[The people said to Jesus,] “Then what sign do you do, that we may see, and believe in you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”
- St. John 6:30-35
There have always been those who demand signs from God, some evidence that He really is God. It has been shown throughout history that even when God does perform a miracle, there is not necessarily a strengthening of people’s faith. In fact, it could be shown that a faith based simply upon the spectacular, a faith which demands sign after sign, can become a weakened faith, a faith without substance.
We need only look at the story of the Exodus – that time in the history of the Jews when they were led out of Egypt, away from the slavery they had endured. Against all odds, they were able to escape from Pharaoh under the leadership of Moses but before their delivery, God sent plague after plague upon the Egyptians in which they had experienced infestations of frogs and lice and flies; their cattle had become diseased; their bodies had erupted with boils; their crops had been destroyed by hail and locusts; and finally, after Pharaoh continually balked at releasing the Jews from their enslavement, God decreed the death of the first-born in every Egyptian household, which then set in motion all the events of the Passover and the escape of the Children of Israel.
And even after they had begun their forty-year journey to the Promised Land, God kept interceding. He parted the waters of the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry ground, and He then allowed the waters to go over the Egyptians who were pursuing the Jews. When the Israelites were thirsty, God provided a spring in the desert to assuage their thirst. Time and time again He provided for them, and yet still they complained, saying that they were better off as slaves, because then at least they had enough to eat. After all the signs God had given them, after all He had provided for them, how they quickly forgot, and how soon they started complaining. Even with the passage of time, very often things remain much the same. In the Gospel we read that Jesus fed the five thousand with five loaves and two fish, and yet those very people who had been present at that great marvel are the same people who ask for yet another sign. One was not enough: they wanted more.
So often people approach God making demands, coming to Him with the attitude, “I’ll believe in you if you will do thus-and-so.” The attitude seems to be that God should somehow prove that He is worthy of our belief, or that faithfulness is somehow contingent on God’s doing something. Most people, at one time or another, have tried to make deals with God, asking Him for a sign, promising Him all sorts of renewed faithfulness, promising Him that devotion will increase, or that belief in Him will be firmer.
Part of the Gospel message of our Lord Jesus Christ is that we need not “strike bargains” with God; we need not “ask for signs” in order to believe. The bargain has been already struck. It was struck upon the cross, and it was consummated in the empty tomb. That was and is the great sign from God. That is what Jesus spoke of when He said that His Father gives the True Bread from Heaven – when He said, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to me shall not hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst.”
“What sign do you do, that we may see, and believe in you?” the people asked. Jesus answered that question for all time when He allowed Himself to be nailed to the Cross and then overcame death in the grave. Ask for no further sign – no further miracle is necessary – because the sign from God is with us always. In the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Jesus is perpetually sacrificed for us, and day after day we can partake of His glorious Body and Blood. Just as God sent heavenly manna to the Children of Israel to stave off their hunger as they wandered in the wilderness, so God sends us heavenly Bread – the very Body of Christ Crucified and Risen.
God has given us the sign we want, and it is the sign which illuminates all of history. Jesus has given Himself as the great Sign, and we are privileged not only witness, but also to partake. We need to see nothing more than Christ crucified, Christ risen, Christ glorified – Christ truly present on our altars, in our tabernacles.
They said to him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And He said them “I am the bread of life.”