I am the bread of life

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe you? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day."

- John 6:27-40

Last week, we read John's account of the feeding of five thousand men on the mountain top. Then, the Gospel tells us, Jesus went up alone to the mountaintop to elude the crowd that wanted to make Him king, while the disciples went into a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. As they rowed in the dark and got into the middle of the lake, the wind was blowing fiercely; the sea was so rough they were afraid of drowning. Suddenly they saw Jesus walking toward them on the water, and they were more afraid! Jesus said, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and were immediately on the land where they were headed. But the next day, all the people from the crowd (who wanted to make Him king) had followed the disciples across the Sea and found Jesus there in Capernaum. They wondered how He came to be there. Jesus told them them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, you seek Me, not because you saw the signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled."

"Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him." I included these verses with Saturday's commentary because they are so essential to the gospel. John's Gospel, first of all, works this way so often -- Jesus takes people's ordinary assumptions, and develops ideas as He expands beyond what they know or understand (such as with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well). These people were fed in the wilderness, and afterward wanted to make Jesus king. But here He teaches: what they must seek after is the food that endures to everlasting life, like the water that springs to everlasting life He spoke of to the Samaritan woman in the reading noted above. He also indicates another sign of divinity for Himself: He calls Himself the Son of Man, and notes "the Father has set His seal on Him." A seal denotes a name, a name of a house, such as a royal house and all that is a part of it; anything on which the seal is found bears the presence of its head, the head of the house. We also have to take a look at the meaning behind the phrase, "the bread which perishes" because it plays a role in the whole story of the feeding in the wilderness and these subsequent passages. It is linked to Jesus' statement to His disciples after the feeding: "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost." The same Greek word is used for both "perishes" (in today's reading) and "lost" in the earlier; it indicates a kind of perdition, a loss that is absolute, such as the loss of a soul -- and so compliments as a counterpoint the bread that is eternal, everlasting. In this we can also read the depth of the link to Eucharist and to faith.

Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?" Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." Here is the question: how do they work this work? How do they, in effect, labor for the food which endures to everlasting life? And the answer is here, in plain language. The way of this labor is through faith.

Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe you? What work will You do? Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'" Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always." Jesus has already performed a sign in the feeding of these people on the mountain top. But all they focused on was the idea that Jesus should be king, that He would solve all their problems for them. Now they wish to be convinced in the new way He teaches, of spiritual labor. But His reply is complete, in the sense that He is complete. The true bread of God is He who comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.

And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me." Again, Jesus begins to tell of the work of faith. This crowd still does not believe in spirit and truth, in the way the Father is seeking, of those for whom Jesus has been sent. Here, Jesus indicates a further depth between Father and Son that also works in us -- what the Father gives to Him will come to Him, and the one who comes to Him He will by no means cast out. Therefore, faith becomes the fundamental work that leads to eternal life. His will is united with the Father's; what the Father desires is His desire -- therefore the ones who come to Him are also linked, related through faith, to both Father and Son.

"This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day." Again, the word for "lose" here is the same as in the reason to gather the fragments of bread on the mountain top, and the word for "perish" as in the bread that perishes. We link it to the loss of absolute life, the soul. Of all the Father has given Him, none should be lost, but rather raised at the last day, to eternal life. This is how the basic work of God is the labor of faith. We "abide in Him" -- the true Sabbath rest -- and His gift is of life. God's gift, as John will teach (in tomorrow's reading), is for the life of the world.

How many ways may we understand what it means that this eternal life is in Christ, that we are linked to it through the labor of faith, Father and Son and Spirit at work in us? Life is given in so many ways. But perhaps our primary understanding of "life" -- from today's passage -- must be that life that is within us through faith, the faith that leads us forward. One of my favorite statements in all of Scripture comes from St. Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9: But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. Of ourselves, we are imperfect and "weak" beings. Faith is not about what we do, except that we say "yes" - we "rest" in God. In Saturday's reading, the disciples were absolutely frightened of perishing, when Christ appeared to them, and said, "It is I; do not be afraid." This is the word of God, the "I AM" here in the Greek, and God's address in the midst of our weakness, our fear. To find the faith to believe "Do not be afraid" in the midst of our weakness, human fear, is to be led onward with God's strength through our own weakness. Let us consider this work of faith, the labor for the food which leads to eternal life, and consider this daily struggle. He comes to us (I AM, "It is I"), and we struggle for faith ("Do not be afraid"), to believe. His presence will always challenge us in the face of what we think we know, that which perishes. Can we work the work of faith?