Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life.

 

 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 townspeople who had wanted to make Him king:  "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 he 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 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."  Jesus quotes to the people from Isaiah 54:13.  We recall that He is in Galilee, where His family is known.  Here, He defends His declaration in yesterday's reading, above, that God the Father will bring others to Him who will believe, and He will raise them up at the last day.  Again, the forceful emphasis is on the tie He has to the Father, the unshakable confidence He has in the Father, regardless of the rejection He faces here among those who know Him as Jesus.  

"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."   My study Bible has a note which focuses on this last statement by Jesus, and applies to the verses which (which will be in tomorrow's reading).  It notes the eucharistic significance of this passage, and calls that eucharistic sense indisputable here.  Christ declares that He is Himself the living bread, and that it is He who gives life.  My study Bible calls it a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  John does not include the details of the Last Supper such as are found in Luke 22:19-20, but instead the focus in this Gospel is on giving us the significance of these events.  We recall that they were already known to his hearers at the time of writing.  In reporting Christ's own words, John gives us these intended meanings.

Following upon Jesus' declarations in yesterday's reading (see above), He builds upon the relationship to the Father, even before these who scoff at Him.  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.  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."  Jesus emphasizes once again His complete confidence in the will of the Father.  But in so doing, He reveals also a deeper unity than the one we understand He has with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It is always something over which to marvel that this unity with the Father not only includes the other divine Persons of the Trinity, but here Jesus extends it also to human beings.  He clearly states that the Father will draw believers to Him, who will in turn -- and in this sense of unity of faith -- be raised by Christ on the last day.  While Christ may be divine by nature and substance, we may also be part of this communion by adoption, and through faith.  The closest reminder of these words by Jesus is found in St. Matthew's Gospel, when St. Peter gives his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ.  Jesus replies to St. Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:17-18).  That rock is the substance of the faith Jesus declares is coming in those given to Him by the Father.  It is the substance which we discussed in yesterday's reading and commentary as spoken of by St. Paul, in writing, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1).  But what is truly astonishing about this rock of faith that Jesus reveals to us, and its substance, is that it includes the Father working in us, and teaching us.  We are used to thinking about Christ Himself as One who is always with us ("I am with you always, even to the end of the age" - Matthew 28:20), but to consider God the Father as not only in unity with Christ the Son, but also at work within us, even teaching us, is an extraordinary thing to contemplate. When Jesus quotes Isaiah in today's reading ("They shall all be taught by God"), He makes it explicitly clear to whom it refers.  He says, "Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."  It is little wonder then, that St. Paul can speak of faith as substance, while Jesus refers to it as a rock.  St. Peter got his name, meaning "Rock" for the strength of his faith when he made his confession.  So the power of this rock and substance of faith makes sense in light of the connection Jesus makes between our faith and the activity of no less than God the Father.  This, therefore, as in the words of St. Paul, is a substance we can rely on.  So strong, in Christ's teaching, that "the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it."  In today's reading, Jesus teaches that faith connects us with the very power of life itself:   "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life."  Little wonder it can defeat death, even the "gates of Hades."