For the life of the world

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

- John 6:41-51

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was speaking of Himself as the bread of life. The people who were fed in the wilderness had sought to make Him king, which He eluded. At Capernaum, across the Sea of Galilee, they seek Him again. But He told them they were merely seeking Him because they were fed. He told them, "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." They asked what was the work of God. Jesus told them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." They asked for a sign, saying Moses gave their fathers manna from heaven to eat in the wilderness. Jesus replied, "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." They asked, "Give us this bread always." Jesus said, "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."

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven." And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Let us remember that Jesus is in Galilee, home territory to His extended family and relations. In John's Gospel, the term "the Jews" is used mostly to refer to the leadership. We also remember that John has already mentioned Jesus' saying as He returned to Galilee, stating that a prophet has no honor in his own country. John himself is a Galilean, and has reported as well that Jesus would not entrust Himself to those who believed simply because they saw His signs at the Festival. Those who know His family, here, refuse to accept His statements about Himself.

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me." Here again on display is Jesus' supreme confidence in the action of the Father, and the pull of the Father's love within those who will embrace Him, and accept Him. It all begins there, somewhere deep within ourselves, where we have a link with God the Father. In this is teaching, and the promptings of faith. Somewhere in ourselves, we respond with love for God, and in this begins the bond of faith and teaching. In Matthew's Gospel, when Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus tells him, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven."

"Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life." Only the Son has seen the Father in the fullness of the Father's nature, as one of the same substance. But we each can have this connection of faith, and in that connection comes the bread of life -- the One to whom Judgment is given, and the power of life and death.

"Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." Jesus compares Himself as the bread of life to that which came down from heaven through Moses. The life He offers is one that is eternal, everlasting, something beyond what we can quantify. Finally, Jesus points toward the sacrifice that He will make when He is lifted up on the Cross. The words here are similar to those which He told to Nicodemus earlier in John's Gospel. We are given a purpose to all of this: it is for the life of the world.

Jesus brings us the statement that He is the bread of life. As living bread He fulfills many needs that we can think of. He sustains us in our daily lives, giving us direction, substance, strengths and purpose. He teaches us what we must be about, what gives us life and not merely subsistence. He gives us that which leads to an eternal life. He touches upon the things that run so deeply within us that we can't hide anything of who we are, and what our true needs are. In this, the bread of life works all in all, uniting us with a Kingdom that lives within us, among us, and leads to an eternal life. So is the bread of life at work within us and among us. In this powerful statement, Jesus gives us the beginnings of the understanding of the Eucharist, and we will learn more when we move on to the next reading, on Monday. But for now, let us consider His words. He will be lifted up on the Cross, sacrificing His flesh, His earthly life, for the life of the world. That is, for every single thing we can think of that needs life in the world. Actually, "world" is probably too limited a translation for our modern understanding of this word. The word in Greek implies not just this planet that we live on, but the whole universe; it is kosmos. The bread of heaven that He promises is a bread for all of us, that on some level we all need in order to fully experience what it is to be truly alive, in so many ways. Sometimes when we taste that bread, we may feel the pain of this life, in its lack of perfection, and all the things we need that He has to offer in His mercy and grace that come to sustain us, nurture us, and heal us in all ways. Sometimes we may taste of that bread and catch a glimpse of what it is to belong to that Kingdom. We feel the deep warm light of a love we can't quantify or contain. We know His love. Whatever way that daily bread comes to us, let us know that it is given from love (as John will later tell us in Jesus' words), and for the life of the world.