This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.
Acts 6:8-15; Ps 119(118):23-24. 26-27. 29-30.; John 6:22-29
Do you ever ask Jesus questions that seem to be unanswered? Today’s Gospel tells one such story. The people ask Jesus how he came to be at CApernaum, when the day before he was on the other side of the lake, and there were no boats available for him to get there. Jesus decidedly does not answer that question!
Instead, he tells them what they actually needed to know – in their case, that all they need is to believe in him. Incidentally, the new lectionary translation has changed something that we might now miss… In the Jerusalem bible translation we had “Amen, Amen, I say unto you” now given as “Truly, truly, I say to you”. ‘Amen’ as used by the Aramaic speakers of the day, meant something like ‘Firmly’. So the Jerusalem translation makes the phrase intrigingly obscure, and the new lectionary make it loose impact somehow. It perhaps goes to show how important it is to think about what we read…
Meanwhile – the disciples had seen Jesus walking on the water – so they knew how Jesus mysteriously got to the other side. But they too, did not answer the people’s question!