Had Jesus been born into a place other than Judah and into a culture other than that of our Hebrew ancestors, the Gospels for the next four Sundays would probably have been a little different. In these Gospels, Jesus offers himself as bread: sapiently (the bread of his word) and sacramentally (bread of the Eucharist). But perhaps an Asian Jesus would have offered rice as the sustenance that gives life. A Latino Jesus might have offered corn and beans, while a Jesus born into sub Saharan Africa could have provided matoke or plantains as the staple to feed the physical and spiritual hungers of his contemporaries. Wherever he might have ministered, whatever staff of life he chose, whatever sign he offered the gift that Jesus gave was the gift of himself for the life of the world.
In order to accept and acknowledge that gift, we are called to look beyond the sign in order to see and believe in the one who has used that sign to offer his very self. In today’s first reading from Exodus, the Israelites were being called to accept the manna and the quail as gifts and to see beyond those gifts to the God who had brought them into being and who, at that moment, was guiding them to freedom and a new way of life. Moses interpreted the sign for them: It was bread from the Lord, bread for the journey.
Jesus similarly provided bread and fish for the multitudes, but many became lost in the sign and came to him looking for more. As the Johnannine evangelist picks up the thread of his lengthy Bread of Life discourse in today’s Gospel, Jesus is represented as addressing the people’s desire for signs. They cited the desert event and talked of Moses and manna. But Jesus redirected their attention to the true bread from heaven. That bread, of course, is his very self who can satisfy every human hunger. Look beyond the bread and see beyond your stomachs, challenged Jesus, so as to be able to sink your teeth into the real food he has to offer, the bread of life. Jesus could see beyond the bread he took and blessed and broke and gave, aware that he would be similarly taken and broken when he gave his life for the forgiveness of sinners. Jesus could also see beyond the crucifixion to the Communion celebration, where he would be remembered and would be truly present to his disciples.
Have a blessed week,
Deacon Ron
