Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (B) [Jn 6:24-35]
04.08.2024
Faith in Jesus as the Bread that Comes Down from Heaven
Readings: (1) Ex 16:2-4.12-15 (2) Eph 4:17.20-24
1. Theme in brief
Jesus
satisfies our spiritual hunger and thirst.
2. Focus Statement:
Since
the real and spiritual bread (food) that comes down from heaven is Jesus
himself, he can satisfy the spiritual hunger and thirst of those who approach
him in faith.
3.
Explanation of the text
Looking for Jesus or seeking after him – a primary purpose of discipleship
in John’s gospel – is often repeated by him, almost from the beginning to the
end of the gospel (cf.1:38; 20:15). Some look for Jesus or seek after him with
right motives and some with wrong motives like the crowd in
today’s gospel. They were following him not for his teaching but
for their own bellies’ sake; because they ate their fill of the loaves (6:26).
In other words they sought after him not because he taught them, but because he
fed their stomachs by multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish.
Neither the disciples nor the crowds
that followed or gathered around Jesus understood automatically his true identity and the purpose of his mission. John insists that his miracles were only external “signs” that pointed to another inner meaning (usually a spiritual one). But people could not
look beyond the external signs. Actually, last
Sunday’s multiplication of loaves was a sign of Jesus’ desire to feed their spirit with God or God’s divine life. But they could not
get it exactly. That is why they
themselves got into the boats and went to
Instead, Jesus began to unpack the
meaning of the ‘sign’ contained in the miraculous multiplication of bread. The
sign was about who he is; his real identity. Jesus began to challenge the crowd
to see beyond the physical and material sphere. Material bread was meant for
feeding physical life; in contrast he wanted to present himself as someone who
was capable of sustaining their spiritual
life. He challenged
them to look beyond external signs such as manna given by
Moses in the desert (6:31) and abundance of loaves and fish provided by him
previously when they were hungry. Now he was going to offer them another food
as a surpassing gift from God – the gift of himself, his teaching and his body and blood. So far
their focus was on perishable food, but now he challenged them to
crave for imperishable food that “endured” for eternity (6:27). The word “enduring,” which is also translated as
“abiding” or “remaining,” refers to a permanent, deep friendship or an intimate, dynamic relationship between Jesus and disciples. This type of personal communion results in the flow of divine life (which is in
Jesus) into the disciples. Thus the bread that “endures” is Jesus (the Son)
himself whom the Father gives to the world so that those who believe in the Son
may have a foretaste of the Father’s life which is eternal
(6:33).
Jesus stated that if they did not want to go hungry and thirsty,
they had to come to him and believe in him (6:35). In John’s gospel, ‘coming to Jesus’ often implies believing in him.
They had to believe that he himself was the gift from God that gave them divine life. Believing is neither a conceptual
or intellectual knowledge of the tenets of faith nor a mental assent to
religious truths or doctrine, but an active commitment and attachment to the Person, namely, Jesus.. Coming to him also implies
their intention to submit or yield fully to him. When the Jews asked him what they must do to
perform the “works of God” (6:28), Jesus’ answer focussed not on what they must
do, rather on what God was doing right then through him. Instead of
giving them a “to-do” list of works, he gave them a single “work” – to believe in him whom the Father had sent (6:29). “To
believe” in the Son or to be personally committed to him is God’s work, because it is God who reveals his love and draws
people to himself. It is his work. Faith is a person’s free response to God who
reveals himself. Faith can be called a believer’s work also in the sense that
it is a submission to God’s work in and through Jesus
Christ. It motivates a person to seek after imperishable food as equally as (if
not more than) perishable food. Thus faith becomes both God’s work and
believers’ work.
Jesus claims that Moses (in fact not
Moses but heavenly Father) gave their ancestors bread (manna) in the past, but the
Father “gives” them right now (in the present tense) bread
from heaven (6:32). The true bread is
not manna but he himself who comes from heaven (God) to give
life to the world (6:33) – of course, the world of believers. He comes to share
his divine life with those who believe in him and sustain that life in them, whereas the manna sustained
only the physical life. Just like the Samaritan woman had begged Jesus earlier,
“Sir, give me this water” (Jn 4:15), so that she could be spared from the trouble of going to the well and
fetching water, the crowd
too begged: "Sir, give us
this bread
always" (6:34) so that they could fill their stomachs without doing work.
4.
Application to life
In today’s gospel we notice how Jesus leads people to think beyond the natural and material order. The people were more concerned about their stomachs than their souls. Many of them sought after Jesus, neither to follow him nor to be taught by him. They were after bread of physical life and were not interested in bread of spiritual life which he wanted to give. They remained so focussed on their fill of ‘loaves and fish’ that they could not think anything beyond that. After seeing the miracle their thoughts should have turned to God who provided them with abundant food. The crowd saw the signpost (that is, his miracles), but failed to follow the indication pointed out by the signpost that leads to faith in Jesus. They thought he had come to fill their stomachs, whereas he had come to fill them with God and his values.
Even today there are people who follow Jesus to enjoy ‘loaves and fish,’ and not to live a life of self-giving or self-forgetful love taught by him. They profess religion for their secular advantage and material benefits, to get social identity/ respectability or out of social pressure. There are also people who are looking for and expecting miracles that can be seen by their eyes as a proof for their allegiance to God. As we heard in today’s gospel, Christ knows not only what we do, but why we do it; that is, with what motive. We too, quite often automatically mutter one “Our Father” and three “Hail Marys” when we are in trouble and meet with calamities or undergo suffering and pain. Though this is surely a sign of our faith in God, we must question whether we consider God as the solver of all our problems, like a Superman or Spiderman. Jesus tells us not to be confined to receiving only ‘bread and fish’ from him, but seek after him who is the bread of life. St Ignatius said: “Seek not the consolation of God, but seek the God of consolation.” Jesus uses the symbol of bread to signify our intimacy with him and through him with the Father.
The desire in human beings to have somebody to meet their physical needs has never lost its appeal even today. There is a cry in the air: “Who wants your spiritual stuff? Will it make any difference? What people want are loaves and fishes, that is, jobs, good food and better housing, lesser work, better wages and more leave.” Many prefer to follow those who can provide these things rather than the so-called ‘spiritual’ and ‘imperishable’ stuff promised by Jesus. They expect him to act like politicians who promise ‘freebies’ including electric grinders and milking cows (as seen in some countries) if they are voted to power. It appeals the masses. Many prefer to vote for them rather than those who want to use the nation’s wealth for real development.
Today the Lord makes us aware that the things of this world are not lasting; they are all perishable. All the worldly wealth,
name, fame, honour and power are like perishable ‘bread and fish.’ We are always
tempted to treat what is not permanent and perishable as if it were everything.
Though human needs are multifaceted – material, intellectual, emotional,
spiritual – the crowd in Jesus’ days and today is focussed only on the material
aspect. As he did in his days, today also Jesus wants to raise us up from
purely stomach-level to spirit-level. Like the crowd in his days, we
too succumb to the same temptation when we use religion and sacred things for
selfish interests and secular purposes such as politics and business. Look at
the ways how some god-men use the religious sentiments or spiritual needs of
people to exploit them for money or sex, and how devotees in famous pilgrimage
centres of all religions are fleeced and taken for a ride.
Through today’s gospel, Jesus tells us not
to work only for material or physical needs, and make them our only concern. Jesus says that we must seek first and foremost the
For what are we hungry? Though on the surface level our hunger
for physical food is felt more intensely, especially when we are really hungry,
deep down in our hearts we have a spiritual hunger also. Hence, there are two
kinds of hunger: (1) physical hunger
which can be satisfied with physical food; (2) spiritual
hunger which cannot be satisfied with food or material things. What
Jesus was saying was, as bread is essential to sustain physical life, he is
essential for spiritual life. As believers, we can exist without Jesus, but
cannot really live without him. Though
bread is essential for survival, we do not live by bread alone (Mt 4:4). Deep down in our heart there
is a hunger for genuine love, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, justice,
truth, compassion and consolation which God alone can satisfy. He can satisfy
our hunger for the following values: (1) for genuine love because he is the source of selfless love and perfect image of God’s unconditional love for us
(sinners); (2) for life
because in him is the fullness of God’s life; (3) for truth because he is the revelation of God’s
own truth; (4) for peace because he alone can lead us to well-being, wholeness and
harmony, or because the world cannot
give the peace which he gives (Jn 14:27). Ultimately, our hunger is a hunger for God
himself. As
Negatively, we are also hungry for power, name and fame, money, security and comforts. In modern times, we eat daily the junk food supplied by the mass media such as sex, violence, crime, corruption, and the mesmerizing TV ads. We become what we eat. If we eat Jesus or fill ourselves with him and his values we become like him. If we eat only the junk food regularly, our mind gets influenced by the conflicting values advocated by it. Which food influences us? Real food or junk food? Jesus is not saying that we should not bother at all about our physical or material needs. He himself spent a lot of his time in meeting their needs for physical healing. But the question is, whether our faith in Jesus gives us the strength to defeat the predominance of the hunger for material things and worldly concerns so that we do not neglect the need to satisfy our spiritual hunger. For this, again, we must come to him in faith and trust, and humbly beg him with right motive what the crowd asked with wrong motive, “Lord, give us this bread always” (6:34) and satisfy our hunger for you.
5. Response to God's Word
What are we really hungry and thirsty for? Is it only for food and shelter, or also for compassion, genuine love and understanding, righteousness and justice? Are we like the crowd who did not think beyond material needs? With what attitude or motive are we seeking God? Do we demand miraculous signs and wonders from God before we really believe in him? Why do we attend church or pray? Is it for our own selfish purposes, or out of social pressure, or for businesses purpose, or we want God to solve our problems? Do we seek the bread that the Father gives, or seek the Father who gives bread?
6. A prayer
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