Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

 

 After these things 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.  

 

- John 6:1–15 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His discourse to the religious leaders who questioned Him after He healed a man on the Sabbath.  He said, "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works that I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life, and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 

 After these things 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.  My study Bible informs us that this chapter in St. John's Gospel (which we begin with today's reading) parallels the story of the Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in several important ways.  First, in the Exodus account (Exodus 11 - 17), God first performed His signs against Pharaoh, then gave instructions on how to be saved at the time of the Passover (Exodus 11:1-12:14).  In today's passage, the multitudes follow Christ because of His signs (such as the healing of the man in the previous chapter; see above), and this also takes place at Passover.  

 

 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?"  My study Bible suggests here that Christ tests Philip to increase his faith, for Philip needed help in understanding Him (see John 14:8-10).  Two hundred denarii, it notes, corresponds to over six months' wages for a laborer.  Andrew has greater faith than Philip however, for he knows that the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for one hundred men (2 Kings 4:42-44).  So he offers the food brought by a lad.  Nonetheless, Andrew also is still weak in faith, and he questions what a mere five loaves could do for the number of people there.  

 

 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.  Here is presented the fourth of seven miracles or "signs" in the Gospel of St. John, the feeding of the multitude.  Its significance is such that it is recorded in all four Gospels.  My study Bible points out that the description of Christ as He took the loaves, gave thanks (in Greek, ευχαριστω/eucharisto), and distributed them prefigures the celebration of the Eucharist.  

 

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.  My study Bible comments here that although Jesus had performed greater signs than this, these crowds were so hoping for an earthly Messiah that they declared Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deuteronomy 18:15-19) only when they were filled with earthly things.  Because of this misunderstanding, Jesus departed from them. 

 

Today's reading in some sense invites us to ask the question, what does it mean to be fed?  With what do we wish to be fed?  What do we need?  What truly nurtures us?  Moreover, we need to ask ourselves what we imagine that Christ came into this world to feed us?  Throughout the remainder of this chapter we will read of Christ expanding upon these topics.  He will express just what it means to be "fed" by His ministry; that is, that which He came into the world to offer us as food.  We could begin to discuss this topic by taking a close look at what the people desire.  In the first place, we're told that these people follow Him because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.   Well, one wonders who would not be intrigued by such things.  But we need to ask ourselves what it is that they wanted or hoped for, for that's what's relevant to the story.  What were their desires?  Eventually, He feeds these people in this miraculous way, and so they decide He is the fulfillment of their desires.  He's the Prophet foreseen by Moses, and so they desire to make Him king, and seek to do so by force.   He heals people of diseases, and He feeds the people, and so they believe He is the answer to the things they need in life; He can provide them with what they want, a king like David who will restore the fortunes of Israel.  But that's not what Jesus has come into the world to do, and that's not the message nor meaning of His ministry.  Even this feeding in the wilderness is not a miracle given to convince people of His power or His authority, but it is properly called a "sign" in St. John's Gospel.  A sign is something that points to a reality beyond itself.  Like a symbol, an emblem, or a flag, it points to something greater and more meaningful, and that is what this sign is meant to be.  In order to understand Jesus and His ministry of salvation, one must listen to Him, and understand just what kind of food He's really brought into the world for us.  On that He will expand throughout this chapter.  But He didn't hand out free, miraculous food in order to convince people to make Him king, to claim that kind of worldly authority or worldly kingdom.  He is bringing something different into this world, and as He will say, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36).  Even the food, this feeding miracle, will be transformed into something else in His Church, using the elements of food to convey something beyond this world and bring it to us.  Some people seem to question and to wonder why Christ's ministry did not bring us in this world a solution to all our problems.  Why didn't He just destroy evil and be done with it, so we don't have to live with it among us?  Why didn't He just make life abundant for all, including all the goods and supplies we think we need?  But He came here to bring us a different gift, a gift of life in abundance, even of an "everlasting" quality (and if we think about it, we don't even fully understand the depths of what "everlasting" means in this context).  He came here, in short, to bring us the gift of Himself, and all the things that could mean for us.  In this chapter Jesus will continue to expand His teachings on this subject, on the bread of heaven, the true bread of life for the world.

 

 

How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.

 

- Mark 8:1–10 

 

Yesterday we read that Jesus and the disciples went to the Gentile region of Tyre and Sidon.  And He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  For a woman whose young daughter had an unclean spirit heard about Him, and she came and fell at His feet.  The woman was a Greek, a Syro-Phoenician by birth, and she kept asking Him to cast the demon out of her daughter.  But Jesus said to her, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."  Then He said to her, "For this saying to your way; the demon has gone out of your daughter."  And when she had come to her house, she found the demon gone out, and her daughter lying on the bed.  Again, departing from the region of Tyre and Sidon, He came through the midst of the region of Decapolis to the Sea of Galilee.  Then they brought to Him one who was deaf and had an impediment in his speech, and they begged Him to put His hand on him.  And he took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue.  Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed,  and said to him, "Ephphatha," that is, "Be opened."  Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.  Then He commanded them that they should tell no one; but the more He commanded them, the more widely they proclaimed it.  And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, "He has done all things well.  He makes both the deaf to hear and the mute to speak."

 

 In those days, the multitude being very great and having nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, "I have compassion on the multitude, because they have now continued with Me three days and have nothing to eat.  And if I send them away hungry to their own houses, they will faint on the way; for some of them have come from afar."  Then His disciples answered Him, "How can one satisfy these people with bread here in the wilderness?"  He asked them, "How many loaves do you have?"  And they said, "Seven."  So He commanded the multitude to sit down on the ground.  And He took the seven loaves and gave thanks, broke them and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and they set them before the multitude.  They also had a few small fish; and having blessed them, He said to set them also before them.  So they ate and were filled, and they took up seven large baskets of leftover fragments.  Now those who had eaten were about four thousand.  And He sent them away, immediately got into the boat with His disciples, and came to the region of Dalmanutha.  Here is a second feeding of the multitude, which should not be confused with the first (see this reading from Tuesday).   These are two distinct miracles, which Jesus affirms later (Mark 8:19-20).  My study Bible cites the variance in the number of loaves as significant.  In the first instance (see Tuesday's reading), there were five loaves, which symbolize the Law.  Here, however, there are seven loaves.  Seven is a number that symbolizes completeness.  Here, my study Bible says, it indicates spiritual perfection.  So, therefore, in the first feeding in the wilderness, Christ reveals Himself as fulfilling the Law, but here He shows that it is He who grants spiritual perfection.  My study Bible asks us to note also that these crowds had been with Christ for three days, the same number of days Christ would rest in the tomb.  It says that participation in Christ's perfection can only come through being united to His death (see Romans 6:3-5).  

 

Why two feedings in the wilderness?  As my study Bible pointed out, the differences are important, and distinguish the two from one another.  We do know that the prior event in St. Mark's Gospel is the casting out of a demon from the daughter of a Gentile, a Syro-Phoenician woman, who continued to make this request of Christ although at first He refused (see yesterday's reading, above).  In yesterday's reading, Jesus interestingly spoke of food and feeding, as a way to refer to His ministry and what He offers.  In a reference to "the children" of Israel, He said, "Let the children be filled first, for it is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs."  And she answered and said to Him, "Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs under the table eat from the children's crumbs."   For this answer, Jesus healed her daughter.  As St. Mark's Gospel then immediately takes us to the feeding of the four thousand, with its images of fullness and perfection, we might assume this is a kind of symbolic reference to the Christ's message being carried to the Gentiles.  We see in this second feeding a kind of expansion and evolution of Christ's ministry, just as the early Church itself would continue to expand.  Feeding is also, of course, symbolic of the Eucharist, in which Christ Himself becomes our food.  The four thousand would seem to symbolize an expansion of notions of the number four; these would include the Cross with its four arms, the four points on the compass symbolizing the world, and perhaps God the Trinity and humankind.  Again, the symbolic understanding here is of Christ and the world, not only the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24).  In St. John's Gospel, Jesus says, "For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world" (John 6:33), and, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world" (John 6:51).  Perhaps the key to the fullness and perfection symbolized in today's reading is here, in the bread of God given for the life of the whole world, meaning all of the created order, the cosmos.  St. Paul writes, "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28).  "All in all" begins with a few disciples, but continues to expand, with no discernible limit in terms of the creation itself.  Let us be grateful for this food which we receive from Him for the life of the world.  When we find ourselves in the wilderness, so to speak, we should remember this ever-expansive, creative gift.  For it is given to us freely, and it is the gift of life.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 that 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 

 

Yesterday we read that, following events at the Feast of Weeks (or the Old Testament Pentecost), 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.  Here is recorded the fifth of seven signs in John's Gospel.  As the entire sixth chapter of John's Gospel is a series of parallels with the events of the Passover and Exodus of the Jews from Egypt, we observe here that in the Exodus, Moses led the people across the Red Sea.  That is, they walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, Jesus sends the disciples across the sea, and then walks on the sea Himself as if it were dry ground.  

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 that 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."  Here we're given a taste of how badly the people want an earthly Messiah.  They so desire to follow Jesus that they got into boats and came to Capernaum.  But Jesus knows why they seek Him, and reminds them again that they simply seek Him because they were filled with the material bread He gave them in yesterday's reading, above.  Now, He begins to direct their attention away from the material, to another kind of heavenly bread, the food which endures to everlasting life, and to focus on His true Kingdom.

 

 Jesus tries to turn the people's focus from one place to another.  Here, they are so enamored of the bread with which He fed them in yesterday's reading, by multiplying the loaves and the fishes, they have already tried to forcefully make Him king, which Jesus eluded.  But that is not enough to shake off their persistence, and they have followed Him in boats now to Capernaum.  What does Jesus do when faced with this determined bunch who have made all this effort, who want Him to be their king?  Jesus does what He does elsewhere when faced with a crowd of people who follow Him, He begins to teach.  Here, He begins to offer them what He truly has for them.  Rather than the food which perishes (like the loaves with which they were filled in yesterday's reading), Jesus has something much better and much more precious to offer them.  They have put in all this effort to find Him, which He calls labor.  He tells them, "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."  If they are going to make such an effort, He's saying, they must do it for what is truly and ultimately worthwhile, for the food which endures to everlasting life.  And He makes it clear that He alone -- the Son of Man -- can give this kind of food, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.  So, if they want to know what is truly special and unique about Him, it's not that He has the capacity to feed whole crowds in the wilderness, to multiply loaves and fishes (after all, He stresses here that they didn't even follow after Him because of the signs He's done, but because they were filled).  No, Christ is special not because He would be a spectacular earthly king who could provide His people with unlimited material goods.  What makes Christ so special is that He can offer them something much better, a food which endures to everlasting life.  And only He has the seal of God the Father; that is, the identity that bears the authority of God the Father, the imprimatur that guarantees He is the unique and authentic Son.  Only the Father can give this authority, and God the Father has given it -- this "seal" -- only to Christ, the Son of Man.  And this is where we begin to understand who Jesus is, and how Jesus is in the world as the Son of Man, in His absolutely unique Incarnation, a one-time event in the history of Creation, and what He is here for.  This is what He is here to give, what He is present and ready to offer to the people who wish to "labor" for it.  In the following reading, Jesus will explain just what that "labor" is.  But for today, He's leading the people in what we might easily call repentance.  He's turning their minds over to something different than that which they apparently had their hearts set on, turning them to face another direction, and something quite different.  He's asking them to turn around and to reconsider, that there is something much better to work so hard for and to desire for themselves -- and only He can offer it to them.  The question then starts here, will they take from Him what He offers? Can they accept it?  And we can also ask ourselves what we do in terms of our own constant purely material focus.  Can we shift and focus on something better, on something that adds to our lives in subtle but unmistakable ways, that adds a kind of substance that is transcendent of what we know?  Are we prepared for this "everlasting" quality, or even to find out what it means?  Let us consider what it is we labor for, and what He has to give which is on offer, and why.