When the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus.

 When the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. 25 When they found him on the other side of the lake, they asked him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 26 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. 27 Do not strive for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For this is the one the Father has sealed.” 28 Then they asked him, “What must we do, to be working the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” 30 They asked him, “What sign do you perform, so that we may see and believe in you? What work do you do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" 32 Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I tell you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven. It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." 34 Then they said to him, "Lord, give us this bread always." 35 Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst."

— Word of Salvation. Reflection 1. The crowd runs after Jesus, goes to meet Him wherever He is, not even afraid of the dangers of the waters, nor of hunger, nor of the dangers of the winds and darkness. They found in Jesus the greatest meaning, someone different, a person who looked at them with sincerity and respect, love and compassion, someone capable of governing them with dignity, perhaps the best and most important king in the history of Israel. In their minds, Jesus should definitely be their king. Certainly, according to the text, they were not concerned with the sign, but with the food, with the economic situation that weighed on them, because they suffered under the political oppression of Rome, the religious exploitation of Israel and the inhumane economic system. Jesus, for His part, does not confirm this way of thinking of those people, even though He loves them from the bottom of His heart, because the search for material things ends in itself. Jesus wants them to be on the path to eternal life, to seek God before anything else, to seek true food that nourishes them for true life, the Life of God, life with Him, life given by Him. Interestingly, the verb used is very strong: “strive” to have this new food. It is urgent to leave behind the “tyranny of the belly”, an enslaving reality, an “intelligence of the stomach” and to understand the Word of God. 2. The people did not fully understand what Jesus meant. They were still thinking according to the Jewish logic of salvation through works of the law when they asked: “What must we do to do the works of God?” Jesus does not deny the importance of works, but it is necessary to leave behind the logic of charitable practices in order to please God and definitively embrace faith in HIM, in the Son of God. It is necessary to believe absolutely in the Son of God, to believe without reservations in Jesus Christ, sent by the Father, to save everyone. The most important work, therefore, is to adhere totally to the One sent by the Father, Jesus Christ. From this adherence, practice not the works of the law, but the works of faith. This requirement of Jesus is for the people in general, as well as for the disciples, who must also understand the signs and not simply cling to the works. They must, in fact, abandon the logic of both Israel and the world, and embrace the logic of Christ, who is not the political king of Israel, but the reason for their lives and the unique condition of communion with God here in eternal life. 3. We can see how important the evangelist's concern is here in signaling a true change in the way of thinking about faith based on Jesus Christ. If on the one hand the Jews are attached to the works of the Law and visualizations of signs, on the other, Jesus teaches that it is necessary to go beyond this way of thinking and interpreting the Word of God, seeing the signs as signs and, therefore, indicative of something more important, such as, for example, His Person present there, He who is the one sent by the Father, made living Bread, the true Manna, truly coming from Heaven, food for the New Life. And also, having a faith as a total adherence to His Person, capable of supplanting a type of faith that is realized in a kind of accountability and not in the person's total involvement with God.