Jesus the bread of eternal life (Jn 6:35-40)

Dear friends today we have the reading from the gospel of St John chapter 6 verses 35 to 40.
We know for sure chapter 6 of John’s gospel is one of the most theologically complex
portions in the Bible. John chapter 6 is composed of several interrelated scenes. First, Jesus
performs a miraculous sign when Passover was nearing. He multiplies loaves and fish to feed
a great multitude, a miracle that recalls God feeding Israel with manna in the wilderness.
Then Jesus begins to reveal the meaning of this sign by walking upon the stormy sea and
declaring “I am” After a brief introduction. Jesus delivers a discourse on himself as the bread
of life in which he teaches what the true bread provided by God is and what it means to feed
on this bread. Towards the end Jesus’ radical teaching causes some disciples to fall away,
while others reaffirm their faith in him.

Let us focus on the verses from 35 to 40. Jesus tells the people very clearly that he is the
Bread of Life. Jesus identifies himself as the true, life-giving bread from the Father: I am the
bread of life. This is the first of seven “I am sayings in John’s Gospel. As the bread of life,
Jesus is the Father’s gift, who gives sustenance and eternal life to all of us. All those who
partake of this Bread will never again be either hungry or thirsty.

When Jesus identifies himself as bread from God it has a link to the Old Testament where
God’s wisdom and law are likened to food and drink. Jesus is the wisdom and law of God
incarnated. To feed on God’s wisdom or Torah means to take it in, to learn from it and allow
it to transform our lives. Likewise we are invited to take Jesus and feed on him as God’s gift.
This will transform our life and our hunger and thirst will be quenched forever.

The whole life of Jesus his actions and words and his relationships with those around him are
ways to eternal life. As the bread of life, Jesus is God’s wisdom, who has come down from
heaven and became flesh. This is why Jesus can make an extraordinary claim whoever comes
to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. In Isaiah, the Lord
declares that when he brings about his people’s end-time salvation, they would never again
know hunger or thirst (Isa 49:10) Jesus combines allusions to God’s wisdom with Isaiah’s
prophecies of salvation and points to himself as the one who makes these prophetic promises
a reality. When we come to, or believe in, Jesus, we recognize him as God’s wisdom. Jesus is
the one who teaches God’s ways and in whom God fulfils his promises to save.

Now the question is did people who were following Jesus truly understand what Jesus was
saying? Did they realize that Jesus was not speaking about the earthly bread? Indeed, Jesus
was not talking about food and drink that we consume. Rather, Jesus was speaking of our
“spiritual” hunger and thirst.

Today we need to ask ourselves what is it that we hunger for? Is it love, friendship, financial
stability, a healthy and happy family? We human beings have many hungers. However, we
often try to satisfy our deepest hungers with money, material things, people, or even food or
drink. Yes, these things do satisfy us to some extent. However, our deepest hunger is for
God! We can have all the money in the world or a multitude of friends but if God, Jesus or
the Spirit is not part of our lives, nothing else will ever satisfy.

Even though Jesus did reveal his identity very plainly people do not want to believe in him.
Jesus laments that his hearers do not believe. Through the feeding miracle and his own
speech, the crowd seems to realize that Jesus is something more than Moses. But they do not
accept him for who he is.

How much of Jesus did the people really see? How deep was their perception of who he truly
was and is? We too have the same problem. It is impossible for us to receive the bread that
came down from heaven for the salvation of human kind without a deep trust and total
commitment to him and all he stands for. God is holy. Whatever way we clean ourselves still
there be will blots in us when we stand in the holy presence of our God. We are unworthy to
receive the bread of eternal life by ourselves.

Yet Jesus intensely wants to share that Bread, that nourishment with us. Jesus tells “Indeed, it
is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks upon the Son and believes in him shall have
eternal life.” Let us open our hearts today so that Jesus who is present in Eucharist taking the
form of tiny bread can fill them with his life-giving eternal love. For he says: “I will not
reject anyone who comes to me.” Jesus promised us that he will be with us till end of ages.
He fulfils that promise everyday in the Eucharistic celebration by coming in the depth of our
hearts in form of a bread. The same bread that came down from heaven to satisfy our hunger
and thirst for eternal life.

God wants everyone to have eternal life with him. To enable us for that he gave his body as
bread and blood as drink. On our part, we have to learn how to receive him with all the
respect and loving submission he deserves and believe in him firmly so that one day we can
say along with St Paul: “I live, no longer I, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2:20). When that
happens we know that we have truly been filled with the life giving Bread that is Christ.
Amen