I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life

 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  They said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.

- John 8:12-20

In yesterday's reading, we were told that on the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  And everyone went to his own house.

 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, "I am the light of the world.  He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."  We are still at the Feast of Tabernacles (or Succoth), an eight-day festival that commemorated the time that Israel lived in tents or tabernacles.  It is a feast of the coming Kingdom.  My study bible says that Jesus spoke these words (I am the light of the world) in the context of the great lamps being lit at the conclusion of the Feast of Tabernacles.  "Thus He declares Himself to be the fulfillment and the divine object of all celebrations of light.   In the Scriptures, God the Father Himself is light (1:4-9; 1 John 1:5), an attribute He bestows on His followers (Matthew 5:14; Philip 2:15).  Our Lord confirms His claim by performing the great sign of opening the eyes of a man born blind" (in the next chapter of John). 

The Pharisees therefore said to Him, "You bear witness of Yourself; Your witness is not true."  Jesus answered and said to them, "Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.  You judge according to the flesh; I judge no one.  And yet if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone, but I am with the Father who sent Me.  It is also written in your law that the testimony of two men is true. I am One who bears witness of Myself, and the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me."  Once again, Jesus gives witnesses to His identity.  (See also How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?, in which Jesus gives four witnesses to His identity.)    These two witnesses here are Himself and the Father; but the Pharisees to whom He's speaking can know neither.  His judgment is true because it reflects the judgment of the One who sent Him, and this they cannot understand nor recognize either.

They said to Him, "Where is Your Father?"  Jesus answered, "You know neither Me nor My Father.  If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also."  These words Jesus spoke in the treasury, as He taught in the temple; and no one laid hands on Him, for His hour had not yet come.  My study bible explains, "Because the Son and the Father share the same divine nature, one cannot be known apart from the other (14:7-11)."

Jesus reaches over and over again during His speeches at this festival toward the Father, and toward an understanding of the Father by those who truly desire to know Him and to do His will.  He speaks, in some sense, of recognition.  They don't know the Father, although they are experts in the Scripture and in the Law, and therefore they can't recognize Him.  If they loved the Father, they would know Him.  And here, in my opinion, we come to a great crux in the journey of faith.  Do we create God in our own image, in some sense, or is it God to whom we are devoted?  The most important thing, perhaps, is to hold an understanding of God the Father as love, and yet also that which is beyond us, the One toward whom we reach in a return of that love.  God, as origin and source of love, remains ultimately the place toward which we need to travel.  And yet, because God is love, God's Son has been with us as Jesus Christ, reaching to us.  But we can't really "hear" Him and His words without a love of the Father in our hearts.  It is this spark or flame that begets everything else, that helps us to open our eyes and ears to Jesus' teaching, that gives us a way to return His love, that allows us to understand who Jesus is.  This flame in our hearts, so to speak, doesn't mean we need to grasp everything in its fullness -- that is something toward which we journey.  Like in every relationship, we grow into understanding of this Someone beyond ourselves.  That is a lifetime journey.  But the spark that draws us in love begins in us, so that Jesus' words, reflecting the Father who is the source of love, grasp our hearts, our loyalty, our love.  How can one really explain or understand the fullness of this mystery?  But we have Christ's words, testifying to the reality of the relationship of love within us to the Father, and that love that is shared with the Son.  What sets your heart aflame?  Is there something in these words that shares a light in you?  You may not understand it nor explain it, but you know it's there and it stirs you forward, toward its Source.  May we all be blessed to share that light and reflect it, through our love, into the world.  May we also let it illumine what is in us.  This love doesn't conform to our limited image; instead it teaches us what the fullness of God's love is.  It works to draw us toward His image of who we can be in that love, and the ways we can become "like Him."

If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water

 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.

The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  And everyone went to his own house.

- John 7:37-52

 Yesterday, we read that about the middle of the feast of Tabernacles, Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have seen a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."  Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this man has done?"  The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.  The last day, that great day of the feast was the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles, says my study bible.  "The ceremony of the drawing of water provides the context for the Lord's words, 'If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.'  The living water is the gift of the Holy Spirit and the new life that accompanies this gift."

Therefore many from the crowd, when they heard this saying, said, "Truly this is the Prophet."  Others said, "This is the Christ."  But some said, "Will the Christ come out of Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that Christ comes from the seed of David and from the town of Bethlehem, where David was?"  So there was a division among the people because of Him.  Now some of them wanted to take Him, but no one laid hands on Him.  The Prophet refers to the expected Messiah, the Savior that Moses foretold would come -- see Deuteronomy 18:15-19.  The Christ was expected to come from Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).

The officers answered, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  Then the Pharisees answered them, "Are you also deceived?  Have any of the rulers or the Pharisees believed in Him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed."  My study bible says, "The chief priests had sent officers of the temple to arrest Jesus in the middle of the Feast [see v. 32, in yesterday's reading].  By the time the last day had arrived, no arrest had been made, because these officers had been converted by the Lord's teaching.  The Pharisees and the scribes who had 'witnessed the miracles and read the Scriptures derived no benefit' from either.  These officers, on the other hand, even though they could claim none of this learning, were 'captivated by a single sermon.'  When the mind is open, 'there is no need for long speeches.  Truth is like that' (St. John Chrysostom)."

Nicodemus (he who came to Jesus by night, being one of them) said to them, "Does our law judge a man before it hears him and knows what he is doing?"  They answered and said to him, "Are you also from Galilee?  Search and look, for no prophet has arisen out of Galilee."  And everyone went to his own house.  A note tells us, "Nicodemus had spoken with Jesus [see For God so loved the world].  Yet his defense of Christ was still based on our law and was not yet a public profession of (Exodus 23:1; Deuteronomy 1:15-17).  No Prophet has arisen out of Galilee:  The Pharisees show their blind hatred and their ignorance of the Scriptures, for the prophet Jonah came from Galilee, from the town of Gath Hepher, which was only three miles from Nazareth (2 Kings 14:25)."

Divisions and divisions and divisions make our story today in our reading.  There are so many different opinions here about Jesus.  One follows a certain understanding of the law, another follows an understanding of Scripture, a third cites prophecy.  None really understand Jesus completely; even the citing that no prophet has arisen from Galilee is mistaken.  No one understands that He is born in Bethlehem.  But His words incite something in people; they are stirred by what He says.  The temple police, sent to arrest Jesus, are simply unable to do so, because they are struck by His words -- and they tell the leaders:  "No man ever spoke like this!"  Jesus teaches, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  John tells us that Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit, which has not yet been given because Christ has not yet been glorified.  But we note the people whose hearts burn with the fire that is in His words, the words of everlasting life.  Whether Jesus speaks of rivers of living water, or Peter notes the "words of eternal life," we are speaking of life itself, life that doesn't ever die, everlasting, eternal.  This Spirit is to be implanted in us.  And whether or not one completely understands how it works, what it will do, and how one is and will be affected by this, the words stir the heart, set the heart aflame with something that calls us to its mystery.  And that is where we start the journey.  So we read the divisions in this scene, with each going back to his own house.  And we can think about ministry, about the seeds planted by the Sower, and how they are at work in this crowd in the temple at the Feast of Tabernacles.  If we take a good, closer look at the Parable of the Sower, we can see the types of reception and their diversity and division that Jesus expects.  But the key is to follow the flame felt in the heart at His words, to endure, to continue.  The rivers of living water He speaks about are what give us the strength and inspiration and insight to do so.  They are inexhaustible, and give us life each day.  The Kingdom begins here, with His words and how we hear them in the heart, and paying attention; the rivers of living water take us into our faith, and this Kingdom, more deeply, with a supply for each and every day.

Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment

 Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority.  He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have seen a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."

Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this man has done?"

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"

- John 7:14-36

Yesterday, we read that Jesus kept His ministry in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.  But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

Now about the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and taught.  And the Jews marveled, saying, "How does this Man know letters, having never studied?"  Jesus answered them and said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His who sent Me.  If anyone wills to do His will, he shall know concerning the doctrine, whether it is from God or whether I speak on My own authority."   Here my study bible has a long note regarding Jesus' concept of authority:  "The simple desire to know and follow God's will is the key to understanding it.  Spiritual blindness comes from unwillingness to know God or to recognize His authority.  St. John Chrysostom paraphrases Christ in this way:  'Rid yourselves of wickedness:  the anger, the envy, and the hatred which have arisen in your hearts, without provocation, against Me.  Then you will have no difficulty in realizing that My words are actually those of God.  As it is, these passions darken your understanding and distort sound judgment.  If you remove these passions, you will no longer be afflicted in this way.'" 

  "He who speaks from himself seeks his own glory; but He who seeks the glory of the One who sent Him is true, and no unrighteousness is in Him.  Did not Moses give you the law, yet none of you keeps the law?  Why do you seek to kill Me?"  The people answered and said, "You have seen a demon.  Who is seeking to kill You?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "I did one work, and you all marvel.  Moses therefore gave you circumcision (not that it is from Moses, but from the fathers), and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.  If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath, so that the law of Moses should not be broken, are you angry with Me because I made a man completely well on the Sabbath?  Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment."   Jesus links good judgment with loyalty to God.  It's obviously not found in the minutiae of the law, twisted to fit the purposes of power and position, and the malice and envy provoked by a perceived threat to their own authority.  Where is their desire to please God?

 Now some of them from Jerusalem said, "Is this not He whom they seek to kill?  But look!  He speaks boldly, and they say nothing to Him.  Do the rulers know indeed that this is truly the Christ?  However, we know where this Man is from; but when the Christ comes, no one knows where He is from."   My study bible says that the crowds are mistaken -- in both an earthly sense and a divine sense.  They understand Jesus as a man from Nazareth of Galilee.  They're not aware that He was actually born in Bethlehem.  Beyond that, they can't understand that He's come from the Father in Heaven, eternally begotten before all ages, and thus His divine "origin" remains unknown to them as well.  But Jesus' word and teachings tell a great deal to a heart that hears; the day before yesterday we read Peter's confession of faith:  "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

  Then Jesus cried out, as He taught in the temple, saying, "You both know Me, and you know where I am from; and I have not come of Myself, but He who sent Me is true, whom you do not know.  But I know Him, for I am from Him, and He sent Me."  Therefore they sought to take Him; but no one laid a hand on Him, because His hour had not yet come.  And many of the people believed in Him, and said, "When the Christ comes, will He do more signs than these which this man has done?"   Jesus' hour is the time of suffering and death, His Passion and Crucifixion.  My study bibles says that Jesus Christ is the Lord over time, an authority that is possessed only by God.  Therefore He comes to the Cross of His own free will and in His time, not according to the plots of men.  But time - like everything else - is linked in to the relationship He has to the Father; the ultimate authority decides all. 

The Pharisees heard the crowd murmuring these things concerning Him, and the Pharisees and the chief priests sent officers to take Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "I shall be with you a little while longer, and then I go to Him who sent Me.  You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come."  Jesus is of course referring to His death, Resurrection, and Ascension to heaven.  As happens most effectively (and repeatedly) in John's Gospel, Jesus' words point to something beyond only an "earthly" meaning.

Then the Jews said among themselves, "Where does He intend to go that we shall not find Him?  Does He intend to go to the Dispersion among the Greeks and teach the Greeks?  What is this thing that He said, 'You will seek Me and not find Me, and where I am you cannot come'?"  Since Greek was the universal language of the time of Christ, what the leadership refers to here are Greek-speaking peoples; that is, among the Gentiles.  Ironically, their words certainly do have truth in them:  after His Ascension Christ's name will be preached to the Gentiles by the apostles.

Words hidden in words, hidden in plain sight -- but available to those who "have ears to hear."  Jesus' words having meanings to those of us who are His followers; that is, those who have been led to understand His mission and taught by the Church to find meanings in these words.  But Christ speaks plainly in some sense; the truth is there.  His words will also be twisted to accuse Him later on at His trial.  Repeatedly in Scripture, both in Old Testament and New, we are given the sense that it is important -- really, essential -- to our spiritual well-being that we "have ears to hear."  In other words, this quality is the ability to hear what is in the words from God is within the hearer, the receiver.  My study bible explains that "it is the simple desire to know and follow God's will" that brings out this capacity to receive within us.  It's not that we understand things all at once or all at the same time, but those who are drawn to Christ's "words of eternal life" (as St. Peter put it) understand the draw of a kind of loyalty, an allegiance.  It is the Father drawing through Christ those who come to Him.  And that begins with a "simple desire" within us.  In the end, Jesus' words about love and loyalty are the framework of the whole of the enterprise of spiritual ascendancy, being "with Him" into the age to come.  It boils down to a question of love and loyalty, that mysterious thing in our hearts that opens the door to greater faith, and personal transformation in His image.  We don't have to understand it all at once, we just need to know that "our hearts are aflame" when we hear His words (see Luke 24:32).  Over and over again, Scripture speaks of the heart as the center of what makes a human being, the importance of a "circumcised heart" and the hearing and sight of the heart.  Let us remember the love of God, and the loyalty of Christ expressed in today's words.  We are all encircled in that great ribbon of love, and its ties are rooted in our hearts.  Do we have ears to hear?  That is the beginning of true judgment.

My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready. The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil

After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.

But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews.

- John 7:1-13

Yesterday, we read that many of His disciples, when they heard Jesus speak about His Body and Blood, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.   And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

 After these things Jesus walked in Galilee; for He did not want to walk in Judea, because the Jews sought to kill Him.  The section that follows (through several chapters in John) tells about Jesus' visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles.  The entire section covers eight days -- the length of the festival.  My study bible says, "At this festival during the last year of His earthly life, Jesus taught in the temple and attracted a great deal of public attention."  As we will read, some thought Him to be mad, others believed Him to be the Messiah, and still others (notably the temple leadership parties of Sadducees and Pharisees) considered Him to be a threat.  The Jews who sought to kill Him refers to the religious leadership and not the people in general.  Indeed, all the people in this text are Jews: followers, disciples, Apostles, and Jesus Himself -- and their families.  That includes the author of the Gospel.

Now the Jews' Feast of Tabernacles was at hand.  My study bible explains:  "The Feast of Tabernacles (Heb. succoth) is an eight-day autumn harvest festival commemorating the time when Israel wandered in the wilderness of Sinai and the people lived in tents, or tabernacles.  Along with Passover and Pentecost, this was one of the three most important festivals of the ancient Jews; it included numerous sacrifices and celebrations (Leviticus 23:33-43).  In later times, the final day of this feast also included drawing water from the pool of Siloam to be mixed with wine and poured at the foot of the altar, both as a purification and in remembrance of the water flowing from the rock that Moses struck (Exodus 17:1-7).  It further included the lighting of the great lamps in the outer court of the temple."  See also 2 Maccabees 10:5-9.

His brothers therefore said to Him, "Depart from here and go into Judea, that Your disciples also may see the works that You are doing.  For no one does anything in secret while he himself seeks to be known openly.  If You do these things, show Yourself to the world."  For even His brothers did not believe in Him.  Then Jesus said to them, "My time has not yet come, but your time is always ready.  The world cannot hate you, but it hates Me because I testify of it that its works are evil.  You go up to this feast.  I am not yet going up to this feast, for My time has not yet fully come."  When He had said these things to them, He remained in Galilee.    Jesus "brothers" are extended family.  Commentators have maintained throughout Church history that they are either step-brothers from an earlier marriage of Joseph (who was a much older man at the time he and Mary were betrothed), or they are cousins.  Today in the Middle East, it is still common to call extended family (such as cousins) "brothers."

 But when His brothers had gone up, then He also went up to the feast, not openly, but as it were in secret.  Then the Jews sought Him at the feast, and said, "Where is He?"  And there was much complaining among the people concerning Him.  Some said, "He is good"'; others said, "No, on the contrary, He deceives the people."  However, no one spoke openly of Him for fear of the Jews. My study bible explains that "not openly" means not with a great public entrance such as will happen on Palm Sunday (12:12-16).  We remember that at the period this Gospel was written, members of the early Church had first come to call themselves Christians, and their persecution fierce in the synagogues and elsewhere.  The "Jews" here refers to leadership -- and is meant to be used in political terms, not national or ethnic.  Before that time, followers of Christ had been considered to be a sect of Judaism, often referred to as "Nazarenes" - as is still common today by non-Christians.

Persecution can come in many forms, but it's not something that Christians haven't had to accept throughout the history of the Church.  Here in John's Gospel, we get the first indication of Jesus' disfavor with the leadership; they seek to kill Him.  Later on in John's Gospel, Jesus will teach His disciples that "a servant is not greater than his master."  As Christians, we are told to follow our Master, and given great lessons by Him that, "if they have persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept My saying, they will keep yours also."  What we understand from this teaching is that we must face adversity also through our faith.  In other words, we turn to Him in prayer, we look to His teachings, we turn over to God not just the beautiful things of life, but also the harsh things of life -- even if we face difficulties because of our faith.  This is a most important thing to understand, that the difficulties we have in life, no matter what they are, aren't excuses for us to quit our faith nor to catch ourselves "off the mark" so to speak.  When we hear about something called "spiritual battle" -- it's just that, the interior battle within ourselves to resist temptation to fall "off the mark" and to lose our faith in what we've been given.  Every adversity, no matter why it's there or how it comes to us, in this point of view, becomes a test or a challenge to us.  Can we meet it with Him, or are we going to deal with it "on our own," so to speak, and forgetting about the Master who has already gone through it all?  If we look at the early life of Jesus as an infant and a child, we see the struggles of His parents, Mary and Joseph, and what they went through to protect Him.  They were His chosen caretakers, and they understood how precious He was.  I think we also have to consider the nature of His identity, the announcement of Gabriel that Mary kept in her heart, and the understanding that protection also includes that the full public revelation of His identity must be kept secret until it was the appropriate time.  This, also, Jesus exemplifies through His ministry.  Everything He does is with purpose and mission in mind; there are no miracles to "prove" who He is on demand, it all depends on faith.  Woven throughout this story is the understanding that correct choices and protection, facing difficulties in the ways that God has given, are all based on faith, trust, and love.  And that's the balanced place we try to remain, on that mark we've been given.  Life may throw us constant curves, fears, trepidations, outrage, injustice, and all kinds of things we can't predict and may be thoroughly unprepared to deal with.  But the point of faith is just that, even when we don't feel our confidence, we turn to the confidence we can have in Him and the whole host of those who can help, even the entirety of the Church as it lives in Him, for help, for a way.  We call on the Holy Spirit who works in all things.  We may have to endure, to develop the "long-suffering" or patience we read about in the Bible, and of which there are so many examples in the fullness of all the Scriptures.  But we begin with Him, right here, where even His own brothers scoff and dare Him to come openly and prove Himself.  Let us remember His guidance is for every day, in all circumstances, rejoicing or otherwise.  To be wise as serpents and simple as doves is always where He wants us.

Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.   And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

- John 6:60-71

 Yesterday, we read that the leadership in the temple at Capernaum quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?"  When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?  What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before?  It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing.  The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.  But there are some of you who do not believe."  For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him.   And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."    My study bible points out that even Jesus' disciples took His teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying.  Verse 66 tells us that many of His disciples, when they heard this saying, walked with Him no more.  It is a great mystery, not easily to be explained, says my study bible, by  precise rational detail or as mere symbolic metaphor.  It is a sacramental teaching, just as the divine infuses the flesh of Jesus Christ, and that mystery can't be contained by our limited understanding.  The witness of Scripture and the teaching of the Church throughout history tell us about sacrament.  Here, Jesus' words are so powerful as to teach that those who cannot accept His saying are not those given to Him by the Father.

From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?"  But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.  Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.   Here is Peter's confession of Christ as written in John's gospel.  There is a falling away, and there is also a deepening of faith, a confession and an allegiance in others.  Peter's faith isn't a rational declaration with debated principles, it is a product of His experience with Christ:  "You have the words of eternal life."  Those who remain with Him "have come to know and believe that He is the Christ, the Son of the living God."  At the same time that we read of this conviction on behalf of all of the disciples who remain with Him, there is another strong flavor of what is to come: betrayal and death.  Jesus is preparing them even now for the future.

Accepting Christ's words can happen on many levels.  Understanding may dawn slowly, or it may simply reveal a deeper faith through testing, through experience, and through the energies of God, the work of the Holy Spirit.  Christ's mysteries revealed particularly through this Gospel exist as things to be grasped through faith, through time, through prayer.  It seems to me that faith deepens and grows by following the glimmers do that we have, and trusting from there.  The faith that works in the heart is a strong leading and teaching, even as Jesus tells us and the apostles that no one can come to Him except as granted by the Father.  In Saturday's reading He taught, "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.'"  The depth of the reality of Incarnation reveals itself to us through our faith and its working in our lives, through Scripture, through the whole history of the Church.  It would seem to me that the very understanding of the word "sacrament" teaches us about the life Jesus keeps teaching us about.  It is a life in the Father, and in Christ, and at work in the Holy Spirit. It infuses all that is in our world, and what we consider to be "worldly" can become sacrament.  For baptism, water is infused with this life so that it becomes conferred on us.  Through the Eucharist, bread and wine are mystically body and blood.  St. Paul teaches that we must understand ourselves to be temples of God.  What God has given us is meant also to be glorified by God, by this energy of Christ, the bread of heaven, given to us for an everlasting life, till the age to come in which all our world is to be transfigured in this spirit shown us in the image of the Burning Bush which was given to Moses.  Our entire world, all our lives and every aspect of them, are meant to be infused with this life, just as Jesus' body was also the body of Christ, God become flesh.  And this is sacrament; this is the mystery of what our world -- God's creation -- is meant for.   It's what we are meant for.  But it happens via the faith in our hearts placed there by God, and when we start to follow that, we come on a long journey of understanding and experience, each through our own capacity and with the help of our friends, the great cloud of witnesses, all who live in Christ.  Let us remember how faith works and needs nurturing.  Let us remember what we are meant for, what the whole understanding of God as human is meant to do for us.  It is a sacramental life we are to know; our faith returning us to the God who gave us life from the first.

This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

- John 6:52-50

In Saturday's reading, we were told that the leadership then complained about Jesus, because He taught in the temple at Capernaum, "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." 


 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.  Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.  For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.   We remember that in John's Gospel, the term "the Jews" most often refers to the religious authorities.  My study bible suggests:  "Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  We receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, we truly eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him."  Hilary of Poitiers wrote, "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."

"As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead.  He who eats this bread will live forever."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  Jesus speaks here about a relationship of total dependence.  He is dependent on the Father for His very life, and in this "eucharistic" relationship, in which our very food is comprised of His substance, so we gain a life beyond our understanding.  Actually in the Greek, the words translated here as "live forever" literally mean "live to the age."  What we are hearing is about an eternal age to come, a "time" when this world is transformed by the life He gives into an abundant life we can only imagine.  But that "eternal life" is dependent on Christ who is the bread, the food, just as He is dependent upon the Father for His life.

On today's passage, my study bible points out that John never reports the details of the Last Supper such as those found in Luke 22:19-20, but instead, he reveals the significance and truth of these events (events that were already known to his hearers) by reporting here Christ's own words.  This mystical reality is revealed in this Gospel in the ways in which Jesus speaks of dependence and relationship.  Our lives are added to by His life, just as His live is sustained by the "living Father."  It's really amazing how this depth of relationship is portrayed in John; this Evangelist gives us at once the mystical reality of Christ into which Jesus invites us:  into relationship with the Father and the Son, a relationship characterized by its interdependent nature.  Jesus, as the bread of life, is that food that adds life to us, life to our lives, and promises that through the bread of heaven we will live to the age:  in an eternal time where "life in abundance" truly manifests in fullness.  The message is always life, life itself, the mysterious substance that comes from the Father, through the Son, and links and embraces us as we are fully dependent upon it.  It's a mistake, I think, to speak about "spiritual life" although we are talking about the bread from heaven.  But just as Jesus is God in the flesh, Incarnate, so the essence of our understanding of the "bread of heaven" must be that this is life that increases life in all ways in us, that informs life in every form in our own lives.  To speak of "spiritual life" would be to split this life in ways that are inappropriate from all the life in us:  mental, spiritual, physical, emotional.  It's the same as loving with God with all our heart and soul and mind and strength:  whatever life we have is fully enhanced by the bread of heaven into a greater life, even as we await the life in the age to come, the fullness of transfiguration.  What we can understand is the depth of this life added to our life in dependence on Christ through faith, right in the here and the now.  There are times when our faith adds such beauty to our understanding of life, and joy, and peace that doesn't really make sense, and a kind of confidence that surpasses our own "meager resources."  This is a life that revives hope when there is no hope, and provides a way when there seems to be no way.   It helps us cope with life when it's limited by pain or toil; it gives us mission when we lose our purpose.  This kind of dependence is the difference between a sort of limitation of life to our own strengths, and opens up the doors to what is beyond us, that which helps us in ways we can't call "our own" alone, giving us added life to what we have and transforming who we are.  That is the bread of life and what it does for us, helping us to overcome what limits and disappoints in this world.

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

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 taught:   "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."

 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 is in the synagogue now at Capernaum.  The leadership complains -- He's in a familiar place in which people know His family as they are from this region, Galilee.

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.'"  The quotation is from Isaiah 54:13, contained within a prophecy of the future of the people of 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."   Here's an important clue repeated about the nature of this faith.  It begins with the Father.  Those who are delivered to Christ are "given" by the Father, as Jesus has said in yesterday's reading.  Faith ties all in; Jesus and the Father are one -- and our faith is meant to make us one as well.

"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."  Jesus repeats for emphasis -- He is the bread of life.  The life He offers is a kind of life beyond their concepts of what life is and means and consists of.  This is an absolute life, something that adds the quantity of life to all things in which it is embraced.  The closeness of this connection is as bread which nourishes and becomes a part of us, giving us our health, our lives, our bodies.  And He will give His flesh for the life of the world.  This begins a new passage which will be in Monday's reading.  My study bible reminds us of the Eucharistic significance in the words.  The fact that He Himself is the living bread that gives life reveals the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  He also refers to His sacrifice, in perhaps the first glimmer in His ministry of what is to come in the future. 

In the Eastern Orthodox Church, there are only three people in the whole history of the Church who have received the honorable title Theologian (these men are also known as saints).  One of them is John the Evangelist (also called John the Theologian), the author of our gospel.   In today's passage,it is evident why He was given such a title.  John's gospel tends to explain to us the significance of Jesus' teaching and actions, taking us from the mundane understanding of those listening who cannot grasp what He's getting at, and to the theological perspective of the significance of Jesus' words and teachings.  This happens over and over again in the Gospel.  But perhaps nowhere more powerfully than here -- and in its continuance in Monday's reading, in which the allusion to the Eucharist is very clear.  But John starts from the notion not that Jesus is the Christ who is our bread from heaven, but that in Christ is life itself.  We never lose sight of the power in this life itself, the  life in this One who has been given the power of life (and therefore death), who is our bread of life because the key to this everlasting life beyond our understanding is our depth of relationship with Him.  If we understand Him to be "bread from heaven" then we see that His words teach us about just who close He wants us to be with Him and just how dependent upon Him He considers us to be -- we who would receive this life.  So, while we rest on Sunday, wherever we are, while we are in church, let's think about what it means that He is our bread of life.  In our next reading, on Monday, He will elaborate much more clearly on this subject.

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

Yesterday, we read that, after feeding the multitude in the wilderness, when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.  And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "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."

  "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." Jesus teaches them to "work" (labor) for the food which endures to everlasting life.  The people's response is to ask Him what this work is. What are the works of God?  The work of God is to have faith in the One who's been sent by God.

"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."  The first thing they do is ask for a sign!  They have followed Him because He gave them bread in the wilderness, but faith seems like a very difficult thing, indeed.  Christ goes back to the Father:  the true bread of God is the One who has come to the world to give it life. 

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."  Here is the thing of crucial importance:  that Jesus, who is the bread of life, has come into the world to save all the world; those who will believe He will not lose, for He does the will of the Father who sent Him.  On Jesus' will ("my own will"), my study bible notes, "Since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- the divine will and a human will.  The Sixth Ecumenical Council, held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), proclaims these two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but rather 'His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will.'"

Jesus affirms Himself to be the bread of life.  Once again, John's Gospel takes us from an earthly sort of understanding to a deeper, higher spiritual one.  First these multitudes are fed miraculously from a few loaves.  They then wish to make Jesus king and seek to do so by force.  But instead He teaches them about the bread from heaven, which is even a greater gift than the bread Moses gave in the wilderness.  Those who come to Jesus will never hunger, and never thirst.  But the key is faith; it's faith that determines who comes to the Son, who is with Him and remains into eternal life.  It's an important promise that Jesus states here, that of all that the Father has given Him, He will lose nothing.  Everything that is His will be raised, born into an everlasting life that is something beyond what we now know as life.  This is the true gift He promises.  He is the gift, He is the bread, and as He will teach later on, He is the life -- and what He offers is life in abundance.  It's a great mystery being revealed.  How can He be bread; or rather, the bread from heaven -- the bread of life?  Belief or faith seems to be the whole key to the partaking of this bread, to the resurrection to eternal life.  Let us remember what it means to work the works of God, that faith is the key to being held with Him, so that He loses nothing the Father has given into His hand. It's the hand of life beyond what we understand, a life that is added to our lives, a life that raises us up into an abundant kind of life, one that is with us always.  Let us remember He is the food we need.  His promise is for here and now, and also for the life to come.

It is I; do not be afraid

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. 

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.

And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "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."

- John 6:16:27

Yesterday, we read that Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filed twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."   Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

 Now when evening came, His disciples went down to the sea, got into the boat, and went over the sea toward Capernaum.  And it was already dark, and Jesus had not come to them.  Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing.  So when they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid.  But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  This is the fifth sign recorded in John's Gospel.  We've already read how chapter 6 is seen as paralleling the story of Exodus:  In yesterday's reading the people follow Jesus to the wilderness at the time of Passover, and they are fed with bread there just as the Jews ate in the Exodus after having been hastily driven from Egypt (see Exodus 12:39).  In today's reading we see the parallel to Moses leading the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the midst of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  But here, Christ sends His disciples across the sea, and then walks on the sea itself as if it were dry ground.

On the following day, when the people who were standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat there, except that one which His disciples had entered, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with His disciples, but His disciples had gone away alone -- however, other boats came from Tiberias, near the place where they ate bread after the Lord had given thanks -- when the people therefore saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they also got into boats and came to Capernaum, seeking Jesus.   We remember that in yesterday's reading these people tried to force Jesus to be their king, after being fed in the wilderness with a miraculous multiplication of bread.  Here, they still seek Him.

And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, "Rabbi, when did You come here?"  Jesus answered them and said, "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."  Yesterday, we read of the feeding of the multitude in the wilderness.  But the feeding itself had a resemblance to the Eucharist, in which Jesus took the loaves, gave thanks (in the Greek, eucharisto), and distributed them via His disciples.  Here, Jesus directs them to the power of the holy, and the work for the food of everlasting life.   In a common and powerful device, John once again directs us to the things that are truly essential -- as Jesus explains the true meaning behind the sign, and directs these people in His true teaching.

We're directed to something here beyond the sign of the miraculous feeding in the wilderness; or more truly, an entire multitude is being taught.  Jesus doesn't want to be made their king, but He does want to lead them -- and He leads through teaching.  He gives them the truth about the life that is precious to Him, that is on offer through Him.  Over and over again, John's Gospel will give us to understand that here is the power of life, life in abundance, life everlasting.  The feeding in the wilderness gives us hints which prefigure the Eucharist, in which we partake of the Body and Blood, via bread and wine, the food which endures to everlasting life.  It's a great wedding feast, really, set up to unite Christ and His Bride, the Church; that is, all of us.  What is the labor for the food which endures to everlasting life?  Christ will teach this directly in tomorrow's reading. But we get  a hint of it in the story of His walking on the water, to the disciples struggling in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, against the roaring wind and waves, in the dark, without Him.  When He tells them, "It is I; do not be afraid," there's a greater message there than merely His accompanying them in this particular struggle against the sea, and a greater message than even the immediate sign of walking on the water.  It points to our particular reliance on Him, not just at one time or another, but for all times.  They labor and struggle in the boat -- so many of them being seasoned fishermen whose lives have been on boats on this particular Sea, but to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life is something they are being taught.  Can we guess what that is?  What is the real message in the words, "It is I; do not be afraid"?

Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?

After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filed twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."   

Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.

- John 6:1-15

In yesterday's reading, Jesus was still speaking to the temple authorities:   "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at anytime, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

 After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.  Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased.  And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.  Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.  My study bible says that this chapter of John (ch. 6) parallels the story of Passover and Exodus of Israel from Egypt in many important ways.  In this passage, the multitudes follow Christ because of His signs, and this too takes place at Passover.

Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"  But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.  Philip answered Him, "Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."  One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"  My study bible says that Christ tests Philip to increase his faith, for Philip needed help in understanding Him (14:8-10).  Two hundred denarii corresponds to over six months' wages for a laborer.  It notes that Andrew has greater faith than Philip:  "Knowing the prophet Elisha had multiplied bread for 100 men (4 Kings 4:42-44), he offers the food brought by a certain lad.  Nevertheless, Andrew is still weak in faith, questioning what a mere five loaves could do for the number of people there (v. 9)."

Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down."  Now there was much grass in the place.  So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.  And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down; and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.  So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."  Therefore they gathered them up, and filed twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten.  Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world."   Therefore when Jesus perceived that they were about to come and take Him by force to make Him king, He departed again to the mountain by Himself alone.  My study bible says, "Though Jesus had performed greater signs than this, these crowds were so desirous of an earthly Messiah that they declared Jesus to be the expected Prophet (Deut. 18:15-19) only when they were filled with earthly things (see v. 26).  Because of this misunderstanding, Jesus departed from them."

Today's feeding of the multitude is the fourth sign in John's Gospel.  Here, Jesus meets the wide public on a large scale.  There is no way that talk of this specific miracle will not reach the ears of the "multitudes."  Not only was it a miraculous kind of feeding, it was also a kind of largesse that people would wish for from kings, civil leaders.  It tells us something about the nature of gifts, these signs that Jesus is giving in His ministry.   There are two ways to take them; either we look at the feeding as a sign pointing beyond itself to God and the nature of God, and it increases our faith -- or we take the sign as a kind of material gain, something added to our books, and eagerly look for more, or how we can get more.  In this case, making Jesus king seems to be the way to make certain this type of feeding remains a part of people's lives.  But Jesus will have no part of it.  Instead, He withdraws to the mountaintop, where He is again with the Father.  One presumes that on that mountaintop alone He is in prayer, in consultation, if you will, with the Father regarding His mission and ministry.  How do we look at signs and gifts in our lives?  Jesus' whole ministry seems to fall on this particular turning point.  Are the people after a kind of king who will provide them with miraculous food and things to eat?  Or are they willing to follow Him in faith, in a kind of love and recognition sparked by the love of the Father?  These are crucial questions that have a lot to do with our faith, and how we approach our lives.  Do we have a sense of gratitude that elevates our understanding of life through recognition of what is beyond what we see?  Or is what we see a kind of limited commodity, something for which we must grasp what we can, without our faith having anything to do with it?  This sign speaks of God's love, God's abundance, God's life.  But, as we'll find, it's not just about the "bread which perishes."  Either people understand it one way, or they understand it the other way.  But, seemingly, it is not possible for a purely material-minded perspective to understand what is beyond the sign, and the love that it points to -- nor the love that is in Christ.  That perspective would teach that there is only one motive for Christ, too, and that would be to be made king.  Can we understand His perspective, His withdrawal to that mountain top?  His focus on mission is all about withdrawal from things that confuse His mission with purely power-driven concerns; instead He works in the name of a higher kind of power, one that works in love.  But love demands from us a care for all that is good and true and beautiful.  Love doesn't merely indulge our material desires, what we think we need.  Love teaches us also about a different kind of bread, what other needs we have in a broader perspective.  Can we receive that, too?

How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?

 "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at anytime, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"

- John 5:30-47

Yesterday, we read that Jesus taught the following as He replied to the authorities in the temple: "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these these, that you may marvel.  For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."

  "I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."  My study bible teaches:  "The divine will is common to the three Persons of the Trinity -- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit -- for all fully share the same divine nature.  When the Son is said to obey the Father, this refers to His human will, which Christ assumed at His Incarnation.  Christ freely aligned His human will in every aspect with the divine will of the Father, and we are called to do likewise."

"If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.  There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.  You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.  Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.  He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.  But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish -- the very works I do -- bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.  And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.  You have neither heard His voice at anytime, nor seen His form.  But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.  You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.  But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.  I do not receive honor from men.  But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.  I have come in My Father's name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.  How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?  Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you -- Moses, in whom you trust.  For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.  But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?"  My study bible asks, "How could Christ's witness ever be untrue?  It cannot (see 8:14).  Rather, Jesus is anticipating the argument and speaking the thoughts of the Jewish leaders (he does the same thing in Luke 4:23).  In Jewish tradition, a valid testimony requires two witnesses (Deut. 17:6).  Jesus offers four witnesses to confirm His identity as Messiah and as Son of God:  (1) God the Father (vv. 32, 37, 38);  (2) John the Baptist (vv. 33-35); (3) His own works (v. 36); and (4) the Old Testament Scriptures, through which Moses and others gave testimony (vv. 39-47)."

Today's reading gives us a sense of witnessing and its essential relationship to the subjects discussed in this chapter.  Jesus has spoken first of all about the life that is within Him:  life that is of the Father and also given to Him, in His Person as Son (see yesterday's reading).  But Jesus speaks quickly about judgment as well, how the power of judgment is also given to Him by the Father.  The power of life is also connected to judgment.  Since Jesus is at a feast which commemorates the giving of the Law by Moses on Mt. Sinai, the idea of judgment and its relationship to the God of life itself is essential to our understanding of who Jesus is, what He fulfills, and how we understand Him in His divine character as Son.  Judgment is not far from anything that is related to God; justice -- and the concept of what justice might mean -- cannot be far away from the true nature of God.  And so, Jesus discusses also witnessing:  the call in the Law that asks for witnesses is here addressed.  Jesus has four witnesses to His true identity as Son:  God the Father, John the Baptist, the works that Jesus does, and the Old Testament Scriptures.  Those to whom He is testifying are the experts in those Scriptures, they are the temple authorities who study them and "search the Scriptures, for in them [they] think they have eternal life."  But the fulfillment of what is in the Scriptures is standing before them in His Person, and as human being, Jesus.  Life is there before them, and therefore, so is judgment.  Closely tied up with judgment is, of course, discernment.  And Jesus gives us a very strong flavor about the nature of discernment when He criticizes their ability to perceive (or rather, lack of it) in very specific terms.  He speaks about where honor comes from -- how our own senses of honor are dependent upon one thing or another.  Jesus asks them, "How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?"   This is really important for us to understand, because ultimately it is the issue of truth that is at work here.  Where does truth come from?  How do we really know what is good, what is honorable?  We will find ourselves in circumstances in life in which the most convenient thing to do is to go along with the crowd.  This may come in many forms, but it is often the case that what is expedient is that which appeals to human greed or laziness; what is convenient is something that shoves a problem aside and leaves people comfortably in their places of human honor.  But real justice may work quite differently, and require a lot of hard work.  Truth and true witnessing may demand an excessive power not only of conscience, but a clear awareness of the honor that comes from God, and not from "one another."  Prayer is the power to help us stay in that place where our honor rests not on our own egos or those of others but truly in the justice God would call on us to emulate, to care about.  Let us remember the judge who has the power of life in all things and circumstances.  Let us pray for His discernment and understanding in ourselves.  His life is ultimately what is supported by good judgment, illustrated by healing a man on a Sabbath, the cause of this discussion with the leadership.  God's justice is always exemplified by mercy -- mercy in the cause of life itself, and that in abundance.