The author of the Gospel is not reporting an actual conversation of Jesus and the crowd. Today’s passage is a theological reflection addressing matters of dispute between the Christian community and their Jewish contemporaries of his time. Jesus had fed 5000 people with five loaves ‘on the other side of the lake’ and now he is back in Capernaum. The crowd who witnessed the miracle and ate the bread- come in search of him. Jesus understands their reasons for coming after him. “You look for me… because you ate bread and were satisfied.” If they could get the bread from Jesus, they do not have to struggle for their daily bread! This is a literary style of John. He had used this writing technique while narrating the story of the Samaritan Woman, who tells Jesus: “Sir give me this water, so that I may not be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water.” By telling the story of the crowd who runs for bread from Jesus, John points out to his community the shallowness of their faith. They believed in Jesus to obtain some favours… for a miraculous cure, for success in business, enough food and a comfortable living. Even today many people believe in Jesus, hoping to obtain favours from the Lord; obtain some miraculous healings or favours. Jesus reminded the crowd and now reminds us – to ask oneself of the motive of taking refuge in Jesus and praying and practicing religion. John teaches such members of his community: “Work then, not for perishable food, but for the lasting food which gives eternal life” (vv. 26-27). It is love and sharing that produce bread in abundance. Today, decoding the symbolisms of John, many scripture scholars would say, The five loaves are the five books of Moses – the Torah. And the two fish represented the Prophets and the other scriptures that were used in Israel to complement the Torah. Jesus fed his listeners with the Word of God. It is here, we should remember the words of Jesus: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.” On another occasion when Jesus and the disciples were on the boat and Jesus was warning them “beware of the yeast of the Pharisees.” The disciples thought it was because they “had only one loaf with them” (Mk 8:14). In fact, that single loaf of bread is Jesus, whose Word is all the food that God has given to his people. How do we nourish ourselves with this bread? “What must we do?”—the crowd in Capernaum asked Jesus. The answer is the last verse of today’s Gospel: Not many works, but only one, to believe in him – the Word of God – whom the Father sent. No other thing is required.
