24 So when the crowd realized that both Jesus and his disciples were no longer at the place where they had eaten together, they got into the boat and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, "Rabbi, how is it that you are here?"

26 Jesus gave them this answer: "Truly, Truly, I assure you, you're looking for me, not because you've understood the meaning of having been fed, but because you're simply glad to have been fed. 27 Don't look for things that don't last, but for things that impact the quality of your whole life, which the new Adam will give you. For it is through the latter that God the Father officially intervenes in the world.

28 The people then asked him, "Very well. Tell us, then, what God expects of us. 29 Jesus replied, "This is what God expects of you: to believe in the one he has sent." 30 Then the people said to him: "What extraordinary action can you perform, that we can see, to lead us to believe? What is this action? " 31 For example, our ancestors were fed in the middle of the desert, as it is written in the Bible: God gave the people bread to eat." 32 Jesus replied, "Truly, truly, I assure you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from God, but it is indeed my Father who can give you the bread from God, the authentic bread. 33 For God's bread can only come from God himself and is capable of injecting authentic life into the whole world."

34 The people then reacted by saying, "But Lord, always give us such bread." 35 Jesus told them: "I am the bread that gives life. Whoever clings to me will never go hungry again, and whoever trusts me will never thirst.

Does it matter where we come from?

When someone learns by chance that he or she has been adopted, shock and terrible tragedy usually follow, even if the adoptive family provides a loving environment. Suddenly, you realize you don't know where you come from. This was the case for Johanne, who, after learning that she had been adopted, spent her life moving heaven and earth to find out where she came from. Because she suffered from a rare disease, she hoped that knowing the identity of her maternal grandparents would provide her with important information. For many, the search for one's origins is prompted by the desire to gain a better understanding of one's identity, not only physical but also psychological traits, and hope to make peace with oneself. However, as much as we can understand this visceral need to shed light on our past, we can also question whether this is the most fruitful way to orient our future?

Because most people know their biological parents, and yet peace with one's origins is far from complete. Just think of Quebecer Jean-Philippe Pleau's account in his book Rue Duplessis (Duplessis street). What does he write? His discomfort at having been born into an almost uncultured and illiterate environment, only to become a sociologist with a PhD and a well-known public figure in the media, now somehow belonging to the elite; he has experienced a form of class migration. The knowledge of his origins, of this closed and limited environment, still causes him pain and sometimes even animosity towards the new milieu to which he belongs. Will this book help him make peace with himself?

And yet, is asking the question about our origins the right question, and above all, the most fruitful one? Curiously, this is the question that begins today's gospel according to John. Indeed, a large crowd has had the unforgettable experience of being fed bread and fish during an encounter with Jesus, and the next day, seeing him no more, sets out to find him with another group who have come to see him, and finally find him at his headquarters in Capernaum. Upon seeing him, what question does this crowd ask?, "Rabbi, when did you get here?". The question is not simply about the time of his arrival, but about how and why he is here - in other words, where he came from. All the discourse that follows is intended to show that this is a false question. Let's take a closer look.

Jesus' answer to people's question can be summed up as follows: Don't focus your attention on things that aren't so important, like your origin, your physical needs. But focus it on things that impact the quality of your whole life, which the new Adam will give you. I translate the expression "son of man" as "new Adam", to convey the idea that Jesus presents himself as the renewed human being. The evangelist John uses the expression "eternal life", which this new Adam intends to give. What does it mean? Note that this eternal life refers to our life on this earth, and not to the hereafter, because for the hereafter he will bring in the notion of rising from the dead. Why use the adjective "eternal"? The word "eternal" refers to the Eternal, i.e. God. That's why I translate it as "quality life" (traditional theology speaks of "divine life"). Eternal life therefore refers to this authentic life of the renewed human being. Jesus' response to the people ends with the affirmation that his intervention has received the approval of God the Father: in other words, there is no other way to access the mystery at the source of this world than through Jesus. In short, Jesus proposes that we focus our attention and our desire not on our origins, but on the quest for an authentic life, of which he has the secret, and which is fundamentally a copy of his own.

The people's reaction to Jesus' answer is astonishing: "Very well. Tell us what God wants from us". It's as if they recognize Jesus as God's spokesman. But this reaction has little depth, for when Jesus says that God expects them to believe in him, the people will immediately retort: "Give us proof that it is God who has sent you, just as Moses gave proof that he was God's messenger by feeding his people in the desert". What's so difficult about believing? It can be summed up as follows: how can a man who led the humble life of a carpenter in a small village, who distanced himself from the temple in Jerusalem, who created bonds with despised people, who showed compassion to all, and who found himself condemned by the religious authorities, how can such a person be sent by God? As we can see, we're stumbling over his origins and personal history, and all this doesn't fit in with what society expects of a being who is supposed to guide mankind.

Jesus then intervenes with another solemn declaration, taking up the theme of the bread brought up by the people who were talking about Moses: what truly nourishes a human being cannot come from Moses or any other guru, but only from God, and more precisely from the one who comes down from God. Jesus' affirmation is clear: "I am the bread that truly feeds." What does this mean? For the evangelist John, Jesus holds the key to an authentic life, both through the path he has traced with the whole of his life, and through the power of love he brings to bear in the world. But there's more. Jesus lived a unique loving relationship with God, whom he called his Father. Now, whoever clings to him enters into the same path and discovers himself or herself to be the son or daughter of a Father; eternity is already beginning on this earth.

The finale of today's gospel is problematic: "He who clings to me will never hunger again, and he who trusts in me will never thirst." What does it mean to be hungry and thirsty no more? Looking back on our own existence, when have we experienced true fulfillment? Most of the time, the answer is: when I experienced being truly and tenderly loved. So we need to understand that this is the experience to which Jesus, who speaks of God as a Father, is inviting us. This is what the 5,000 people who were fed just before our story, the scene of the multiplication of the loaves, should have discovered: through being fed, they should have perceived that Someone cared for them, Someone loved them, that they were important and precious.

There is a real danger in focusing on one's origins, emphasizing atavisms, determinism and fate. What does the evangelist John say? No matter where we come from, no matter what our past is, we are all called, without exception, to enter into this fabulous story whose secret Jesus revealed to us, that of living knowing that we are loved unconditionally by this mystery called God, knowing that our whole being is precious, knowing that every second of our life is important and part of this eternity already begun, and knowing that the One who loves us takes care of us, not only in this life, but will take care of us beyond physical death. That's what Jesus experienced, and that's what we'll experience.

 

-André Gilbert, Gatineau, June 2024