BE FOCUSED AND FIXED ON JESUS

We are in the eighteenth Sunday of ordinary time. The gospel of today from John 6 is the continuation of last Sunday which will be followed in the next Sunday as well. John 6 is the source for Eucharist – it is called as Eucharistic discourse. In this chapter, Jesus does the miracle of the multiplication of bread, relates that to Himself as living bread and affirms the necessity of His continuous presence in the world.

In the wilderness people grumble against Moses and Lord that they were brought there to die in hunger (Ex 16:3). From the text we can infer that they lacked food which is essential for living. If stomach is not filled properly, all other things get affected automatically. And so, people had right to appeal to Moses and get necessary food. But their complaint is not directed to the eradication of food problem rather oriented toward comfort. They compare their wilderness life with Egyptian slavery and say that they had enjoyed good food (fleshpots and meat) in Egypt (Ex 16:3).  It is a lie. How can we imagine someone having good food in slavery? Of course, they were frustrated with little food or having same kind of food everyday but that doesn’t mean that they didn’t have freedom to eat or barred from eating leisurely. In Egyptian slavery they neither had sufficient time to eat nor had proper food to get necessary nutrition for the hard work. Here in wilderness, with all relaxation and freedom springs lie from their mouth to increase their comfort. Lie is one of ancient and primordial sin which made man to be stubborn and continue to sin. The serpent lied to human, following its craftiness human lied to God, and thus sin entered the world. Now the freed Israelites lie to Moses and Lord – the beginning of their fall in wilderness. Although they lied, God with His merciful heart provides them manna and meat for forty years, until they entered the promised land.

Jesus was a great teacher of His time. People flocked to listen to His teaching because He welcomed everyone without any discrimination and taught them with authority. To come and listen to Jesus is not simple. They had to forgo their days work, wages,… they also need to see to their material needs such as food and water. Despite all these discomfort people ran to be with Jesus. It is to them that Jesus performs the miracle of multiplication of loaves, which can serve as a sign that His teaching has authority and has God’s approval. If God is not in harmony with Jesus’ teaching the miracle would not have taken place. Hence, the miracle is an affirmation that Jesus has God’s approval. Sadly, people fail to see this miracle as a sign. They go in search of Jesus to witness this miracle again and again. Jesus rebukes their attitude. The people who came to listen to Jesus without bothering about their material need have now turned their focus from Jesus to food which He gave. They are in search of a person who can give them their daily bread.   

Despite witnessing great miracle, people once again ask for sign from Jesus quoting manna in the Old Testament as a sign for Moses’ prophetic role (Jn 6:30-31). Jesus corrects them that the manna given to their ancestors was not by Moses, rather by God in which Moses was only a mediator (Jn 6:32). Manna was a food for their journey to the promised land. Now God is giving new manna for each one’s journey toward eternal promised land. Jesus promises this new manna as a sign. In response to people’s request to give this new manna, Jesus tells them that it is He who is new manna. Whoever eats Him will live forever, never be hungry, nor ever be thirsty (Jn 6:35). The priestly class of Jesus’ time neglected their duty of teaching God’s ways to people. Consequently, hunger and thirst for God increased among people. Jesus was clearing people’s hunger for God’s word and their thirst for God’s mercy. In doing so, the miracles and exorcisms that Jesus did were only signs for the people to place their trust in Him. The real need of the people was not material food but a spiritual food. Jesus with His discourse tells them to have their focus fixed. May they be filled with the teachings of Christ so that they may act in God’s way. Unless we hear, we do not act. Unless we have input, there is no possibility for qualitative output. Jesus is the source of their and our input. Without listening to Him we go astray. Let us listen to Him, without being distracted by few blessings that we enjoy from Him. Let us be focused on Jesus.      


 

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