Road to Emmaus Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time

Jul 22, 2009

First Reading – 2 Kgs. 4:42-44

Responsorial Psalm – Ps. 145:10-11, 15-16, 17-18

Second Reading – Eph. 4:1-6

Gospel Reading – Jn. 6:1-15

 

Introductory comments

 

For the next five Sundays of Ordinary Time (Seventeenth – Twenty-First) the Gospel readings will not be taken from the Gospel of Mark, but from the very important sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. This Sunday the Gospel reading is taken from John 6:1-15.

 

One important point that must be mentioned before commenting upon the whole of the sixth chapter of John over the next five Sundays, is the fact that the overall context of what is taking place is revealed to us in John 6:4: “Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand.” This is the second of three Passover celebrations that would occur during Jesus’ public ministry. Matthew, Mark and Luke tell us only about Jesus celebrating the third of these Passover celebrations, when Jesus institutes the Eucharist and the new covenant priesthood. John tells us about all three (cf. John 2:13; 6:4; 11:55).

 

The fact that the Passover is the context provides us with an interpretive key to what is happening and its meaning.

 

The Passover is the most significant event for the people of the Old Testament. For a full account of the Passover ritual, read Exodus 12. Here are some highlights:

 

1.      A lamb without blemish was to be sacrificed according to how much each man could eat.

2.      The whole assembly was to gather together to sacrifice the lambs.

3.      The blood of the lamb was to be put on the lintels and doorposts where they were going to eat the lamb with unleavened bread. The blood was to be a sign of deliverance of the first born sons of Israel.

4.      The Passover was a “memorial feast for you, which all your generations shall celebrate with pilgrimage to the Lord, as a perpetual institution” (Exodus 12:14).

5.      In direct connection with Passover they are also required to keep a feast of unleavened bread, “as perpetual institution” (Exodus 12:17).

6.      It might also be noted that after God prescribes for them what to do, “the people bowed their head and worshipped” (Exodus 12:27). Passover was about worshipping God.

7.      Only those who were circumcised, the covenant sign given to Abraham, could eat of the Passover lamb.

 

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We will have the opportunity to show how all of this connects with John 6 in future columns. But this context must be kept in mind as we read through this crucial section of the Gospel of John.

 

Feeding the five thousand

 

In the opening section of John 6, which we hear about this Sunday, Jesus is feeding the five thousand. The direction where all of this is heading is toward an understanding and belief in what Jesus will do at the third Passover celebration of his three year ministry, where he will turn bread and wine into his body and blood, miraculously providing divine nourishment for all humanity, throughout all the centuries to come. In a certain sense feeding the five thousand is nothing compared to what he will do in instituting the Eucharist, and providing his body and blood for you and I even to this very moment. Now that’s a miracle!

 

However, the feeding of the five thousand does prepare us for what Jesus will do one year later. All that we hear in John’s account is similar to what we will hear during the institution of the Eucharist. The following are parallels to keep in mind. You can go to any of the institution narratives found in Matthew, Mark or Luke:

 

1. The fact that it is the Passover.
2. The presence of Jesus, and the Apostles.
3. The fact that everyone is seated.
4. The presence of bread.
5. Jesus takes the bread and gives thanks.
6. There is a distribution of food and eating.

“This is indeed the prophet”

 

At the end of this Sunday’s reading, after the miraculous multiplication of the five loaves and two fish, the people proclaim, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world!” (John 6:14b). Notice that the response of the people is not simply to refer to Jesus as a prophet, but as the prophet. He is a prophet, but he is also the prophet.

 

Why is this phraseology important? Because the People of God were awaiting the prophet, the prophet like unto Moses, that Moses himself spoke of in Deuteronomy. “The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from you brethren – him shall you heed…” (18:15). Then the Lord says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brethren; and I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak in my name…” (18:18-19). Jesus is the prophet. If this is so then Jesus is also a new and greater Moses (cf. Acts 3:22-23, 7:37). Jesus being a new and greater Moses will continue into next week’s reading from the Gospel of John when Moses and the provision of manna during the Exodus will be brought to the center of our attention.