St. Mary's Church Elizabeth, IL

7/27

Read John, Chapter 6, Verses 22 To 48

"Sir, give us this bread always."

                                             John 6:34

More bread, please!                                                 

With all the elements, it shares in common with the accounts of the multiplication of the bread in the Synoptics, John's account of the feeding of the five thousand by Jesus has all the appearances of being a miracle. But John persists in avoiding the word "miracle" and uses instead the word semeion, sign, which focuses on meaning and symbolism. Jesus himself makes the distinction: "Very truly, I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves" (verse 26).

"Seeing signs" means being able to decipher them, to perceive their symbolic value through faith in Jesus. In this particular case, it is making connections between material food and "food that endures for eternal life" (verse 27). In principle, the Jews agree to what Jesus says, when they say: "Sir, give us this bread always" (verse 34)! This is the right response, but the question is whether the Jews would accept to receive this bread from Jesus, when he says: "For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (verse 33).

This too sounds great, and very pious Jew would agree on both accounts. Bread coming down from heaven was granted by God in the wilderness (verse 31, alluding to manna with the quotation of Ps. 78:24) and was meant for sustaining the life of believers (Wisdom 16:26). But the problem arises when Jesus applies to himself the two components of his definition of true food and says: "I am the bread of life" (verse 35), "for I have come down from heaven" (verse 38). This is the very heart of the mystery of Incarnation: to those who believe in him, heaven and earth are reconciled in Jesus.

→ Do I truly believe that Jesus is "the bread of God" that "gives life to the world"?

Prayer Starter: Lord Jesus, millions of people urgently need food for everyday survival. Help us to find ways to relieve them and to find with them this lifegiving bread you offer to all humankind.

Copyright: God's Word Today, 2006, Bayard, Inc.

P.S. Synoptics - the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke are referred to as synoptic gospels because they include many of the same stories, often following the same order and identical words.

Fr. Joachim