Road to Emmaus Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jul 29, 2009

First Reading – Ex. 16:2-4, 12-15

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

Second Reading – Eph. 4:17, 20-24

Gospel Reading – Jn. 6:24-35

 

Last Sunday we were introduced to the opening section of John 6, when Jesus performs a miracle in order to feed five thousand men. This Sunday’s Gospel continues the narrative of John 6. The people who experienced this miracle want to see more of Jesus, who has gone to the other side of the Sea of Galilee to Capernaum.

 

Jesus deals with their real intentions for seeking him out. Jesus says, “…you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of loaves” (John 6:26). They are not interested in faith and conversion, but are interested in eating more bread.

 

Jesus tells them, “Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you…” (John 6:27). Here Jesus is pointing ahead to the food that he will give, the Eucharist. The day before, he gave them bread which perishes, but through the miraculous multiplication of the loaves Jesus was pointing ahead to a miraculous multiplication of bread which endures to eternal life.

 

The people then ask what type of work they should be doing in order to be doing the work of God. Jesus answers, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:29). Here Jesus encourages faith. He is preparing them for what he is about to say, which will take faith to accept.

 

The people then ask Jesus what seems to be an extraordinarily silly question: “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe you? What work do you perform?” (John 6:30). This is a silly question considering what they experienced the day before. Jesus fed five thousand men, not counting women and children, with five loaves and two fish! He has just performed a great sign and work, yet somehow they do not recognize it as such.

 

Then the people bring up what we must see as an Old Testament prefiguration of the Eucharist, namely the miraculous provision of manna during the forty years of wandering in the wilderness after the exodus from Egypt. This is indeed the Old Testament reading for this Sunday. Jesus responds: “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32). In essence Jesus is saying something like, “You think that was a sign? You think that was bread from heaven? Wait until you see what my Father has in store for you!” The bread which the Father will give will give life not just to Israelites, but “gives life to the world” (John 6:33). This will be the food which does not perish like the manna did daily, but which will endure to eternal life.

 

Jesus then says in no uncertain terms, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Jesus is himself the bread come down from heaven. He is the food which endures to eternal life. Here again he is encouraging the people to believe in what he is saying and doing now, and what he will go on to say and do in the rest of John 6, and at the Last Supper.

 

As John 6 continues on into the next few Sunday readings it will become more and more explicit that Jesus is referring to the sign he will perform by giving us the Eucharist. Jesus will go on to say, “The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).

 

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