Seeking Jesus because you need him and seeking Jesus because you love him can be complementary aspects of our relationship to Christ. However, seeking Jesus (as did the crowds in today’s gospel) only because you need him and require his help is indicative of a still one-sided and immature relationship that lacks the mutuality of true love and friendship. And thus it is when Christ doesn’t seem to meet our needs or heed our pleas for help that the true nature of our relationship with him is manifested and we are tempted to seek him no more. And so although seeking Jesus because of our neediness may mark the beginnings of our relationship with him, our relationship will only grow deeper when we recognize that our deepest need is not to be helped by him, but to be loved by him.