Master·evangeli.net
Today's Gospel + short theological explanation
Jesus said, “Have the people recline.” Now there was a great deal of grass in that place. So the men reclined, about five thousand in number. Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining, and also as much of the fish as they wanted (…).
John 6: the bread subject
EDITORIAL TEAM evangeli.net (based on texts by Benedict XVI) (Città del Vaticano, Vatican)Today, we start Chapter 6 of John’s Gospel, whose entire content is the subject of the bread. This issue has an important place in the message of Jesus, from the temptation in the dessert, through the multiplication of the loaves to the Last Supper.
The great sermon on the bread reveals the broad spectrum of this topic’s meaning. The hunger of people, who have listened to Jesus Christ, is initially described and food is given before being dismissed. But Jesus does not allow man’s need to be reduced to the bread, biological and material needs. «Man cannot live on bread alone, but need every word that God speaks» (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3).
—The bread, miraculously multiplied, reminds us of the manna in the dessert and, furthermore, means at the same time that the true food for man is the “Logos”, the eternal Word, the eternal sense from which we come and on which we live.
