Sunday Lectionary: Bread from Heaven

I’ve been on vacation this week so my notes are late and not quite as polished as they are normally.

Eighteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time: 2nd August, 2012

Our Readings this week focus again on the subject of sacred food.

In the First Reading, we read how the Israelites were fed with manna in the desert. The manna is also the subject of this week’s Psalm, as psalmist proclaims “The Lord gave them bread from heaven”. These are also the words quoted by the crowd who come to Jesus after “The Feeding of the Multitude”. The crowd comes expecting another free meal, but rather than filling their stomachs, Jesus directs them towards deeper spiritual realities, declaring Himself to be “the bread of life” and that “whoever comes…will never hunger, and whoever believes…will never thirst”.

Our understanding of the Second Reading may be illuminated by considering the rite of Baptism in the early centuries of the Church. In preparation for the Sacrament, someone wishing to be baptised would receive a period of instruction. Afterwards, he would then arrive at the Baptismal pool and shed himself of his clothes, symbolically demonstrating that he wished to “put away the old self of [the] former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires”. He would then descend into the baptismal pool where he would be washed in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, “renewed in the spirit of [his] mind”. He would then ascend and be clothed in a white garment to show that he had “put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth”. After having been washed in the waters of regeneration, this newly-born Christian would be admitted to the liturgy of the Eucharist where he would finally receive the bread of life.

We too have been washed in the waters of baptism, we too have been admitted to the altar.  Let us live our lives this week in the “holiness of truth” . We do not receive simply the “bread of angels”, but something even greater, “the bread of life”  Himself.

When, through the hand of the priest, you receive the Body of Christ, think not of the priest which you see, but of the Priest you do not see. The priest is the dispenser of this food, not the author. The Son of man gives Himself to us, that we may abide in Him, and He in us – Alcuin

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Reading I: Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15

Today’s Reading comes from the story of the Exodus. Prior to their leaving Egypt, God declared that Israel was “[His] firstborn son” (Exodus 4:22), a description that goes back to Adam. As Israel left Egypt and traveled to Mount Sinai, like Adam, they were tested in the matter of food:

Test #1: Three days after passing through the Red Sea, the Israelite water supplies were low. They arrived at the waters of “Marah” (literally “bitter”), thus named because the water was undrinkable. The people complained and so God instructed Moses to throw a piece of wood into the water, miraculously making it sweet.

Test #2: This is today’s Reading where the Israelites complain about the lack of food. It takes place about two and half months after leaving Egypt.

Test #3: Later, the Israelites run out of water again and they once again complain to Moses. God then instructs Moses to strike a rock with his staff and, when as he does this, water gushes forth for the people.

Our Reading comes from the second of these episodes.

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.”

In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”

Questions:

• What is the context for this passage? Who are “Moses and Aaron”?
• What is the complaint of the Israelites?
• How does the Lord respond?
• What is the spiritual lesson of this passage?

Commentary:

The whole Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. 

“Moses” was the one who lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and who parted the red sea. “Aaron” was Moses’ older brother, the man who would later become the High Priest of Israel.

In this passage, the Israelites are complaining. If you have read the book of Exodus, this is an extremely common theme! In this case, they are complaining about the lack of food. Given the fact that the people have seen the Ten Plagues of Egypt and the Parting of the Red Sea, it’s hard to comprehend their lack of faith!

While the text says that they “grumbled against Moses and Aaron”, they were really, ultimately grumbling against God. St. Paul uses the “moral sense” of this Old Testament episode to teach the Christians at Corinth:

For I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact… that our ancestors [the Israelites] were all under the cloud and that they all passed through the sea. They were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

Now these things occurred as examples to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things as they did... do not grumble, as some of them did — and were killed by the destroying angel. – 1 Corinthians 10:1-10

Paul says that we should not imitate the Israelites in their grumbling.

The Israelites said to them, “Would that we had died at the LORD’s hand in the land of Egypt, as we sat by our fleshpots and ate our fill of bread! But you had to lead us into this desert to make the whole community die of famine!”

The Israelites start longing for slavery again! Elsewhere in Scripture we find out about some of the other food they received while in Egypt:

The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. ” – Numbers 11:4-5

Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will now rain down bread from heaven for you. Each day the people are to go out and gather their daily portion; thus will I test them, to see whether they follow my instructions or not.

It is hard not to think of the Lord’s Prayer when reading these lines:

Give us each day our daily bread – Luke 11:3

We find out from other parts of Scripture that there are restrictions concerning the collection and preservation of the manna. I guess it’s no surprise to learn that some of the people ignore these restrictions…

“I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them: In the evening twilight you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall have your fill of bread, so that you may know that I, the LORD, am your God.” In the evening quail came up and covered the camp. 

Elsewhere we read that the Israelites complained about the manna:

“But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” – Numbers 11:6

…so, in response to this, God provided the quail.

In the morning a dew lay all about the camp, and when the dew evaporated, there on the surface of the desert were fine flakes like hoarfrost on the ground. On seeing it, the Israelites asked one another, “What is this?” for they did not know what it was. But Moses told them, “This is the bread that the LORD has given you to eat.”

The phrase “What is this?” is found in Hebrew as “Man-hu?”. It is from this that the name “manna” is derived.

As well as providing for the imitate need of His people and teaching them to trust Him, the purpose of this passage is to foreshadow the Jesus and the Eucharist.

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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

Our Responsorial Psalm this week concerns heavenly bread given by God to His people in the First Reading. It comes from a psalm which describes salvation history from the Exodus to the Kingdom under David.

R. (24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, We will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength and the wonders that he wrought.

He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven; he rained manna upon them for food and gave them heavenly bread.

Man ate the bread of angels, food he sent them in abundance. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountains his right hand had won.

Questions:

• What is the theme of this psalm?
• What do you think might have originally inspired this psalm?
• How can we apply this psalm to our lives?

Commentary:

R. (24b) The Lord gave them bread from heaven.

This refers to God giving the Israelites the Manna (see First Reading)

What we have heard and know, and what our fathers have declared to us, We will declare to the generation to come the glorious deeds of the LORD and his strength and the wonders that he wrought.

What God has done for His people will be remembered and passed down from generation to generation.

He commanded the skies above and opened the doors of heaven; he rained manna upon them for food and gave them heavenly bread.

The psalmist describes the descent of the manna from Heaven.

The phrase “heavenly bread” is sometimes rendered “bread of angels”. Literally it means “bread of mighty ones”.

Man ate the bread of angels, food he sent them in abundance. And he brought them to his holy land, to the mountains his right hand had won.

God’s condescension is emphasized here – man ate the food of angels. Not only that, God then led His people to the Promised Land, to the Jerusalem Temple on Mount Zion.

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Reading II: Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

We continue our way through the letter to the Ephesians. Last week St. Paul exhorted us to unity and this week he exhorts us to renewal of life.

Brothers and sisters: I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

Questions:

• To what does Paul exhort his readers?
• What is the transformation described? Where might it be found in the life of a believer?

Commentary:

Brothers and sisters: I declare and testify in the Lord that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; …

The Jews had a particularly low opinion of the lives of gentiles. Paul’s point is that Christian conduct should be distinct from that of pagans.

Here is Paul’s description of man apart from God:

For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like a mortal human being and birds and animals and reptiles.

Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them. – Romans 1:21-32

Life without God is meaningless. It results in frustrated thought and spiritual death:

“Consider what Paul calls ‘futility of mind.’ This occurs when someone has a mind but does not use it for contemplation, instead surrendering it to captivity under Satan” – Origin (ca. A.D. 240), Commentaries On The Psalms, 118.37

…that is not how you learned Christ, assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him, as truth is in Jesus, that you should put away the old self of your former way of life, corrupted through deceitful desires, …

It is possible that, because Paul writes “truth is in Jesus“ rather than “truth in Christ“, he may wish to particularly focus upon the perfect earthly life of the Saviour.

The “old self” refers to life prior to being a Christian, in which humankind is “corrupted though deceitful desires”. As indicated in the introduction to this blog post, one could understand Paul’s words here in the context of baptism when the catechumen would cast off his clothes prior to entering into the baptismal pool.

Paul uses very similar kind of language in several of his epistles:

Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices – Colossians 3:9

For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live – Romans 8:13

This finds a full expression in his letter to the Philippians:

…many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body. – Philippians 3:19-21

Paul contrasts those who live only in physical terms (“…their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things”), much like the Israelites in the First Reading and the Gospel, with those who seek eternal life (“our citizenship is in heaven”). A Christian practice throughout the centuries to combat the “god…[of the] stomach” is fasting. It allows us to gain a more heavenly perspective of life and to temper the demands of the body.

…and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new self, created in God’s way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

In their previous life they had “deceitful desires”, but now they are renewed. The “new self” is the life created by the grace of God. This takes place in baptism and is a constant renewing work of the Spirit.

“When one is already clothed, how is it said that one must further ‘put on’ a new nature? New clothing was once put on in baptism. The new clothing now being put on is the new way of life and conduct that flows from baptism. There one is no longer clothed by deceitful desires but by God’s own righteousness” – Saint John Chrysostom (A.D. 392-397), Homilies On The Epistle To The Ephesians, 13,4,24

Again, this kind of language is found in several other of Paul’s letters:

Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. – Romans 13:14

…for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. – Galatians 3:27

Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. – Galatians 6:8

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Gospel: John 6:24-35

As mentioned last week, we will be taking a break from Mark’s Gospel and hearing from John for several weeks instead. Last week we read the feeding of the multitudes. This week, we have skipped over the account of Jesus walking on water and we are now at Capernaum, Jesus’ HQ. Our Lord had previously filled the stomachs of the crowd with bread. He now tries to lead them into a deeper understanding of who He is and what He can really do for them…

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” Jesus 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. Do 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.” So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. So 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. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

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

Questions:

• What is the context for this passage?
• Why do you think the crowd looked for Jesus?
• What do they say it’ll take to believe in Him?
• What are the similarities and differences between the Manna and the Bread of Life?

Commentary:

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, …

The crowd are looking for Jesus. They are motivated not by real faith, but by the bread they received in last week’s Gospel.

As we noted last week, it is the time of Passover, the second Passover mentioned by John:

Passover #1: John 2:13-12
Marriage feast of Cana and the Cleansing of the Temple.

Passover #2: John 6:4
The feeding of the five thousand, walking on water and the bread of life discourse.  This is the Passover currently under consideration.

Passover #3: John 11:55
The Passion, Death and Resurrection.

John wishes to specifically tie Jesus’ words to His sacrifice on Calvary.

…they themselves got into boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus. 

Capernaum was Jesus’ headquarters for His ministry in Galilee:

Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum – Matthew 4:13

It was therefore a likely place to find Him:

Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus… He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. – John 6:24, 59

And when they found him across the sea they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?” 

The word “Rabbi” is used here not used as a formal title, but as a form of address, recognizing that Jesus is a teacher, someone important.

I think it is safe to say that they came to find Jesus because they wanted another free meal…

Jesus doesn’t answer their question. To answer this question would require telling them about His walking on water. The crowds had already tried to make him king after the feeding of multitude!

Yet after so great a miracle, they did not ask Him how He had passed over, or show any concern about it… And observe their lightness of mind. After saying, “This is that Prophet, and wishing to take Him by force to make Him king”, when they find Him, nothing of the kind is thought of. – St. John Chrysostom

So instead of answering their question, He directs them towards spiritual realities:

He begins to discourse, and fills their souls with His word, whose bodies He had satisfied with bread. – St. Augustine

Jesus answered them and said, “Amen, amen, …”

The word “amen” means “truly”. A double “amen” is a solemn oath. This means that what Jesus is about to say is extremely important!

In the Book of Revelation, the Lord is described as “the Amen”:

To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: “These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation…” – Revelation 3:14

“…I say to you, you are looking for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled”

They have missed the point of the “signs” (as John calls them). They didn’t perceive the spiritual realities, they were just happy to get a free meal. They have found Jesus again in the hope to get another!

Kindness and lenity are not always expedient. To the indolent or insensible disciple the spur must be applied; and this the Son of God does. For when the multitude comes with soft speeches, “Rabbi, when came you hither?” He shows them that He did not desire the honor that comes from man, by the severity of His answer, which both exposes the motive on which they acted, and rebukes it. – St. John Chrysostom

Like the Israelites in the First Reading, their minds were on their bellies. Seeking Jesus for the wrong reasons did not cease after this event:

How many there are who seek Jesus, only to gain some temporary benefit. One man has a matter of business, in which he wants the assistance of the clergy; another is oppressed by a more powerful neighbor, and flies to the Church for refuge: Jesus is scarcely ever sought for Jesus’ sake. – St. Augustine

In their persons too our Lord condemns all those within the holy Church, who, when brought near to God by sacred Orders, do not seek the recompense of righteousness, but the interests of this present life. To follow our Lord, when filled with bread, is to use Holy Church as a means of livelihood; and to seek our Lord not for the miracle’s sake. but for the loaves, is to aspire to a religious office, not with a view to increase of grace, but to add to our worldly means. – St. Gregory

They too seek Jesus, not for Jesus’ sake, but for something else, who ask in their prayers not for eternal, but temporal blessings. – St. Bede

“…Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.” 

Jesus directs them to the spiritual realities. They should not be looking for perishable food, but for “food that endures for eternal life”. Earthly food sustains physical life but does not satisfy spiritual hunger nor does it give supernatural life.

As if He said, you seek Me to satisfy the flesh, not the Spirit. – St. Augustine

Jesus invites them to seek out heavenly food which He Himself will give.

Under the figure of food He alludes to Himself you seek Me, He said, for the sake of something else; seek Me for My own sake – St. Augustine

It is reminicent of the words through the Prophet Isaiah:

“Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?” – Isaiah 55:2

Jesus describes Himself using the title of “Son of Man”. This is the title by which He most often calls Himself in the Gospels. It is an allusion to the Book of Daniel:

 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed… As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.” – Daniel 7:13-14;  8:17

…and also the Book of Ezekiel:

The hand of the Lord was on me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, “Son of man, can these bones live?”

…And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them.

…I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet—a vast army.

…This is what the Sovereign Lord says: My people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them; I will bring you back to the land of Israel. Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the Lord have spoken, and I have done it, declares the Lord. ’” – Ezekiel 37:1-14

Jesus’ teaching in this section of John has many similarities with His interaction with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26).

“For on him the Father, God, has set his seal”

Jesus is the chosen one of God:

In view of all this, we are making a binding agreement, putting it in writing, and our leaders, our Levites and our priests are affixing their seals to it. – Nehemiah 9:38

Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death,its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. – Song of Songs 8:6

Or sealed, i.e. sent Him for this purpose, viz. to bring us food; or, sealed, was revealed the Gospel by means of His witness. – St. John Chrysostom

A seal throws out a perfect impression of the stamp, at the same time that it takes in that impression. This is not a perfect illustration of the Divine nativity: for sealing supposes matter, different kinds of matter, the impression of harder upon softer. Yet He who was God Only-Begotten, and the Son of man only by the Sacrament of our salvation, makes use of it to express the Father’s fullness as stamped upon Himself. He wishes to show the Jews He has the power of giving the eternal meat, because He contained in Himself the fullness of God. –  St. Hilary

So they said to him, “What can we do to accomplish the works of God?” 

His listeners want to know how they are to work for the food which will not perish.

They understood that the meat, which remains to eternal life, was the work of God: and therefore they ask Him what to do to work the work of God, i.e. obtain the meat – Alcuin

i.e. By keeping what commandments shall we be able to fulfill the law of God? – St. Bede

Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.” 

They are called to believe. Jesus speaks of the centrality of faith.

He does not say, “That you believe Him“, but, “that you believe in Him“. For the devils believed Him, and did not believe in Him; and we believe Paul, but do not believe in Paul. To believe in Him is believing to love, believing to honor Him, believing to go to Him, and be made members incorporate of His Body. The faith, which God requires of us, is that which works by love. Faith indeed is distinguished from works by the Apostle, who says, “That man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”. But the works indeed which appear good, without faith in Christ, are not really so, not being referred to that end, which makes them good. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believes. And therefore our Lord would not separate faith from works, but said that faith itself was the doing the work of God; He said not, This is your work, but, This is the work of God, that you believe in Him: in order that he that glories might glory in the Lord. – St. Augustine

So they said to him, “What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do? Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 

They want another sign! Had “The Feeding of the Multitudes” faded from their memories so soon? They are just like their ancestors in the First Reading.

Nothing can be more unreasonable than their asking for another miracle, as if none had been given already. And they do not even leave the choice of the miracle to our Lord; but would oblige Him to give them just that sign, which was given to their fathers: “Our fathers did eat manna in the desert”. – St. John Chrysostom

It was a popular expectation at the time that when the Messiah came he would renew the sending of the manna.

The people might also be implying here that Jesus’ recent miracle was a lesser miracle to that of Moses:

The multitude therefore remembering what Moses had done, and wishing for some greater miracle, say, as it were, you promise the meat which perishes not, and does not works equal to those Moses did. He gave us not barley loaves, but manna from heaven. – St. Augustine

Number of People
Jesus: 5,000
Moses: A nation

Occurrences
Jesus: Once
Moses: 40 years

Kind of Food
Jesus: Ordinary earthly bread
Moses: Bread from heaven

However, there are a few things that need to be said in respect to this. Despite the fact that the manna was given “from heaven”, it was perishable, melting away every morning and going bad if stored (Exodus 16:21; 19-20). Also, all those who ate it became hungry again. In fact, all those who ate it eventually died (John 6:49). Not only that, they all died before entering into their destination, the Promised Land. This is all about to be contrasted with the “bread of life”…

This sounds very much like the conversation Jesus had with the Woman at the Well, who compares Jesus with Jacob:

Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?” – John 4:12

So Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, …”

We have another “Amen, amen, …”. What Jesus is about to say is important!

“…it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven”

Jesus makes the point that it was, in fact God, not Moses, who gave the manna. Note that there is also a tense change here: “Moses…gave, … my Father gives…”.

“For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

 Note that “Bread from Heaven” now becomes “Bread of God”.

Jesus now uses the miracle of the manna to talk about something more important, the bread of life, the Eucharist:

…the medicine of immortality, the antidote against death, and everlasting life in Jesus Christ – Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.), Ad Eph. 20,2

The manna was a figure which pointed forward to something:

As if He said, “That manna was the type of this food, of which I just now spoke; and which all my miracles refer to. You like my miracles, you despise what is signified by them”. This bread which God gives, and which this manna represented, is the Lord Jesus Christ, as we read next, “For the bread of God is He which comes down from hearer, and gives life to the world”. – St. Augustine

So they said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.” 

They want it! Again, this sounds like the Samaritan woman at the well:

As the woman of Samaria, when our Lord told her, “Whosoever drinks of this water shall never thirst”, thought He meant natural water, and said, “Sir, give me this water, that she might never be in want of it again”: in the same way these say, “Give us this bread, which refreshes, supports, and fails not” – St. Augustine

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Jesus specifically identifies Himself as the bread. What Jesus says is again similar to what He says to the woman at the well. Jesus makes quite a claim here, saying that He can satisfy our deepest hunger and thirst.

Or, “shall never hunger or thirst”, i.e. shall never be wearied of hearing the word of God, and shall never thirst as to the understanding: as though He had not the water of baptism, and the sanctification of the Spirit. – Theophyl

This is the first of the seven “I AM” sayings of Jesus in John’s Gospel. The “I AM” is an echo of God’s words to Moses:

God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” – Exodus 3:14

We see these words on icons (usually written in Greek) on Christ’s halo.

There then follows the the Gospel the “Bread of Life Discourse” which we’ll hear next week which causes the people to ask who Jesus really is…

 He calls Himself the true bread, because the only-begotten Son of God, made man, was principally signified by the manna. For manna means literally, “what is this”? The Israelites were astonished at first on finding it, and asked one another what it was. And the Son of God, made man, is in an especial sense this mysterious manna, which we ask about, saying, What is this? How can the Son of God be the Son of man? How can one person consist of two natures? – Theophyl