The. viii. chapyter

BVt they as I tolde you (theyr mynde set vppon theyr bely ioy, and therfore not vnderstādyng his wordes) hoped by that worde to haue theyr belies so wef fylled ones, that they shold neuer nede more to la boure for theyr lyuynge after. And therfore they sayd agayn vnto hym: what shall we do that we may wurke the wurkes of god? For they thought (as it semeth) that some thynge there were that Chryste wolde haue them do / after which ones done, thā shold they haue that mery feste of yt meate that he spake of / and therfore wolde they fayne wytte what wurke that were that they myght shortely rydde it out of hande that they were at dyner, for they waxed a hungered.

Our sauyour than vppon that questyon of theyrs, shewed theym what worke it was that he wolde haue thē do for that meate, & sayd vnto them: This is the wurke of god, that you sholde byleue in hym whom he hath sent. As though he wolde say, This is the worke that god wyll ye shall worke, before he wyll I shall geue you thys lyuely meate that I tolde you of / he wyll ye shall fyrst byleue in me whom he hath sent vnto you.

Cryste here for the gettynge of that spyrituall meate, […] theym about a spyrituall wurke / […] labour to byleue. Why is it any labour to byleue? ye veryly good […] to byleue welis no litest wurk / and so greate a wurke, that no man can do it of hys owne strength without the syecyall helpe of god.

But here shall you se clerely that Cryst truely told thē theyr thought, whan he sayde vnto them / that they sought hym not for his myracles but for theyr belyes. For whan our sauiour here had shewedde them, that yf they wold haue yt lyuely meate, they must fyrste byleue in hym / theyr myn des were so sette vpon theyr belyes that they thought they wolde make hym by craft come of and geue them some meate a pace for theyr dyner. And therfore they sayde vnto hym: what myracle than she west thou that we maye se it and therby byleue the? what thynge wurkest thou? Our fathers dyd eate manna in deserte as it is wryte / he gaue them brede from heuyn to eate.

Here you maye se that where as Cryst told them they must byleue in hym before they shold haue yt lyuely meate yt he told them of, they thought they wold by craft before they wold wurke toward yt bylief, cause hym to geue theym some other meate in the meane while / & therfore they not onely sayd yt it were reasō he shold wurk some myracle before thē ere he shold loke yt they shold byleue him, but also they assigned him in maner / what ma ner a miracle they wold haue him do, yt is to wyt geue them some meate by miracle by & by one or other without any worke or labour of theyrs. And therfore they put hym in mynd of the meat of manna yt theyr fore fathers had frō heuē whyle they were ī wyldernesse & wurked nothyng therfore.

But agaynst thys our lorde tolde them agayne, that the brede that they dyd eate in deserte was not geuen thē by Moyses, nor geuen theym veryly from heuyn neyther. For though that Moyses was theyre prophete and theyr guyde / yet was that brede of Manna geuen them by god. And it came not also veryly downe from he uyn, but from a farre lower place of the eyer. But he shewed theym that god his owne father that gaue them that brede thā out of the ayer, geueth them now verily downe from heuyn that brede, that is for spyrituall sustinaunce and lyuely nurysshynge such maner of very brede, that in comparyson and respecte therof, the tother brede of manna myght seme no brede at all. For verily veryly said our lord vnto theym, not Moyses gaue you that brede from heuyn / but my father gyueth you the very brede from heuyn. For the very brede is that that cometh downe from heuyn, and gyueth lyfe to the worlde.

Now whan they herde this, wenynge yet that Cryste spake of some suche brede as manna was, that god wold at hys request geue thē downe from heuyn, as manna was geuyn downe in Moyses dayes, & that thys brede sholde fede the body as manna dyd, and yet be farre better to / they prayed hym and sayd, Lorde gyue vs this brede alwaye / as though they wold saye, Good lord gyue vs thys very brede that thou spekest of that thy father sendeth downe frō heuyn, that we nede not to labour and toyle for brede in tyllynge of the erth / and gyue it vs good lorde alway, not for a seasō as our fathers had the tother in desert, but gyue it vs for euer, and let vs neuer lacke it, nor nede no more to wurke and labour for it.