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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
This week, we are reading through the sixth chapter of John's Gospel. For the Western churches (and some Eastern) we are in the middle of Lent, a traditional time of fasting in preparation for the Resurrection of Easter. Most of the Eastern Church now prepare for Lent which begins on Monday. So it is highly appropriate that this week our focus is on Christ as the Bread of Life. On Monday, we read about the sign of the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness, which is the fourth sign in John's Gospel. (See Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?) This sign was a "type" of the events of the feeding of Israel with manna in the wilderness, fulfilled by Christ. In Tuesday's reading, the people had followed Christ and tried to make Him king because they had been fed, but Jesus taught 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." In yesterday's reading, the people asked 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." 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."
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'?" We've read this sort of grumbling and questions elsewhere in the Gospels, especially among His own townspeople (and Jesus is now in Capernaum of Galilee, His ministry headquarters in His home province of Galilee). We can presume those who speak are familiar with His extended family, particularly His mother who was at the wedding in Cana where Jesus' first sign in John's Gospel took place). But, as usual, John's Gospel moves us from the surface significance of Jesus' words into deeper meanings for us to think about and to receive. How can Jesus say, "I have come down from heaven," when they know who His earthly parents are?
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." So important is the "Life" in the Bread of Life that Jesus has emphasized this several times in this same passage (see yesterday's reading). The Bread of Life is that bread which leads to everlasting life -- to the Resurrection. The connection between Father and Son is unbreakable, unfathomable and penetrates though all things, especially His ministry and those who respond to Him. Jesus refers to the Father each time He is asked about Himself.
"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." This powerful statement tells us something truly "awesome" about the interpenetrating nature of spiritual reality: it is the even the Father who teaches. At depths we can't touch within ourselves, the Father is at work. But again, we note, Jesus' identity, and therefore the identity in Christ of any disciple, is inseparable from the work of the Father, even the "teaching" of the Father. As we know, only the Son has truly seen the Father "face to face" so to speak, as One of the same essence. But nevertheless, He tells us, in another way, "They shall all be taught by God."
"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." Here Christ openly and plainly likens Himself to the manna in the wilderness which came from heaven. But even that bread perished. This is the living bread that comes from heaven, of which anyone may eat and not die. But there is much more here; we are being led deeper into mystery, toward Easter. The bread He will give is His flesh, which He will give "for the life of the world." Here He is moving us toward an understanding of the Cross, and what is to come in Holy Week.
Earlier in John's Gospel, in chapter three, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus at night, a member of the Pharisees. He taught Nicodemus, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." So, from early in this Gospel, we have been moving toward Holy Week, toward Jesus' Passion, death, and Resurrection. If we focus on Jesus as the Bread of Life, then that opens up for us new ideas about where and how we are truly fed. What nourishes us where no "earthly" food can nourish? What parts of ourselves aren't touched material food, possessions, and other things which belong to the mere appearances of life? Just as John's Gospel always calls to us to dig deeper into the meanings that are here in Jesus' words, so Christ as our true spiritual food calls us more deeply toward an understanding of ourselves as human beings. It's not only Christ we need to understand, but in the depth of relationship conveyed by the idea that He is our Bread of Life, that He is our true spiritual food, then we have to understand what that means for us when we partake of that bread and it becomes true nourishment for life, a part of our life. How is it possible that we can be nourished by our God in this particular context - that God (Christ) is food? It calls us toward an understanding that goes much deeper than mere notions of teaching, but rather toward a comprehension of His great sacrifice for us -- the flesh that He will give, so that we may also take up the cross, like Him -- so that we as children by adoption, may also become sons. If we grow in His likeness, then we become more "like Him." And this is the great mystery, the depth of God's love for us. Just as Jesus' identity is linked to God the Father, so we are told that God is also at work in us in some way. We remember that this is all done "for the life of the world." Let us ask ourselves how life comes from His death and sacrifice, how the Cross calls us to walk through our own lives, and what His true food is for us every day. How does His love feed you with a "daily bread?"
