This week's lengthy gospel text tells the stories of two of the most familiar miracles from Jesus' ministry the feeding of the 5,000 and the walk on water. But here these events come across with a uniquely Johannine flavor the familiar words and images from the synoptic texts are subtly colored and shaded by John in ways that reveal his particular concerns. Of course, John is faithful to the tradition in his narrative, but he uses these two stories to communicate some new thoughts to his readers.

John sets the scene for miracle #1 with the familiar geographical location on the other side of the Sea of Galilee. Likewise, he introduces the crowd's presence and reveals their miracle-mongering motives for following Jesus much as do the synoptic writers. The first indication that John is inject…