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This is the Bread that Comes Down From Heaven






This is the Bread that Comes Down From Heaven
Jn 6: 41 – 51
19th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the crowd that he is the bread that has come down from heaven. This statement from Jesus causes quite a stir among the crowd. They couldn’t accept that he is from heaven as they know him to be Joseph’s son, one who hails from a nearby Galilean town. Nonetheless, Jesus continues to reveal to them that he is the bread of life.

Our gospel starts with a sour note: the Jews murmured about Jesus because he said, “ I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They seem to know much about Jesus especially his roots. They can accept him as the miracle worker, the healer and the preacher – but not someone who comes from heaven. That statement was just too much for them; hence their murmuring.
            Amidst this unbelieving environment, Jesus continues to disclose to them who he is. He understands their unbelief, because Jesus knows that only those who are drawn by the Father could have the capacity to believe in him. Of this, Jesus says: “ No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me.”
It is the Father who makes the Son known. Without such mediation from the Father, there is no way anyone could come to believe in Jesus.
            Then Jesus makes this bold assertion: “ Your ancestors ate manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die.”
In saying this, Jesus somehow compares the bread that the Israelites ate in the desert and the bread that he offers which is himself. The bread that the Israelites ate in the desert, called manna, was given by God as food to them. Similarly, Jesus, as the bread of life who came down from heaven is also given by God. The difference between manna and Jesus is that those who ate manna, eventually died. On the other hand, Jesus claims that those who eat the bread that he offers will live forever and will not see death.

It is not surprising that this reading begins with a sour note, with the Jews murmuring and unable to comprehend what Jesus was talking about. It was really hard talk. It was difficult for them to understand how a man, who comes just from the vicinity, speaks of himself as one who has come down from heaven.
It is even more difficult to understand how Jesus speaks of himself as bread and at the same time claims that if anyone should eat of this bread, he shall not die but will live forever.  It is still hard talk, perhaps even for our present times.
For us to understand this, Jesus says, we need to be drawn to the Father for us to believe that Jesus is indeed food. The Father so wants to nourish us, that the only way he thought of nourishing us is by making his Son become our food, our nourishment, our provision.
The Father knows that we cannot live without food. Perhaps this is the reason why the Father made Jesus to be our food because without Jesus, we simply cannot live. The Lord knows how important food is to us; that’s why he identified himself as food and made himself our food. He is our bread, our nourishment without whom we cannot have life.
When Jesus declares himself as the bread of life, as the food that sustains us, we are once more reminded of the loving providence of the Father. Just like a father who supplies food and provisions for the family, God our Father, gives us Jesus, the food we need for our lives.  He gives us Jesus to be our real food, to be our nourishment for the journey, to be the bread for our life.
One cannot imagine journeying through life without food. We cannot go on a journey without bringing any provisions. When food runs out, the journey stops and we can’t move any further.
Jesus is our bread for the journey. We cannot imagine a journey without him. This bread that comes down from heaven will nourish us on our way as we travel through this life and in the life to come. Amen.


“ The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand, satisfying the desire of every living thing. “ – Psalm 145: 15




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