I am always amazed by how teenagers eat – especially the boys. They can sit with an entire pizza and finish it in one sitting, all alone. Then, they still have room for dessert! If you are a parent of a teenager, you probably understand this well. “Where do they put it all?” I wonder, as I look at a skinny kid eating a super-sized meal from McDonalds. They are always hungry, it seems.
But that is the nature of hunger, isn’t it? No matter how much we eat or how good the food is, we will eventually want more. In fact, we will eventually need more.
So, when Jesus encounters the crowd after His miracle He tells them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life,which the Son of Man will give you.” Our Lord knows the hunger of the human heart; He knows our longing for more. But He also know that this “more” does not come from mere earthly sources.
This physical hunger that we hear about today is symbolic of our human desire for “what’s next.” The crowd wanted to see more of what Jesus could do for them – it was more of a search for a spectacle, something impressive. They were unaware of their need for a deeper satisfaction of human meaning. They were still slaves to the passions that look for the next impressive event or the loudest sounds or shiniest objects. This is the same sort of slavery that the Israelites experienced in Egypt, and because they were not focused on God but on their stomachs, they complained against Moses and actually preferred the slavery to the new freedom that God had given them.
How often are we distracted from what truly matters to be absorbed by the latest controversies or the newest outrages? How often do we chase after fleeting pleasures or quick fixes rather than turning to God as the source of our deepest satisfaction and meaning? How often do we pursue what we perceive as “bread,” when it is only a symbol of a deeper need that cannot be touched and satisfied by simple human action?
This is the bread that the crowds are seeking when they come to Jesus; and Jesus knows their hunger. But He also knows what can truly sate that hunger, and this is exactly why He is here. He tells the crowd, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” This is bread that actually transforms heart and saves souls.
As St. Oscar Romero once said: Do not work only for things that are here today and tomorrow get turned around. If there is no change of heart in those who today are suffering repression and persecution, then tomorrow they may become oppressors and repressors of others. So, we need to find the true meaning that Christ wants to give to the symbol of bread. In today’s gospel Christ says, “The bread that saves people is not the bread that Moses gave, the manna”. God gave the people that bread so that they would understand that God was provident and would give them food to satisfy their physical hunger.
Just as God was concerned about freeing the people from slavery in Egypt, so He also wants us to be free from fear, from quarreling, from disunity, and from sin. This is the Bread that God gives, and “the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
Jesus is that true Bread that comes from heaven; and Jesus is the one who feeds us with His very self. He is the source of true freedom and completion for us. What must we do to experience this freedom? This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent. Our work is to believe in him. That’s what the says. No one who makes use of mere earthly forces can bring about the liberation that reaches the heights of putting us in communion with God. Only Jesus does that. We cannot do it with outrage, indignation, and arguing online, in the marketplace, or at our work. Rather, we allow ourselves to be consumed by Jesus’ powerful love, and we are transformed into agents of freedom.
In Christ, no longer are we easily drawn after this battle or that controversy; no longer are we waiting to be offended or thinking of witty retorts; no longer are we slaves to the passions that only bring out the worst in us. Rather, consumed by Jesus, we can as Paul says, “put on the new self, created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.” This new self is a sign to the world of the freeing power of faith in Christ. This is what Jesus offered to the crowds and it is what He offers you and me today.
We will be physically hungry over and over again – like our teenagers. But fed by the Lord, we can rest in the full satisfaction that God cares for us and provides everything that we need for eternal life.
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