Gospel Notes by Michael Whelan SM
“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 for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” So Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.” (John 6:51-58 – NRSV)
Introductory notes
General
There is both a comparison and a contrast between the “manna” that sustained the people in the wilderness – in the Exodus – and the “bread” that will sustain us now – in the New Exodus. “Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness” (6:49) is compared and contrasted with the new manna: “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 for the life of the world is my flesh” (6:51).
“The difference between Moses and Jesus is their respective origins. Jesus’ origins pros ton theon (1:1) gave him a unique authority to make God known (1:18). Because this is the case the one who believes in the revelation of Jesus, the true bread who has come down from heaven, has eternal life. The comparison continues between the manna of the Law and Jesus, the true bread from heaven. It is no longer the Law that produces life. Jesus, the true bread from heaven, came to make the Father known and, in doing so, surpasses the former gift of a bread from heaven (cf. vv. 32–33). He is the bread of life (v. 48).” (Francis J Moloney SDB, The Gospel of John, Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1998. 218.)
“The Johannine celebration of the Eucharist lies behind the use of key expressions: ho artos (bread), sarx (flesh), egō dōsō (I will give), hyper (for the sake of). See, for example, Jeremias, Eucharistic Words 106–108. These explicit eucharistic links are seen by most commentators as the introduction to vv. 51c–58, a discrete section within John 6 that deals with the Eucharist. It may be true that the ‘backbone of vss. 51–58 is made up of material from the Johannine narrative of the institution of the Eucharist’ (Brown, Gospel 1:287), but behind the eucharistic language the interpretation given here insists that the fundamental issue is Jesus’ self-gift for the life of the world. His body (‘flesh’) will be given over in crucifixion for the life of the world” (Francis J Moloney SDB, op cit, 220).
Specific
The Jews then disputed among themselves: This echoes Exodus 16:2: “The whole congregation of the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.”
eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood: “The Hebrew idiom ‘flesh and blood’ means the whole man.” (Raymond E Brown, The Gospel according to John (I–XII): Introduction, translation, and notes (Vol. 29), Yale University Press, 2008, 282.)
Those who eat: A verb meaning “to eat” is used six times in this brief passage (verses 53-58) in which Jesus responds to the “Jews” who challenge him. The Greek verb esthiō is used in v.53 and again in verse 58. The other four times the Greek verb is trōgō, which is normally used of animals and has a rather crude connotation. It may be translated as “feed”: “In secular Greek this verb trōgein was originally used of animals; but, at least from the time of Herodotus, it was used of human eating as well. It had a crude connotation (see Matt 24:38) reflected in translations like ‘gnaw, munch’. Some scholars deny this, maintaining that John simply uses it for the present tense system of esthiein, the normal verb ‘to eat’. However, it seems more likely that the use of trōgein is part of John’s attempt to emphasize the realism of the eucharistic flesh and blood. The only other times it appears in John outside of this section is in 13:18 where in the context of the Last Supper it is deliberately introduced into an OT citation, probably as a eucharistic remembrance” (Raymond E Brown, op cit, 283).
abide in me: A favourite theme for John. The Greek verb menō can be translated as “remain”, “stay”, “make your home”, “abide” etc. It is used repeatedly in John’s Gospel, especially in chapter 15 where we have the parable of the true vine. It expresses the mystical heart of the Christian faith. Raymond Brown suggests the vine is “probably a eucharistic symbol too” (Op cit, 283).
A holy communion
In today’s Gospel – John 6:51-58 – Jesus makes a claim that, on the face of it, is shocking: “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 for the life of the world is my flesh. … so whoever eats me will live because of me.” Doesn’t this text suggest cannibalism? No wonder the religious authorities reacted so strongly: “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”
In the second century, St Justin Martyr (100-165 CE) tells us that the three main accusations made by the Roman authorities against the Christians were atheism, incest and cannibalism. Although Justin – in his First Apology (Justin MartyV1-0.pdf (romanroadsstatic.com) – gives a clear, philosophical defense against the first two accusations, with regard to the third he simply presents the Christian belief grounded in the words of Jesus in today’s Gospel: “This food is called among us Εὐχαριστία [the Eucharist], of which no one is allowed to partake but the person who believes that the things which we teach are true, and who has been washed with the washing that is for the remission of sins, and unto regeneration, and who is so living as Christ has enjoined. For not as common bread and common drink do we receive these; but in the manner as Jesus Christ our Saviour … had both flesh and blood for our salvation, so likewise we have been taught that the food which is blessed by the prayer of His word, and from which our blood and flesh by transmutation are nourished, is the flesh and blood of that Jesus who was made flesh” (Translated by Marcus Dods and George Reith. A Roman Roads Etext, 2015, Chapter 66).
Eucharist – in so far as we can comprehend it – is probably best understood by reading John’s words in today’s Gospel in the light of his words in the “farewell discourses”. The Christian life is a matter of “abiding in his love” (15:9). The Christian embraces the indwelling Trinity: “The Spirit of truth abides with you, and he will be in you … you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you” (14:17-20). Living is communion – a holy communion.
The image of bread, derived from the Exodus Event – see Exodus 16:4 – becomes a primary metaphor of this communion with Jesus in the New Covenant. He is our “way” to the Father (14:6). Through him, with him and in him, we have communion in the life of God: “It is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (6:32-33). “Eating” this “bread” is our “Amen!” to the invitation to participate in the life of the Trinity.
Fr Michael Whelan SM – Homily for the Feast of Corpus Christi