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 the crowds, "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'?"  We recall that Jesus is in Galilee, "home" country for Him.  Those who complain about Him are likely to be leaders in the synagogue or other important men in the community.

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."  Here is an important notion, that it is the Father who draws people to faith in Christ.  Jesus says this with complete assurance.  We recall in Matthew's Gospel, when Peter made his confession that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus said, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17).   It is of these whom the Father brings to Him that Jesus has said (in yesterday's reading, above), "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."

"I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  Here Jesus begins a passage with clear eucharistic significance.  He makes it clear that He is the bread of life as faith in Him becomes the key to life with Him (and the Father) in an eternal sense.  John gives us Christ's own words, which reveal the significance of the events of the Last Supper -- already known to his hearers at the time of the writing of this Gospel near the end of the first century.

Jesus' words here have most definitely a significance for the Eucharist, but there is another echo in the Gospel here as well.  Jesus says, ". . . and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  We recall Jesus' words to Nicodemus, the ones that sum up His mission in the world, so often quoted, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" (3:16).   There, Jesus spoke of God's love for the world in connection with His sacrifice, and here He speaks of His mission for the life of the world, as connected to His sacrifice.  The bread that He shall give is His flesh -- and it will be given for the life of the world.   Again, Jesus speaks not only of human beings and the eternal life that is offered through faith, but rather of life for the whole of the world, the created order.  It is with tremendous love, again, that we are given to know God regards the whole of the world.  Redemption, we are given to know in these words, is not simply for individual beings, but somehow for the life of the entire world.  Everything is to be restored, given life, saved in the sense in which Jesus grants life, has life, is life itself.  How can we imagine what marvels He's speaking about?  But the love with which God regards the whole of the world is tied to the life that He offers for the world.  The Eucharist is therefore tied, somehow, with the life of the world, with us -- renewed human beings in His life that He offers -- as stewards within the world so beloved by God.  Jesus speaks not only of individual believers here, but of the Garden, a kind of restoration of the life of the world that is in everything.  His is the life that brings abundant life to everything.  Father Alexander Schmemann, in his book titled For the Life of the World, writes, "To love is not easy, and mankind has chosen not to return God’s love. Man has loved the world, but as an end in itself and not as transparent to God."  If we are to correctly understand the life of the world, then, perhaps we are to understand a restored world as "transparent to God," in Fr. Schmemann's words; that is, a world in which its true purpose is restored, that we may have communion with God, and know God.  To restore the life of the world is to bring the world into such communion that God is known through God's world.  The elements of the world which form the Eucharist are brought together into this love -- and therefore is the Eucharist not simply for each one of us but also for this life of the world, a restoration gathered in Christ's love.  What would such a world really look like? Clearly, Christ puts His own faith into a restored humanity, God's people, returned to God, those whom the Father brings to Him.  His hope is in us!  Shall we play our parts in such a world filled with such life and love?   Let us not forget it is inextricably linked to the Cross; it is this life for which He will give His life.  Can we follow Him in such love?   Through the Eucharist, and through Christ's sacrifice, all is surrendered back to God for God's purposes, even the world.  Thus, we give our vision of the world to God, in exchange for the vision of the world God gives to us -- one of overarching love.