The Gospel for Saturday, January 31, 2004
John 6:15-27
Jesus, as he realised they were about to come and take him by force and make him king, fled back to the hills alone. That evening the disciples went down to the shore of the sea and got into a boat to make for Capernaum on the other side of the sea. It was getting dark by now and Jesus had still not rejoined them. The wind was strong, and the sea was getting rough. They had rowed three or four miles when they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming towards the boat. They were afraid, but he said, ‘It’s me. Don’t be afraid.’ They were ready to take him into the boat, and immediately it reached the shore at the place they were making for. Next day, the crowd that had stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set off by themselves. Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the place where the bread had been eaten. When the people saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to Capernaum to look for Jesus. When they found him on the other side, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. Do not work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set his seal." -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
This account occurs in Mark, Matthew, and John. In the two synoptic Gospels, Jesus tells his disciples to go across the lake without him, while he calms the crowd who want to seize him and make him king. Here, he slips away from the crowd and the disciples head for Capernaum without any discussion as to why they would leave Jesus alone.
The other two Gospels make somewhat more of the "walking on water" story, but John has need for these actors to get set for John's next teaching scene in Capernaum. The four Gospel accounts, all written within a span of about 40 years, at once complement each other and disagree in small issues [for most students] with each other.
A supreme being who wanted only to "get the word out" would have created one book, with the words writ large and requiring no interpretation. God has let these four accounts be created and survive for us to ponder and pray over. We are not to decide which is correct, but to extract into our hearts the truth revealed through the different lenses in each.
When the new day comes, John opens the curtain on a crowd that wants more bread and more entertainment. The other Gospels take Jesus into the countryside around Gennesaret where he continues his healing ministry.
John, though, takes the opportunity to remind his readers that it is possible to seek Jesus for entirely the wrong reasons. The discourse and response over the "bread of Heaven" that follows is a near-perfect example of what happens when ill-motivated seekers find the Truth and determine that it does not serve the purpose they had sought.
A Reflection
A popular witticism (and mostly sage advice) in industry is, "Don't ask the question if you can't stand the answer."
Many think that, in asking how Jesus got to the other side, the crowd is hoping that Jesus had done another magic trick for them. They saw him go back up the hill, and they saw the boat with his disciples leave without him, but, Shazam! here he is on the other side.
Jesus, instead of entertaining them, gives them the answer they can't stand. These people are not so different from us! A thousand years earlier, they had assaulted Moses with "Weren't there enough graves in Egypt that you had to bring us into this wilderness to die?" They had certainly thought if was neat, however, when the Sea of Reeds did a number on the pursuing army of the Pharaoh.
Today, when we aren't ready to work hard for something, we will whine that it's not worth our efforts, or that it's unachievable anyway.
And the tragedy in this, is that working for the food that endures for eternal life is really the only worthwhile work we ever do. Working for food that perishes is just the enabler that allows us to live long enough to work for the real Food. Let's be done with bread and circuses and get on to the real work that God has given us to do.
8:16:47 AM 
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