When people fail to grasp the true meaning of the sign of feeding the five thousand. They understood him only as a miracle worker; as someone who solves all our problems with miracles. Jesus, in a way, moves away from them and goes up the mountain alone. The fact that Jesus goes alone to the mountain is a clear sign. It has a clear meaning for those who keep in mind the biblical symbolism of the mountain, that is, the place where the thought of God is shared. He is the only one who goes up the mountain.
The disciples separate themselves from the crowd, get into a boat, cross the lake, but without Jesus, they are caught in a storm; the wind is against them. When faced with the tempests of the sea, they see Jesus walking on the waves of the sea. They are afraid. But, once they receive Jesus into the boat, the tempest is gone, the rough sea calms down and they reach their destination.
All this is very mysterious. What does the evangelist John want to tell us? These are images with which the evangelist presents the inner turmoil of the disciples. Unlike the multitude, the disciples have understood the proposal that Jesus made: They realise that to accept the proposal of Jesus is very complicated because it implies behaving like the boy who did not keep the bread for himself, nor did he make people pay for it, but he gave it up out of love; he had given up all the goods he had for the sake of his brethren, to satiate the hunger of the world. Now it is the turn of the disciples and their hearts are troubled because accepting this proposal is difficult.
Therefore, the reference to the turbulent sea is the agitation of their hearts and the agitation of the Christian community. The Word of God calls for a conversion, a radical change in life choices. This is the fear that every believer experience when he does not perceive the presence of Jesus by his or her side. They do not feel him near them, and they are agitated.
With the look of faith, they see him, walking towards them through the tempests. Once they welcome him in their boat, the waves are calm. And at this point begins today’s gospel passage, which introduces the reaction of the multitude.
The passage was written for us; we today need clarification to understand well what does Jesus want to do in our lives. We are the disciples tossed by the sea waves today.
The multitudes seek Jesus and find him on the other side of the sea. Jesus wanted to introduce these multitudes into the new world, but they did not follow him; but are still seeking him, for the wrong reason. They wait for what he did not come to give.
For our reflection
Do we seek God with an expectation of him solving our problems with miracles?
Are we looking for God or the loaves and fishes?
Father Fernando Torres CMF
www.ciudadredonda.org
Translated by Father Alberto Rossa CMF
