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 came 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 continued His discourse to the people in Capernaum who had wanted to make Him King after being fed in the wilderness.  "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 Capernaum, in Galilee, where there are those who know Him and His family.  We remember that the term "the Jews" in John's Gospel most often refers to the religious leadership, a term denoting a kind of political party affiliation.

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one came 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."  In Matthew's Gospel, when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:17).  Here, He's giving us a similar teaching, that "everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."  He quotes from Isaiah 54:13. 

"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."  Jesus once again compares Himself in this discourse to the bread given in the wilderness with Moses.  Those who ate died the death that is natural to humans; but this bread that is His flesh, confers an eternal life.  In the next reading, Jesus will continue in a clear allusion to the Eucharist.  The significance is unmistakable; the flesh He will give (on the Cross) is for the life of the [whole] world.

John's Gospel was written at a time when those who heard it would know the events of the crucifixion and Resurrection, and be familiar with the Eucharist.  But that Jesus' sacrifice is for the life of the whole world is something we must continue to ponder.  There is no mincing words here.  He doesn't just say it's for His followers, or for those who understand it.  His sacrifice is for the life of the world.  It is for the transfiguring power of life coming into the world and touching all the world.  But it's more than that.  This word in Greek for "world" isn't just the word for "earth."  The word is kosmos, meaning the whole universe, for creation.  Clearly, the power of the Cross is something that extends beyond what we know, beyond our own lives and even our world, but something that shakes up an entire created order of things and gives new meaning, and new life, to all.  The bread of life is more than the life we know.  Therefore it is a promise for us of participation in something much more than we can understand, a life that is more than life as we know it.  The very fact that faith itself seems to come from the Father and is a part of a relationship with the Father tells us the depth of the life He's talking about, and it indicates a depth of the life in us that is transformed by the power of the Cross, the flesh that He will give changing the world and giving us a kind of abundance of life we don't fully understand.  What we can infer is that the bread of life He promises is something that allows us to participate in this life that goes beyond worldly life, that extends deeper into us than all the relationships we know.  Resurrection is more than a promise of "life after death."  It's a promise of life amongst all the things that seem to "kill" us in this life, the losses and sorrows, the lost dreams, the hopes that vanish.  Jesus' transfiguring death and Resurrection, the flesh that He will give, is something that guarantees us life within ourselves when all else seems God, a very relationship to the root of all that is, the Father Himself.  This is faith and its power, and the life He promises beyond what we know.  Can we put our trust in it, in Him?