Jesus Christ: The living bread
Today’s gospel is the 19th Sunday in Ordinary time and is again the continuation of the Bread of Life Discourse found in the Gospel of John last week. Last Sunday’s gospel reading came from John 6:24-35. Today’s gospel is from John 6:41-51.
“41 The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day.
45 It is written in the prophets; ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I have the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
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As we said, this is a continuation of last Sunday’s gospel, where after the Lord Jesus Christ fed the more than five thousand men, women and children from a few barley bread and two fishes, our Lord went to the other side of Lake Galilee and the multitude followed him across the lake. Then he told them, our Lord Jesus Christ said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.” Now don’t forget that this conversation happened after the Lord Jesus Christ gave them the miracle of the Loaves… or the Feeding of the Five Thousand.
Then when they followed him to the other side of Lake Galilee… they were hoping that perhaps, the Lord would grant them another feeding miracle. But instead, the Lord told them, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
That meant… our Lord wasn’t going to feed them again… but told them that he was the Bread of Life… “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
But what was the reaction of his disciples when our Lord offered them bread so they would never hunger or thirst again? Suddenly the have completely forgotten the miracle of the Loaves which they have just experienced or taste and were filled and then they asked, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven?” Did they did not realize that miracles are done only by those who come from heaven? Of course, his disciples did not understand the words of our Lord when he said that he was the Bread of Life.
As we pointed out in our previous article, our Lord Jesus Christ had not yet instituted the Holy Eucharist, which will happen during the Last Supper. But devout Jews know enough of the Torah… that the celebration of the sacred Feast of the Passover is about slaughtering the unblemished lamb and eating it, after its blood were brushed into the doorsills of the houses of the Hebrews. Then the Angel of Death would Passover the house!
Of course the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ in the Bread of Life discourse is difficult to understand in human terms. But if you elevate your thoughts to spiritual matters… then you would understand what our Lord is telling us. Again, let me repeat what our Lord is telling his disciples in the Bread of Life Discourse.
“I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died. 50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I have the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”
Everyone knows that during the time of Moses, God showered the desert every morning with Manna so they would have bread like substance to eat in the wilderness. But yes, everyone who ate the Manna still died. But God sent his only Begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ so he could offer us his body, blood, soul and divinity in the Holy Eucharist whom we partake during the Holy Communion so that by consuming the Holy Eucharist, Christ fulfills his promise to mankind, that he would be with us until the end of time. Or if our time here on earth were ended… if we have confessed our sins and received the Holy Eucharist… we would have eternal life with God.
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