John 6:31Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Having said this, they do not leave the choice of the miracle to His will. Rather, they want to place Him under necessity to perform no other miracle, but precisely such a one as happened with their fathers.

For this reason they say, "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness," thinking thereby to incite Him to perform a miracle that could feed them bodily.

Indeed, why did they recall no other former miracle, though many had then been performed in Egypt, at the sea, and in the wilderness, but manna in particular?

Was it not because they greatly desired it, being enslaved to gluttony? You called Him a Prophet and wished to make Him king because you saw the miracle.

It was not in vain that we said they were asking for a sign as servants of the belly. Such was the miracle concerning the loaves.

See, they remember the manna (Ps 77:24), and not some other miracle, whether one done among the Egyptians or at the Red Sea. Wishing to stir Him to perform a miracle that could feed their flesh, they recall the manna out of extreme gluttony.

They say that blessed Moses was honored, and quite rightly. He was accepted as mediator between God and men, and he truly gave a sufficient "sign": all who were with him "ate manna in the wilderness."

But You, since You set Yourself before us in a higher place than that, and do not refuse to add Your own ordinances to what was once established by law, by what signs will You assure us?

Or with what marvel do You come before us as the introducer of newer teachings? By these words the word of our Savior concerning them proves true.

For by what they say, they are convicted of thinking they should seek Him, not in order to marvel at His divine works, but because they ate of the loaves and were filled (Jn 6:26).

"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.

What then was it that they wanted? They said this to Him in clear words: "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written: 'He gave them bread from heaven for food'" (cf. Ps 77:24).

It was as though they were saying: "If You do such a sign, well and good. If a lesser one, we no longer wish to see You, because Moses said to us, 'A Prophet like me the Lord will raise up for you'" (cf. Deut 18:18).

Since the Lord saw that they boasted in Moses and loathed Him, He refused to do what they wanted. This was not because He could not fulfill it, but because it would have been useless for them.

Moses had done this for them, and no benefit resulted. On the contrary, they turned away from their covenant with him and corrupted their ways.

This is written in the book of Psalms (Ps 77:24). Although many signs had been performed before their fathers, they mention this one because the belly had mastery over them.

They thought thereby to move Jesus Christ also to perform just such a miracle, one that would satisfy them. O forgetful and ungrateful ones! Did you not recently eat bread and fish to satiety in the wilderness?

Here you may see not only their flattery, but also their craftiness. They did not say, "Moses performed this sign," lest they seem to insult Jesus Christ by comparing Moses with Him.

Nor did they say that God performed it, lest they seem to compare Him with God. Instead they spoke without relation: "Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness."

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.

"They ate manna in the wilderness": during the forty-year wandering of the Hebrews in the wilderness, God miraculously fed them with manna, which itself had certain miraculous properties. See its description in Exodus 16.

This miracle was considered one of the greatest miracles, and later sacred writers pointed to it in this sense (Ps 77:24; Ps 105:40).

"As it is written": this points to Ex 16:4 and to the cited Psalms.

"From heaven": this indicates the miraculous origin of this food. "But the manna was not from heaven; how then is it said, 'from heaven'? In the same way Scripture says, 'the birds of heaven,' and again, 'the Lord thundered from heaven' (Ps 8:9; Ps 17:14)" (Chrysostom).

Under the impression of the miracle just experienced, the people were inclined to think that Jesus Christ would always miraculously feed His hearers. Thus they sought Jesus Christ and followed Him, not so much from faith in the divine dignity of the Wonderworker, as from selfish thoughts of earthly well-being.

The Lord rebukes this low disposition of the people: "You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate bread and were filled. Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you" (Jn 6:26-27).

When Jesus Christ called them to believe in Him as the Messiah, the people asked for a sign. As though justifying their unbelief, they referred to Moses.

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.