They believed in Moses

“They baked unleavened cakes of the dough that they had brought out of Egypt; it was not leavened, because they were driven out of Egypt and could not wait, nor had they prepared any provisions for themselves” ( Exodus 12:39). The midrash on Exodus (Mekhilta de-Rabbi Ishmael) comments on this verse, saying: “It is to the credit of Israel. They did not say to Moses: “How can we leave for the wilderness when we have no provisions for the way?” but they believed in him (בו האמינו) and they left following him.” What follows in the narrative of Exodus teaches us that the manna did not begin to fall until one month later (Exodus 16:1). Thus, we might conclude that what they brought with them from Egypt was sufficient to nourish them in the wilderness for thirty days.

It is worthwhile noting the expression “they believed in him”. It is part of the commentary and is not in the text of Exodus but one can find it twice in the actual Biblical text:
“So the people feared the Lord and believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.” (Exodus 14:31). “The Lord said to Moses, "I am going to come to you in a dense cloud, in order that the people may hear when I speak with you and so believe in you ever after"” (Exodus 19:9). Regarding the first citation, the midrash comments: “If they believed in Moses, then even more they believed in the Lord; but it is to teach you that believing in the shepherd of Israel is believing in Him “who spoke and the world was created”. The expression “who spoke and the world was created”, the one whose word created the world, is an expression used by the Rabbinic tradition to point to God without naming Him.

Reading these two commentaries, two links come immediately to mind:
The first relates to the account of the multiplication of the loaves, where John emphasizes that it took place “the Passover, the festival of the Jews, was near” (John 6:4). By asking the question “Where are we to buy bread for these people to eat?"” (John 6:5), Jesus is testing the faith of Philip and the discourse that follows this throughout chapter 6 has as its aim the possibility of believing in Jesus (John 6:29). The second is also linked directly to Passover and is to be found, like the first, in the Gospel of John. In the discourse after the Last Supper and before facing his Passion, Jesus says to his apostles: “You believe in God, believe in me too” (John 14:1).

The mystery of faith which we proclaim during the Eucharistic celebration is not only the presence of Jesus in the bread and wine. It is also our confidence in the one who can nourish us by the bread of life in our crossing of the wilderness.