Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."

- John 6:16-27

 In yesterday's reading, the lectionary took us back to chapter 6.  We read that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."  Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  This is the fifth sign of seven in John's Gospel.  (The first sign was the changing of water into wine at the wedding in Cana (2:1-11); the second was curing the nobleman's son (4:46-54); the third was the healing of the paralytic near the Sheep Gate at the temple in Jerusalem (5:1-15); and the fourth, feeding the five thousand, in yesterday's reading, above.)  In John's Gospel, these are called "signs" to emphasize that they point beyond themselves to the truth that the Kingdom of God has come among us, and specifically in the Person of Jesus.  The whole of chapter 6 parallels the story of Exodus and the Passover, which we read discussed in the commentary on yesterday's reading.  The events in these particular verses here parallel Moses leading the people across the Red Sea, and walking on dry ground in the midst of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here it is Jesus sends His disciples across the sea and then walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  Of course, it the Lord working in the miracles of the Exodus, and the Lord who walks to the disciples on the sea.  "It is I; do not be afraid" are the words of the Lord to comfort and guide us.  They are the words of God with us (Matthew 1:22-23; Isaiah 7:14).

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except the one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.  Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Te people follow Christ as they still wish to make Him king over them, but as Jesus said, it is because they ate of the loaves and were filled.   It was for this reason (that Christ understood they wished to make Him king) that He withdrew to the mountain to pray, in yesterday's reading, above.  But at this stage, it becomes an opportunity for teaching.  His miraculous feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness becomes an image to use (and an important one for the Eucharist which the miracle prefigures), to teach about true substance in the food which endures to everlasting life.

Jesus contrasts the food which perishes with the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give . . . because God the Father has set His seal on Him.  In this period of Lent, with its traditional practice of fasting or abstinence, we may be tempted to fall into what is a type of heresy.  That is, into thinking of material things as "bad" by contrast to the spiritual things which are "good."  But the Church itself and our entire body of understanding of Christ goes much further and deeper than this simplistic assertion of good versus bad.  In Christ, as He will state about Himself, we have the very bread which endures to everlasting life.  Later on in chapter 6, in verse 51, Jesus will reveal, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven."  All things will tie together in the Eucharist, of which the feeding of the five thousand is a prefiguration (see yesterday's reading and commentary).  Moreover, this passage reminds us that when we pray the Lord's Prayer (see Matthew 6:5-15), there is a particular word that greatly challenges us as to the significance of this bread of which Christ speaks.  It is usually translated as "daily" -- as in the plea to God our Father, "Give us this day our daily bread."  But it is a very special and particular Greek word.  So special and particular is it that this word appears in no other literature that has been found and no other source.  The word in the original Greek is επιουσιον/epiousion, and it only appears in Matthew 6:11 and Luke 11:3.  Its literal meaning is super-essential.  That is, a kind of bread which has essence or substance atop or upon it.  It is translated as "daily" to indicate that it is the bread of the coming day, what is following (another word which is similar, επιουσα/epiousa, means "the following day").  But this "day" which the bread is for us not a day like any other; this special word indicates that what we are to pray for is the bread of the coming day of the Lord.  That is, the bread which not only consists of the food which perishes, but also the food which endures to everlasting life.  In essence, this is a picture of the Eucharist -- which is in turn a picture of Christ Himself, Immanual, God who is with us.  Moreover, it can be seen even as a portait, an image, or better yet, an icon of what our lives in this world can become; Christ's words teach us what it means to abide with Him (15:5-6).  That is, the daily bread for which we pray is that of the bread which endures to everlasting life.  Our wholeness consists of our daily lives prayerfully lived, with Him.  This is an image of what our lives in the world are for, a true spiritual and Christian understanding of daily life -- one in which we seek in the midst of everything to remember we carry our own crosses with Him as He did, and that we seek a daily repentance in which His substance is at work in us.  It is as wholistic and integrated concept of life as one can find.  Far from separating out the "good" spiritual and the "bad" earthly, our faith is meant to transfigure out lives and to render us whole, in communion with God through all things of our daily lives:  every pain, every challenge, even down to the fine and seemingly unremarkable seconds of our lives.  We seek to remember God in all things; even our suffering at the hands of the "worldly" or what may be truly "evil" is meant to be transfigured through our faith, just as the Cross was transfigured from death to that which defeats death and gives everlasting life.  This is, in fact, meant to be what our Lenten journey to the Cross is all about, to Resurrection.  You don't get one without the other, and we don't leave out of our faith any part or piece of our lives.  This may seem strange, and difficult, and too mysterious to even try to understand -- and on some levels that will almost certain remain true!  But that is just because our faith connects up the worst moments of our history (even the Crucifixion) with God, and God asks us to invite God in to help us work through even our worst and ugliest times, the things we don't want to share or let anyone see -- even to the things we don't want to look at ourselves.  It is all of these wounds He invites us to bring to the Cross, to Him, our wounded Savior who endured death for us.  Let us consider the bread which endures to everlasting life -- and the times of our own lives we can bring to Him today for the sustenance He offers us.