18th Sunday Year B - Homily 4

Homily 4 - 2018

Today’s Gospel passage follows on from last week, where Jesus fed the crowd of five thousand men plus a probably similar number of women and even children. Quite a spectacular feat – especially appreciated, given that most of them were free to gather as they did because they were unemployed or underemployed. They lived on, or under, the poverty line; and were often hungry. Overnight the scene had shifted from a deserted area around the lakeside back to Capernaum. But many of the same people were in this crowd, and gave him an enthusiastic welcome.

The Gospel writer, John, wanted to speak of a Jesus who was interested in something more basic than feeding them, and went on to have Jesus say, “Don’t work for food that cannot last”, that runs out once you have eaten it [like it had the day before]. Rather, he has Jesus say, “Work for food that endures to eternal life.”

With mention of eternal life, the Gospel narrative changes, and becomes more a meditation on what Jesus really is on about. It is directed no longer to the Jewish crowd but to the members of the Christian community for whom John wrote the Gospel. But, as context for the meditation, John has Jesus continue, as it were, his conversation with the Jewish crowd. He immediately introduces the literary technique that he follows elsewhere in his Gospel: he has people misunderstand Jesus. So, after he has Jesus say, “Work for food that endures to eternal life”, he has the crowd ask, “What must we do if we are to do the works that God wants?” This opens up into the real issue, and provides the opportunity to have Jesus say, “This is working for God: you must believe in the one he has sent”, that is, Jesus himself.

The crowd wants to be told explicitly what to do. They have been brought up on detailed commandments, on spelt-out ways of doing things – as you train children. No need to grow up – just work harder. But Jesus insists instead that they, “Believe in the one God has sent” – Believe in me; trust me; entrust yourselves to me. That is adult stuff – not unlike, Fall in love with me … then work it out for yourselves. Once you fall in love with someone, you don’t need anyone to tell you what to do – you know it naturally; and the more you love, the more you want to do it, and you do it freely and willingly – and it’s great.

This is highly relevant for us. Look at our Church. It is getting smaller – people opting out in great numbers. The drift will continue unless we learn to grow up, to get beyond doing simply what we are told, content merely to stay on the receiving end, expecting to be looked after and entertained. Instead, we need really to “believe in” Christ and become enthusiastic about him.

Traditionally, there have been four main triggers to arouse enthusiasm about Jesus. People are either fascinated by the truth of what he had to say; or are drawn to his integrity and pursuit for social justice; or appreciate the emotional freedom released through charismatic experiences; or find him through prayer and contemplation. Growth continues as they learn to integrate all four.

Back to the story: Jesus’ mention of believing in “the one God has sent” got the crowd thinking of Moses, and they suggest that Jesus work some sign to confirm his credentials, as Moses did in the desert of Sinai,"Our fathers had manna to eat in the desert” – bread from heaven, provided by God. Jesus said there is something even better. God, in Jesus, is giving a kind of bread that “gives life to the world”; in fact, Jesus is himself “the bread of life”. Then he added, “Whoever comes to me will never be hungry; whoever believes in me will never thirst” – which will introduce next Sunday’s reflection on the further potential impact of Jesus on the lives of believers.