17TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

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. 

Jn 6:1-15

Jesus went across the Sea of Galilee.

It is a lake. The water is sweet. Also called: Sea of Tiberias, Lake Galilee, and Lake of Genesareth.

A large crowd followed him, because they saw the signs he was performing on the sick.

Many years ago many people went to Agoo where it was said that the Blessed Mother appeared to a 16 yr old boy named Judiel Nieva. Priests even accompanied pilgrims. There was a Saturday that the number of people who went there were so many that there was a traffic jam along the highway going back to Manila. Parishes were calling Don Bosco for a priest to celebrate Mass because their own priests were stuck in that traffic!

Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples.

This reminds us of Moses going up the mountain. Jesus sat down because rabbis sat down when they teach.

The Jewish feast of Passover was near.

The Passover was a memorial to the Exodus, the liberation of the Jews from the slavery of Egypt.

There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish.

Bread made from barley is the bread of the poor. Wheat is the usually used for bread.

So the men reclined, about five thousand in number.

This number does not include women and children.

Then Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed them to those who were reclining.

The verbs are important: took, gave thanks and distributed. They are associated with the Last Supper institution of the Eucharist. This already gives us a hint that John chapter 6 will speak about the Eucharist, about Jesus, the Bread of Life.

“Gather the fragments left over, so that nothing will be wasted.” So they collected them, and filled twelve wicker baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves.

First, this miracle of the multiplication of the bread reminds us of the manna in the desert. Manna was the bread provided by God when the people of Israel was wandering the in the desert for 40 years. It stopped when Israel finally entered the Promised Land.

Second, take note that Jesus doesn’t want food to be wasted.

When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, “This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world.”

The gospel of John does not use the word “miracle”. He used the word “sign” because the miracles that Jesus performed contained a message. In fact, Jesus would often talk about the message after performing the miracle or sign. In this chapter (Chapter 6), Jesus will talk about the Eucharist and about himself as the Bread of Life. The gospel for the following Sundays will be portions of John Chapter 6.

The people identify him as THE Prophet not just A prophet. In the OT Moses said that God would send a prophet like him. By calling Jesus the Prophet, they understood that Jesus was the one Moses was speaking of.

Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.

Jesus escaped because he didn’t want them to make him king. Of course, Jesus was a king. In fact, we celebrate Christ the King. But Jesus was not the kind of king the people had in mind. The people wanted him to a warrior king who would liberate the Holy Land from the Romans.