want to find fault with Jesus’ actions and thereby trap him. That is why they ask Jesus for signs again, as we see later in the Gospels.
The first thing this crowd asks Jesus is just a simple question: “Rabbi, when did you get here?” (V. 25). Rather than telling the story of helping his disciples who were struggling with the sea and traveling with them to safety, Jesus’ answer to them is a cause for reflection for every man who inquires about Jesus. “You seek me, not because you saw the signs, but because you were satisfied with the bread” (v. 26). The first question here is: Why are you looking for Jesus? For the people of Israel, as under the Roman Empire, for the temporary answers you may get in your life, for the unanswered questions and situations that haunt you, for the bread you receive without labor, or for the eternal life that is available only through Jesus? The crowds are looking for Jesus for the bread that will perish and perish. You need to identify the real reason that leads you from the shores of the Sea of Galilee to the other side of Jesus’ presence, this worldly life without divine thought and presence. Jesus’ admonition to you and to the people here is, “Do not work for the bread that perishes, but for the bread of eternal life, which the Son of man gives,” (v. 27). God calls us to lift our minds and minds from earth to heaven, from food to eternal life. Jesus calls himself the “Son of Man” in the eyes of men who seek to make him king. But Jesus’ next words are important. “For God the Father hath put the seal of approval upon him” (v. 27). Two things are guaranteed here. One, he is God’s own, and two, his works are the works of God. God accepts him before the world ..
Second, the crowd’s question to Jesus is a little more meaningful: “What must we do to do God’s will?” (V. 28). Often, this is a question that arises within all of us. Jesus’ answer, however, is not easy at first glance. “Believe in him that is, whom God hath sent” (v. 29). He who desires to know the will of God must first believe in him and in Christ, the Son of God. We cannot force God’s will on us to do something. Instead, we must obey Jesus’ words literally, believing in him, that is, the one who was sent. If you truly believe that Christ is the Son of God, you can do nothing against God’s will. If you keep the loving Christ in your heart, you will have no works against him. If you love the Father who loves you and his Christ with all your heart, you will have no works other than their own. If he is sincere, how can a son or children behave against him in front of a father who loves and loves himself? The real Son and Daughter are those who know the Father’s mind and heart.
Third, people are asking a question that seems to capture the meaning of Jesus’ words and that they have at least partially understood what he is saying about himself. “What do you do for us to see and believe in you” (v. 30). Their words are, at the same time, revealing their poverty in their faith and their ignorance of God. The people have a dreamlike belief in the stories of the manna bread given to them by Moses in the wilderness. They are expecting another miracle and a sign as well. What they want is a sign of the power that gives them freedom in this world, a leadership that will feed their hunger, give them bread, and help them find solutions to their worldly desires. As Christians, we often have thoughts of a God who gives us food, wealth, shelter, health, well – being, and protection. Jesus gives two answers that show the true way to lives that are capable of thinking; First, it was God, not Moses, who, through his intervention, provided the bread for his people in the wilderness. Second, God the Father has given Jesus’ true bread, the very bread of life, so that his people may have eternal life.
Today’s gospel should raise some questions in us. First of all, why do we follow a man named Jesus? Are we led by the thought that he can increase bread for us and give us comforts? In life, do we seek in Him a miraculous power capable of stirring up and overcoming the forces that hold us back, our doubts, our fears, our uncertainties, our dominions? Do the miracles he performs through many others draw us to him, as through Moses? Does the thought of a slightly better conception of God than other conceptions of God motivate us to seek Jesus? Or does the conviction that Jesus is the living bread sent by God the Father keep us close to Jesus? Do we believe that through him, God reveals His love to human children? Do we realize that His dedication to life gave us life? We can pray that we will have deeper faith. God will pour out His blessings immeasurably on those who know God deeply, understand Him more, love Him completely, and follow Him. May God lead us to the other shores of serenity as our lifeboat sways in the roaring waves. May the Holy Spirit sanctify our hearts to receive Jesus, the bread of life from God the Father. May God bless us to live in harmony with God with sincere love, not limited to outward actions and duties.