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 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."  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."

 

- John 6:41-54 

 

John's chapter 6 began with the fourth sign of John's Gospel:  the feeding of a multitude.  Yesterday we read that Jesus taught the people who followed Him to Capernaum:  "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 in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is most often used to represent hostile religious leaders, possibly local leaders of the synagogue.  Here He is in Capernaum of Galilee, where there are many who are likely to know His extended family in Nazareth.  But the irony is that these people do not know the true story of His birth, nor do they hear His words regarding His Father.

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."  Once again, Jesus returns to the closeness of the relationship between Himself and the Father.  So deep is the relationship that not only is it the Father who sent Him, but no one can come to Christ unless the Father draws that person to Christ.  St. Hilary of Poitiers sums up Jesus teaching this way:  "There is no approach to the Father except through Christ. But there is also no approach to Christ, unless the Father draws us."  Therefore, not only does the Father share and give everything to the Son, but the Father also draws Christ's followers to Christ.  Therefore the Father works deep within us as well, and is "all in all."

"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."  The Father draws us to Christ, the only One who is from God and has truly seen and knows the Father in the Father's fullness.  Christ is the bread of life to whom the Father would draw those who hunger and thirst for the everlasting life offered through grace.  My study Bible reminds us again here that the whole of John's chapter 6 reflects the story of the Exodus, but under the new covenant of Christ.  In the Exodus, God fed God's people manna and gave them drink from a miraculous water source (Exodus 16:1-17:7).  Here, Christ declares Himself to be the true bread that has come 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."  Once again, as in yesterday's reading and commentary, we note that Christ does not say He gives for the life of human beings only, but for the life of the world.  In Greek, this word is κόσμος/kosmos, meaning the whole of the created order, the universe and everything in it.

 

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."  These verses begin a new section of chapter 6, which has a clear eucharistic significance, tying the teachings that have come regarding the bread of heaven to the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  This theme shall be continued in tomorrow's lectionary reading.

St. Augustine has a great deal of commentary on these passages from John's chapter 6, as we also noted in yesterday's reading and commentary.  In today's passages from chapter 6, Jesus speaks of His closeness to the Father, but also how that tie to the Father extends into the relationship between the faithful and Christ as well.  He says, "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day."  St. Augustine comments here that this is the doctrine of grace:  none comes unless they are drawn.  But this is a mysterious process, to some extent predicated on our own internal hunger of the soul for this particular bread of heaven, or bread of life.  We come by the gift of faith.  St. Augustine says that the soul is drawn also by love, and we are drawn even by delight, quoting Psalm 37:4:  "Delight yourself also in the Lord, and he shall give you the desires of your heart."  He writes, "There is a certain craving of the heart to which that bread of heaven is sweet. . . . how much more boldly ought we to say that a person is drawn to Christ when he delights in the truth, when he delights in blessedness, delights in righteousness, delights in everlasting life?  Do not the bodily senses have their pleasures, and the soul its? . . . Give me one who loves, who longs, who burns, who sighs for the source of his being and his eternal home, and he will know what I mean."  Faith, then, in the words of St. Augustine and the experience of uncountable numbers of people throughout these centuries, depends upon so much, involves so much -- but perhaps none more so than a true desire for this delight in truth and in the love which springs from the Father, for, as John writes in his first Epistle, God is love (see 1 John 4:8).  When Peter makes his confession of faith, Matthew reports Jesus' response, so consistent with today's teachings in John:  "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (see Matthew 16:16-17).  May we all be blessed with this hunger for truth, for the delight we may take in what He offers, the life that is in the love and truth of God, and know what it is to be filled.