GOSPEL READING:
John 6:52-5952 The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" 53 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you; 54 he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is food indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats me will live because of me.
Meditation: Why did Jesus offer himself as "food and
drink"? The Jews were scandalized and the disciples were divided
when Jesus said "unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood,
you have no life in you." What a hard saying, unless you
understand who Jesus is and why he calls himself the bread of
life. The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves (John
6:3-13), when Jesus said the blessing, broke and distributed the
loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, is a sign that
prefigured the superabundance of the unique bread of the
Eucharist, or Lord's Supper. The Gospel of John has no account of
the Last Supper meal (just the foot washing ceremony and Jesus'
farewell discourse). Instead, John quotes extensively from Jesus'
teaching on the bread of life.
In the Old Covenant bread and wine were offered in a thanksgiving
sacrifice as a sign of grateful acknowledgment to the Creator as
the giver and sustainer of life. Melchizedek, who was both a
priest and king (Genesis 14:18; Hebrews 7:1-4), offered a
sacrifice of bread and wine. His offering prefigured the offering
made by Jesus, our high priest and king (Hebrews 7:26; 9:11;
10:12). The remembrance of the manna in the wilderness recalled to
the people of Israel that they live - not by earthly bread alone -
but by the bread of the Word of God (Deuteronomy 8:3).
Jesus made himself a perfect offering and sacrifice to God
on our behalf
At the last supper when Jesus blessed the cup of wine, he gave it
to his disciples saying, "Drink of it, all of you, for this is
my blood of the covenant, poured out for many for the
forgiveness of sins" (Matthew 26:28). Jesus was pointing to
the sacrifice he was about to make on the cross, when he would
shed his blood for us - thus pouring himself out and giving
himself to us - as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and the sins
of the world. His death on the cross fulfilled the sacrifice of
the paschal (passover) lamb whose blood spared the Israelites from
death in Egypt.
Paul the Apostle tells us that "Christ, our paschal lamb, has
been sacrificed" (1 Corinthians5:7). Paul echoes the words of John
the Baptist who called Jesus the "Lamb of God who takes away
the sins of the world" (John 1:29).Jesus made
himself an offering and sacrifice, a gift that was truly pleasing
to the Father. He "offered himself without blemish to God"
(Hebrews 9:14) and "gave himself as a sacrifice to God"
(Ephesians 5:2).
The Lord Jesus sustains us with the life-giving bread of
heaven
Jesus chose the time of the Jewish Feast of Passover to fulfill
what he had announced at Capernaum - giving his disciples his body
and his blood as the true bread of heaven. Jesus' passing over to
his Father by his death and resurrection - the new passover - is
anticipated in the Last Supper and celebrated in the Eucharist or
Lord's Supper, which fulfills the Jewish Passover and anticipates
the final Passover of the church in the glory of God's kingdom.
When the Lord Jesus commands his disciples to eat his flesh and
drink his blood, he invites us to take his life into the very
center of our being. That life which he offers is the very life of
God himself. Do you hunger for the bread of life?
Lord Jesus, you nourish and sustain us with your very own presence and life-giving word. You are the bread of life - the heavenly food that sustains us now and that produces everlasting life within us. May I always hunger for you and be satisfied in you alone.
Psalm 117:1-2
1 Praise the LORD, all nations! Extol him, all peoples!
2 For great is his steadfast love toward us; and the faithfulness of the LORD endures for ever. Praise the LORD!
Daily Quote from the Early Church Fathers: Abiding in Christ, by Augustine of Hippo, 354-430 A.D.
" Jesus recommended to us His Body and Blood in bread and wine,
elements that are reduced into one out of many constituents. What
is meant by eating that food and taking that drink is this: to
remain in Christ and have Him remaining in us." (excerpt
from Sermon on John 26,112)
