SEEING SIGNS

Reflections on the Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Exodus16:2-4, 12-15; Ephesians 4:17, 20-24; John 6:24-35

One of the curious peculiarities of John’s gospel is the deliberate use of the term ‘sign’ to refer to the miracles of Jesus. While the synoptic gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke) employ the Greek term ‘dunamis’ (power) to refer to the extraordinary works of Jesus that defy or suspend logic or nature, John prefers the term “sign” (sêmeion). He lists seven of them: turning water into wine (2:1-12); cleansing the Temple (2:12–17); healing the official’s son (4:46–54); healing a physically challenged man at the pool of Bethesda (5:1–15), feeding the five thousand (6:1–15); healing a visually challenged man (9); and bringing Lazarus back to life (11). How is John’s ‘signs’ different from the ‘miracles’ or ‘deeds of power’ of the other evangelists? For Mark, Matthew, and Luke, the miracles of Jesus are acts of power that point to the irruption of God’s Kingdom into human history. Miracles are proposed as decisive points of realization of God’s will on earth. They are moments of God’s victory over the false idols and princes of the world.

For John, however, Jesus’ miracles are moments of revelation and they are intended first and foremost to reveal who Jesus is. Signs point to something other than the events themselves. They point to the fact that Jesus is the God-sent Son and messiah, who speaks God’s words for us and accomplishes God’s work in human history. In the Johannine gospel, the primary purpose of the miracles is to reveal who Jesus is and thus inspire faith. As John himself clarifies towards the end of his gospel, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (20:30-31). Signs provoke the people involved in the events and the readers to believe, hope, and love in Jesus the Son of God. Pope Francis clarified in his Angelus message on 16th January 2022, “A sign is a clue that reveals God’s love, that does not call attention to the power of the action, but to the love that caused it. It teaches us something about God’s love that is always near, tender and compassionate”.

The extraordinary and supernatural works that Jesus performs are truly God’s offer of love and his invitation to faith. It is this point that Jesus tries to make to the large crowd following him in today’s gospel. These people have just been fed miraculously and they are elated after having eaten their fill. But there is more. Observe what they call him towards the end of the narrative, “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world” (6:14). The setting of the whole episode is the nearing Passover (6:3), the Jewish feast that evokes the memory of God delivering them from their slavery in Egypt and feeding them during their liberation journey through the wilderness (first reading). So, when they call him ‘the prophet who is to come’, they are referring to the final words of Moses, who declares in Deuteronomy 18:18, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their own people; I will put my words in the mouth of the prophet, who shall speak to them everything that I command”. The miraculous feeding has stirred up the memories and the expectations of the second Moses who was expected to liberate them from their slavery (this time from Rome). Understandably, therefore, they want to make him king (6:15).

Signs inspire faith but do not always guarantee it. That is why Jesus challenges Nicodemus to look deeper and beyond the signs (3:2). He knows the signs alone do not suffice (12:37) unless they are accompanied by the faith journey of the disciples. Therefore, Jesus invites the crowd in today’s gospel to look beyond the bread and the immediate allusion to the second Moses. He is more than just a miracle worker or a prophet. He invites them to realise that the true bread from heaven does not come from the hands of Moses but from the Father who gives the true bread from heaven and that He is the true bread. They have witnessed a miracle but they haven’t seen the sign. Father is the one who feeds. He does not give from his surplus but he shares the greatest gift that he could offer to the world: the gift of His only Son, as the one who nourishes the world with God’s word and presence. Jesus continues to sow signs in our daily lives. Are we complementing these moments of revelation and call to discipleship in our faith journey? Do we truly see God’s signs?