John 6,41-51
The Jews, thinking they knew who Jesus’ parents were, strongly disapproved of his claiming to have come down from heaven. They began to ask themselves: How could the son of human parents say, “I have come down from heaven”? He commands them to stop murmuring, which is reminiscent of Israel’s frequent desert murmurings in the Old Testament after the Exodus from Egypt. He does not answer the question about his origin, directly, but instead reasserts the point that belief in the Son, which is the same as coming to him, is the work of the Father, drawing people to the Son. Then, quoting Isaiah 54,13. “They shall be taught by God,” Jesus shows them that he is fulfilling that promise because he has been sent by God (v44), has seen God, and comes from God (v46). To hear the teaching of God and learn from it is to have faith in him and to come to him. But no one can come to Jesus unless the Father draws them. Belief is a gift from God which he gives generously to those who accept it.
To accept Jesus, the bread that has come down from heaven, and is the revelation of the Father, is to have life that endures forever. Jesus is the bread of life and whoever eats this bread will live forever, never die, in contrast with those who ate the manna (food for just one day) in the desert and did die. This living bread which Jesus gives is his flesh for the life of the world, thus defining the bread in terms of the Incarnation and Passion.
The claims which Jesus made; to have come down from heaven, to have come from God, and seen the Father, that he is the bread of life, that this bread is his flesh for the life of the world, and gives eternal life to anyone who eats it, are unacceptable to his Jewish audience. In using the phrase “I am the bread of life” (6, 35,48) Jesus is using language reserved to God (I am who I am – Ex 3,14), and by implication making claims of the closest association with God. Already in John 6,40 Jesus described himself as Son of the Father and here speaks of an intimacy that implies sonship – the Father sent him, and he has seen the Father. They baulked at the implications of his claims.
They deserve the compliment of having the insight to see that his claims exceeded the bounds of their experience and the limits of their Old Testament faith. In this they were right, because Jesus was making claims that were new and seemingly incredible. The sadness is that they could not make the leap of faith and believe in who he was and what he said. We Catholics, who are so familiar with the doctrine of the Eucharist and have such easy access to it, risk having the opposite problem. We often fail to appreciate how incredible and wonderful a mystery the Eucharist is. It can become so credible and routine that we lose our sense of wonder that in it Jesus the Son of God is both giver and gift. (6,51)
We are blessed in having many excellent and moving Communion hymns. A reflective, prayerful reading of say, “O bread of Heaven”, or any other Communion hymn of your choice, could enrich your faith in and devotion to the Eucharist, the living bread that comes down from heaven.
Fr Geoff O’Grady