Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from:  but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus aid to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?" 

- John 7:14-36

Yesterday we read that at this time in Jesus' ministry, He remained in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the religious leaders sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up to the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  My study bible comments on this passage that the simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  It says that spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize God's authority.  It quotes St. John Chrysostom's paraphrase of Christ's words:  "Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of God.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way."   See this reading for the incident to which Jesus refers, in which He healed a paralytic on the Sabbath, at the Feast of Weeks (Old Testament Pentecost) in Jerusalem.

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from:  but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."    My study bible remarks that these crowds are doubly mistaken.  In terms of Christ's human identity as Jesus, they think of Him as being from Nazareth in Galilee.  But Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem (verse 42; see also Luke 2:1-7).  Moreover, they cannot understand that Christ has come from the Father in Heaven (who has sent Him) eternally begotten before all ages.  Therefore His divine "origin" is also unknown to them. 

Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this Man has done?"   Christ's hour is the time of His suffering and death.  My study bible writes that Christ is the Lord over time, which is an authority possessed by God alone.  He comes to His Cross of His own free will and in a time set by the Father, not according to the plots of human beings (see 8:20; 10:39).

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus aid to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  To go among the Greeks means to go among the Gentiles; that is the "Greek-speakers," as at that time Greek was the lingua franca or common international language used for trade, commerce, literature, etc.   The Dispersion would refer to the diaspora of the Jews (the Greek word translated as "dispersion" is diaspora/διασπορά); that is, Jews who live outside of Israel proper, including proselytes and converts to Judaism.  My study bible comments that this is, in fact, an unwitting prophecy, which points to the time after Christ's Ascension, when His name will be preached among the Gentiles by the apostles.  Indeed, our New Testament Scripture was originally written in Greek, and the gospel was carried into the world using the Greek language.

It's noteworthy and interesting that Jesus' first response to the accusations He encounters is to teach, "Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Nicodemus will say something similar to the Pharisees:  "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?" (7:50-51).  In a similar vein, in Acts of the Apostles, Gamaliel offers counsel for good judgment, when he prescribed leniency for the apostles who were preaching the gospel of Christ:  "And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God" (Acts 5:34-42).  Jesus, Nicodemus, and Gamaliel offer an insight already present in the Law:  a teaching for righteous judgment.  All too often, we fall into similar patterns of ignoring what we know are prescriptions for good judgment, and our passions and fears get in the way of practicing good judgment.  What Jesus seems to suggest is that even if they do not understand Him, even if they cannot for the moment accept His doctrine or find anything familiar in it, even if His actions seem nominally aberrant, the responsibility to judge with righteous judgment remains.  Jesus, by His suggestion, seems to assign this responsibility across the board, to all of us, no matter where we are in our religious understanding.  John's Gospel provides us with the perspective that we are all on a road, and all may be in different places regarding our depth of understanding or embrace of the faith of Jesus.  But nevertheless, such differences should not play a part in our capacity for righteous judgment, and our responsibility for refraining from judgment based on appearances.  Christ calls us to our capacity for insight and compassion.  Hardness of heart is condemned across the board in the Gospels.  Our capacities as human beings capable of discernment always remain with us, and give us a responsibility for failure to engage in humane and just behavior.  Let us consider His words and teachings, and what they imply for all of us, regardless of our understanding, or where we are on the journey of faith.  He calls us to embrace a level of dispassion that befits those created to be capable of good judgment, and of faithfulness to Creator.  Let us pay attention!  The crowds who view Christ are in the middle of all kinds of forces that seek to persuade them one way and another.  There are forces of hatred and of fear, of enmity and envy, of desire and need, and in the midst the people question and don't know which way to turn.  But good judgment, Christ suggests, remains possible, even in the midst of uncertainty and manipulation.  So we are here in this world, subject to the same forces, and assigned by Christ with the same responsibility for righteous judgment.

My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

- John 7:1-13

Yesterday we read that many of Christ's disciples, when they heard His teaching on His flesh and blood, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And he said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one cane come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  John's Gospel has just given us the report of events that occurred during the second Passover Festival in Jesus' Ministry (chapter 6).  By this time, the leadership in Jerusalem seeks to kill Him.  My study bible reminds us that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used as a political term, to refer to the leadership and not to the people.  Jesus and His followers are devout Jews.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  The following section of John's Gospel (7:1-10:21) entails Christ's time in Jerusalem spent at the Feast of Tabernacles.  The entire section covers eight days, the duration of the Feast.  My study bible remarks that at this festival during the last year of Christ's earthly life, He taught in the temple and attracted a great deal of public attention.  As we will read, some thought Him mad (verse 20), others believed that He was the Messiah (vv. 31, 40), and yet others (among them, the Sadducees and Pharisees) thought Him to be a threat (vv.32, 45-52).  The Feast of Tabernacles (in Hebrew Succoth or Sukkot) is an eight-day autumn harvest festival.  It commemorates the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai, and the people lived in tents, also called tabernacles, from the Greek.  Together with Passover and the Old Testament Pentecost (also called the Feast of Weeks), this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews.  This festival included many sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  By the time of Christ, my study bible says, the final day of this feast also included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as purification and remembrance of the water flowing from the rock struck by Moses (Exodus 17:1-7).  It also included the lighting of the great lamps (menorah) in the outer court of the temple.  Jesus will draw upon images from all of these elements of the festival in His teachings and sermons during this time.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  In the common parlance of the region (and across the Middle East today), brothers can be used to mean cousins and other extended family.  These "brothers" of Jesus are likely either cousins or step-brothers, children of Joseph by an earlier marriage.  The Gospel makes it clear how little support or faith Jesus really has at this point, particularly from extended family and those of His hometown.  His time will be the time of His Passion, when He goes to the Cross, death, and Resurrection.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.  Not openly, my study bible says, means that Jesus doesn't go to Jerusalem with a grand, public entrance, as He would do on Palm Sunday (12:12-16).  The Gospel gives us the political atmosphere of fear and intrigue, with the violence of the leadership thinly hidden in the background.  Jesus is sought at the feast by the leadership, and many among the people complain about Him.  The people are divided:  some say He is good, and others that He deceives.  But all are in fear of the leaders, and so no one speaks openly.

John's Gospel is almost like a film noir version of the events of Christ's ministry, if I may be so bold as to use that term.  The reason I use that term is because we can see, laid out for us without mitigating softness, is all the motivations and conflicting impulses and desires of the people who make up the Gospel.  The central figure is Christ Himself, about whom rumors swirl, hostile action is plotted to destroy Him, followers struggle to keep up with what He teaches them, and stumbling blocks abound to the faith which He declares and the identity He reveals.  It is particularly in John's Gospel that we are given motivations in the heart, and Christ's full wisdom that includes awareness of deception, betrayal, and lack of good faith.  All of the Gospels give us Christ's condemnation of the hypocrisy of the leadership, they tell of the betrayal that will come even from one of the twelve, and they do not flinch in telling us about the evil and violence that will befall this most innocent of all human beings.  But John gives us a kind of step-by-step incursion of the cynicism of Christ's own extended family, the ridicule He faces, the struggle as many leave Him for His "hard saying" about His body and blood (in yesterday's reading, above).  Our faith does not ask us to believe in fairy tales.  It gives us the full and clear version of the struggle for faith, of Christ's mission into the world in the flesh of His Incarnation.  It lays out the clear facts of betrayal, and it teaches us that victory is not always evident -- and certainly not to the blind nor the willfully ignorant on matters of faith.  We are not misled about the work of evil in the world, and the effects of selfish impulse on human beings.  Against these things we struggle, and more.  As St. Paul will say, "For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places" (Ephesians 6:12).  John's Gospel suggests the images of film noir in its emphasis on darkness and light, and its clear understanding of the struggles that would come to the early Church and the persecutions that would follow.  But amidst that stark reality, we are also given the greatest transcendence of any literature in the world.  Christ assures us, twice already, that it is the Father who works in us to bring us to faith in Christ (6:44-45, 65).  The disciples, in their faith, and even eventually in their own stumbling (such as Peter's denials of Christ during His trial), come to the full enlightenment of understanding, and go on to their own heroic ministries carrying the faith to others.  Despite all the obstacles, the power of the living word will go out to the known world within a generation.  And it is John's Gospel that gives us Jesus' words and teachings on love, unparalleled in their depth of revelation of the real nature of God and the personal intimacy of our lives with God.  It is in John's Gospel that the Lord calls the faithful His friends and declares His willingness to go to death for His love for them (15:13).  It is John's Gospel that tells us that the saving mission of Christ is for the life of the world (3:17).  This Gospel speaks of the victory of the light, and the darkness that cannot and does not comprehend nor overcome it.  All in all, we are called, through the very rigorous eyes-wide-open nature of what is written and revealed here, to a transcendent capacity for love, for faith, for truth.  It is as if Christ's very confidence in us is only strengthened in the truth of the violence of Crucifixion, the easy hatred of the mob, the evidence of misleading and self-betraying passions, the delusion of manipulation and betrayal of the good, the terrible fear of death  These things all remain all-too-truly with us.  It is Christ who calls us to our potentials in Him, through the faith He offers and our capacity for participation in Father, Son, and Spirit through His saving ministry and acts.  Let us pay attention and heed that call, no matter what the circumstances and what we see around us.

The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And he said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one cane come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

- John 6:60-71

Yesterday we read that the leaders in the synagogue quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.  And he said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one cane come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.   My study bible comments that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His body and blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.  As we observe several times throughout this text, John's Gospel does not shy away from misunderstandings of Christ's words, and His offering of teachings that are puzzling and hard for people to accept and grasp.  My study bible adds that there remain those who reject Christ's words concerning the sacramental eating of His body and drinking of his blood, and thus do not accept this teaching.  It notes that because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, many attempt either to define its nature rationally or to explain away Christ's words altogether, giving them a purely metaphorical meaning.  Either extreme, it says, is dubious.  To reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  Strikingly, Christ begins to refer to His betrayal, and uses it as another affirmation of the will of the Father, and the role that plays in our faith.

 Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.  Here is the incident of Peter's confession of faith in John's Gospel.  Peter tells the truth from his heart when he makes his confession:  "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  Here as Peter's confession is given in John, Jesus immediately remarks upon the one close disciple -- one of the twelve -- who will betray Him.

"Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  Peter's words are stunning in the stark truth of what he says.  Indeed, there are those of us who cannot imagine a more true statement, even after two thousand years of history in between now and the time that they were said.  To whom shall we go?  Where else do we hear such words of eternal life?  From whom else would we hear them?   Peter's honest response reminds us of the words of the apostles who encountered a stranger on the road to Emmaus, later realizing that the stranger was Christ, saying, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?" (Luke 24:32).  Indeed, that passage from Luke is linked to today's passage and its message of the Eucharist, in the "hard saying" of Jesus, as the apostles recognized Christ as He sat at the table with them, and He took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they knew Him; and He vanished from their sight (see Luke 24:28-35).  Christ remains the One, the unique Person who has the words of eternal life, and whose life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension we commemorate as sacrament.  That is, He gave His life as the human Jesus for all of us -- and in so doing, His very death became transformative, offering us eternal life with Him.  He offered His death on the Cross so that our lives might be transformed with the eternal life that overcomes death.  This eternal life, and Christ's words of eternal life -- the words that are spirit, and they are life -- do not merely indicate a kind of survival of life after death in this world.  They indicate a gift that is present here and now for each of us.  They indicate the gift of the indwelling of Christ, as He said in yesterday's reading (above), that He abides in us and we in Him.  In today's reading, He also speaks of the Spirit who is life, giving us the light of an even deeper understanding which was brought to the early Church.  In the left-hand column of this blog, we may read a comment on John's Gospel by Cyril of Alexandria:  "The light of God is the grace that passes into creation through the Spirit, by which we are refashioned to God through faith" (Commentary on the Gospel of John 3.5).  John's Gospel introduces us in chapter 3 to the work of the Spirit in Christ's words to Nicodemus, and here in today's reading, we must pay attention to Christ's teaching about the Spirit and life -- and how the Spirit works together with the Father to bring us to the Son.  These are ever-present realities, not something meant only to be understood as a kind of carrying over of life after death.  The words which St. Peter cites are those which live for us, which the Son of Man have given us and speak to us now and whenever we need to hear them.  It is the Spirit who continues to give life, to illuminate Christ's words at times when they will inspire and give us direction, answer questions, and show us the way to go.  It is the Spirit who gives us light so that we may grow more to be like Christ.  These are living realities, the life in abundance we are offered here, today, as we dwell in this world as human beings as He did.  Let us remember who gives us these living words, the words that are Spirit and life, and which still contain a depth of truth and light which only He gives.

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

- John 6:52-59 

In yesterday's reading, we read that the Jews complained about Jesus, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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."

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  As Jesus is in the synagogue at Capernaum, we must infer that the term the Jews refers to the rulers in the synagogue (and not to the common people).  My study bible tells us that the Eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable.  Christ's declaration that He is the living bread that gives life (verse 51, from yesterday's reading, above) reveals the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  It notes that as John's Gospel does not report the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" which we read in Luke 22:19-20).  But instead, John gives us Jesus' revelation of the significance and truth of these events, which by the time this Gospel was written, were already known to its hearers in the Church.  Therefore, John reports Jesus' own words to an audience already familiar with the Eucharist.  My study bible further comments that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross -- and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.   Therefore we come to Him in faith (verse 35) and receive Holy Communion in faith in order to receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering.  When Christ says, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood . . . " He speaks of a mystery, a mystical presence which makes possible eternal life through faith, as He abides in us and we in Him.  My study bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers:  "There is no longer room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."

 The issue of Christ's "real presence" in the Eucharist is one upon which many churches and denominations have varied answers and positions.  For the Orthodox, generally speaking, the answer is left up to mystery.  That is, we have these words of Christ given to us by John, in the witness of the early Church.  As John's Gospel was the last of the four Gospels to be written, it gives us a picture of the understanding already developed in the early Church at that time (sometime during the last decades of the first century).   In the picture the Gospel paints for us today, that is clearly a depth of Eucharistic understanding that was well-developed and deliberate.  We are given the Eucharist in a "mystical supper," one which not only affirms Christ's sacrifice on the Cross, but also gives us a depth of participation in His life, death, and Resurrection that feeds body, soul, and spirit.  Through faith, Christ enables us to fully participate in His life and His work.  John's chapter 6 is filled with affirmations of this theological perspective of the early Church.  Christ speaks of the "work of God" in which He encourages all to labor by saying, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent" (6:29).   Without faith, how is it possible to accept the teachings in today's reading?  Jesus affirms that to "eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood" is to abide in Him and He in us.  Jesus speaks of a dependency within which we dwell as faithful:  "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."  Therefore, this Eucharistic mystery is meant to enable us to live a full life -- body, soul, and spirit -- in dependency upon Christ, He in us and we in Him.  These words, it seems to me, are unmistakable, and they are meant to be deliberately so.  This, then, is the understanding of the early Church.  It is a way of life that integrates and permeates all aspects of what it is to live as fully human, with full potentials as endowed by Creator, and with a purpose encased and embedded, if you will, in the Incarnation itself.  As Jesus calls Himself "Son of Man" in this passage, it is deliberately indicated that only through the Incarnation is this possible, and only through this flesh and blood of the Incarnation, and the entirety of what that means in terms of life, Passion, Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension.  And all of these things are therefore meant and deliberately understood to be a part of the Mystical Supper, the Eucharist.  One may search to find explanations, but the fullest and best explanation is the one that acknowledges that there are things about God, and about the holy, to which we are not privileged to have access, which we don't fully understand, and should not claim to do so.  We should be satisfied and accepting of notions of mystery.   There is a familiar formula in the Orthodox tradition that puts it this way:  for now, we accept this understanding, and we hope to know more in the future.  That may not always sit well with what people might term a "scientific understanding" of how to live life.  But if every scientist only accepted as valid and real and true what has already been proven to his or her satisfaction, then I would say science would be limited indeed.  For all new scientific exploration rests upon faith of some kind, and the assumptions that are always required in testing new hypotheses constitute a form of faith in themselves.  If this holds true even for scientific testing, then think what room there is in pursuing an understanding of a both visible and invisible cosmos -- and even beyond, to the things of God.   As Jesus has said to Nicodemus:  "If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?" (3:12).   Let us consider what we have been given, especially in light of the nature of mystery and the holy.  As we will see in the following reading, Jesus' own followers will find these words most difficult indeed.

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

 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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 6:41-51

In yesterday's reading, Jesus spoke to the crowds which followed Him to force Him to become king after He had fed them in the wilderness.  Jesus taught 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."  They said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."  In Matthew's Gospel, when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus responds:  "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17).  Here, in the consistency of the Gospels, Jesus gives this as a general principle.  He states that "no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him," and asserts the testimony of Scripture:  "And they shall all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13, Septuagint).  But then He points to Himself as the One who is from God, and only He has seen the Father.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this read, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  Returning to the themes of the parallels with the Exodus that dominate chapter 6, Jesus declares Himself to be the bread of life, contrasting this bread with the manna of their ancestors in the wilderness.  He begins a deeply Eucharistic teaching regarding Himself as this living bread, which my study bible says reveals the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church. 

 Jesus has just fed 5,000 men, and more women and children, by multiplying loaves and fishes in the wilderness.  They pursued Him to take Him by force and make Him king, and He evaded Him.  His disciples know that He has walked upon the water of the Sea of Galilee to their boat, as they crossed the Sea in the middle of the night.  The crowds have anticipated Jesus and the disciples, having seen their boats set off, and are now in Capernaum where He addresses them.  So, in addition to the time which they spent with Him in the wilderness, they now have pursued Him across the Sea (really a large lake), and the time has come for a deeper revelation to the public.  Jesus has told them (in yesterday's reading, above), "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life."  The work of God He told them, is faith in Christ.  In today's reading, He goes another step further:  He Himself is the bread who came down from heaven.  They, the crowd, thinks of Moses and the manna in the wilderness.  They expect the Messiah to be one who is like Moses, who restores the fortunes of Israel, who can shake off the Roman Empire and make Israel a great and dominant power, who can feed them even in the wilderness.  But Jesus offers them another plan.  And here is the overriding reality of the Christ who is the bread from heaven -- who has come down from heaven to offer something no one could ever offer:  everlasting life.  There are powerful revelations in today's reading:  that it is the Father who draws us to Christ in faith, who works even in us to bring us to truth, to the Son who is also the human Jesus.  That He offers eternal life.  And moreover, that "the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  Theologians and saints have given us challenges to consider what these words mean, "for the life of the world," and to consider that Christ will go to the Cross not simply for His own followers, not simply for human beings, but for the life of the world.   That is, for all of the creation, as the Greek word translated as world is not the word meaning merely "earth."  In the Greek, it is cosmos/κοσμος.  That is all of creation, seen and unseen, and everything and everyone in it.  These are things which we can barely grasp in our human imaginations.  For one thing, we don't even know what the entire cosmos really is, nor its limits, nor all the creatures and realities it holds.  But for another, not only will it all be transformed with even more life than before through Christ's Passion on the Cross, but our participation in that very act which is done for the life of the world depends on one thing, our faith.  And that faith is so important that the very Father Himself acts in us to bring us to Christ -- through that "work of God" which is belief in Him.  In the Cross is the intersection of the highest and the lowest, every human heart, by extension all of creation, even to the work of God the Father.  All of it intersects in us that we might participate in it and also participate in this life abundantly He promises, for the life of the world.  We are invited in to work at something which encompasses forces so far beyond ourselves we cannot understand them, but this process is at work deeply within us, and through our faith, will always offer this same life, this capacity to find us another plan. Everything with Christ works unexpectedly.  There will be enormously challenging disappointments (such as that He does not want to be their king), and yet, instead, in that other plan He offers, there is such level and dimension of treasure as we cannot possibly anticipate or imagine.  But one thing will always bear out in our faith experience:  if we come to a dead end, if we exhaust our own understanding and what we already know, Christ will offer us another plan.  In the great and grand understanding of the Lord, there will always be something more, something further He draws us toward -- and this holds true for the challenges in our own lives, for the understanding towards which we can, in faith, grasp.  Let us consider the better deal, the other plan, the greater life He offers this crowd, and know that He is also addressing His words to us, even as we grapple with the same choices on a different day and at a different time in the world.

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me

 "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."  They said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.  This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

- John 6:27-40

On Saturday we read that when evening came, Jesus' 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 with 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 ear 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."

  "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."  They said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."   We recall the recent events of John's Gospel:  He has fed 5,000 men, and more women and children, in the wilderness.  The people have pursued Him across the Sea of Galilee, and He has eluded them, because they wished to take Him by force and make Him king.  Here, He sets out the difference between what they pursue (the earthly food with which they were fed by Him) and what is truly worthwhile for which they should labor.  And that is a particular kind of food which endures to everlasting life.  How does one do this labor?  How does one work the works of God?   That work, in Jesus' words, is to believe in Him whom He sent.

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.' "  My study bible has explained that John's chapter 6 is filled with parallels to the Exodus of Israel from Egypt.  Here, like the Israelites following Moses, the people complain.  Although Christ has already fed them miraculously by multiplying the loaves and fishes (see this reading), they ask for a sign so that they can believe in Him.  He has already remarked at Capernaum, in chapter 4, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe" (in this reading).  Here He is, back in Capernaum, and again the people demand a sign, citing the bread from heaven given to the Israelites, to Jesus who has just fed them bread in the wilderness.

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Jesus gives a direct parallel of the gift of God which was the manna, to the true bread from heaven, which is Christ Himself.  Of Himself, He says that He gives life to the world. 

Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out.  For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  Here we get down to the nature of faith.  Does it come by signs?  Through worldly understanding?  Or somewhere else?  My study bible cites Christ's words as teaching us about His two natures, divine and human.  It says that since He has two natures, He also has two wills:  a divine will and a human will.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council (Constantinople, AD 680-681), it was proclaimed that the two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."  As follow Christ giving His human will over to the divine, so we in turn find faith through such action within ourselves, a true willingness to seek God who is the ultimate truth, which John's Gospel speaks of also as light (see John 3:20-21).

"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.  And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  Here is the highest goal Jesus gives that is set for Him by the will of the Father who sent Him:  that of all which is given to Him He will lose nothing, but will raise it up at the last day.  And here is Christ's elaboration of that will:  that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and the Son will raise them up at the last day.

Jesus' final words are quite striking:  "And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."  Perhaps a modern first question after this statement would be, well, what about those who haven't seen the Son?  We can just imagine what it would be like to actually have seen Jesus in person, to sense His presence, and character, and power -- or even to have been present to see one of His signs.  But John's Gospel anticipates this question, for in chapter 20 Jesus tells Thomas (who insisted on seeing the place where Christ was pierced on the Cross):  "Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (20:29).  Today's reading opens up this issue of belief or faith.  How do we come to it?  Of what does it really consist?  John's Gospel frequently speaks of darkness and light:  that the light is what Christ brings, and the darkness represents the forces which are against the light.  The light is paralleled with life, light, truth, and Christ.  Darkness is also an image for ignorance, deliberate denial of ignorance or truth, and evil (which is also referenced as death).  The darkness, it is important to understand, is not a force in itself but is actually the absence of light.  As free creatures, we have the choice to remain ignorant of the light, and to deliberately refuse it and the gift of life Christ offers.  But where does faith come from?  How do we come to that light?  What is the act of will that seeks the light of spiritual truth?  It seems to me that it comes down to a question of whether or not one seeks a truth that is higher that what one understands already -- and that truth is the Person of God and all that God represents and enfolds.  It is a question that comes down to a basic kind of selfishness:  is truth only what my preferences determine it should be, or is truth something I might need to learn more about, and that may change me and my perspective?  And there we come down to a question of will, which is explicitly addressed by Jesus in today's reading.  Jesus teaches:  "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  As followers of and believers in Christ, so we are asked in turn to do the same, to seek that will that is beyond ours.  We seek the truth, life, and light He offers -- and in so doing, seek to conform our will to that greater light that shows us where to go, how to change, and how to adjust our thinking to truths that are beyond us but which beckon and call to us to participate in that light and will.  Jesus comes first, as Son of Man, both human and divine, the Christ who conforms His human will to the divine, so that we may follow and do likewise.  He lives as one of us in order to show us the way, and to offer us the light that is life eternal.  It is through our faith that we become part of what the Father gives to Him, and so that we may united in Him and be raised up with all that is His.  This is the work of faith, of belief, as Jesus puts it.  These concepts are great and transcendent, not simple to grasp.  But in the heart, there is a basic truth:  do we have all the answers we want, or do we need to seek something beyond what we already know?  There is the light that calls to us deep within ourselves, and that is the light of life and the way of Christ. Therein is the work of faith.

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 with 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 ear 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 after events of the first Passover at Jerusalem during His ministry, 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 with 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 ear 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 that is given in John's Gospel.  As noted in yesterday's reading, this sixth chapter of John parallels the story of Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in different ways.  This particular event parallels Moses leading the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the middle of the waters (Exodus 14:15-31).  In John's Gospel account, Christ first sends His disciples across the sea, and then He Himself walks on the sea as if it were dry ground.  In the Exodus account, those following Moses complain that they were brought out of Egypt simply to die.  But Moses cries to God for help, after which he is told to tell the Israelites to go forward, and instructed what to do so the waters part.  Here the disciples are sent alone, and Christ Himself comes to them on the water.  Interestingly, the people have just tried to make Jesus their king, calling Him the Prophet (foretold by Moses).  But the differences in the scenaria also tell us of the differences between Moses (and the Prophet foretold by Moses), and Christ.

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."    Once again, my study bible expresses the understanding that this chapter of John gives us parallels to the Exodus.  Then, God fed the people manna (Exodus 16:1-17:7).  Here, Christ speaks of the food which endures to everlasting life, which He as Son of Man will give, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.

We see the people's desire at conflict with what Christ wishes to give them.  He is the One who has fed the 5,000 men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, for which they have pursued Him to take Him by force and make Him king.  Subsequently He fled from the very crowd He fed, and now they have followed Him by anticipating His arrival across the Sea of Galilee.  It's almost a hilarious picture, if you think about it in a certain way.  But in the meantime, He sent His disciples across the sea by night (the Sea of Galilee is actually a very large lake), and walked to meet them in about the middle of the lake and in the midst of a storm.  Therefore, at that point in this chapter, our understanding of Christ has expanded not only to include mysteriously multiplying and distributing a supply of food (with Eucharistic overtones), but for the disciples, manifestly displaying a command over the physical elements of the world and even of gravity.  We are to understand these are indeed signs that "a greater than Jonah is here" (Matthew 12:41), and this "feeds" our perception of what He tries to teach the people who pursue Him to make Him king.  In that framework of revelation through the signs John gives us, Jesus begins to speak to the multitudes about what kind of food He wants to offer them.  He tells them first that the only reason they pursue Him is because they are filled with the loaves with which He fed them in the wilderness.  But then 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." Here Jesus ties in themes of work (labor), His identity not merely as Son but as Son of Man, and the Father who has set His seal on Him,  with a food which endures to eternal life.  We are to understand Him as one made Incarnate, come into the world and so fulfilling this title Son of Man -- which He has earlier indicated is linked to the power of judgment, and here links to the Father setting a seal on Him.  He is uniquely qualified to offer the kind of food for which He proposes that they labor.  They seek Him to make Him king so that they will be fed with earthly food.  But here, in a sense, Jesus confronts them and offers them what we might call a much better deal, a far rarer and precious item that no one else could give them, and which He alone is uniquely qualified to offer.  In a sense, this ties in His admonitions in Luke about excess worry and toil and anxiety (Luke 12:22-34) by comparing earthly food to the special kind of food which He alone can offer to them.  He's telling them that it's really far preferable to labor for that special thing He offers, as Son of Man upon whom God the Father has set His seal, than the thing they're working so hard chasing Him down to get a hold of.  And that is where we need to start to approach today's Gospel, because He's talking about what precious thing is worthy of our time and effort, and comparing it to that which we are willing to go to the ends of the earth to seek.  In a sense, He's telling us that if we think if the purely earthly is so much more worthy of our time and labor, then we are selling ourselves short.  So in light of these things, let us consider what we put our best efforts and our time into in life.  Do we really take His offer as seriously as the rare and precious gift Jesus describes would warrant?  Do we take Him at His word, and think about what it means that He is not simply Son, but rather the Son who has come into the world and lived a human life, experienced the Passion and death and Resurrection, so that the Father has set a seal on Him?  Let us consider such treasure and weigh its value in terms of our own work and what it is we choose to labor for.  Think about the world that offers us promises and bills of goods, and then think about this Son of Man, the One so unique that the Father has set His seal upon Him.  From whom would you rather buy?  Who would you rather trust?  What might He offer that the world with all its venues and points of sale could not?  What better offer can you get?