Do you also want to go away?

 

 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, because of Christ's teachings, the religious leaders 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 drinks 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."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study Bible comments that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.   To this day, it remarks, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning the sacramental eating of His Body and drinking of His Blood, and therefore do not "walk" in this teaching.  Because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, my study Bible continues, many attempt either to define its nature rationally or to explain away Christ's words altogether.  This takes the form of giving them a purely metaphorical meaning.  In either case, these answers are dubious.  To reject the sacramental teaching of Christ is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church throughout history.  

 

 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.  Simon Peter's response to Jesus contains two powerful statements.  The first is that He has the words of eternal life.  Peter implies that there is nowhere else to go; only Jesus has the words He preaches and gives to the people.  The second statement is, "Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."  While others turn away because of Christ's "hard teachings," Simon Peter's faith is cemented and grows deeper; he is left with the conviction that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  

 

Let us first stop to notice the effects of Christ's truth, stark as it is, and as seemingly inexplicable to His audience as His words are.  There are those who walk away.  St. John, the author of our Gospel, will also write in one of his Epistles of those who were once followers, "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us" (1 John 2:19).  In his letter to the Galatians, St. Paul asks, "Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?"  In a modern context, in which so many people seem to "shop for faith," to consider faith a kind of smorgasbord of ideas from which to pick and to choose in the ways that are personally pleasing, this scenario -- and any sort of shaming of those who can no longer follow Christ for these words -- may seem entirely unreasonable.  But, in effect, the Gospel and the events recorded here tell us yet again about our faith and how faith works.  Several Church Fathers comment on Christ's use of language in this passage, both to persuade and to caution.  St. Athanasius writes that "it is the part of true godliness not to compel but to persuade. Our Lord himself does not employ force but offers the choice, saying to everyone, 'If anyone will follow after me,' and to his disciples in particular, 'Will you also go away?'" (Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, 2009; p 247).  St. Chrysostom praises Christ's way of speaking regarding the one who will betray Him.  He comments, "See the wisdom of Christ. He neither exposes the traitor nor allows him to remain hidden. In this way, [Judas] is not so publicly humiliated that he becomes more contentious, but Christ also does not embolden him by allowing him to think that his wicked deeds are proceeding undetected" (Homilies on the Gospel of John 47.4).  So we can marvel at all of these ways in which Christ not only tells what sounds perhaps like a blunt and brutal truth regarding his Body and Blood, but that in so doing He is acutely aware of the hearts of the people whom He addresses, and His effects on them.  He does not shrink from the truth, even when it offends.  And yet, at the same time, He elicits faith, as well as the reality of the heart which will betray Him.  We, with the saints and Fathers of the Church, are left to marvel, and to piece together our own faith based on what we read and encounter in this Gospel.  Perhaps the most astounding truth of all is that it is love that Christ is working upon, and that faith is closely entwined with love.  For what else do we make of Simon Peter's response to the words that have now sent others away:  "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."  It's at that heart-rending point of love that we come realize the importance of such questions as, "Do you want to go away?"  Just as Christ endured everything at the Cross for the love of His Father, and for His love of us, so we are also challenged with what is in our hearts when following is difficult.  Whether it is a bond with a spouse, a child, another loved one, or indeed, our faith -- it all comes down to love.  Do we want to go away?  Perhaps with St. Peter, we must say that there is no one else for us.  But His words will always challenge, and our faith will always pull us further along into the life He asks of us.  In the end, we know that God is love, as the Evangelist attests in his Epistle.  And it is love that has to lead us forward into the truth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me

 

 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 drinks 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 6:52-59 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders Jews complained about Jesus in response to His discourse, 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 form 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?"  Once again we observe that in St. John's Gospel misunderstandings are frequent.  Here we go once again from "earthly language" heard in an earthly way, to this question posed to Christ who will answer with the voice of the mystical reality He brings into the world, and what exactly this means.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks 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."  My study Bible notes that 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 (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, we eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and we in Him.  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers on this passage:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the relaity 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.  In a straightforward manner, Christ teaches about Communion, giving this a eucharistic significance , but also speaks of the mystical reality of Himself as the bread which came down from heaven, and gives eternal life.  

 

In today's reading we get perhaps the most stark reminder of the double meanings of words encountered in St. John's Gospel.  Jesus' words, as we will see, will inflame and upset quite a few people.  But nonetheless, despite the misunderstanding, He still doesn't mince words.  This is because He's telling the truth.  People might not understand it in its true sense, that He is speaking of mystical realities -- and the mystical realities present in the Mystical Supper, the Eucharist -- but nonetheless He speaks directly the words of truth about who He is, about His sacrifice, about His flesh being food for the life of the world.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we pondered on the meanings of "life" in Christ's language.  That is, we wondered about what it means that He preaches regarding eternal life, everlasting life, life in abundance.  What does it mean to live forever?    These concepts all focus on a central theme of life that belongs to the age to come; that is life that exceeds what we know, and is lived in this time and place in which He reigns and all things are reconciled under Him.  This could have a plethora of ramifications and meanings in terms of what it truly means for us, and the picture of that life we don't truly know.  What we do know is that this "life of the ages" isn't simply about the future as we understand time to imply, for the life of the Kingdom -- the eternal reality of Christ -- isn't defined by time as our lives are in an earthly sense.  So today we're invited to wonder about His even more perplexing and even troubling words.  What does it really mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?  This is the language, moreover, of sacrifice.  He will give His life for many, for the life of the world.  He seems even possibly to be speaking about human sacrifice!  But all of this is to be reconciled in the meanings and values He brings into the world, and in our understanding of the purpose of His mission and ministry as Incarnate Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man.  All of this language needs its own way of being understood and taken in by us.  Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  This speaks to a kind of depth of communion possibly no one can understand to whom He speaks directly at this time in His ministry.  And yet, now it speaks to all of us, for we have the Eucharist, we know of His sacrifice for us, and of the reality of communion.  How many of us can say that we have experienced that reality of that depth -- and are beckoned forward more deeply in to the mystery of life of Christ and how it calls to us to deeper places within ourselves?  How many can say that they are called into this communion, to become more "like Him" -- or perhaps more closely becoming the person He calls us to be in His name?  This is the reality of salvation itself -- of the sacrifice He will make of His flesh as He bears all in this world so that we may encounter His and come to dwell with Him in that abundance of life He promises.  Don't be put off by language one cannot understand, or may find offensive.  For until we know what someone is really saying, who's to know if even God is speaking to us?

 

 

 

 

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 form 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 

 

Recently we read that, after He fed five thousand men (and more women and children), the people sought to make Jesus king by force.  Jesus sent the disciples away in a boat, and later caught up to them, walking on the water.  The people followed Him to Capernaum across the Sea of Galilee, realizing that He had gone from the place of the feeding.  He began to teach them, "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 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 form the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."  Here Jesus makes one of His more intriguing statements about not only the relationship of Father to Son, but of the Father with human beings:  "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws Him."  Although He makes clear that it is only He who is from God and has seen the Father, those people who come to Him have heard and learned from the Father in some mystical way.

 

 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."  Here Christ becomes even more explicit regarding Himself as the bread of life, the living bread which came down from heaven, as He has hinted throughout this discourse.  This last verse and the ones which follow reveal the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church, my study Bible comments.  The eucharistic significance here is unmistakable, particularly when we consider that those first to hear the Gospel were already familiar with the events of Christ's Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.

 

 Today's reading asks us to think about sacrifice, and what sacrifice means and is. Because, looking carefully at Christ's words, that He is the bread of life, the bread which comes down from heaven, the living bread -- is all tied up with the confirmation that this bread that He shall give is His flesh, which He shall give for the life of the world.  Christ's words tie together a story, a kind of journey, sometimes in popular culture this is referred to as a hero's journey, and is tied together with the arc of a story -- perhaps of one's life, perhaps of a myth which teaches us about ourselves and about life, and perhaps about a hero whom we know of.  In this case, the hero's journey is the journey that is at the center of our lives and even of the world, for it is the hero's journey of the One who brings us salvation -- whose heroic sacrifice is indeed even "for the life of the world."  Note how Christ does not parse or mince words, and think about what this phrase means, "for the life of the world."  He is not "pulling His punches," so to speak.  For the life of the world the Church takes to mean just that, the life of the whole world, of all of creation.  For "world" here is not the word for this world, or the earth.  It is κοσμος/kosmos (cosmos), which includes all of creation, the universe, even the angelic beings whose many ranks and tasks remain mysteries to us.  Christ's "heroic journey" of salvation, includes all of that, everything about all that we know, and is given freely so that all may have life.  Even the word for "life" here implies mystery.  For life is not limited simply to things that we perceive as alive to us and not dead.  Life in the words of Christ is used to imply a mystical continuum of the qualities of life, the abundance of life, all of which we can't know nor understand from our perspective.  Jesus will speak of life in abundance ("I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly" - John 10:10), and life everlasting ("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 6:27).  But while we may get hints and allusions to what exactly these terms mean, we don't really know the fullness of the life that Christ promises to us.  We don't necessarily know what that looks like, feels like, or how it manifests, because it is part of His kingdom.  Christ's miracles or signs point to that Kingdom, a reality where our normal assumptions of limits, potentials, possibilities clearly don't apply, and expectations are commonly thwarted.  Most mysterious of all is the will of God and the manifestations of God's presence, for they present themselves unannounced and often in a fullness that demands we readjust our expectations.  Really, the entire New Testament is the place where this happens, where the expectations of the people are given a shaking, new meanings, and unforeseen manifestations -- such as in today's reading.  In the readings that follow, Christ will continue to befuddle even some of His disciples, and to their consternation and disappointment, even falling away.  But we are following where our Hero leads us, where His life for us teaches us to go to follow Him, and we trust (the real root of belief) because He first loved us.

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 "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 

 

On Saturday we read that, when evening came following Christ's feeding of the five thousand, 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 water of 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."  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.'"  We remember that these people have sought to make Christ king by force, because of the miraculous food He gave them (see this reading).  So, He is speaking now in response to them and the things they seek Him for.  Note how Christ frames faith as the work of God, for faith includes not simply belief but faithful living, following the One whom God sent.  But yet again, the people respond with a demand for a sign, a work such as producing bread from heaven (see Exodus 16).  

 

 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."  As has been remarked upon several times during our reading of John's Gospel, Jesus once again turns from "earthly" words and meanings to elevate them to spiritual meanings, to the meaning of His ministry and gifts to the world.  Here, the people must turn their minds from earthly bread, to the manna given during Moses' time, to Christ as the One who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

 

 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."  My study Bible explains Christ's teaching, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."  It notes that since Christ has two natures, He has two wills -- one divine and one human.  At the Sixth Ecumenical Council, it explains, which was held at Constantinople (AD 680-681), it was proclaimed that the two wills of Christ do not work contrary to one another, but "His human will follows, not resisting nor reluctant, but subject to His divinity and to His omnipotent will."

 

 Christ's closeness to the Father has already been repeatedly emphasized in St. John's Gospel.  In John 1:14, we read, "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth."  Christ's glory is beheld by human beings, as He is the Word in the flesh, inseparable from His identity as only begotten of the Father.  In John 5:30, Jesus teaches, "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."  At the Last Supper, Jesus will teach, "He who has seen Me has seen the Father; . . . Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works" (see John 14:8-10).  Fidelity in the words and actions of Christ is linked to both faith and obedience.  In this sense of faith that Christ teaches, we observe that to work the work of God through belief is to live in accordance with that belief, as He does in this collaboration with the Father.  Even the words He speaks to the disciples and to us are those given Him by the Father.  In our reading for today, Christ teaches that He has come into the world -- as the bread of heaven -- not to do His own will, but the will of the Father who sent Him.  As human beings, we may wonder how it is possible to be so closely identified and allied with another being, and yet not lose our own distinct identity.  But this is the nature of the divine, and it is also the relationship to which Christ invites us, the participation in the life of Christ we may also enter, especially through the "bread" He will give us.  This is the very nature of the divine, and in Him it is mingled inextricably with His humanity, precisely so that we human beings may also share in and participate in this life.  Baptism gives us the gift of the Holy Spirit which dwells in us; divinity itself may also lead us through our faith, and thus through our own works and life, as we are able to accept that "grace and truth" given to us.  In this sense, Christ enters into our world as one of us ("in the flesh") so that we might become like Him in all the senses made possible for human beings.  Thus we are capable of receiving grace and truth to the extent that we are able, and as our human wills may embrace that faith.  This is the way Christ models faith and fidelity for us, so that we learn and are made capable of "working the works of God" as faith is taught to us in today's reading.  This is more than an intellectual process, but one that works through grace, as even the faith we're given relies also on God's work in us.  St. Paul writes, "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).  And the foundation of all that Christ teaches is love; that is, the love of Father and Son, and that love extended to us.  For here is the first thing He then teaches about the Father's will:  "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."   That we will not be lost to God, but forever found and kept and raised to life.  Let us enter into His love and live our faith that we're given.  As we will come to read, the "bread of heaven" invites us into that life of participation and belonging, the cup of salvation.

 

 

 

 

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

 

 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 water of 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 filled 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 water of 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 event of Christ walking on the water of the sea is the fifth sign of seven recorded by St. John in this Gospel.  The entire chapter parallels the story of Exodus in a number of ways which we have reported in commentary.  Here my study Bible notes that in the Exodus, Moses led the people across the Red Sea, walking on the dry ground in the midst of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here, Christ sends His disciples across the sea and then walks on the sea 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.  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."  Once again the text tells us how desirous of an earthly Messiah the people are, particularly in Jesus because He has fed them ("because you ate of the loaves and were filled").  So much so, that they got into boats and came to Capernaum seeking Him.  

 

There is an interesting contrast between the two stories in our reading for today.  In one story, Jesus walks on the water to His disciples.   The setting is that darkness has already come upon the waters, an echo of the chaos before creation in Genesis, in which the dark waters become life and creation by the word and work of God (Genesis 1:2).  A great wind begins blowing, likely to stir up the sea (the sea arose, the text tells us), and the disciples are already three or four miles out, in the middle of the Sea of Galilee.  But Jesus walks to them on the water, telling them, "It is I; do not be afraid."  He is once again using the Divine Name of the Lord, the I AM in Greek (Ἐγώ εἰμι/Ego eimi), from Exodus 3:14.  And the divine properties of the Lord are immediately evident:  we're told that immediately the boat was at the land where they were going.  (If they had departed from Tiberias, as the text seems to teach us, it would seem that they were approximately halfway there when Jesus appeared to them.)   So time and space are in some way suspended here; Christ is outside of both.  When He walks on the water, space as we understand it doesn't apply (and hence therefore gravity also); when they receive Him, they immediately find themselves at their destination.  So time also does not play its role as we know it, presumably because space does not.  These are signs of the divine, capable of suspending or superseding the elements that define our physical world and lives.  But note the contrast with the townspeople who still seek Jesus because He has fed them, and they wanted to make Him king (see yesterday's reading, above).  These people, who don't understand Him or His ministry (or apparently the kind of faith He's seeking) have been scrambling to find Him.  They had no idea where He went, He didn't appear to go with His disciples, and they seek Him in the area He's known to frequent, the place of His ministry "headquarters," in Capernaum.  These people neither know where He was, how He came to Capernaum, the mysterious departure of His disciples without Him, and so must seek Him as best they can through guesswork and hearsay.  Their efforts are "pedestrian" by comparison to the events that surround Jesus, the things which He initiates.  The two stories contrast in the remarkable events which eliminate the limitations of time and space, and evade the people who wish to make Jesus king -- in great contrast to the relative dullness and slowness of the people who think only of the food given them, and cherish that as the thing to be diligently sought in Christ.  If we look at these stories iconically, we see that Christ draws us up to where He is; His influence teaches us a set of values and perspectives that take us to His true kingdom, the place He wants us to know and to pursue instead of chasing our stomachs, so to speak.  The feeding in the wilderness (in yesterday's reading) teaches us that Christ is fully aware of our human needs and physical reality, but His response today teaches us where He wants our minds to go in order to follow Him appropriately and for the right reasons.  Jesus expects us to work, to "labor" but for the right things and in the right perspective.  He tells them, "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." He draws us up to Himself; He has come down from heaven as the Son of Man to offer us this food which endures to everlasting life.  We must follow where He leads, not where we want to take Him.  

 

 

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 to 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 had 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 

 

This week we have been reading chapter 6 of John's Gospel, in which the eucharistic concepts of Christ as the bread of heaven, and also the sacrifice He will make on the Cross have been introduced.  Yesterday's text told us that 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.

 

  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 to 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 had been granted to him by My Father."  From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more.  My study Bible comments here that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.  To this day, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning this sacramental eating of His Body and drinking His Blood, and so do not walk in His teaching.  My study Bible further notes that because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, many attempt to define its nature in a rational way, or to explain away His words completely, giving them simply a metaphorical meaning.  But either extreme is dubious.  To reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church through its history.  

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 St. Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ as it appears in John's Gospel, within the context of other disciples turning away because of His hard saying on His Body and Blood (see above).  Let us note also the injection here of the note of betrayal, even among Christ's most intimate set of disciples, the twelve.  

For the first time in John's Gospel, the note of betrayal to come is mentioned.  Here, after a long discourse on Himself as the bread of life, and the bread which came down from heaven, Jesus finally interjects the truth about how His Crucifixion will come about -- the means by which He will give His flesh for the life of the world (see yesterday's reading, above).  Perhaps it is most noteworthy that just as other disciples desert Him for his hard saying about His Body and Blood, so it is at this time that Peter's faith is not simply crystalized, but the confession of faith (on behalf of the twelve as well) is made -- that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.  John's emphasis is important and interesting.  Not only is Jesus the Son of the living God, with its emphasis on the power of life itself, but Peter's confession is also one about the very words Jesus offers to them and to the world.  His are the words of eternal life.  In the following chapter of John's Gospel, the temple officers are sent to arrest Jesus, but are unable to do so.  When asked by the religious authorities why they have failed, the officers reply, "No man ever spoke like this Man!"  As this Gospel begins with the teaching that Jesus is Logos, the Word, so we understand that in His very words is the power of eternal life also.  As Jesus says, "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50).  The power in His very words is the power of eternal life, rooted in the Source of all, God the Father.  Let us note once again that all things are determined through our response to these words of eternal life:  just as other disciples turn away, so Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ.  And just as this confession is heard on behalf of the twelve, so Jesus introduces the fact of betrayal among them, calling the one who will betray him a devil, indicating that in that betrayal is the power of the spiritual forces that oppose Him.  As we go through Lent, we head toward Holy Week and the story of the Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord.  As Jesus informs the disciples about the betrayal to come (which they no doubt scarcely can comprehend), let us take into account what we know about that betrayal, that it is through Christ's death that the devil and death itself will be defeated, for all of us.  So let us also ponder that no circumstance can keep us from the love of God, nor from God's work in us and in the world.  Our present lectionary readings also give us selections from St. Paul's letter to the Romans.  Let us read his words:  "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . .  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39).  Neither will betrayal by a devil; for with God not only are all things possible, but for God's purposes all things may be used (see Romans 8:28).  When we see tribulation in our own times and in our lives, let us remember that God has a place and a way for us with which to meet all things.  We can say with St. Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him

 

 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 6:52-59 

 

We are currently reading chapter 6 of John's Gospel.  The season is Passover, and it is the second year of Christ's earthly ministry given in John's Gospel.  In this chapter, the theme of Christ as the bread of life is expanded; recently Jesus has fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, after which they sought to force Him to be king.  This began a series of dialogue and disputes in which Jesus has been speaking of Himself as the bread of heaven.  Yesterday we read that 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.  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."  My study Bible comments here that 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.  It says that we receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, 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, as Jesus says here.  St. Hilary of Poitiers is quoted:  "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."

 

"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.  On the whole of today's passage, my study Bible comments that its eucharistic significance is indisputable.  Christ's declaration that He is Himself the living bread that gives life is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.   It notes also that John never reports the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" recorded in Luke 22:19-20).  But here, instead, he reveals the significance and truth of these events -- events which were already known to his hearers -- by reporting Christ's own words.  

Jesus says, "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."   As we will see, Jesus will face considerable rejection for these words (in our following reading).  Just as at that time for Jesus, perhaps Christ's words here fall on ears in our day and age that are equally as unaccepting as then.  Eat His flesh?  Drink His blood?  What kind of words are these?  Are we cannibals?  What kind of language is this for us to take in?  There are those who think these words and teachings are meant only as metaphors.  Or perhaps they are merely symbolic.  But the truth is that the mind of the Church has not accepted them in these ways, then and even now (with perhaps some dissenting in more modern times).  This is because in the mind of the New Testament Church, and right from the beginning, there was understood a mystical reality that underscored all that transpired in our faith, that these words are not meant in a simple literal sense, but in a different kind of "real" sense.  For that matter, right from the beginning, the kingdom of heaven, Christ's kingdom, was not understood as a literal earthly kingdom, but as a nevertheless "real" mystical Kingdom that is present to us.  As Jesus says, "The kingdom of God does not come with observation; nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you" (see Luke 17:20-21).  We should keep in mind that in the Greek, the "you" is clearly plural; this may be understood both as literally within you, but also as "among you."  It is best, in the Gospels, to take both meanings at the same time.  But this reality of the Kingdom that is within us is one that is not literally true in an earthly sense nor is it merely symbolic or metaphorical.  This is a Kingdom which is mystically present, in which we mystically participate through our faith, faithfulness, worship practices, prayer, and through following His commandments.  For we must understand that we, also, have parts of ourselves that are mystical in nature, and in living a eucharistic faith we are united body, soul, and spirit in participating in His Church and its sacraments.  It is also necessary perhaps to understand sacrifice in the ancient sense, as a communion meal -- with Christ Himself become the Passover once and for all, mystically and without limit always prepared and distributed to us for this depth of participation in His life, death, and Resurrection and in the life of the Church.  We are united to Him via this endlessly giving and unlimited sacrifice through which we abide in Him and He in us.  Jesus teaches about a mystical participation when He says, "As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me."  Just as we are mystically the Body of Christ in the Church, so without this understanding and perception of the mystical we will fail to understand His words and teachings and how He may live in us and we in Him.  For that takes another kind of perception, one not simply of our material senses nor simply of our intellect, but rather one which encompasses all of these and surpasses them as well.   Let us be attentive to His teachings and God's work in us.

 

 

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 

 

Our current readings are in chapter 6 of John's Gospel.  This chapter has eucharistic significance, with Jesus' emphasis on Himself as the bread of life which came from heaven.  In yesterday's reading, Jesus addressed the men who had previously sought to make Him king by force, after He fed them in the wilderness.  He told them, "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 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."  Here Jesus offers us an important statement about our own connection to God the Father.  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."  Significantly, He taught the same thing to the disciples upon the confession of St. Peter that Jesus is the Christ, as reported in St. Matthew's Gospel:   "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).

 

"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."   Here, Jesus makes clear the eucharistic significance of His statements teaching that He is the bread of life, the living bread which comes down from heaven.  In our following readings, Jesus' continuing discourse will affirmatively emphasize this even more starkly.

Jesus says, "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 to make entirely clear a reference to what is coming, to His Crucifixion.  More powerfully, He makes clear that He is not simply speaking metaphorically, but even -- and additionally -- He is speaking quite literally of His flesh.  Moreover, once again, nothing which Christ does is absent from the Father -- which means that nothing is done apart from love as its basis.  That is, the love of God the Father and the love of the Son, giving His flesh for the life of the world.  As we have repeatedly emphasized over the past few readings and commentary, none of what Christ does is separable from love, and indeed, our understanding of love itself.  This is because many things may pass for love which are actually done in quite a selfish manner.   But for us to understand and to grow in learning love, it is discipleship which teaches this.  It is in John's Gospel that Jesus issues to us His final and new command, "Love one another as I have loved you" (John 13:34-35).  It is in loving one another that the world can understand that we are Christ's disciples, He says.  Here in today's reading, Jesus tells us that this love will extend to giving His flesh for the life of the world.  We know this is love because He tells us this is so.  Again, in this Gospel, He will teach us, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  And finally, it is also here in John's Gospel, that we have been told, "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" (John 3:16).  So, while Jesus begins His quite explicit discourse on Himself as the bread of life, and the powerful, visceral meaning that takes on regarding His sacrifice He will make on the Cross, and eventually in the Eucharist, let us take in today all the ways in which what He teaches conveys to us His love, and the Father's love.  For we are meant to continue in this understanding of and practice of God's love, extended through us as disciples.  For without it, He will indicate, we are not His disciples.  Let us take into account the significance of this saying and all the ways it teaches us how we are to be understood as Christians.

 

 

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

 

 The events of yesterday's reading took place after Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, and He retreated to the mountain alone upon finding that these men wanted to take Him by force and make Him king.  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."   Today's reading begins with Jesus' final words from yesterday's reading (above).  What does it mean to labor for the food which endures to everlasting life?  The people ask, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  And Jesus answers.  Faith, the work of faith in Jesus, is the work of God.  What does this mean?  Perhaps we should think more precisely of what it means to be faithful.  

 

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."   As we read these words, let us keep in mind that these are the same men Jesus fed in the wilderness from the few fish and barley loaves (see Monday's reading).  So these words they quote from Scripture ("as it is written") are fulfilled in Him.  They attribute this miraculous sign of the bread from heaven as a work done by Moses, and -- in a refrain heard over and over again in John's Gospel -- they demand a sign from Jesus so that they may see it and believe.    Here Jesus begins to expound on the true salvific nature of His mission and His life as Incarnate Son.  He is the bread of life; He is the bread of God who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.  

 

 "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."  Jesus speaks of "My own will."   My study Bible comments that, 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."  

The people know who Moses is, and they can believe in him because "it is written."  They assume that the miraculous feeding in the wilderness of the Exodus was a sign that came through him, perhaps as an effective agent.  But the comparison they're making is between Moses and Jesus.  The manna in the desert, they reckon, came from God because of Moses.  Regardless of the fact that Jesus has also provided a miraculous feeding in the wilderness, they demand a sign before they can do what He tells them is the "work of God."  They insist they can't believe in Him without a sign.  Jesus has told them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  It's worth breaking down this verb, to believe, in the Greek of the Gospel.  This verb is πιστεύω/pistevo ("I believe"), deriving from the word πιστης/pistis, meaning "trust."   So to believe, to have faith, is to trust.  Jesus is asking for trust, for their trust and for our trust.  This is not merely an intellectual acquiescence or agreement to a set of truths or beliefs.  This is about trust in a person, in a particular Person; that is, in Jesus Christ.  He Himself is the true bread from heaven, the bread of God is who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.   Questions of authority, of trust, and demanding a sign as proof before belief, will continue to plague Jesus throughout the Gospel.  Such questions began right away, after Jesus' cleansing of the temple, which in John's Gospel takes place very early in His ministry (see John 2:13-22).  These questions will continue throughout the Gospel, regardless of the seven signs He performs.  It will be because of the extraordinary nature of the final sign before Christ's Resurrection, that of raising Lazarus from the dead, that the religious authorities will unequivocally decide they must put Jesus to death.  But perhaps today's emphasis on demanding yet another sign in order to be convinced to put their trust in Him forms the basis for the best discussion in our own present moment, and the culture of the modern world.  For proofs take on a certain meaning in a modern context:  we want something to be proven to us before we can believe in it.  This comes partly from a popular mindset regarding what science does, and a mistaken assumption that we will be based in truth if we put our faith only in what has been proven.  Science works on hypothesis, a constant series of testing assumptions and positing theories, not absolute certainties.  These people who have just been miraculously fed in the wilderness, and can't seem to see the truth of it (although they wanted to make Jesus king because of it), demand signs before they will trust in Him, before they will believe.  But the signs are never enough, and belief (or faith or trust) has to come from somewhere else, from another place within us.  Because of this frame of mind, it really doesn't seem to matter what Jesus does.  Although He is united in will and action with the Father, they don't believe, they will not give their trust.  Faith is based on a different kind of knowing, a different perception.  The assertion of doubt is always possible where there is no desire to recognize the truth in front of oneself, especially spiritual truth.  This is perhaps the perfect example for our time, when every truth or assumption of history can now be turned upside down and questioned because it doesn't suit our own fancy or wishful desire.  Proofs may continually be demanded by those who want to refuse faith, but perhaps we should ask what keeps people from seeing instead.  For what Christ offers ultimately is love, and the refusal of that love is at the heart of the repeated demand for proof.

 

 

 

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

 

 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 the lectionary took us to chapter 6 of John's Gospel, with its focus on the fulfillment of the events of the Exodus and the first Passover.  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 filled 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 of seven signs recorded in John's Gospel.  As noted in yesterday's reading and commentary, this entire chapter of John's Gospel is one that has parallels to the story of Exodus, suggesting Christ as fulfillment of the first Passover and those Old Testament events.  My study Bible comments that, in the Exodus, Moses leads the people across the Red Sea, walking on dry ground in the midst of the water (Exodus 14:15-31).  Here Christ sends His disciples across the sea, and then walks on the sea 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.  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."   Once again, these are the same people who sought to take Jesus by force and make Him king against His will in yesterday's reading (above), because they "ate of the loaves and were filled."  Here the emphasis shifts again to spiritual nurturing, what kind of food Christ has to offer, and takes on the hints of eucharistic significance.  

 

 Jesus says, "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."  The theme of food and of feeding will make its mark throughout this chapter of John's Gospel, just as it began with the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness (see yesterday's reading, above).  Here, Jesus makes it clear that these men seek to make Him king by force not even because of the marvelous signs He's done (signs of God's extraordinary presence among them), but simply because they were were fed ("because you ate of the loaves and were filled").  These are the not the reasons to seek Christ.  In fact, when Jesus tells them, "Do not labor for the food which perishes," this is a command, a direct command from God, a prohibition.  He then goes on to issue a positive command, to labor "for the food which endures to everlasting life."  He's teaching them what is worth making an effort for, what is worth laboring, working for.  And we should take heed that we do the same.  For Jesus has also taught us, "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you" (Matthew 6:33).  This is what we work for, because this sets us right in the world and with the rest of the world and all the things we need for life.  But then Jesus goes on to teach us something about this food which endures to everlasting life, for it has particular qualities and comes from a particular place for a reason.  Not just anybody can provide us with this food, but only Christ can:  ". . . which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."   He is the Son of Man, a mysterious title known from the prophecy of Daniel (see Daniel 7:13), and which Jesus is teaching is Himself, Incarnate.  But there is more; that is, "because God the Father has set His seal on Him."   We modern English speakers think of a seal as that which closes up something, but that definition misses the mark here (metaphorically and literally!).  Because this seal is literally a mark, a signet, the symbol of a person's identity.  It comes from the mark a signet ring or symbol would press into sealing wax, conferring the authority of the person to whom the seal belonged or represented.  This seal from God the Father is the mark of the Father upon the Son, meaning that all the Father's authority is set upon Christ, upon the Son of Man.  Whatever this Son of Man, this Logos, the Word about whom John's Gospel is written to teach us, commands or teaches is therefore a command from God, just as a letter or communication from a king or president confers all the authority of that office upon its contents.  Therefore whatever nurturing substance Christ gives us, whatever is the food which endures to everlasting life, it does so because God the Father has set His seal upon the Son of Man.  His gift is therefore that which conveys life and death, the absolute authority of God the Father, and there is no other person or being who can do this for us.  Christ, the Son of Man, is the One who can give this to us.