John 6:30Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Nothing is more insensible, nothing more senseless, than these words. While the miracle was still before their eyes, they spoke as though no miracle had yet been performed: "What sign do You perform?"

See what ingratitude and insensibility. After they had seen so many and such great miracles, they again ask for a sign, and indeed for one greater than the loaves by which they had been filled.

Like gluttons, they again demand a miracle that would serve their belly. The truth of this is evident from what follows.

Little by little the disposition of the Jews becomes manifest, though still somewhat darkly and under the veil of unclear reasonings. They spoke thoughtlessly: “What must we do, to work the works of God?”

As we have already said above, they considered the Mosaic Law sufficient for them to be guided toward every wisdom by which they could accomplish what is pleasing to God. Such an aim was present in them, yet it remained somewhat obscure.

Now it is revealed and gradually comes to light, “for nothing is hidden,” according to the Savior’s word, “that will not be made manifest” (Lk 8:17). What, then, do they say? “What sign do You perform?”

"What," they say, "do You do, that we may believe You?" And so that you may know they compared those miracles of Moses with this miracle of Christ, and therefore considered the miracles Jesus worked to be lesser, hear what they said: "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness" (Jn 6:31).

But what is manna? Perhaps you disregard this. As it is written: "He gave them bread from heaven to eat" (Jn 6:31). Through Moses our fathers received bread from heaven, and Moses did not say to them, "Do not labor for the food which perishes."

You promise food which does not perish, and which can give eternal life. Yet You do not perform the works that Moses performed. He did not give barley loaves, but gave manna from heaven.

And behold, the Lord showed them many signs. But since they desired one thing only, they despised all the rest that He had done. They spoke as though reports and fame concerning Him had never reached their ears.

In the wilderness the Lord multiplied the loaves, and in Cana He changed water into wine. He accustomed and adapted their mouths to His bread and wine, until the time came when He gave them His Blood and Flesh to taste.

He fed them with the delight of passing bread and wine, so as to bring them to the sweetness of His life-giving Body and Blood. He gave them small things without payment, that they might know that the gifts of His grace are given all the more freely.

Observe their great madness. A short time before this, Jesus Christ had miraculously fed them. Yet, immediately forgetting so great a miracle, they ask for a sign. Then they also indicate the kind of miracle they seek.

Whether they were the same eyewitnesses of the miracle with whom the Lord had been speaking until now, yet sensual men, whom one such miracle could easily inflame with desire for others like it. Or other visitors to the synagogue who had not been with Him on the far side of the lake, they heard this demand for faith, and for faith alone.

Then on their side they began to demand new and still greater miracles. They even pointed directly to Moses, who typified the Messiah and for forty years gave his people manna, bread from heaven.

They considered themselves entitled to expect an even greater miracle from the Messiah Himself. To this demand the Lord said: why point here to Moses? It was not Moses who gave this bread, but the Father.

Moses was a type of Jesus Christ, according to Moses' own prophecy (Deut 18:15). The Jews now imagined that when the Messiah came, He would perform miracles like Moses, and even greater ones.

Therefore they were not satisfied with the miracle of feeding five thousand people with a few fish and loaves. Still, they thought, this was earthly bread, and not constant like the manna, but given only once.

For this reason they said: "What sign will You give us of Your messianic dignity (Mt 16:1), that we may believe in You as the Messiah? What will You do as extraordinary as Moses, who gave the people bread from heaven, manna, in the wilderness?"

Jesus Christ again uses the words of His hearers to develop His teaching. He does not deny that the manna came down from heaven.

At first they seemed to be moved and ashamed. He had truly read the thoughts of their hearts, and they asked Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"

"This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent."

"What sign, then, will You give, that we may see and believe You? Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat'" (Ps 77:24).

The conclusion was obvious. Moses gave them manna from heaven. Jesus, however, they hinted, had so far given them only barley loaves from the earth.

If He is the true Messiah, then according to the well-known legends of this people, should He not bestow upon them wealth, glory, and every earthly blessing? Such things popular imagination expected from a crudely understood Messiah.

"What sign will You give," and so forth, cf. Jn 2:18. The Jews understood that the expression "whom God has sent," Jn 6:29, was applied by the Lord to Himself. He was indicating Himself to them as the Messiah.

Therefore they turn directly to Him with the question: by what extraordinary works will He prove that He is precisely the Messiah?

At first glance this is a strange question, and a strange demand in the mouths of people who only yesterday had seen the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves. It had so struck them that they acknowledged the Wonderworker as the Messiah and wanted to make Him king against His will.

Verses 30-31. "Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, as it is written." These words show that those demanding a miracle were learned men who read Scripture.

Since this took place in Capernaum, we must recognize in them Pharisees, members of the synagogue of Capernaum.

After the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves for five thousand people, they recognized the Savior as the Messiah. Yet this miracle was not enough for the learned men.

They demanded a new miracle to confirm Jesus' heavenly mission, a miracle like the one which, in their understanding, Moses had performed when he sent manna from heaven (Ex 16:4, 14, 25; Num 11:7; Ps 77:23-24).

Verse 30 is striking for the hardness of heart shown by those who dared to ask such a question. Among those asking, the presence of a malicious Pharisaic element clearly appears.

It demands some special sign, and probably cannot forgive the Lord for refusing to stand at the head of a popular uprising. According to the calculation of the Jews, that uprising could have led to Palestine's liberation from foreign rule.

It could also have founded that dreamlike kingdom of the Messiah which they expected. The presence of scribes and Pharisees is also clearly indicated by their reference in verse 31 to Exodus 16 and Psalm 77.