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.

 

 

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 this not 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 

 

After Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness, the people sought to make Him king by force, as they were filled with the bread and fish He provided.  Jesus eluded them, walking on the water, but they followed Him by boat to Capernaum, so He began to teach them and to speak about Himself as Son.  In yesterday's reading, He taught 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 this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  We recall that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is usually used to denote the religious leadership.  Here Christ is in Capernaum of Galilee, and it is likely the local rulers in the synagogue who know His father and mother.  At any rate, these speak for those who "know" Jesus in the earthly sense of His human birth.

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 once again affirms something He alluded to in our previous reading (see yesterday's reading, above).  It is an affirmation that ultimately, our faith is something desired and willed by God the Father, but we have the capacity to reject and resist that faith and that "drawing" power of God upon us.  See Matthew 16:17.

"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."  Here, as frequently happens in John's Gospel, Jesus turns their thoughts from an earthly understanding of His language to a holy or heavenly one.  He Himself is 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 is at once a revelation of Christ's Passion, death, and Resurrection to come, but at the same time a reference to the Eucharist to come.  This and the verses that will follow (in this Monday's reading) establish this eucharistic significance.  My study Bible comments that Christ's declaration that He is Himself the living bread reveals the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  It notes that John's Gospel doesn't report the details of the Last supper, but rather the significance and truth of these events (which were known to the hearers of the Gospel) by reporting Christ's words. 

Jesus teaches,"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."  This is an important understanding about how faith works.  Christ clearly alludes to the drawing power of the Father upon human beings, and that all starts from there.  Our faith connection, therefore, is not only from Christ the Son Himself, but also from the Father -- as Christ asserts here -- and from the Holy Spirit.  Christ affirms this same understanding about faith as a revelation of the Father within us when He responds to Peter's confession of faith that Jesus is the Son of the living God in Matthew's Gospel.  He tells Peter, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven" (Matthew 16:16-17).  In this sense, Jesus quotes from the prophet Isaiah:  "And they shall all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13 LXX).  So the fullness of our capacity to "become like God," built into our creation as a potential and promise (Genesis 1:26), becomes possible through Christ's life, death, and Resurrection, but the potentials of faith in us begin with the Father's presence and activity in us, even drawing us to faith in Christ.  Everything points to Christ as the key to all things, for even the Father gives to Him this role.  He is the One who will give His flesh for the life of the world, for the everlasting life made possible and given to us through His sacrifice.  The eucharistic language is clear:  the bread from heaven is that which He will give us in the sacrament, making it possible even for the kingdom of God to dwell in us, and for us to hope for the everlasting life in which we dwell with Him.  He gives us this living bread from heaven through His sacrifice made for the life of the world.   In the beginning of the Gospel, we read, "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).   Let us be those capable of seeing and receiving the light, not dwelling with the darkness, for His light is the light of everlasting 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 

 

On Saturday we read that the religious leaders complained about Jesus, 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 one 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?" Continuing from yesterday's reading (see above), the religious leaders of the synagogue at Capernaum, where this conversation takes place, carry on their dispute with Jesus, after the people sought to make Him king and followed Him to the town.  Let us remember, as always, that most often John's Gospel uses the term "the Jews" in a sort of political sense, to denote the religious leadership; here the religious authorities in the synagogue.  As also happens frequently in John's Gospel, they hear Jesus' words in their "earthly" meaning and quarrel on that basis.

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.  My study Bible comments on today's entire passage (and including the previous verse from Saturday's reading:  "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").  It notes that the eucharistic significance of this passage 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 that John does not report the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" which are recorded in Luke 22:19-20).  Instead, John's Gospel reveals the significance and truth of these events (we should understand, these are events which were already known to John's hearers) by reporting Christ's own words.  Moreover, in reading His words here, we should hear them as did the early Church, in the light of Christ's Crucifixion:  that He was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day raised in a glorified state.  So we receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35), and receiving Holy Communion in faith.  My study Bible reminds us that in Communion, so the Orthodox Church has maintained, we eat His flesh and drink His blood which are mystically present, granting the faithful eternal life ("Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day"), with Christ abiding in us and us in Him ("He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him").  It quotes the commentary of St. Hilary of Poitiers:  "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.

We should think hard about what these words mean, as used by my study Bible.  What is the Mystical Supper?  Why call it that?  What does it mean to say that in the Eucharist, Christ's flesh and blood are mystically present?  This is something to understand which is a spiritual mystery, inextricably linked to the Eucharist, our prayers and worship, and our faith -- and of course to Christ's command and His words here.  See also especially Matthew 26:26-28, Luke 22:19-20, His words at the Last Supper.  For something to be mystically present to us is a reality that we don't necessary see on earthly terms, but is nevertheless present.  We assume that there are angels present, servants and messengers of God, that each of us has a guardian angel, but we don't necessarily see or hear them in an earthly sense.  We assume the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who is "everywhere present and filling all things" according to an Orthodox prayer that begins every worship service (see the Prayer to the Holy Spirit here).  We know the Holy Spirit as a Person (the Third Person of the Trinity), yet we don't see a face or hear a voice in an earthly sense -- but understand the mystical reality that nonetheless is present, even the mystical reality of a Person of God that has qualities different from earthly persons (Joel 2:28).  To know that something is mystically present is linked to faith and prayer, that connection which Jesus assures us is there and present to us at all times.  He tells the disciples -- and all of us --  in His parting words at His Ascension, "I am with you always, even unto the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20).  In Luke's Gospel, He tells the Pharisees, "The kingdom of God is within you," using a word which can also mean "in your midst," (see Luke 17:20-22).  It is a way for Him to say, also, that this Kingdom is mystically present.  And a mystical presence is something that is denoted all throughout John's Gospel by John's reporting of the seven signs of Christ's ministry.  It is important to note that John uses the word "sign" (Greek σημεῖον/semeion) for these miraculous events, because it puts them in the proper context to Christ and what He does.  They are "signs" that point to the mystical reality of the presence of the kingdom of God, that lives in and is made present to us in Christ.  The same is true when we worship, for we consider that Isaiah's vision of heavenly worship in Isaiah 6:1-3, and the vision of the same given to us in Revelation 4, is something that is mystically present to us in our own worship, and all creatures worship together -- both seen and unseen.  This would also include the saints, and those who are departed from us but who live in Christ, for as St. Paul has said, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1-2), who are also mystically present with us.  There are no doubt times in worship and in prayer, in dreams and visions, when people are given glimpses of this mystical reality, tastes of what is truly present in a mystical sense.  But our worship and prayer interacts with this reality in which we have faith; our confidence and trust in Christ also takes root in the same.  For without this understanding, where is Resurrection, and what is it?  Without this understanding, to Whom do we pray, and in what are we participating when we say we participate in the life of Christ?  A highly materialistic mindset would cast this aside for the mistaken notion that what we cannot verify in an earthly sense mustn't be real.  This seems to be a completely misunderstood notion of what science  teaches, as hypothesis, by which all science is conducted, always assumes or seeks what is not yet proven -- and each new proof may dispel a once-cherished notion held previously as scientific truth.  See, for example, the current debate over the newest photos of the James Webb Space Telescope; it illustrates how new data changes and challenges long-held scientific assumptions and theories (see this article, for example).  Moreover, advanced scientific theories and mathematical proofs always hold assumptions.  So when we speak of things which are accepted and understood, but for which there is not necessarily a scientific measure of proofs, even science itself does not declare such reality impossible or nonexistent.  We should look to Christ's own attitude about proofs, shown in the number of times He refused to submit proofs or "signs" on demand in order to force faith ("An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah" -- see Matthew 12:39, 16:4).  In recent readings, Jesus has spoken of faith as that by which the Father draws those to Christ who truly desire to know Him, and who want this mystical truth (see Saturday's reading, above).  Then, as now, faith is a mysterious, God-given thing, that works at depths within ourselves whose origin is as unknown to us as the farthest reaches of the universe.  Let us accept what we are given in the same understanding, that a mystical reality depends on faith, a discernment which has mystical roots in the deepest places in us, known only to God.

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 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 learned 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 

 

We are presently reading through chapter 6 of John's Gospel.   Earlier in the chapter, Jesus fed five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness; after this, wanted to forcefully make Him king, but He evaded them.  In yesterday's reading, He taught the people, "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."    Once more, Jesus affirms the connection made first through God the Father drawing people to faith in Christ, just as He said that it was God the Father who revealed Jesus as Christ to St. Peter at Peter's confession (see Matthew 16:16-17).    In yesterday's reading, as we can read above, Jesus taught the people, "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."  So we can see the repeated emphasis that everything -- including the faith of human beings that Jesus is the Christ -- has come from the Father, and even that it is the Father who draws people to faith in Christ.  Jesus quotes from Isaiah 54:13, connecting Isaiah's statement explicitly with "everyone who has heard and learned from 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 begins a passage, which will continue into the following reading tomorrow, which is full of eucharistic significance.  My study bible says that 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 that John does not give the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution") which are recorded in Luke 22:19-20).  Instead, John's Gospel gives us the significance and truth of these events -- which we must keep in mind were already known to the hearers of the Gospel -- as John reports Jesus' own words.  

John's Gospel makes extremely strong connections between human beings and the divine reality of Christ.  Not only does Jesus repeatedly say (in yesterday's and today's readings) that our faith that He is the Christ comes from the Father, and that we human beings are "given" to Christ by the Father, but also that we may become more surely connected to divine life through the food that He will give us, the bread which came down from heaven.  He declares Himself to be the bread of life, a food which conveys eternal life through faith.  He is the living bread which came down from heaven.  To eat of this bread also confers divine attributes as it gives immortality.  He 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."   Jesus is clearly referring to His crucifixion which is to come, and to the Eucharist in which we "eat of this bread" which is "My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."   There will be more on this explicitly in tomorrow's reading, as Jesus continues His discourse.  But let us note first of all in today's reading the deep connection that John's Gospel makes between human beings and the life of the divine.  For in these words in today's reading Jesus makes the most powerful connection possible between His mission and ministry into the world, and the offering of participation in divine life that it entails for humanity.  Not only are we "given" to Christ by the action of God the Father, but we also come to faith through the work of God the Father in us.  Moreover, Christ's saving sacrifice on the Cross will be made explicitly to unite us to Himself, and confer the attribute of eternal life -- a purely divine reality -- upon us, and through faith.  This is the substance of the Eucharist, its very meaning, as my study bible points out.  It is not a picture of a "two-story" world, in which the purely flesh and purely worldly are here where we live, and God's world is "up there" in the heavens.  It is much, much more than that.  This is a powerful statement about our very being, that Christ has come to unite both and specifically in us.  And it is not just a mission of Christ alone, but works first and last through the very action of God the Father in us, bringing us to recognition of Jesus, the Son of Man, as Christ, and to the true substance of the Eucharist, so that we might have eternal life as well.  We partake of the food of Christ Himself, who is the bread of life.  It is a way of telling us in the most complete terms possible that not only are we offered the grace to participate in this divine life even as we are human beings in this world, but that Christ's very substance is given to us as food for this divine life in us.  Just as we eat worldly bread to become substance for our bodies, so we might also partake of the bread of eternal life which is Christ Himself.  If we look at the story which began this chapter, the feeding of the five thousand, we can see a metaphor, a kind of illustration, in the picking up of the twelve baskets full of fragments which were left over from the loaves and the fishes.  It reminds us of Jesus' words that of all the Father has given to Him, nothing will be lost (see yesterday's reading, above).  It is yet another facet of the story of Christ as the bread of heaven upon which we may be feed, reminding us that absolutely nothing is cast aside, lost, forgotten.  There are no "crumbs" from this food, only the precious substance of life itself, of the divine reality made present for us and vital in our lives, teaching us that we are meant to be held in the hand of God and given this significance too.  As it is the Father who begins this circle or communion which engulfs and "informs" us in our capacity for participation, so we must acknowledge that Christ's mission to us is of the highest possible significance.  It is our very faith that Jesus is the Christ that confers that significance upon us, giving us participation in divine life, touched by the action of the Father.  If all of this is too heady to consider, just think about what we might see in the world:  the cheapness of life caught up in violence, or reduced by addiction, or destroyed with slavery for its  own purposes such as human trafficking, or cast off by the unloving and uncaring.  These images from our world in which life is not upheld in the vision of the divine that Christ brings for us, are all diminishing movements that deny the power of faith not only to confer meaning and value, but also to give life and love itself to each one, regardless of circumstance or place in this world.   To diminish life is a lie, because Christ has told us the truth about who we are, who we are capable of being, how precious we are in God's sight, and how He will not lose even one of us who comes to faith.  Let us cling to His food and realize how precious -- and how necessary -- it is, in a world that would so frequently seek to teach us instead that we are nothing and that God's love is meaningless.   Jesus says we must choose our master:  God or mammon (see Luke 16:13).  The voice of mammon says, "You're nothing without me" (my power, my money, my connections, etc.).   The voice of Christ  says He will lay down His life for His friends (John 15:13).  What does your faith teach you?  Which one offers life?

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 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 to the people who had followed Him after the feeding in the wilderness:  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  Then they said to Him, "What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?"  Jesus answered and said to them, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  Therefore they said to Him, "What sign will You perform then, that we may see it and believe You?  What work will You do?  Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, 'He gave them bread from heaven to eat.'"  Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.  But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe.  All that the Father gives Me 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."  We recall that Jesus is in Galilee, the region from which His family comes and where He was raised.   Jesus quotes from Isaiah 54:13, referring again to the mysterious connection that faith confers with God, and how that connection draws people to Him.  The Jews, we remember, is a term most often used by John to designate the leadership.  Jesus is speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  Jesus speaks of Himself once again as the bread of life.  He is the living bread which came down from heaven, and it is He who gives life, even everlasting life.  Jesus begins here a discourse which is full of the significance of the Eucharist.  As the living bread that gives life, He speaks of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  In tomorrow's reading, Jesus will continue to express the eucharistic meaning of the events which are to come.

Jesus not only introduces the meaning of the Eucharist in today's passage, but for the first time He speaks of the sacrifice that He will make, the bread which is "My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  These same people who hear His discourse are those who have followed Him from the feeding in the wilderness, in which 5,000 men, and more women and children, were fed from five barley loaves and two small fish.  They wished to make Him king because He'd fed them, but He evaded them.  In Saturday's reading, Jesus taught 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."  He is directing them to something more, something different -- that is, something entirely different.  How can it be conceivable to them that the bread of life is His flesh, which will be given for the life of the world?  And yet, it is to this that He directs them, and to which we are directed.  That is, into a life of participation in His life, which in turn gives us life.  In tomorrow's reading, Jesus will continue to speak about the Eucharist, giving an even more graphic depiction about His flesh and blood.  But what we start with today is His gift, that which He will give for the life of the world.  We note that He speaks not only of the life of human beings and those who have faith in Him, but for the life of the world.  His renewal of life is not for individuals only, but for the life of the world.  In the original Greek of the Gospel, the word translated as "the world" doesn't simply mean planet earth.  The word is cosmos, meaning all of creation, a whole universe.  This isn't simply the moon and the stars and the planets, that which we think of as physical creation.  It's also every order of created life, such as the ranks of the angels which we don't see.  Jesus speaks of life and renewal and the centrality of the Cross and His sacrifice.  Let us consider the impact of His words, and what it means to give thanks for the life He offers.