It looks like the crowd are following Jesus but they are really following miracles. Jesus sees through their immaturity and tries to help them to grow up. They seek Him because he has filled their bellies with bread. But they have still not understood what the bread means. They are well aware of their physical hunger and are very focused on filling it. But they are less acquainted with their spiritual hunger and are not sure how to fill that. Jesus tells them that He, Himself, is the one who feeds them with ‘Bread from Heaven’. Now He begins lesson number two. They ask him about keeping the law or the works of God. To be faithful, they must do what God does. He teaches them that they can only do these works (the many) if they are united to the work (the One). They must join the One who has been sent. For while, “The Law was indeed given through Moses, Grace and Truth have come through Jesus Christ.” (Jn 1,29)
Now comes lesson number three. These ‘would be’ disciples need proof. If Jesus is the work of God, what work will He do that will help them to believe in Him? They know that the Law, the great charter for Justice, is from God, because Moses, the lawgiver, provided manna in the desert. The manna is the only validation Moses needs. But Jesus says, ‘Think again!’ The manna was not given as proof that Moses was from God. It was meant to reveal the One who put it there. The Father is the One who gives Bread from Heaven and He is giving it all the time. Now they must see that the True Bread which comes down from Heaven is given for the whole world. It cannot be contained within the borders of Israel. It is a gift for the whole of Creation. The Bread is its own reality. It does not point to something else. If you let Jesus in you will have all the proof you need!
Now, lesson number four! The crowd need time to take in the full impact of what Jesus is teaching them. For now, all they can hear is the promise of manna every day. Since the ‘Bread of Life’ is the spiritual nourishment that flows from God into Creation, and since Jesus is the Beloved Son of God who rebuilds the connection, He himself is the Bread of life. Whoever comes to Him will kiss eternity and they will never feel spiritual hunger or thirst ever again. The Teacher invites those who are locked in the prison of the visible, the material and the temporal to embrace the freedom of the invisible, the spiritual and the eternal. Can they do it?
Once upon a time, there was an exhausted mother who stood up at a retreat and announced that she was tired of giving. Her friends were quick to offer solutions and advice; day-care, part time employment, more husband-father involvement. Then a voice broke through this conversation, “Honey, you gotta learn how to sing”. She told the exhausted mother that she had to change her whole mind, her whole attitude. Nothing suggested so far would provide lasting help. Tinkering with the edges was no substitute for inner change. She had to transform the moments of giving into moments of meeting.
Spiritual Teachers value interior change as the forerunner to new and decisive action. They often tweak and tease the consciousness of their disciples to see things in a new way. Like the other day when I was driving back from visiting my best friend who is dying, I saw, on the billboard of a church, ‘Tweet others as you yourself would like to be tweeted’. Brilliant! Or the story Jack Kornfield tells of his spiritual Teacher. ‘There is a road I know well, but it can be foggy or dark. When I see someone travelling this road about to fall into a ditch or get lost in a side track on the right hand side, I call out ‘Go to the left.’ So too, if I see someone fall into a ditch or get lost in a side track on the left hand side, I call out, ‘Go to the right.’ That’s all I do when I teach. Wherever you get caught, I say, ‘Let go of that too.’ (After the Ecstasy, the Laundry: How the Heart Grows Wise on the Spiritual Path)[New York: Bantam 2000. Pp268-169]
Jesus, the Teacher, knows the path well and can help others who are in a fog or in darkness. I like to see Him calling out to us, “A little to the left,” or “Go to the right”. And I imagine Him saying, “Don’t keep hungering after wonders or miracles. Notice the deeper hunger within you for what lasts forever. Turn your mind from doing things and enlarge the inner space from which you are able to do things. Gods’ work is always done with God. Stop asking, ‘How will I know if this is true?’ Instead ask, ‘Am I in communion with God and receiving His gift of life. Manna every morning will not solve your problems. Give your heart to me and you will be satisfied for ever.” This is the deeper level where Love elevates us and things become easier, less trying, happening more by themselves. If you think you need more of this, you are right.
