John 6:41-51
Dear Friends, today’s Gospel continues the discourse on the Bread of Life in chapter six of John’s Gospel. Jesus’ message emphasizes his identity as the Bread of Life. It is only through him, as the Bread of Life, that we will get to know the Father. Likewise, it is only through him as the Bread of Life that we will be fed by the Father on the journey to eternal life. Next week full attention will be on this second element of this discourse, Jesus as the Bread of Life in the Eucharist.
John’s Gospel is always inviting us to plunge into a deeper level. One way the author draws us into the spiritual depths is his message on the world. He sets up a contrast between God’s word and the way of the world. We are told we must be “in” the world but not “of” the world. This happens when we bring the message of Jesus as the life-force in the ordinary flow of our daily experience. Our relationships and responsibilities are always the beginning point to encounter God in our daily life. We are called to live in such a way that the truth of Christ shines forth from us. We witness to a radically different set of values than is the norm for our society. Our witness is a new light in a world locked in darkness. It challenges others to consider the mystery of life as seen and understood in light of God’s word, Jesus.
The crowd’s rejection of Jesus in today’s Gospel has to do with the Incarnation. The people’s limited image of God did not allow them to see that God could use one like us to reveal his truth. With many echoes of the Exodus story, the conflict shows Jesus testing the limits of their cramped imagination. In their limited worldview, Jesus, as the Bread come down from heaven, just does not connect as a possibility. They do not want to move much beyond the surface of their world and culture. They truly appreciated God’s generosity in the manna of their ancestors. Yet, they failed to see how much greater was God’s gift of the Bread of Life in Jesus right before their eyes.
The truth is that through the humanity of Christ we are called into his divinity. This truth becomes available not by turning away from the traditional truths of the religious tradition of the Chosen People. Jesus points out our calling is to enter more deeply into the tradition by accepting Jesus as the Bread that came down from heaven. Jesus completes and replaces that initial revelation. Jesus is God’s offer of life more abundant than we could imagine. The manna in the desert is only the slimmest glimmer of God’s ultimate gift in Jesus as the Bread of Life.
Jesus is telling the people, and us, that the only way we can understand him is at a deeper level. That deeper level is available to us when we open ourselves to the most intense hungers in our hearts. These are hungers only God can satisfy. St. Augustine spoke eloquently of this God-hunger: “You have made us for yourself O Lord and our heart is restless until we rest in you.”
Jesus is challenging the crowd, and us, to go beyond ourselves, beyond our petty world controlled by rigid traditions and religious practices. Jesus is inviting us to encounter him and his message as the Bread of Life in the context of the most genuine truth within our lives. We need to allow the Spirit of God to open us to the Bread of Life. Jesus is offering the wisdom of the Bread of Life that leads to eternal life. In today’s Gospel we are called to accept Jesus as the gift of God. This is the gift leading to the ultimate yearning in our heart, happiness forever. Now, in our present moment, this gift of God that is Jesus, helps to find direction and meaning in our life. Jesus shows us that the authentic truth of our lives will be found in service, reconciliation and love for all in the footsteps of Jesus.
