When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world."
Since Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, he withdrew again to the mountain alone.
Dostoevsky, in his novel The Brothers Karamazov, described a harangue directed at Jesus by a medieval Grand Inquisitor. The Savior has briefly appeared in the marketplace and been immediately recognized by everyone before he is again arrested. The wicked cardinal recalls the three temptations which Satan offered to the Lord, and his refusal of each one.
The first, of course, was the transformation of loaf-like stones into loaves of bread. Accepting the offer would have made the Lord an instant success with billions of hungry people. They would eagerly surrender their freedom to anyone who feeds them.
The Inquisitor's concern was freedom; it's been the concern of philosophers, poets, and novelists throughout the past few centuries. Current notions of freedom imagine an ability to think, say, act, and move arbitrarily, without restriction or limit, rationality or not, morally principled or not. They suppose that, "No one should take my freedom from me;" and any attempt to do so is a direct and personal attack.
But, had Jesus made an industry of changing stones to food and giving it freely to everyone, he might govern the world simply because people prize freedom less than food. Freedom makes a wonderful ideal. and may be worth fighting and killing for, but it's certainly not worth the risk of hunger.
When the Grand Inquisitor arrested the Lord, he had every intention of killing him again. But -- (Spoiler!) -- when the Lord responds only with a gentle kiss, he lets him go. Dostoevsky leaves the reader to wonder, What is freedom? What have I sold mine for?
The Lord's escape from the crowd in today's gospel recalls his response to Satan, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God." First, in John's gospel they had seen him healing people, and so they followed him into the desert. And then they saw him feed five thousand with a few barley loaves and some fish, they tried to make him king.
Jesus gives us far more than food -- and far less -- as the Grand Inquisitor says, but only a few accept it. John of Patmos saw only one hundred and forty-four thousand. Dostoevsky's question remains as freedom-loving Americans, invoking the name of God, engage in another war.
Catholics see the miracle in the desert as a sign of the Eucharist which he will give us. In his Body and Blood we find a satisfaction that is neither physical like bread, cathartic like entertainment, nor secure like a police state. Its satisfaction is realized only by faith because faith knows the Truth.
Like all men and women, we want more; but we're not satisfied with food, sex, sleep, or good health. The faithful follow Jesus into the wilderness of fasting, prayer, and generosity where he gives us more than we can eat.
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I love to write. This blog helps me to meditate on the Word of God, and I hope to make some contribution to our contemplations of God's Mighty Works.
Ordinarily, I write these reflections two or three weeks in advance of their publication. I do not intend to comment on current events.
I understand many people prefer gender-neutral references to "God." I don't disagree with them but find that language impersonal, unappealing and tasteless. When I refer to "God" I think of the One whom Jesus called "Abba" and "Father", and I would not attempt to improve on Jesus' language.
You're welcome to add a thought or raise a question.