The Bread of Life Discourse

Today's Reflections

The Bread of Life Discourse

http://graceandspace.org

 

Jn 6:24-35

²⁴When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. ²⁵And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” ²⁶Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled. ²⁷Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.” ²⁸So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” ²⁹Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” ³⁰So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? ³¹Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:/ ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”/ ³²So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” ³³For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

³⁴So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” ³⁵Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Reflection:

Because you ate the loaves and were filled. The crowd seeks Jesus. The people see in him the answer to their material needs and physical hunger. Impressed by the multiplication of the loaves and fish, they are motivated by free food and enticed by the thought of getting something even more from Jesus.

Jesus can surely give more than bread. But Jesus exhorts them to work not for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give them. Beyond physical bread there is bread that brings eternal life. He himself is this bread from the Father, the living bread that gives eternal life.

This bread from heaven is now made visible at the sacrament of the Eucharist. As God fed his people with manna during their exodus, God is offering us the bread of life, Jesus, who assures us, “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

What do we seek?

What is God telling us to do or to accomplish as our mission?