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.

 

 

 

I am the living bread which came down from heaven

 

 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 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." 

 

- John 6:41–51 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the people who had sought to make Him king, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God 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 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."  Augustine comments on this passage that Jesus is telling the religious leaders ("the Jews" - referring to the leadership)  that when Jesus speaks of faith, He is not speaking of those forced to be drawn, but of those to whom Christ is revealed who long to know Him as one longs to know the truth. 

 

"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 Eucharistic significance of this passage is clear, and will continue in the following reading.  As the living bread, the bread of life, Christ Himself becomes that which we "take in" through the Eucharist, and becomes a part of us, giving us His life.  And this life, for which He will sacrifice His flesh (His earthly life as Jesus) is given for the life of the world.  

What does it mean that Jesus is the bread of life?  Jesus says that "he who believes in Me has everlasting life."  In yesterday's reading, we read that Jesus taught, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent."  If faith is defined as the work of God which we may do, then this "bread of life" is the bread our work is for.  It is what feeds us something necessary to us, this life that supersedes and adds to the life of the flesh that we know in an earthly sense.  For this "work" we must be drawn by the Father, so that Christ is revealed to us through us through hearts in which there remains a deep and mysterious desire for the truth of this revelation, to know Him.  Since this is something known to the Father, it seems that it is a deeply mysterious process indeed, as God the Father -- and therefore Christ and the Spirit also -- know us at depths within ourselves which we don't understand.  The process of faith is something in which we find ourselves responding to what we don't yet understand.  We are drawn by just this process that Christ names as the Father drawing us.  This process is the thing to which Jesus refers when He quotes the prophets, saying, "And they shall all be taught by God" (Isaiah 54:13).  He says, "Therefore one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."  And He makes clear that this is a mystical reality:  "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."  It is only Christ, the Son, who has truly "seen" the Father, who can behold the Father as One who is also God.  But clearly there is a place deep within ourselves where Christ says the Father draws us, and those who are drawn are capable of this faith, of the revelation of Christ.  If we think about our faith, it is so often true that our faith evolves and grows within us.  Christ continually presents the experience of faith as a journey, with Himself as the road upon which we journey into a deeper communion with God ("I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" - John 14:6).  But for today, let us consider the "work of God" given to us, that of faith, and the "bread of life" which Christ can give to us:  Himself.  Through the voluntary sacrifice of His worldly life, this everlasting life of which Christ speaks can triumph, and it can be distributed to us who approach in faith.  Let us consider what it means that we are given the work of God, for which the Father draws us, in order to reveal to us the Son -- and the life that is given to us in this communion, even the life that grows in us from the living bread which came down from heaven.

 

 

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 in My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

 

- John 6:41-51 

 

In yesterday's reading, Jesus taught the crowds who had wanted to make Him king:  "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God 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 is an interesting exchange, taking place in Galilee.  These religious leaders know Jesus and His extended family:  the reference once again is to the earthly things they know.  How can Jesus claim such things?  But Christ answers in a most interesting way.  All along, He has spoken about His connection to the Father as Son, the close union of obedience.  Here, He shares something about every human being:  that those who are drawn to Christ are also drawn by God the Father.  He also specifically indicates His particular relation as one who is from God and 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 in My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."   Jesus emphasizes the life-giving quality of the bread that He offers, and moreover reveals a hint that He Himself will voluntarily die in the flesh, for the life of the world.  My study bible comments that the eucharistic significance of this passage (and the verses which will follow in Monday's reading) is indisputable.  Jesus' declaration that He is the living bread that gives life is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church. 

To my mind, there is no statement of greater significance than the one in which Jesus tells us that He will give His flesh "for the life of the world."  This is because, in the collective wisdom of the Church, this statement has come to be understood in every dimension possible.  That is to say that "the life of the world" means the life of the world:  all of creation and everything in it.  I would be remiss if I did not recommend here a wonderful book, which can be read and re-read time and again:  For the Life of the World, by Fr. Alexander Schmemann, who gives so much to our understanding.  The word for "world" in the Greek text is not planet earth, but cosmos/κοσμος, the entire created order.  That means a universe of existence, both seen and unseen, and everything in it.  This event of the Passion and Christ's voluntary human death on the Cross, will not be given only that we human beings may be with Him in that promise of life that is eternal, but for all of the created reality -- and that means all things that are part of it.  Christ's sacrifice will be for the life and renewal of everything and everyone.  What is a world touched by this life?  My study bible speaks of the sacramental (specifically eucharistic) significance of Christ's words.  In the Eucharist, bread becomes "living bread," mystically imbued with life, His Body and Blood.  But in this very sense of sacrament, the whole created order can be returned to Christ to be given this life that He is going to offer, enacted and given through His voluntary sacrifice of His human life, His flesh.   Because of His sacrifice, and the life He offers which transforms the dreaded Cross into an instrument of salvation, anything can become a part of a sacramental life.  We can devote our careers, no matter where they are or what they might be, to Christ.  We can dedicate our entire lives to living His gospel, no matter what events may shape our histories.  We can take a garden in our house and dedicate it to the life of God, seeking in prayer how to make it beautiful, finding a purpose in that cultivation of beauty for the glory of God.  We can teach our children, we can nurture a friend or help a stranger, we can cook a meal, we can pray over anything.  Our prayers mean far more than we think for the renewal and help of those living and who have passed.  The smallest effort is not wasted, and time and space are of no barrier to such sacramental practice.  We just cannot limit the dimensions into which this understanding can be placed, put to use, come to help, to survive and to thrive, and especially to save.  A single word in the right place and the right time can save a life, can give the hopeless hope.  An abused and neglected animal can be shown love.  There is no forgotten corner of the universe that cannot be sprinkled with Christ's transfiguring love and mercy through us, through our prayer, through our compassion, in imitation of and work for Him in faith.  Christ our Creator is the author of all creation; therefore His life is for all creation.   Let us consider what we call the world, for it is so much broader and more deeply expanded than what we can imagine -- and He calls us to use our imagination in this service and this sacrament, His call for salvation.  Let us follow and truly hear all that He offers!

 

 

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 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."

- John 6:41-51

In yesterday's reading, Jesus continued His discourse to the people in Capernaum who had wanted to make Him King after being fed 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 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 is in Capernaum, in Galilee, where there are those who know Him and His family.  We remember that the term "the Jews" in John's Gospel most often refers to the religious leadership, a term denoting a kind of political party affiliation.

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."  In Matthew's Gospel, when Peter confesses that Jesus is the Christ, Jesus says, "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).  Here, He's giving us a similar teaching, that "everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me."  He quotes from Isaiah 54:13. 

"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 once again compares Himself in this discourse to the bread given in the wilderness with Moses.  Those who ate died the death that is natural to humans; but this bread that is His flesh, confers an eternal life.  In the next reading, Jesus will continue in a clear allusion to the Eucharist.  The significance is unmistakable; the flesh He will give (on the Cross) is for the life of the [whole] world.

John's Gospel was written at a time when those who heard it would know the events of the crucifixion and Resurrection, and be familiar with the Eucharist.  But that Jesus' sacrifice is for the life of the whole world is something we must continue to ponder.  There is no mincing words here.  He doesn't just say it's for His followers, or for those who understand it.  His sacrifice is for the life of the world.  It is for the transfiguring power of life coming into the world and touching all the world.  But it's more than that.  This word in Greek for "world" isn't just the word for "earth."  The word is kosmos, meaning the whole universe, for creation.  Clearly, the power of the Cross is something that extends beyond what we know, beyond our own lives and even our world, but something that shakes up an entire created order of things and gives new meaning, and new life, to all.  The bread of life is more than the life we know.  Therefore it is a promise for us of participation in something much more than we can understand, a life that is more than life as we know it.  The very fact that faith itself seems to come from the Father and is a part of a relationship with the Father tells us the depth of the life He's talking about, and it indicates a depth of the life in us that is transformed by the power of the Cross, the flesh that He will give changing the world and giving us a kind of abundance of life we don't fully understand.  What we can infer is that the bread of life He promises is something that allows us to participate in this life that goes beyond worldly life, that extends deeper into us than all the relationships we know.  Resurrection is more than a promise of "life after death."  It's a promise of life amongst all the things that seem to "kill" us in this life, the losses and sorrows, the lost dreams, the hopes that vanish.  Jesus' transfiguring death and Resurrection, the flesh that He will give, is something that guarantees us life within ourselves when all else seems God, a very relationship to the root of all that is, the Father Himself.  This is faith and its power, and the life He promises beyond what we know.  Can we put our trust in it, in Him?

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 was speaking to the crowds that followed Him after the feeding of five thousand men (and more women and children).  They had wanted to forcefully make Him king, but He eluded them.  He said, "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."   We remember that the term "the Jews" generally is used in John's Gospel to denote religious leadership.  Here, there are echoes of scenes from the synagogue in His hometown (see, for example Luke 4:14-35).  We remember that here He is among people who know Him and His extended family, in Galilee.   Here Jesus quotes from the prophesy of Isaiah (54:13).   This is a kind of repetition of the statements in yesterday's reading, but the verses ask us to look closer, and to see many connections.  How are we drawn by the Father to Christ, to know Jesus, to really see and perceive?

"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."  He can state it no more plainly:  He is the living bread which came down from heaven.  It is a plainly eucharistic statement, giving meaning to the sacrament and its institution, already known to those who would have received this Gospel at the time it was written.  But it is an emphatic statement of His own divinity, and asking those who "behold" Him to truly see.  He is revealing everything, great mysteries, and standing before them as greater mystery and revelation than anything Moses could give to the people.  Of course, there is also reference here to the Cross, and to the sacrifice He will make for the life of the world.

For the life of the world . . . there are many ways one can think about this statement.  Like so much else, the words themselves just "keep on giving."  It is seemingly inexhaustible, perhaps literally inexhaustible as a subject, to think about how many ways this statement is true.  This inexhaustible nature actually is the reality of Christ.  He is the Gift that keeps on giving.  The flesh He will give for the life of the world is His own body, His voluntary sacrifice on the Cross, transforming the most feared instrument of death into the symbol of Resurrection, of everlasting life.  His flesh is given in the Eucharist, also to feed us, to give us life on so many levels -- to give us an abundant life, more than the grimness and the banality the world can at times present us with.   His mission on earth as Incarnate human being as a whole is given for the life of the world:  to reveal to us, to teach us, to give us mysteries "hidden since the foundation of the world."  There are so many ways in which He feeds us, for the life of the world.   He gives us meanings, He gives us beauty, He asks us to transcend a material perspective and to see what there is in love, in sacrifice, what life we're given in return.  Truth and goodness become more than mere relative values; they become aspirations, something in which to participate and grow, to be nourished as well by this bread of life.   And in so doing, we are taught about what it is to receive a pure gift, the grace of God.   For the life of the world adds meaning to the beauty of sunlight dappling and glinting off leaves of a tree, sparkling after the rain.  Why?  Because we may come to know all of life as a gift, given out of love for us.  We come to know that we are loved with a love that longs to give us everything, and it changes the ways in which we can perceive our lives.  Every loss may be an occasion for gain, for seeing what is beyond the loss, hidden in our circumstances, our capacity for transcendence and resurrection, even in the minor events in our lives.  Everything is given meaning and richness in light of Christ's life that it doesn't have otherwise.  His very mission is to give resurrection to everything, to add life in abundance to our daily lives, a texture beyond the purely material.   Everlasting life teaches us about a quality of life, something added to us, and it teaches us about this great, tremendous love that wants nothing more than for us to be with Him.  Let us consider the ways He is here as a gift for the life of the world.

I am the bread of life

 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

- John 6:41-51

In Saturday's reading, we were told that those who had been fed on the mountaintop by Jesus (and who sought to make Him king) followed Him to Capernaum, still seeking Him.   Yesterday, we read that 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."  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 is "home" among the Galileans, where His family is known.  Once again, John uses the commonplace to take us to a deeper understanding.  "The Jews" in this Gospel is used like a political term, mostly denoting the religious leadership, the leadership of this party, so to speak.  By the time the Gospel was written, Jesus' followers had begun to be called Christians, and were persecuted in the synagogues.  But everyone concerned here, including Jesus, His worldly father and mother, and the author of the Gospel, were Jews.

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 is again a very important theological statement, because it tells us that the Father is active within us, at the root of faith.  It makes it very clear that "no one has seen the Father" face to face, to so speak.  That is reserved only for the Son, who is of the same essence with the Father.  But as human beings, we can "all be taught by God."  The spark of faith in Jesus' identity as Christ denotes the Father's work in us, as Jesus has said elsewhere.

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  My study bible says, "The eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable.  Jesus' declaration that He is Himself the living bread which brings us life is intended to reveal the eucharistic feast.  His offering is not for His people only but for the life of the world."

In John's Gospel, we see Jesus as the summation and culmination of all of Jewish tradition and spiritual history.  Here, Jesus is the bread from heaven, He is personified, so to speak, as the living manna from heaven (that which fed the Israelites in the wilderness).  But He Himself is the living bread that sustains not just worldly life, but to an eternal life.  In fact, He's that which has been given to the world, for the life of the world.  And here we are given an intimation of what is to happen, when Jesus says, "the bread that I will give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  It is a beginning of the understanding of the sacrifice, again an understanding that in Him is all Jewish tradition and spiritual history personified.  He will be the sacrifice, a voluntary Passover sacrifice, for the life of the world.  And in this is the great element of a true gift.  It not only is a gift from an immeasurable God, but a gift that is a sacrifice, one in which God will experience the limitations of our lives, and make the extreme sacrifice of death.  But in that sacrifice is the bread of life for all of us, for each of us.  In the Lord's prayer, when we pray, "Give us this day our daily bread," this is precisely the bread we pray for.  (The word translated as "daily" quite literally in the Greek means something like "super-substantial" -- that which has more "essence" atop it.  It is a word that is unique to the Gospels:  epiousion/ἐπιούσιον.)  And so, even beyond the sacrifice, what we turn back to here is a God of love, who will go to all lengths to assure us of this tremendous gift that is born of God's love.  He is the redeemer, as is so clear in all of the Gospels, who comes here to the world to rescue us from death, to give us life in abundance, to free us from that which limits and enslaves, which causes toil and pain, and which denies to us a place with Him.  All the Gospels portray our world as bound by the "ruler of this world," from whom Jesus comes to liberate us, in an act of sacrifice and tremendous love. He's sent by the Father for this mission, He is the bread of heaven, who feeds us with this life that He's brought here to bestow, so that He may keep us with Him, take us back with Him to the Father, in an eternity of life and love.  But the sacrifice is immediate, it is always here with us, the bread from heaven that is our daily bread, which we need each day.

And they shall all be taught by God

 The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."

- John 6:41-51

This week, we are reading through the sixth chapter of John's Gospel.  For the Western churches (and some Eastern) we are in the middle of Lent, a traditional time of fasting in preparation for the Resurrection of Easter.  Most of the Eastern Church now prepare for Lent which begins on Monday.  So it is highly appropriate that this week our focus is on Christ as the Bread of Life.  On Monday, we read about the sign of the feeding of the five thousand in the wilderness, which is the fourth sign in John's Gospel.  (See Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?)  This sign was a "type" of the events of the feeding of Israel with manna in the wilderness, fulfilled by Christ.  In Tuesday's reading, the people had followed Christ and tried to make Him king because they had been fed, but 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."  In yesterday's reading, the people asked 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."  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've read this sort of grumbling and questions elsewhere in the Gospels, especially among His own townspeople (and Jesus is now in Capernaum of Galilee, His ministry headquarters in His home province of Galilee).  We can presume those who speak are familiar with His extended family, particularly His mother who was at the wedding in Cana where Jesus' first sign in John's Gospel took place).  But, as usual, John's Gospel moves us from the surface significance of Jesus' words into deeper meanings for us to think about and to receive.  How can Jesus say, "I have come down from heaven," when they know who His earthly parents are?

 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."  So important is the "Life" in the Bread of Life that Jesus has emphasized this several times in this same passage (see yesterday's reading).  The Bread of Life is that bread which leads to everlasting life -- to the Resurrection.  The connection between Father and Son is unbreakable, unfathomable and penetrates though all things, especially His ministry and those who respond to Him.  Jesus refers to the Father each time He is asked about Himself.

"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 powerful statement tells us something truly "awesome" about the interpenetrating nature of spiritual reality:  it is the even the Father who teaches.  At depths we can't touch within ourselves, the Father is at work.  But again, we note, Jesus' identity, and therefore the identity in Christ of any disciple, is inseparable from the work of the Father, even the "teaching" of the Father.  As we know, only the Son has truly seen the Father "face to face" so to speak, as One of the same essence.  But nevertheless, He tells us, in another way, "They shall all be taught by God."

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  I am the living bread which came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world."  Here Christ openly and plainly likens Himself to the manna in the wilderness which came from heaven.  But even that bread perished.  This is the living bread that comes from heaven, of which anyone may eat and not die.  But there is much more here; we are being led deeper into mystery, toward Easter.  The bread He will give is His flesh, which He will give "for the life of the world."  Here He is moving us toward an understanding of the Cross, and what is to come in Holy Week.

Earlier in John's Gospel, in chapter three, Jesus spoke to Nicodemus at night, a member of the Pharisees.  He taught Nicodemus, "As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."  So, from early in this Gospel, we have been moving toward Holy Week, toward Jesus' Passion, death, and Resurrection.  If we focus on Jesus as the Bread of Life, then that opens up for us new ideas about where and how we are truly fed.  What nourishes us where no "earthly" food can nourish?  What parts of ourselves aren't touched material food, possessions, and other things which belong to the mere appearances of life?  Just as John's Gospel always calls to us to dig deeper into the meanings that are here in Jesus' words, so Christ as our true spiritual food calls us more deeply toward an understanding of ourselves as human beings.  It's not only Christ we need to understand, but in the depth of relationship conveyed by the idea that He is our Bread of Life, that He is our true spiritual food, then we have to understand what that means for us when we partake of that bread and it becomes true nourishment for life, a part of our life.  How is it possible that we can be nourished by our God in this particular context - that God (Christ) is food?  It calls us toward an understanding that goes much deeper than mere notions of teaching, but rather toward a comprehension of His great sacrifice for us -- the flesh that He will give, so that we may also take up the cross, like Him -- so that we as children by adoption, may also become sons.  If we grow in His likeness,   then we become more "like Him."  And this is the great mystery, the depth of God's love for us.  Just as Jesus' identity is linked to God the Father, so we are told that God is also at work in us in some way.  We remember that this is all done "for the life of the world."  Let us ask ourselves how life comes from His death and sacrifice, how the Cross calls us to walk through our own lives, and what His true food is for us every day.  How does His love feed you with a "daily bread?"