August 4, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL
Exodus 16, 2-4, 12-15 + Psalm 78 + Ephesians 4: 17, 20-24 + John 6: 24-35
The crowd has failed to understand the sign they were given earlier on the other side of the lake. Their faith is just not up to it. They fail to understand that the serving of that food, blessed, broken, and shared meant something more than just relieving their immediate and physical hunger. The dialogue in this Gospel tries to lead them to clarification and some understanding.
They are in need, and they know that. They have a vague inkling of what that need is, but they don’t know the source that might fulfill that need. They are running all over the place, back and forth around and across that lake. They need to see their dreams and hopes fulfilled. They are hungry and they want to be fed, to be satisfied. With the little faith they have, they think a powerful, messiah/king is what they need to satisfy their longing. In some ways, they want the old days when with Moses they were fed every day. Yet, they were forgetting how in those old days the infidelity of their ancestors led to one disaster after another. Failing to remember, they thought Moses produced that food in the desert. So, Jesus reminds them that God sent that food. It came down from heaven, says Jesus.
With that said John’s theology kicks in and our ears ought to perk up remembering what came down from heaven, or perhaps, who came down from heaven. Suddenly, this is not so much about food, or for that matter about need. This is about the Incarnation of Jesus Christ – this is about his identity, and he makes that clear in the final verses of today’s Gospel when he declares who he is. Jesus knows what the true bread from heaven is. It is not the manna in the desert or the multiplied food from the day before.
We proclaim this Gospel to and in a world that is running all over the place frantic to satisfy its needs and its dreams, angry sometimes when it does not work or we just can’t seem to find it or keep it. For that matter, some of us may, from time to time, forget what we learn here and start thinking that someone or something is going to give us what we need or what we want out of life.
Just look at us. Most of us have all the bread we can eat and even more than we should, and we are still hungry and deep down still feel unsatisfied. Many end up chasing after this and that all through their lives because that need is always there no matter how much we eat, where we live, or work, or how much we have. It is never enough because the source of what we need has been right here all the time, and our faith is just not up it. It came down from heaven.
God gives us in Jesus Christ the bread that lasts forever. To think or to want more is evidence of weak faith and, like the crowd in this Gospel, a failure to understand the sign we are given. That sign is not some “thing.” It is someone. It is the great treasure of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. It is the only reason for the Incarnation, for Jesus to leave the glory of heaven, stand among us and lead us home. This is the wonderful and mysterious way that God reaches out to gather in all of us searching and longing, hungry and homeless.
My friends, knowing what you want out of life is half the battle, if you want the right things. Here it is. We don’t have to go anywhere else or need anyone else.