by Fr. Tommy Lane
Last Sunday we heard how the crowds followed Jesus after he multiplied the bread and fish for them the previous day (John 6:24-35). They asked Jesus three questions and he answered and concluded by saying to them,
I am the bread of
life;
whoever comes to me will never hunger,
and whoever
believes in me will never thirst. (John 6:35)
In today’s Gospel (John 6:41-51), the crowd begins to turn hostile to Jesus and complains because he said he is the bread come down from heaven. They know Mary and Joseph so how can he say he came down from heaven. Their hostility will grow during Jesus’ discourse until we will hear two Sundays from now that many of Jesus’ disciples left him, except the twelve apostles who remained faithful (John 6:66-69).
What exactly does Jesus mean by this bread of life from heaven which is beginning to turn the crowd hostile to him? Is the bread of life all of Jesus’ teaching that feeds our spiritual life? Is it his parables, his sayings, what he teaches us through his miracles, what he teaches us through his passion and resurrection? (Jesus said in last Sunday’s Gospel that the work of God is to believe in the one the Father sent (John 6:29)) In today’s Gospel Jesus says everyone who believes has eternal life (John 6:47). So, does Jesus mean he is the bread of life for us when we believe him and accept him, and allow his teaching to be our spiritual nourishment? The bread of life is all of that and much more. What else is it?
In today’s Gospel, Jesus contrasts himself with the manna in the desert. Their ancestors ate manna in the desert and died, but Jesus is the bread from heaven so that those who eat it do not die (John 6:48-50). Now Jesus is getting very specific about the bread of life. You have to eat it. Jesus continues—he is the living bread from heaven and whoever eats this bread will live forever (John 6:51). Jesus is now moving on in his sermon to speak about the Eucharist, and he contrasts it with the manna. What Jesus offers is far greater than the manna and far greater than the miraculous bread given to Elijah in our first reading. The manna and what Elijah received were nothing by comparison with what Jesus offers. All their ancestors, even though they enjoyed the gift of manna, died in the desert. But whoever eats the bread of life that Jesus gives will live for ever. Jesus is offering eternal life to those who eat the bread of life. Jesus is talking of the Eucharist.
Then, at the end of today’s Gospel, Jesus gets even more specific and says the bread that he will give for the life of the world is his “flesh.” (John 6:51) The bread he will give is his flesh—his body, as we would say. During the Last Supper, as Jesus knew he would offer his flesh for us the following day on Calvary, he identified the bread with his body, his flesh. He gave the bread to the apostles and said, “This is my Body” (Matt 26:26; Mark 14:22) and in the Aramaic language of Palestine at the time of Jesus the way to say that was “This is my flesh.” (Jeremias The Eucharistic Words of Jesus p198-201; Brown Gospel of John 1:285)
So, we have come a long way in Jesus’ sermon in John 6. The bread of life is Jesus’ flesh, his body, the Eucharist. Believing in Jesus is not enough. Staying at home with no Mass is not enough. We need the Eucharist. If we do not have the Eucharist, we will be missing the spiritual life Jesus offers us.
this is the bread that
comes down from heaven
so that one may eat it and not die.
I
am 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.
(John 6:50-51)
Jesus offers his flesh for the life of the world. We all have spiritual hunger and Jesus is the answer to that spiritual hunger. Jesus offers himself in the Eucharist to love us. In Jesus’ sermon after today’s Gospel, he says,
Whoever eats my flesh
and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him. (John 6:56)
So, the Eucharist brings us intimacy with God. Jesus remains in us, and we remain in him. Without the Eucharist we do not have this intimacy with God. Another way to talk about it is to use the word “grace.” Grace is sharing in the life of God and every sacrament gives us grace that we receive only in that particular sacrament. We first receive grace in baptism. In the Eucharist, we receive grace that unites us to Jesus with love. The grace of the Eucharist is union with Jesus, intimacy with Jesus. Jesus remains in us, and we remain in him.
Jesus is the bread of life. Those who ate the manna died. Jesus is the living bread come down from heaven so that whoever eats this bread will life forever and the bread that he gives for the life of the world is his body, his flesh, offered for us on Calvary and we share in the grace of Jesus’ death for us as we consume the Eucharist.
When we eat this Bread
and drink this Cup,
we proclaim your Death, O Lord,
until you
come again.
© Fr. Tommy Lane 2021
This homily was delivered in a parish in Ireland.
More Homilies for the Nineteenth Sunday of Year B
Related Homilies: John Chapter 6 - Jesus’ Sermon on the Eucharist 2011