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?

 

 

 

 

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

 

 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 in Capernaum then complained about Jesus, 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."

 

 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.  Here, Jesus' words continue to convey the eucharistic understanding of the bread which came down from heaven.  The hearers of this Gospel, written near the end of the first century, would already be familiar with the Eucharist, and so understand the meaning.  My study Bible comments 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 notes 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, in the tradition from the beginning of the Church, we truly eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this grants to the faithful eternal life (verse 54), with Christ abiding in us and us in Him (verse 56).  My study Bible quotes 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." 

 

 In the Orthodox Church, the presence of Christ's body and blood is considered to be in the Eucharist.  While there are varieties of understanding of this presence among many denominations of the Church, for most Christ is considered to be truly present in some sense, although the theological language varies.  As my study Bible notes, Christ's sacrificial offering -- a once and for all time sacrifice, partaken and shared among the faithful -- makes it possible for us, also, to be raised up in a glorified state as He was (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:1-9).  In the Orthodox Church, how this happens is a mystery; but we accept His word that He is present to us, and that we may partake of His sacrifice for us, thus making it possible, by faith, for us to be "in Christ and Christ in us."   This subject may be quite difficult for modern people to grasp, but we first must begin with the Incarnation itself to start with the presumption that the human and the divine can be united, that what we call or think of as purely material matter can be imbued with the presence of the divine, with what "comes down from heaven" and is truly spiritually present.   From the Incarnation, we derive this sense that makes it possible, for example, to understand the conferring of the Holy Spirit through the oil of chrismation at Holy Baptism.  The gifts and charisms taken on by saints in the Church become a part of the character of a person, yet they are gifts of the Spirit.  Christ has left us with a Mystical Supper, that we may partake of what He is, so that He lives in us, and we live in Him -- and are promised through faith that we may ultimately become a part of His everlasting life.  In St. Luke's Gospel, we read His teaching that "the kingdom of God is within you" (meaning both among and within us); see Luke 17:20-21. In the Eucharist, we are given more than a memorial, we are given a "living bread" that enables us to live the life with Him that He offers, with the quality of the eternal or "everlasting" that may dwell in us and prepare us, even helping us to grow into the fullness of that life with Him that He promises.  This is the living bread for the eternal day of the Lord, for the life in us He wants for us, for the kingdom of God dwelling within us.  Let us consider these mystical words, so seemingly out of place --as the response and consternation of His hearers among the religious leaders indicates.  But Christ's words have particular meanings, elevated and understood as He gives them to us, imbued with the divine reality that may also live in us, so that we might participate in the life of God's kingdom even in this world.  In Saturday's reading (above), Jesus spoke of how the Father draws us to Him, giving us faith, and helping us to grow in understanding ("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").  He will make His sacrifice so that we may dwell in Him and He in us; let us cherish this mystical gift with thanks, as the name Eucharist indicates (from εὐχαριστέω/eucharisteo, to give thanks).  In this article, Fr. Stephen Freeman describes the making of a sacrament as God taking up an ordinary action and making it a means of grace.   In today's reading, Jesus speaks of His gift of life, not as the world gives, but as only God can give to us. 

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 

 

Over the course of chapter 6, we have been reading of events concerning Christ teaching that He is the bread of heaven.  On Monday, we were given the reading which told of the feeding of the five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness.  From there, the people pursued Jesus to forcibly make Him king, but He evaded them -- and walked on the water to His disciples in boats crossing the sea.  The people followed Him to Capernaum, where He has been teaching them about faith (the work of God), and the bread that He will give.  In yesterday's reading, the religious leaders in the synagogue began to complain 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?"  The text tells us that Jesus is speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum.  In John's Gospel, reference to the Jews most frequently indicates the religious leaders, and not the Jewish people (all in the story are Jews, including Jesus and His disciples).  Here, the leaders continue to dispute among themselves about Jesus and His teachings.

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."  My study Bible comments 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, as mystically present, thus forging a communion with Him that is of a depth we cannot know, granting the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him.  Let us note, also, as does my study Bible, that the eucharistic significance of today's reading is very clear.  His declaration in yesterday's reading that He is the living bread which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world (see above) is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  It says that John does not report the details of the Last Supper, such as the "words of institution" recorded by Luke (Luke 22:19-20).  But here, instead, Jesus reveals the significance and truth of these events (which would already have been known to John's hearers) by reporting Christ's words here about them.  My study Bible quotes 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 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.   Once again, Jesus goes back to His inseparable union with the Father -- but He is extending that union to us, and the sacrament of that union and that life of living in Him is the Eucharist.  He promises that He is the bread which came down from heaven, and he who eats this bread will live forever.

So these are tremendous words we read in today's text, and the source of disputes throughout the centuries since.  We might ask the same questions the religious leaders do:  "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Some answer this question with theories about how this literally happens.  Others answer in the negative, that what we're given in the Eucharist is only a memorial of some kind, or even a symbol without substance.  In the Orthodox tradition, and the tradition of the Church throughout its first millennium and beyond, the sacrament of the Eucharist is considered just that, a true sacrament, a mystery, and St. Hilary's words still remain true.  That is, Christ's words -- made so explicit to us in this text -- are taken as true, but accepted as mystically true, without effort to explain how this is so or how God makes it so.  It is akin to trying to find an explanation for the many "signs" reported in the Gospel.  How does water turn to wine?  How could Christ have walked in the water?  We may well ask ourselves those same questions, and come to the same conclusions.  Either we conclude they didn't happen, or we can find a sort of rational explanation, or we can accept that these are signs of one who has "come down from heaven" and so include a mystical reality we can't fully explain, of which we don't have intimate hands-on knowledge of its workings.  We don't participate in it in the same level as the Son who has seen the Father and who is sent by the Father.  However, in today's reading, He quite solemnly assures us that we also may be included in this communion, through faith (as He has said here in chapter 6) and through the mystery of the Eucharist.  He solemnly affirms for us that this is given for us, that His sacrifice is the ultimate and final sacrifice, which feeds us and creates communion with us.  For myself, only a mystical explanation will do, for how else are we to understand this?  We recall Jesus' words to Nicodemus, the believing Pharisee, here in John's Gospel, in chapter 3, as Jesus taught him about Holy Baptism, another sacrament of mystery.  Nicodemus asked about rebirth in the Spirit, "How can these things be?"  Jesus replied, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"  In today's reading, we are given one of these "earthly things" by Jesus, the teaching regarding His body and blood, prefiguring the Eucharist, and indirectly foretelling of His Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.  These are things given to us here on earth, "earthly things," and tell of the sacrament of the Eucharist.  But how exactly this happens we aren't given, except that it is also, like Baptism, and like Christ's birth as the human Jesus to the human Mary, made possible through the participation of the Spirit, as well as Father and Son.  Of the "heavenly things" we don't know, it is wise (again, in my estimation) to offer the answer that we don't know.  In the fullness of time, as all things become fully a part of the communion of which Christ speaks, perhaps we will know.  St. Paul writes, "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28); and also, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12.  Let us remember that all of Christ's teachings in our recent readings began with His encouragement to 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."  When they asked what they should do to work the works of God, He began speaking about faith, belief in Him, as work.  The sacraments we understand through faith, through a kind of perception that isn't simply about intellectual perceptions nor physical perceptions, but is experienced in a different way -- however, that also incorporates all that we are and our experience even of our earthly lives.  Sacrament works in this place, where we are "all" involved, but also including a different type of perception.  It is rooted in trust, but accepting of mystery.  To participate in sacrament, in prayer, in worship, even in faith, with a mind open to this experience of faith and its mystical reality, is how we walk with Him, how we can come to know what He teaches.  It is a journey of mystical communion that begins "in a mirror, dimly," with its fullness "face to face," and He asks us to take that journey throughout our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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 our recent readings, Jesus has been speaking to those whom He fed in the wilderness, and who subsequently wanted to take Him forcibly to become king.  Here, they have followed Him to Capernaum after He eluded them, and He has begun 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'?"  We recall that in John's Gospel, the term the Jews is used most often to designate the religious rulers, as a type of political term.   So far, we've been aware that Jesus is speaking to the people who were fed in the wilderness, through His sign of feeding the five thousand.  But here the tone shifts a bit, and this criticism becomes more personal and focused on Jesus Himself.  John's Gospel continues to use contrasting meanings for "earthly" terms in revealing the teachings of Christ.  Here they focus on Christ's own lineage, His father and mother.

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."  Throughout our readings in this chapter so far, Jesus has been speaking of His connection to God the Father, and Himself as Son (or  incarnate "Son of Man" in Tuesday's reading).  Again, Jesus shifts back to the Father who sent Him, for us to distinguish between His earthly guardian Joseph, and God the Father.  And He makes a Scriptural connection between those for whom the love of God is written on the heart, those who have heard and learned from the Father, and faith in the One sent, Himself.  That is, those who will be drawn to Him, who will come to Him.  Again, He emphasizes His divine identity, that He is from God, and has seen the Father.

"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."  We know that Christ has fed this crowd by multiplying the loaves and fishes, and that they have demanded a sign, such as the manna in the wilderness.  In Exodus 16:1-17:7, we read about God feeding the people manna, and water from a miraculous source.  In yesterday's reading (see above), Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life.  He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."  Here, He shifts the meaning from the manna in the wilderness, declaring Himself to be the living bread which came down from heaven, and nourishes to eternal life.

"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 reminder of the Eucharist becomes stronger here, as Jesus refers to His flesh, which He shall give for the life of the world, and the Cross, His Passion, death, and Resurrection, become linked to the bread of life.

 

In today's reading, Jesus speaks of the sacrifice He will make, when He refers to the bread that He shall give.  He explicitly names that bread as "My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  The concept of sacrifice is important in this context, and it's important that we understand it.  In ancient religions, sacrifice was common.  Sacrifice meant that one was sharing a meal with one's god (or God); it became the food of a common meal.  In other words, it was part of the work of community, of creating community.  We will leave aside the ancient pagan religions that demanded various forms of sacrifice in order to appease or appeal for favor, because that is not what we are talking about here.  In the Psalms we read, "Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord," and "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart—These, O God, You will not despise" (Psalms 4:5, 51:17).  Let us note that brokenness and contrition are not for their own sake, but rather in the spirit of obedience.  In 1 Samuel we read, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord?  Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams" (1 Samuel 15:22).  Righteousness and obedience to God who teaches us righteousness and love are, effectively, the same thing.  This is the God who teaches us what community is and how to build it, the same God of whom Christ says that there are two commandments that make up all the Law and the Prophets, to love God with all one's heart, soul, strength, and mind, and to love neighbor as oneself (see Mark 12:30-33).  Out of such a love is born obedience; and in this obedience is righteousness.  Again, in yesterday's reading (above), Jesus said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me."   Christ's sacrifice then is one of both obedience and righteousness.  In the story of Adam and Eve, they were told that if they ate of one particular tree, they would come to know death (Genesis 3:1-3).  In speaking about the bread from heaven, which endures to everlasting life, in offering Himself as this bread, Jesus turns the story of the Garden of Eden upside down.  It is His sacrifice which, effectively, reverses what is called our fallenness, the entry of sin and death, and all the effects thereof, into the world.  His sacrifice of righteousness, the final sacrifice that ends all other sacrifices forever, becomes the ultimate means of building community -- of Father, Son, Spirit and all the faithful; as Christ said in yesterday's reading:  "All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out."  Today we read of this effective reversal of the effects of death and its forms, for Jesus declares, that "the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  So let us think carefully about what constitutes "the life of the world."  What makes life where we see forms of death, violence, abuse, extortion, exploitation, forced labor, toil, turmoil?  What is life but the righteousness and love that Christ offers?  And what does it teach us that it is His own sacrifice alone that can build this love, and offer to us life?  Shall we not bear our own cross, following His lead?  What else will give life to the world?  Let us consider what brings us true community. 

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?

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?"  Than 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, 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 in the synagogue at Capernaum 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 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?"  Than 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, 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.   The term the Jews indicates the religious leadership; it is used like a political designation.  As the text tells us, Jesus is speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum; those who listen are also those who have followed Him from the feeding in the wilderness, after which they sought to forcibly make Him king.  Here, He elaborates on the food for which they should labor, the bread which came down from heaven (see yesterday's reading, above).  My study bible says that the eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable; Jesus speaks of the Mystical Supper of His Church.  It adds that He was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross.  On the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  We receive the grace of this sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (6:35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith; in Communion, we eat His flesh and drink His blood, granting the faithful eternal life.  In so doing, He abides in us and we in Him.  My study bible quotes 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."

As we shall read in tomorrow's reading, Jesus gives us a "hard saying."  That is, it is hard to believe the doctrine of Christ's flesh and blood in the Eucharist.  As we read from the comment of St. Hilary (c. 310-367), the doctrine of the flesh and blood of the Eucharist was accepted from the earliest centuries of the Church.   It was understood as a Mystical Supper; that is, these elements are mystically present and accepted as Mystery.  In the quotation from St. Hilary above, he cites the witness of Christ's words and of the Church's own faith as to the truth of this understanding.  In the Eastern Church, there was never developed any doctrine "explaining" how this happens, such as that of Transubstantiation.  It is still accepted and regarded as Mystery that the elements of bread and wine are changed.  In the West, there have been varied debates historically about the Eucharist.  But for nearly the entire history of the Church, whether or not one ascribes to one particular theory or another, the doctrine of the Eucharist has remained essentially the same:  that Christ's body and blood are mystically present, and that in accordance with His words above, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."   This is central to our faith, the very keystone:  that we are invited, even commanded, to participate in His very life, even in the here and the now.  In an entirely mystical way, Christ lives in us and we live in Him.  In His words above, there is an eternal life conveyed through this participation; life itself is given through Him.  He Himself conveys communion in the life that is unified as one Body.  Our understanding of ourselves as Christians will always come down to this cup, that that which He has given for us becomes our food and drink -- Him abiding in us and we in Him.  While all of us may not be brilliant theological scholars or exalted saints, we can understand this through our own experience.  We are invited into something -- not as chance observers but as fully fledged members of one Body, His Body.  He does not reserve something back from us.  We are plunged fully into the reality of His words and His life.  Just as with Holy Baptism, there is not conveyed here a kind of partial project, a faint hope, a slight participation.  We are all in.  He is all for us, and invites us to be all for Him.  We may not find a full understanding of how this happens, but we do find our faith and its workings in the Eucharist.  We find a depth that can't be breached otherwise.  And we find that we are all equal in sharing in that cup.  All of these things convey His faith to us, that which He asks us to enter and to abide in, so that He may abide in us.

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

In recent readings in John's Gospel, events have unfolded after Jesus fed 5,000 in the wilderness.  The people wanted to make Him King by force, but He escaped them, eventually coming to Capernaum.  The people followed Him there.  He began to speak to them about the food which endures to everlasting life.  He taught them that He is that bread of life.  As He continued this discourse in the synagogue at Capernaum, the religious leaders 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 came 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.  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.  As Jesus is teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, we recall that in John's Gospel the term "the Jews" is most often used in order to denote the religious leadership (all the people in this story, including Christ Himself, are Jews).  My study bible says that the eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable.  Out Lord's declaration that He is Himself the living bread that gives life is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the Church.  It notes that John does not include in His Gospel the details of the Last Supper such as the "words of institution" (Luke 22:19-20).   However, John reveals the significance and truth of these events.  We keep in mind as we progress through that the readers of this Gospel already knew these events.  To do so, here John reports Christ's own words.

As often happens in John's Gospel, Jesus moves from words that, interpreted literally, will miss the mark, to an understanding of those words that gives spiritual truth.  He says, "My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed."  We can well imagine that some of His listeners would have been beside themselves to hear this.  How could they comprehend this mystery?  And then He goes far further.  He says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  What we understand in terms of true religious or spiritual significance here is participation.  Jesus is talking about the fullness of relationship with Him, and participation in Holy Mysteries via this fullness.  We don't just share His life in some symbolic way.  Rather we are truly invited to this Mystical Supper in which we participate in relationship, and grow in likeness to Him in all kinds of ways, including the keeping of His commandments and the understanding of His teachings.  As the depth of relationship indicated by such words (as that who does so "abides in Me and I in him") would teach, this extends to life itself.  Jesus says, "He who feeds on Me will live because of Me."  So we have to ask ourselves, what is this eternal life?  What is this life itself that is on offer?  Surely we would look around ourselves -- as would His immediate hearers there in the synagogue at Capernaum -- and see that there are those "living" among us without eating His flesh and drinking His blood!  So the question we must ask ourselves is, if Christ is not a crazy person speaking, to what life is He alluding here?  He has already spoken of this life as everlasting.  It's also a life in which relationship runs so deeply that He lives in us and we in Him.  Here's a deeper clue to this reality of life:  "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 life has a kind of dependency; Christ is sent by the Father and lives because of the Father -- so will the relationship be between those who feed on Him and Himself.  This is meant by abiding in Him and He abiding in us.  It is a kind of life on offer that is conferred through this depth of being one in another, and therefore the kind of life He's talking about is more than physical life in the world.  It is a depth of spiritual life, and a life that doesn't have limits put onto it.  Not only is it about a life that is forever and is therefore outside of time and its effects, but it is about a kind of life that confers an inner reality in which Christ accompanies all that we are and do.  It's as if He lays down the fullness of a foundation, a mystical conjoining, within ourselves that allows us to grow in this "abiding" -- and will therefore come to affect all that we think, that we are, that we know.  That means our relationships to the world will change, the meanings and significance of our lives will grow in this abiding, and so will our understanding of our own identities and even of ourselves as persons.  It is a lifelong sort of a growing, abiding, learning -- particularly if we take into context all the teachings in the Gospels regarding His mission, His commandments, His Way.  This relationship becomes the essence of Truth, as it confers Himself to us, and we live in Him.  That is the core of the faith and of the Eucharist.  This is a true mystical reality, a mystical substance conferred in the bread and wine that is "body and blood" and not mere symbolism in the colloquial use of that term.  It is a mystical reality that links us also with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and it is meant to be a kind of journey throughout our lives, as is indicated by the words "everlasting" and "forever."  This is far more than simply doing good things or working for the "progress" of the world.  It is about a change that affects even what we see as good, or as progress.  It is about growing and learning and maturing in spiritual understanding, in relationship, and in the practice and participation in love.  That is, a long road from a worldly point of view, and one in which our own understanding will be examined and subject to pruning and growth.  Let us be attentive to the Gospel.