Gospel: John 6:41-51 The Bread of Life Discourse Proper

41 The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came
down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father
and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from
heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one
can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at
the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’
Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. 46 Not that any
one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the
Father. 47 Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life. 48 I am the
bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This
is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man may eat of it and not die. 51 I
am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any one eats of this bread, he
will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the life of the world is my
flesh.”

As a reminder, we should always read the gospel through it’s entirety, meaning in its
full context. And so, for us to understand better the full message of the gospel, we
need to read it in its context. And so, if you read through John 6 in its entirety, what
you will see is that there are two parts to Jesus’ “Bread of Life” discourse, broken
down as follows:

The first part begins in John 6:35 when Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. He who
comes to me shall not hunger; he who believes in me shall never thirst.” In that first
part of the Bread of Life discourse, which starts in verse 35 and then goes all the way
down to verse 47, Jesus uses the manna from heaven as a metaphor for his own
divinity — as a symbol, a kind of a sign of the fact that just like the manna was
heavenly in origin, so too Jesus is heavenly in origin. He, as the Bread of Life has
come down from heaven.

In other words, He has become incarnate; He is the God who has become man. So,
the first part of the discourse is really focusing on Jesus' divinity, and you can see also
emphasis on the word “faith” or “believe” — pisteuō in Greek. So, before Jesus gets
into talking about the sacrament of the Eucharist or eating his flesh, the first thing He
says is, “I want you to believe that I have come down from heaven.”

They murmured on these words of Jesus, just as their ancestors murmured to Moses in
the wilderness. Many did not believe Jesus. They complained. They asked how could
He have come down from Heaven when they knew that His father was Joseph and His
mother was Mary. Many did not believe because they were not listening to what Jesus
was revealing to them. They had worldly minds that were darkened, seeking to
challenge every word that Jesus spoke rather than listening. Through the hardening of
their hearts, they were not spiritually disposed, this preventing them from perceiving
the truth.

It is the same today. There are some who do not hear any of the teachings of the Holy
Catholic Church because they are not listening. They are placing all their energies
towards challenging every word, every authority, every doctrine, etc... rather then
listening to the voice of the indwelling Holy Spirit who has been sent to teach and
guide them. Sometimes it is necessary to remain silent and to listen. Then we should
prayerfully reflect on what we heard for some time, allowing the grace of God to
enlighten our hearts so we can see the light in the Spirit of Truth.

Jesus said to those who were complaining among themselves, "No one can come to
Me unless drawn by the Father who sent me." As previously said, it is by the grace of
God the Father that we are drawn to Jesus through the indwelling Spirit of Truth who
teaches us and guides us. Those who are drawn to Jesus, those who listen to His
teachings, those who believe in Him and live their Christian faith in Christ, He will
raise them on the last day.

Jesus asked those who were present, is it not written in the Scriptures that the prophets
said, "And they shall all be taught by God?" This is a very powerful statement. It
echoes God the Father drawing His children to Jesus. It echoes God the Father saying
in our hearts, 'He is the way, the truth and the life.' It echoes the incarnation of God
through Jesus. It echoes Jesus who is God teaching the people. Through Jesus, at that
moment, the prophecy of the prophets was being fulfilled. Jesus who is God was
teaching the people.

Jesus said, "Everyone who heard and learned from the Father comes to me." Those
who listen to their hearts, the free gift that they have received during the Sacrament of
Baptism, they hear the calling of God and they are directed towards Jesus. For no one
can go to the Father unless they go through the Son, Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of God draws us to the Father. Through the grace of the Father, our faith is
established in the Truth. We believe in Jesus Christ as our Saviour. We believe in the
resurrection of the dead. We believe that Christ will resurrect our physical bodies on
the last day so we too may be gloriously transformed in His likeness. Everything that
God does for us is accomplished by the involvement of all Three Divine Presences of
the Holy Trinity.

Then Jesus said that no one has seen the Father except the one who is from God. He
has seen the Father. No one has ever seen the Father because the Father is formless
and invisible. [Rom. 1:20; Col. 1:15; 1 Tim. 1:17; Heb. 11:27] In their struggle to
bring God the Father down to earth in a physical and visible nature, over the
centuries, painters have created pictures of God the Father as an old man. This
practice, on the increase during the last century, has spread to every nation, especially
during the last few decades. None of these paintings and "so called" holy pictures
accurately reflect God the Father. In fact, they are an insult to the Divine Presence of
God the Father, turning the believers away from the truth.

The holy Catholic Church teaches us, "We ought therefore to recall that God
transcends the human distinction between the sexes. He is neither man nor woman: he
is God." (CCC. # 239) God Himself said, "I am God and no mortal." [Hos. 11:9]

The creating of images of God the Father as an old man is literally creating a false
god, another idol to worship. It falls short of reflecting the true nature of the Divine
Presence of God the Father as He has been revealed to us through Jesus Christ. On
this subject, the Holy Catholic Church further says, "The purification of our hearts
had to do with paternal or maternal images, stemming from our personal and cultural
history, and influencing our relationship with God. God our Father transcends the
categories of the created world. To impose our own ideas in this area 'upon him'
would be to fabricate idols to adore or pull down."(CCC. # 2779)

God the Father manifested Himself through Jesus Christ. As Jesus said, "If you know
Me, you will know My Father also. From now on you do know Him and have seen
Him." [Jn. 14:6-7]

The second part, in verse 48, He says; I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the
manna in the wilderness, and they died. Here, Jesus was like throwing everything
back at them, they’ve challenged Him (His identity), but He reminded them that their
forefathers belonged to a wicked generation that went to the wilderness and that even
though they had the manna still, what happened to them? They all died in the
wilderness because they were “hard of heart.”

In verse 50 He says; ‘This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that a man
may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any
one eats of this bread, he will live for ever; and the bread which I shall give for the
life of the world is my flesh.”

These words echo the whole mystery of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. Jesus is
God! In Him dwells bodily the fullness of the Three Divine Presences of the Holy
Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In a short while, I will be consecrating
the bread and the wine. At that moment, they will be transformed into the Body and
the Blood of Christ. At that moment, God will physically be present with us through
the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. In the consecrated Bread and Wine shall be
physically present the fullness of God, all Three Divine Presences of the Holy Trinity.
When you will receive the Holy Eucharist, you will be receiving the physical Divine
Presences of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in your hearts.

Also, these are the first of His words of eating this bread that comes down from
heaven and He is contrasting it with the manna. The old manna, you could eat it and
still die. If they collect and keep it for more than a day, it will be spoiled! Except
during Sabbath, it would remain fresh for that one day of rest.We therefore see that
the manna is perishable, and it passes away. And the people who ate it, are perishable
also and they all passed away as well.

However, the new manna (Jesus), that came down from heaven is not perishable and
so, whosoever shall eat of it will not die! Now, how do we know if Jesus is no longer
speaking metaphorically here? It’s in verse 51 and it says; “the bread which I shall
give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

And so, for us Catholics, based on these words of Jesus in verse 51, we clearly
understood the teaching of the Church that Jesus here is not giving His flesh in a
metaphorical way. That He is truly and literally telling His disciples that He is giving
His own literal flesh for the life of the world and it is not just a symbol. Otherwise, he
would have told them so in plain and simple words.
Every Catholic knew and would agree, as taught by the Church Fathers and practiced
by the early Church, that the sacrifice that Christ make is a real one, that is His real
flesh that is given for the world. So here, He has connected the bread that He is going
to give with the flesh of the cross that He offers up, so this is a real sacrifice that He is
talking about, because He is saying; “it is my flesh!” It is not a symbol, nor is it a
representation of His body and blood!

Then in verse 52, it says there; “The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying,
“How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” Here it became more clearer, because
they (the Jews) know that Jesus is speaking literally now! They’ve understood that it
is no longer a metaphor, as if they’re saying; “Wait a minute, this man wants us to eat
His flesh!” Sounds like cannibalism! Right?! They were startled at these words, and
so what did Jesus do? He said, “I’m sorry, I was just kidding and making fun of you!”
Masyado kasi kayong seryoso! Pang ice-breaker lang! Binabawi ko na ang sinabi ko!

No! That’s not what he said! What He said was, “Amen! Amen! (which is an actually
an oath formula), it’s like swearing, not cursing, an oath. It’s actually invoking the
divine power, He continues; “unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his
blood, you have no life in you; he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal
life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” Does this still seem like a metaphor to
you? Is eternal life or heaven a metaphor? I don’t think so!

And in verse 55-56, Jesus even raises it up a bit by saying; “For my flesh is food
indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood
abides in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the
Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.” Pause here.

In it’s original form which is Greek, the word is “trogo,” it is a word for chewing,
gnawing! That is why this is not a metaphor, “trogo” or “eat me” cannot be used
metaphorically!

And He continued; “This is the bread which came down from heaven, not such as the
fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live for ever.” This He said in the
synagogue, as he taught at Caper′na-um.”

My brothers and sisters, believe in the Words of Jesus. Believe that the Sacrament of
the Holy Eucharist is the Bread of Life. Without it, you have no life in you. Those
who believe in the teachings of Jesus, who persevere in their living faith, and who
receive the Church Sacraments, they are on their way to eternal life in the Kingdom of
God.

For as the Sacrament of Baptism bestows you with the first installment, the new
creation of the seed of God. It makes you righteous in the eyes of God. If you sin,
reach out to the Sacrament of Confession to reinstate your righteousness. Once you
are righteous again, reach out to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the Living
Bread that secures your salvation in Christ!