18th Sunday of Ordinary Time
Exodus 16:2–4, 12–15
Psalm 78:3–4, 23–24, 25, 54
Ephesians 4:17, 20–24
John 6:24–35
“I can’t complain.” This response is often given without much thought by someone who has been asked “How are you doing?” In most cases, it is meant as a superficial response that closes the interaction of those who are speaking. It is a rote dialogue, a discussion that does not engage the participants. Sometimes, just for fun, I do continue the conversation when someone has said it to me. I respond, “Don’t sell yourself short! I have heard you complain, and you do it very well. You really can complain!”
Of course, I do this for the humor. The other person may cut this off, however, by saying, “I can’t complain; who would listen to me anyway?!” The Scriptures today give us an indication that there is indeed someone who is listening. God hears our cry. He responds to our complaints by giving us what we truly need and – because He is God – by offering new and greater gifts that touch us right where it hurts, where we hunger for something more.
Moses and Aaron receive the complaints of the people. They turn to God for the answer. God responds: “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the Lord, am your God.” Manna and quail become the food for the journey for the rest of their time in the wilderness. The gift is meant to convey that God hears us and that He covers what we need. He is our God.
The gift of manna and quail is food that addresses the hunger of the body, but it also speaks to the relationship God has with His people. They are to know that He is their God. The Gospel picks up these themes. After the feeding of the multitude, Jesus is questioned by those who had their fill of the loaves regarding the work that He does. They have learned that they must respond. “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”
Jesus responds with a call to faith. “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” What follows is an “unpacking” of the Scriptures. The crowd acknowledges that something more is asked of them. They seek guidance, first asking for another action that will lead them to faith. “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
Jesus accepts this as an opening to a further revelation, both concerning His own identity and what He is offering. He speaks solemnly, as He often does in the Gospel of John: “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” When Jesus says “Amen, amen,” He is calling for an act of faith, and opening to and understanding and a grace that will make all the difference. The hearers reply, expressing their openness to this offer: “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus then expresses a clear teaching about His identity as God’s gift. “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Jesus is the Bread of Life. He is food for us, the manna from heaven, given to us by the Father, which communicates life to us. We are invited to open our minds and hearts to a new understanding.
The grumbling of the people in the wilderness led to God’s gift of manna, food for the journey to the promised land. The hunger of the people who followed Jesus and His disciples gave the sign of the loaves and fishes and prepared the way for the Eucharist. Jesus, the Bread of Life, will continue to offer us a deeper understanding of this gift in the weeks to come.