We are called to lead others to Jesus!

The 'Bread of Life Discourse' provides us John’s Eucharistic theology.

WORD OF FAITH: A breakdown of each week's upcoming Sunday readings to better understand the Word of God at Mass.

The multiplication of the loaves from John 6:1-15 begins the proclamation of Jesus’ “Bread of Life Discourse,” which provides us John’s Eucharistic theology. Over the next several weeks, we will have an opportunity to meditate on the “I am” statements of Jesus, which allude to the Old Testament self-designation of God as “I am.” The “I am” statements of Jesus provide an insight into how the Holy Eucharist is the food that can only be made possible to us by Jesus, who himself is the bread that has come down from heaven.

There is great symbolism in the multiplication of the loaves, from Jesus’ crossing of the Sea of Galilee to the large crowd that follows him. There is a recalling of the Exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt and a foreshadowing of the new exodus that will be made possible by Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection. The Gospel of John does not provide us with a retelling of the Last Supper and the institution narrative of the Eucharist. He provides us with the multiplication of the loaves and the entire “Bread of Life Discourse” which reminds us of how God fed the Hebrew people with manna in the desert and how Jesus provides for us in his body and blood.

The crowds in John 6:1-15 followed Jesus for the same reason: they were hungry and they needed to be fed. But how did they know that Jesus could satisfy their hunger? The Gospel answers that question, “because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.” (Jn 6:2)

Those signs of healing made the people hunger even more, and Jesus fed them with five barley loaves and two fish. The barley loaves signify that this food was the food of the poor and that the crowds who were gathered were poor in body and spirit. The importance of the barley loaves also connects us with the First Reading from the second Book of Kings 4:42-44, when Elisha offers the 20 barley loaves that were given as first fruits. Elisha gives the first fruits to the people, “Give it to the people to eat.” (2 Kings 4:42) The first fruits offered to God would be a foreshadowing in the multiplication of the loaves of God offering himself to the 5,000 as the first fruits.

There are some unique features to this Scripture passage we should consider and reflect upon. The multiplication of the loaves is the only miracle that is told in all four Gospels. It is also the fourth of the seven signs of the Gospel of John. The seven signs reveal to us that Jesus is the Son of God. The multiplication of the loaves becomes the greatest sign of all because it causes us to ask the question, why did the Son of God come into the world? The question is answered through Jesus’ “I am” statements and the signs Jesus performs. The reason for the signs and, in particular, the multiplication of the loaves are not to astound but to reveal.

In this year of the Eucharistic Revival, we are called to become a sign of the presence of Jesus Christ to others and, by our own lives, become a sign of hope. In order for us to be a sign to others, we have to not only follow the crowd, but we have to lead the crowd to Jesus.

We can see those signs in the actions as we participate in the celebration of the Holy Eucharist. Psalm 145:10-11,15-18; tells us, “The hand of the Lord feeds us; he answers all our needs.” From the offering of the gifts of bread and wine, which we will be consecrated into the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is the hand of the Lord through the power and working of the Holy Spirit that feeds us. The signs of faith we witness to in the Eucharist are put into action in our receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. By our own becoming the body of Christ, we become a living sign. As a living sign, let us lead the crowds to Jesus who is present in the Holy Eucharist.