Videos from Fr Claudio Doglio
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The Eucharistic Discourse
Chapter 6 of the Gospel of John brings us back to Galilee. The evangelist recalls a significant moment from Jesus’ visit to Jerusalem during a feast, where he healed a paralytic man. This serves as a powerful sign of his ability to help people live according to the law. After returning to Galilee, the evangelist shares another sign performed by Jesus at the Sea of Gennesaret, also called Tiberias by the fourth evangelist. Set during Passover, the entire chapter reflects this symbolic timing. We are approaching Passover, the Jewish festival that symbolizes death and resurrection. In this festive moment in Galilee, Jesus performs an important sign that echoes the Exodus tradition.
He gives food to the people, an enormous crowd of over five thousand in a deserted area. ‘Desert’ here does not mean an arid place but an uninhabited one. The shores of the Lake of Galilee are beautiful from a natural landscape perspective, but the population was sparse and far from the villages. There was no way to buy supplies. Jesus, therefore, provides something to eat for this large crowd following him, not because they are desperate and starving but to perform a symbolic gesture. John consistently calls miracles ‘signs’ because he wants to teach us that the works Jesus performed point to something else.
A ‘sign’ is something that reminds us of another. Jesus heals the paralytic to show that he can restore people wounded by sin, enabling them to fulfill the law. Jesus provides free food to a large crowd to demonstrate that he can satisfy humanity’s needs. Before performing the sign, the evangelist shares a brief dialogue between Jesus and the disciples. He asks Philip: “Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?” Literally, in Greek, an adverb is used that should be translated as ‘where from’: Πόθεν – Pothen in Greek.
It’s a small word that John particularly likes, and he uses it repeatedly in different episodes to highlight the origin. For example, the servants of Cana knew where the wine came from because they had obeyed Jesus. In contrast, the head of the table did not know its source. They are the Jewish authorities who don’t understand Jesus’ origin and are amazed at the new covenant he offers. The woman of Samaria provocatively asked Jesus, ‘From where do you have this water that you promise me?’ Without a bucket, the well is deep—where will Jesus get living water? From himself; the origin of the Spirit—the promised water—will be Jesus. Jesus’ origin is from the Father.
Now Jesus asks his disciples, ‘From where can we buy bread to feed all these people?’ emphasizing the source and highlighting the economic challenge of providing for many. He inquires, ‘Do you think the solution is economical?’ and the disciple replies, ‘No, absolutely not! You can’t do that with all these people here. Bread would cost us 200 denarii, and they would each get a piece.’ We know that a denarius was a worker’s daily wage, so 30 denarii would pay for a month’s work. Two hundred denarii represent 200 days of work over several months—an enormous amount. If we consider an average salary of about a thousand euros, then 5, 6, or 7 thousand euros would be needed to buy enough bread for each person—no, for heaven’s sake! We don’t have that kind of money to spend or waste. That’s not the solution.
Andrew intervenes, saying there is a boy with five barley loaves and a few fish. What is this for so many people? Here, the solution to the problem does not come from an economic organization, spending a lot of money to buy bread, but from the generosity of a boy who shares his five barley loaves.
Returning to our reflection, we are used to hearing the story with five loaves, but five symbolizes the Law, the ancient tradition, the law of Moses. Making what one has available and sharing it allows one to feed all those people. The five barley loaves offered by the boy would not be enough, but the intervention of Jesus, who does not create bread from nothing, is necessary.
In the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew and Luke describe Jesus’ temptation, where the devil suggests turning the stones in the desert into bread to feed the people. Jesus does not do this; it would be a devilish temptation to manipulate the people by giving them free food. This would create followers who are motivated by interest—people who follow him because he pays them and feeds them for free, and they then praise him. They even want to make him king. Instead of turning all the stones into bread, Jesus begins with the offerings of a boy, a small, poor, and marginalized person who enters history and, through Jesus’ grace, makes it possible to feed a large crowd.
That bread is enough for five thousand people, and they still gather the leftovers so nothing is wasted. People are enthusiastic; they are excited about the man who feeds for free. Because of this, they want to make him king, but Jesus does not agree. It is a temptation; he does not want to become a king or win the people’s favor with gifts. He retreats to the mountain all alone in a way that keeps the crowd from finding him, even though they cheer him.
The disciples feel upset themselves and leave Him. They board the boat and go alone, but crossing is difficult at night. The evangelist is very brief in this story. He does not mention Jesus’ dismissal. It seems that the disciples turn their backs on Jesus, disappointed that He did not accept the offer of kingship. It could have been a great chance to gain power, but that was not Jesus’ plan. Likely, it was what His disciples expected, and on that windy night on the lake, they felt the absence of their Teacher. They recognize their weakness; people cannot find salvation through human means. Jesus reaches out to them.
It’s another sign of his power. It is a theophany: Jesus reveals himself as God by walking on water and controlling the unstable liquid element. It represents evil, chaos, and historical confusion. Just as economic problems can’t be solved with money alone but need generosity and grace, the chaotic issues of the sea, wind, and night cannot be fixed by human ability alone but require God’s presence and power. They try to take him in their boat and immediately reach the shore.
It is a moment of transformation for the disciples, who realize they cannot be alone and want to welcome Jesus into their boat with their history, person, and life. The next day, the crowd chases after Jesus. They ate for free and want to do the same again. They are looking for him. They did not notice when he crossed the lake. In the morning, they searched for him where he had been the night before. Someone says he is on the other side, and the crowd rushes a few kilometers to find Jesus again; they seek an encounter like the day before, but there is confusion. Jesus, instead of praising those seeking him, rebukes them, saying: “You are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.”You do not understand the meaning of the signs; you just have a material interest; you want to eat some bread for free again. Today, I will not give you anymore; go and buy your own.
This helps us understand how the sign of multiplying the loaves is an expression of Jesus’ mercy; he is not just the one who feeds the hungry, but it also symbolizes a different kind of sign. He aims to show how a person can deeply nourish themselves and eliminate the desire, hunger, and thirst for fulfillment. Jesus primarily speaks of the bread of life: “Work hard for food that will last.” The fact that Jesus provided food in the desert naturally brings to mind a sign from the Old Testament, the manna. God fed his people in the desert.
The fact that Jesus crossed the sea, walking on water, calls to mind another powerful symbol from the Exodus. The crossing of the waters represents an act of salvation, with God passing over the great waters and leaving his footprints unseen, as Psalm 76 says: “The Lord passed over the waters; the Lord has fed his people;” now the Lord teaches his people through the word. Jesus engages his listeners by inviting them to listen to his word. The main meaning of this message relates to bread as a metaphor for the word. We remember a verse from Deuteronomy: “Man does not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
What do we need to live? Bread alone is not enough. We need the word, and the word that sustains us is the word of Jesus. ‘It is the word of life, not Moses, who gave you the true bread. God, my Father, gives you the true bread from heaven. It is me in person, the bread of God,’ that is the word of God. That is exactly what the evangelist John first introduces as the great prologue. The Word, the Logos of God, became flesh. Jesus is the Logos, the Word of God, the fullness of revelation. Jesus, as a word, is the bread that gives life. We must listen to him and be nourished by him. It is his word that truly nourishes and satisfies.
The first part of the discourse ends with verse 51, signaling the transition to the second part, which is appropriately Eucharistic. In verse 51, Jesus says: “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.” This means that whoever hears my word will find satisfaction and will have eternal life. “And the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” Here is the passage: the bread I will give is my flesh that sustains the world. Scholars believe that this expression contains the most archaic form and is closest to the words Jesus spoke on the evening of the institution of the Eucharist during the Last Supper.
John does not write about the institution of the Eucharist. In the various scenes of the Passover supper, the fourth gospel does not present the Eucharistic account. Still, the evangelist anticipated it at the previous Passover and introduced it through necessary catechesis with increasing emphasis. Jesus is the bread as a word, but promises that he will give (in the future) his flesh to make the world live. “This is my flesh for the life of the world.”Re-translated into Hebrew or Aramaic, it could be the most archaic formula for the institution of the Eucharist. Although he has expanded the discourse, John faithfully preserved it, changed the setting, and deepened the theological teaching. In these last verses, Jesus emphasizes the need to eat his flesh and drink his blood.
We have become accustomed to this language, and it no longer impresses us much, but,in contrast, the first listeners must have been truly disturbed by such a speech. It sounded like a suggestion of cannibalism. Jesus chose this vital sign, bread, to leave us his body. ‘Flesh and blood’ is a typical expression of the Jewish language to indicate humanity in its weakness. It is not the flesh and blood that revealed it, says Jesus to Peter. “I have not listened to flesh and blood,” says Paul, writing to the Galatians. Flesh and blood are Semitic expressions that mean humanity. Jesus leaves his humanity, symbolized by the bread and wine, which truly become his flesh and blood. This is to be experienced by eating bread and drinking the wine at the Jewish Passover Supper; the disciple will have the opportunity to fully share in Jesus’sflesh and blood, his humanity, through a deep and personal encounter. Because by eating Jesus, the disciple will become Jesus.
The vertex expression is found in Jesus’ words: “Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.” The expression, also in the original Greek, has a double nuance: cause and end. Jesus says: “Just as the living Father sent me, and I have life because of the Father.” The Father is the cause of my life; he is the origin and source of my existence. Therefore, whoever eats of me will live for me, thanks to me. I will be the cause of their life; I will make them live. But the same expression also means the end: “I have life because of the Father,” Jesus says, and similarly, “the one who eats me will live for me.” I have the Father as the end; everything is oriented toward him. So, my disciple who eats of me will live for me, with me as the goal of their life.
The discourse is difficult to understand, and the evangelist emphasizes that many abandoned Jesus from that moment on. It was a moment of crisis; many who followed Jesus were scandalized. They found an obstacle in that speech of Jesus and refused to accept him; they did not believe his words. Jesus also asked the other disciples, “¿Do you also want to go away?” ‘The door is open; I do not necessarily hold you by force,’ and what follows is Peter’s confession in the synoptic gospels. The apostle Simon speaks for the other disciples and says, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”
Also, in this case, John preserves the most archaic form of Peter’s confession: “You are the Holy One of God.” ‘We have believed in you, and as a result, we have understood. We know you are the Holy One, so we do not go elsewhere. We know that you have words that allow you to live fully.’
The crisis exists, but the group of disciples who truly believe in Jesus knows the truth of his word, follows him, and keeps doing so despite everything.