1Kgs 19:4-8; Ps 34; Eph 4:30-5:2; Jn 6:41-51
COMMENTARY
Bread for the Journey of Life
Today we embark on the second part (the second installment of four!) of Jesus’ Discourse on the Bread of Life, which we began reading in last Sunday’s Mass. As we discussed last week, it is important to prepare ourselves to listen carefully and avoid the temptation of saying that we already know everything, so that we may welcome and experience the full richness of the teaching that Jesus offers us in His holy and profound words.
As we did in the first part, let’s explore together some fundamental yet often overlooked aspects of Jesus’ teachings about the Bread of Life, which is given for the life of the world.
1. “I Am the Bread That Came Down From Heaven:” The Heavenly Origin of the Bread That Is the Whole Person of Jesus, Sent by God the Father
It is crucial to recall a fundamental aspect of the meditation presented in the initial “installment”. In the Bread Discourse, Jesus makes the assertion, “I am the bread of life,” which he then links to the future Eucharistic bread that he will offer at the Last Supper. However, within the temporal context of the Discourse, given that Jesus had not yet instituted the Eucharist, He was referring to a broader meaning. In this discourse, Jesus asserts that He is the bread that gives eternal life. He extends an invitation to all to come to Him and believe in Him in order to receive this bread of life. In other words, the path to obtaining eternal life is to welcome Jesus into one’s life through faith and adherence to His teaching.
The Father has placed his “seal” on Jesus, thereby establishing him as the authenticated bread, or to put it simply, the Father affirms that Jesus is the genuine bread that gives life to all humanity. In this context, the self-declaration of Jesus as the bread, with the additional qualification “bread that came down from heaven,” serves to underscore the divine origin of the bread, which is precisely His person as the One “sent from the Father.” Consequently, in the subsequent section of the Sermon, he reiterates the necessity of faith for attaining eternal life, solemnly declaring, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.” This is about believing in God, the only true God, and in Christ, the one sent by God. This is made explicit in Jn 17:3, which states, “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” It bears repeating that this is fundamental to catechesis, animation, and missionary formation for an “integral Eucharistic” vision. The act of eating Jesus, the bread that came down from heaven, is first and foremost an act of belief; it is to take on His person in the heart, through faith, with all His teachings and all His saving and sanctifying deeds. The reception of His Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Eucharist will be the natural consequence of this act of belief and adherence.
2. The Listeners’ Murmuring and the Revelation of the “Missionary Collaboration” Between the Father and Jesus Over the Gift of Bread
At the moment of Jesus’ self-revelation as the bread from heaven, “the Jews murmured about Jesus.” As evidenced by the particular use of the original Greek term, the murmuring of Jesus’ listeners is analogous to that of the chosen people on the exodus journey, who were perpetually discontented despite the numerous gifts they received from God, including the manna. The murmuring was a manifestation of their stubbornness and underlying lack of trust in God’s providence. This is an explicit manifestation of their disbelief and lack of trust in God’s providence. It is important to note, however, that the reaction of the Jews is understandable from a human perspective. They were familiar with Jesus as the son of Joseph and Mary, and his assertion that he descended from heaven seemed implausible to them. Furthermore, this skepticism regarding Jesus’ “unique” provenance is reminiscent of an earlier incident that occurred in the synagogue at Nazareth (cf. Mk 6:1-6). It can be reasonably deduced that this was the primary cause of the collective rejection of Jesus and his mission, not only during his lifetime but also in the subsequent period, during the preaching mission of the first apostles.
In dialoguing patiently with the “unbelievers”, Jesus remains undeterred by their objections and instead seizes the opportunity to elucidate profound truths about his relationship with the Father and the necessity of faith for attaining eternal life. This is a brief catechesis on the mystery of the “missionary collaboration” between the Father and Jesus in bestowing the “Bread of Life” upon the world. In emphasizing that “no one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him,” Jesus underscores the pivotal role of divine grace in enabling proximity to Him. It is not merely a matter of human volition; rather, it is a matter of a divine call that makes possible faith in the one true God and in Christ, His final and “sealed,” that is to say, “consecrated,” envoy (cf. Jn 10:36). This divine attraction will be fully realized in the mystery of Christ lifted up from the earth at the appointed time, as He will declare, “And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to myself” (Jn 12:32). This “attraction” reaches its zenith in the promise of resurrection on the last day (“and I will raise him on the last day”), a focal point of Jesus’ teachings on eternal life.
In teaching this, Jesus cites the prophet Isaiah’s significant assertion, “They shall all be taught by God” (cf. Is 54:13), which is situated within the context of the ultimate peace-salvation scenario for Jerusalem. This phrase is a direct reference to the well-known prophecy of Jeremiah (Jer 31:31-34) concerning the ultimate eschatological period of the New Covenant. In this prophecy, God is depicted as forgiving the sins of the people and inscribing his laws directly into the hearts of believers. Consequently, “They will no longer teach their friends and relatives, “Know the LORD!” Everyone, […], shall know me” (Jer 31:34). So, Jesus’ words suggest that the end time will be when divine teaching is available to everyone and it will be through Him that this teaching is fully achieved. Only those who have been sent by God have seen the Father. Jesus, as the Son, is the only one who can fully reveal this. This statement recalls Mt 11:27, (“No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him”) and underscores Jesus’ uniqueness and divine mission in close communion and “cooperation” with God the Father.
3. Bread for the Journey to the Encounter with God
The explanation of the distinctive nature of the relationship between Jesus and the Father, as well as their “missionary collaboration” for the life of the world, naturally prompts further reflection on the central image of the bread of life. In this passage, Jesus once more identifies himself as the “bread of life,” drawing a comparison between His bread and the manna that sustained the Israelites in the wilderness. In contrast to the manna, which did not prevent death among those who consumed it, the bread offered by Jesus is “alive” in itself, as it provides eternal life, or life in eternity. The bread offered by Jesus is life-giving, capable of preserving in life those who embark on the journey towards an ultimate encounter with God. The precursor to this divine bread is found in the account of Elijah in 1Kgs 19:4-8 (reading 1), who “strengthened by that food, he walked forty days and forty nights to the mountain of God, Horeb.”
In light of this, we gain further insight into Jesus’ promise that those who partake of this bread will live eternally. This promise is not merely a future event; rather, it is a present reality for those who accept Jesus by faith, for as we heard, “whoever believes has eternal life,” with the verb conjugated in the present tense. Eternal life begins with faith in Him, uniting us with God in a relationship of love and communion that transcends death.
It seems that Jesus is gently inviting his listeners to consider committing themselves to the food that does not perish but produces life eternally. This is expressed in the words, “that endures for eternal life,which the Son of Man will give you» (Jn 6:27). Such food is the living bread that came down from heaven, Jesus himself, in his person, whom the Father has given to the world in love (cf. Jn 3:16). Building on this, we now venture to specify more that such bread is precisely the “flesh” of Jesus, offered for the life of the world, thus prefiguring the sacrifice on the cross and the institution of the Eucharist.
Gradually, the sacramental Eucharistic perspective begins to emerge (Some biblical scholars have even called the phrase the Eucharistic consecration formula in John: “my flesh offered for the world” vs. “my body offered as a sacrifice for you”). We will continue to explore this further in the next part of the Sermon next week.
In summary, the passage is a powerful revelation of Jesus’ identity and salvific mission. It invites the listeners, believers and non-believers alike, yesterday and today, to overcome unbelief and murmuring in order to accept in faith the truth that Jesus is the living bread that came down from heaven, given for the life of the world. Through faith in Jesus and participation in the Eucharist, believers are called to live in communion with God, receiving the promise of eternal life that begins even now during earthly life.
We continue, then, to pray that the Lord may awaken in us the desire for constant communion with His Word, that we may satisfy the hunger for truth that He has placed in our hearts, and that we may share it with all our brothers and sisters who need it on the path to eternal life. Amen.
Useful points to consider:
Pope Francis, Message to the Pontifical Mission Societies 2020
[…] Attractiveness. The mystery of the Redemption entered into and continues to work in the world through an attraction that can draw the hearts of men and women because it is and appears more alluring than the seductions which appeal to the selfishness that is a result of sin. As Jesus says in the Gospel of John, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him” (6:44). The Church has always insisted that this is the reason why we follow Jesus and proclaim his Gospel: through the force of attraction wrought by Christ himself and by his Spirit. The Church, as Pope Benedict XVI has said, grows in the world through attraction and not through proselytism (cf. Homily, Mass for the Inauguration of the Fifth General Conference of the Bishops of Latin America and the Caribbean, Aparecida, 13 May 2007: AAS 99 [2007], 437). Saint Augustine says that Christ reveals himself by attracting us. Moreover, he cites the poet Virgil, who states that all are attracted to what gives them pleasure. Jesus does not just persuade our wills, but awakens our pleasure (Commentary on the Gospel of John, 26, 4). If one follows Jesus, happy to be attracted by him, others will take notice. They may even be astonished. The joy that radiates from those attracted by Christ and by his Spirit is what can make any missionary initiative fruitful. […]
Pope Francis, Angelus, Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 8 August 2021
[…] I am the bread of life, He says. Let us pause on this beautiful image of Jesus. He could have offered a rationale, a demonstration, but – we know – Jesus speaks in parables, and in this expression: “I am the bread of life”, he truly sums up his entire being and mission. This will be seen completely at the end, at the Last Supper. Jesus knows that the Father is asking him not only to give food to people, but to give himself, to break himself, his own life, his own flesh, his own heart so that we might have life. These words of the Lord reawaken in us our amazement for the gift of the Eucharist. No one in this world, as much they might love another person, can make themselves become food for them. God did so, and does so, for us. Let us renew this amazement. Let us do so as we adore the Bread of Life, because adoration fills life with amazement. […]
Pope Francis,Angelus,Saint Peter’s Square, Sunday, 9 August 2015
[…] This word of the Lord astonishes us, and makes us think. It introduces the dynamic of faith, which is a relationship: the relationship between the human person — all of us — and the Person of Jesus, where the Father plays a decisive role, and, of course, the Holy Spirit does too, which is implied here. To believe in Him, it is not enough to meet Jesus, it is not enough to read the Bible, the Gospel — this is important! But it is not enough. It is not even enough to witness a miracle, such as that of the multiplication of the loaves. So many people were in close contact with Jesus and they did not believe. In fact, they even despised and condemned him. And I ask myself: Why this? Were they not attracted by the Father? No, this happened because their hearts were closed to the action of God’s Spirit. If your heart is always closed, faith doesn’t enter! Instead God the Father draws us to Jesus: it is we who open or close our hearts. Instead, faith, which is like a seed deep in the heart, blossoms when we let the Father draw us to Jesus, and we “go to Him” with an open heart, without prejudices; then we recognize in his face the Face of God, and in his words the Word of God, because the Holy Spirit has made us enter into the relationship of love and of life between Jesus and God the Father. And there we receive a gift, the gift of the faith. […]