Education in Faith
The gospel this week steps back into John, exploring the image of Jesus as the Bread of Life. The chapter and the discourse begin with the miraculous feeding of the multitude. Jesus is described as testing the disciples when he asked them to find enough food to feed the crowd. There was a small boy nearby who had a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish. Jesus took the bread and fish, gave thanks and then had the disciples begin to distribute the food. When everyone had eaten their fill, the disciples collected twelve hampers of leftovers. Some commentators suggest that the twelve baskets represent the twelve tribes of Israel – indicating that the message of Jesus will be enough to feed and sustain the whole of Israel.
Having witnessed this miracle the people have a sudden insight into who they think Jesus might be – the promised Messiah come to free them from their Roman oppressors. This created in them a sense of hope that Jesus was the Messiah – the anointed one of God – would come and once again set the people of Israel free.