After witnessing the miracle of the multiplication of bread, the crowd want to make Jesus their king. Aware of their intention, Jesus escapes to the mountain. Later, when they finally find him across the lake, they ask him, “Rabbi, how did you get here?” Jesus replies, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.”
The people want Jesus to be their king because they think he will make a perfect provider. With him as king, they will be assured of food security and social welfare. They see him like a free vendo machine or a magic lamp that can readily answer all their needs.
Come to think of it, we too may have a similar attitude towards God. Our relationship with him is often centered on what we can get from him. We look to him as a great provider and a problem-solver. Just look at our prayers. They are mostly prayers of petition.
There’s really nothing wrong with such attitude. In fact, that is how God draws us to himself. “I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love. To them I was like one who lifts a little child to the cheek, and I bent down to feed them.” (Hos 4:11)
But while God attracts us with his gifts, his earnest desire is to draw us to himself. The people seek Jesus because they have eaten of the bread in the desert and were filled. Jesus tells them to seek instead the bread that does not perish but which endures for eternal life. And this is the bread that he now offers to them.
Excited to have such bread, the people ask Jesus, “What can we do to accomplish the work of God?” In other words, what is the condition for us to acquire the bread you speak of? What work should we do to earn this bread? Obviously, they believe that observance of some precepts on their part is required for the miracle of the multiplication to continue. Jesus’ answer is direct, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”
The bread that endures for eternal life is not earned by human effort, but comes as a gift of God’s love. All that is required is to have faith in Jesus. What is this faith? Prior to believing in his teaching and following his way of life, faith in Jesus is primarily an encounter with him that develops into a relationship. This personal relationship allows him to enter in their life and to “accomplish the works of God” in them.
A spirited discussion then ensues regarding Jesus’ own credential vis-à-vis that of Moses as the provider of the bread from heaven. Jesus clarifies that It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven but his Father who now sends him and sets his seal on him.
With great anticipation the people ask Jesus, “Sir, give us this bread always.” Their expectation, however, suddenly turns into shock and disbelief when Jesus tells them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
This unexpected claim sets the stage for Jesus to deliver his lengthy and superb discourse on the Eucharist which we shall be reading in the next three Sundays.
A word on our first reading. The Israelites grumbled against Moses when they were hungry in the desert. They missed the fleshpots and bread of Egypt. After having been liberated from slavery, they were now willing to give up their newfound freedom in exchange for the onions and leeks of Egypt. They had forgotten that God was with them in the desert accompanying them with his love and power.
What hunger can do when it overtakes us! It can overturn our sense of values and make us readily exchange what is more important for what is urgent. And this is true with all kinds of hunger, be it for wealth, power, influence, name, etc. How many times we have exchanged our spiritual freedom for a life of enslavement to worldly pleasures!