John 6:51-58
Dear Friends, This is the fourth of the five Sundays on John’s chapter six discourse on the Bread of Life. Up to this point, the message has been Jesus as the Bread of Life revealing the loving plan and the call of the Father. We have experienced Jesus as the wisdom of God. Now there is a subtle switch to incorporate Jesus as the Bread of Life that nourishes us in the Eucharist.
It is very helpful to keep in mind a scenic background of the rich biblical themes of the Passover and Exodus as we ponder the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel passage.
The first thing we must remember is that Jesus is not speaking in the language of modern science, that of chemistry, biology or medicine. He was speaking the language of the heart as it related to the ample scriptural tradition of the Jewish people. He was talking about his human person as the presence of God’s message. Both the New Passover of his death and resurrection and the New Manna of the Eucharist are a message that divided the crowd. He was presenting himself as the gift of God far beyond the generosity of God’s manna in the desert. He is now the bread that offers ever-lasting life. He is the new Pascal Lamb that will lead to deliverance from all elements of slavery. He will set us free from all that keeps us from loving God with our whole heart and anything that hinders true human development.
What Jesus is saying in the gift of his flesh and blood is that we are called not only to new life but eternal life. Like the story of the vine and branches, Jesus is using the plea to be one with him in his body and blood. This will make his life and our life one in a mission of love. This life-giving participation in the Eucharist, the New Passover and the New Manna, helps all who partake of the body and blood of Eucharist to share Jesus’ sacrificial and saving love for the world. Through sharing communion with Jesus, we participate in his love for all people.
Those in the crowd who rejected the message understood clearly. They were not ready to leave their old tradition. Jesus was proclaiming a new day. Jesus was transparent. God is now speaking through him. We have to unite with Jesus to truly hear the word of God and to embrace it in our life by sharing in the love of all. This is possible by the gift of the Eucharist where Jesus gives us the Bread of Life to walk in the way of love.
John’s message in chapter six is that Jesus feeds us in two ways. The first is the revelation of God’s truth and wisdom. The second is in the Eucharist of his flesh and blood calling us into communion in a life of love. Both gifts are Jesus as the Bread of Life. In the Word made flesh that is the Incarnation of Jesus, God goes beyond the freedom of the Exodus and the nourishment of the manna. God far surpasses his providential generosity. God wildly exceeds the grasp of our human understanding. This is why we spend these five weeks pondering God’s love in Jesus as the Bread of Life. In Jesus, God transcends mere information. God is inviting us into the Mystery of Love that is the true nourishment for the hunger in our heart.
