Twentieth Sunday In Ordinary Time
JOHN 6:51-58 (Proverbs 9:1-6; Psalm 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7; Ephesians 5:15-20)
This Sunday’s gospel is the fourth taken from the Bread of Life Discourse. The author arranged the composition of this discourse so that the teaching it conveys is revealed in three ascending steps. The first step revealed that the teaching Jesus brings from the Father is the true bread from heaven that gives life to the world. The term “bread from heaven” comes from a description of the manna that fed the Israelites in the Sinai wilderness. See Exodus 16:4. The second step revealed that Jesus Himself, as the Father’s ultimate teaching, is the true bread from heaven. The Book of Deuteronomy 8:3 interpreted the manna as a symbol of “every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord.” There the manna was given a new meaning: that it was a symbol of the Torah (teaching) of Moses. John, already in the Prologue to his gospel, proclaimed Jesus as the ultimate Torah (teaching) or Word of God. In Deuteronomy 33:47 we find these words said of the Torah of Moses, “It is your life.” Therefore John correctly writes of the ultimate Torah, Jesus Christ, “I am the living (life-giving) bread which came down from heaven.”
This Sunday’s gospel opens with the closing words of last Sunday’s gospel, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” We have reached the third and final step of the core revelation conveyed in the Bread of Life discourse. The manna, the “bread from heaven,” as the Old Testament calls it, lent itself to interpretation as a symbol of the Torah of Moses. The author of the Gospel of John uses that background to first proclaim the teaching (the Torah) that Jesus brings from the Father as true bread from heaven. Secondly, he proclaims that Jesus Himself, as God’s ultimate Torah (teaching), is the true bread from heaven. Finally, John will proclaim the flesh and blood of Jesus as the true bread from heaven.
We recall from last Sunday’s commentary that there were already objections to accepting Jesus as God’s ultimate revelation or Torah. The objection to the true bread from heaven being the real flesh and blood of Jesus will be stronger after this third revelation, and it endures to this day. It is often a “wall of separation” between the Church and those denominations that imitate her up to this point. In this Sunday’s gospel there is an immediate objection to the opening statement, when John attributes to “the Jews” these words, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” John writes on two levels, the time of Jesus and his own time, the end of the first Christian century. “The Jews” represent especially those of John’s Christian community who object to this teaching and act out their objection by rejecting it and leaving. This will be part of next Sun-day’s gospel reading. Now, on to a closer examination of the revelation and proclamation of the flesh and blood of Jesus as the true bread from heaven, and what to do about this revelation.
The author does not back down when “the Jews” object to this teaching. He responds once more with the famous double Amen oath, an oath John attributes to the One whom he proclaimed the Prophet, the Messiah/King, and God. Therefore truth beyond a doubt. All three steps of revelation conveyed by the Bread of Life discourse have now been confirmed with the double oath. “Amen, Amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (now), and I will raise him up on the last day, for my flesh is food indeed and my blood is drink indeed.”
Those who assert that this is symbolism rather than reality may not realize the graphic nature of John’s Greek. Not only does John use a normal Greek verb expressing the act of eating, (Esthio/Phago), but he also uses the Greek verb trogo, meaning to munch, to gnaw, to chew. For us who believe firmly in the joyful reality of eating and drinking the Lord, there is a more delightful meaning of this same verb in classical Greek, to eat dessert or other desirable food. Note the Words of Institution at the Last Supper, according to Paul, Matthew, Mark, Luke. They do not write that Jesus said “This represents, symbolizes, stands for my body and blood,” but “This is (Greek: estin) my body. This is my blood.” And here in the Gospel of John, “My flesh is food indeed. My blood is drink indeed.” Difficult indeed of acceptance, but “Amen! Amen!” is attributed insistently and without embarrassment to the Prophet, Messiah/King, God.
In the Bread of Life Discourse rewards are promised to those who accept the teachings that Jesus brings from the Father, and the teaching that Jesus is from the Father. Also in this third revelation rewards are promised. “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.” That begins in our earthly life, but there is more, “Whoever feeds on (Greek: again trogo) this bread will live forever.” Not mortal life, but immortal life. To feed on the Immortal God enables the mortal body to put on immortality. Although the acceptance of this revelation ultimately comes from the free gift of God which is faith, it may be helpful to consider a term St. Paul uses of the resurrected glorified body, no longer subject to the laws of physics. In 1 Corinthians 15:44 he writes, “It is sown (buried) a physical body. It is raised a spiritual body,” a body no longer subject to the laws of physics. Paul also warns, “Learn from us not to go beyond what is written,” 1 Corinthians 4:6. We accept what has been taught from the beginning. We embrace the Eucharist with words Doubting Thomas spoke of the resurrected Lord, “My Lord and my God!
