Eat The Bread
Preaching
Preaching the Parables
Series III, Cycle B
Object:
1. Text
"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."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus repeats that he is the living bread that came down from heaven.
Second Point Of Action
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.
Third Point Of Action
The bread that he will give for the life of the world is his flesh.
Fourth Point Of Action
Disputing among themselves, his Jewish opponents raised the question of how "this man" could give them his flesh to eat.
Fifth Point Of Action
Using the "very truly" phrase, Jesus told them unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, they would have no life within them.
Sixth Point Of Action
Jesus said those who eat his flesh and drink his blood have eternal life.
Seventh Point Of Action
He will raise up those people on the last day.
Eighth Point Of Action
His flesh is true food and his blood is true drink.
Ninth Point Of Action
Those who eat his flesh and drink his blood abide in him, and he in them.
Tenth Point Of Action
Jesus said that just as the living Father sent him,
Eleventh Point Of Action
and he, Jesus, lives because of the Father,
Twelfth Point Of Action
so whoever eats Jesus will live because of him.
Thirteenth Point Of Action
Jesus repeats from verses 49-50, see Parable 6, that this is the bread that came down from heaven.
Fourteenth Point Of Action
It is not like that which their ancestors, who died, ate.
Fifteenth Point Of Action
Rather, the one who eats this bread will live forever.
3. Spadework
Eat
We "eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence," says the wise writer of Proverbs (Proverbs 4:17). The Proverbs tell us not to eat the bread "of the stingy, do not desire their delicacies" (Proverbs 23:6). A capable partner "does not eat the bread of idleness" (Proverbs 31:27). Ezekiel advises not eating "the bread of mourners" (Ezekiel 24:17, 22).
A form of "eat" appears 685 times in scripture. In the creation story, God tells, commands, the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Then God says, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 3:22).
In Isaac's blessing of Esau and Jacob, eating of specially prepared food was Isaac's requisite to blessing his son: "Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die" (Genesis 27:7).
A practice that would become Passover followed this ritual: "They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs" (Exodus 12:8). Unlike the meal of Holy Communion, the Passover was exclusive: "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised' " (Exodus 12:43-44).
"When the Israelites [in the wilderness] saw [the manna], they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat' " (Exodus 16:15).
Levitican law is filled with dietary rules. Consider how this passage might relate to today's passage: "For the life of every creature -- its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off" (Leviticus 17:14). See also Deuteronomy 12:23.
Hospitality means giving people something to eat and beyond that, inviting them to sit at your table, even if you would rather not: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21). See "Welcome" in Parable 13, Cycle A.
Listen to the action of the verb, eat, in the present passage: "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever" (John 6:51); " 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' " (v. 52); "... unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man" (v. 53); "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life" (v. 54); "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them" (v. 56); "Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me" (v. 58); "But the one who eats this bread will live forever" (v. 58). Six of the eight verses of John 6:51-58 contain the word eat. Just eat it, it says. Eating the bread is the most important thing you will ever do.
The bread that Christ guides us toward is spiritual nourishment: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal" (John 6:27). When Jesus' disciples urged him to eat, he said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about ... My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work" (John 4:31-34).
Eternal Life
Not only did those at a spiritual distance from Jesus question him, following this dissertation even his disciples expressed difficulty in comprehending what he meant: "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?' " (John 6:60). Jesus explained further to them: "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63).
During this difficult time for Jesus when many of his disciples turned from him, he was prompted to ask the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" (John 6:67). Happily, Simon Peter affirmed his authority, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68-69).
Of the 43 New Testament references to "eternal life," 23 occur in the gospel writings. Four relate to "inheriting eternal life." Answering Peter's question about what they will have after all they have given up to follow him, Jesus answers, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life" (Matthew 19:29).
In four parallel gospel stories, someone -- a rich young man, a man going on a journey, or a rich young ruler -- asks Jesus what he must do to "inherit eternal life." With the exception of the Luke 10:25ff version which prefaces the Good Samaritan story, the others preface Peter's question.
Jesus tells the lawyer if he followed the two great commandments, he "would live." (See Luke 10:25-28.) Later in Luke, he refers the rich young ruler to the Ten Commandments. When the man obeyed them, Jesus told him to sell all he owned, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him. (See Luke 18:18-25.) Jesus tells the same thing to the rich man going on a journey in the Markan parallel. In both of these parallels, Jesus gives similar instructions, saying, "and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:30). Additionally in Matthew, Mark, and then in Luke, he uses the terms "and you will have treasure in heaven" and "to enter the kingdom of God." (See Matthew 19:21, 24; Mark 10:21, 23; and Luke 18:22, 25.) In Matthew, he also says, "If you wish to be perfect" (19:21).
In Matthew, Jesus tells the man who had many possessions "if [he wishes] to enter into life" to keep the commandments, referring him to several of the Ten Commandments as well as to loving his neighbor as himself. When the man tells him he has done all of that, he tells him to sell all that he has and follow him. (See Matthew 19:16ff.)
Addressing eternal life, Jesus said that those blessed by his Father will "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). They will do so because when "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me" (Matthew 25:35-36).
Further, when his listeners asked when that was, he answered, " 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me' " (Matthew 25:39-40) and " 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:45-46).
Jesus told Nicodemus that "[N]o one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3-6).
The remaining gospel references to eternal life are in the Gospel of John, the most familiar being John 3:16: "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life' " (John 3:14-16).
What Christ tells us about God is true (John 3:33). Belief in God through Christ is the core of trusting in eternal life: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (John 3:36) and "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).
I Am
"I am Carlos." "I am Dee." "I am Jeremy." Before "I am" declares our identity, "I am" affirms our being. I choose in this now to be. I say, "Yes." "I am" is a response to having been given a name. It says, "I am here." "I am" acknowledges that we have heard the one who has called to us. However tentatively, as in the poem of becoming below, "I am" agrees, "I exist." Hear the universal "I am" in the poem of this youth:
Teen'er1
I am not just a mass of mussed hair and messy clothes
Bundled with life I quiver, tremble, and tug to come alive
My world opens with struggle and by snatches
Now I reach out, not sure at just what or why or even how
Sometimes my reach grasps something I cannot name with a word
I hold it and feel its strength become part of me
Momentary calm excitement of unspoken understanding
But, not always --
Sometimes I reach at nothing, sometimes I dare not reach
The world pounds in on me, pressing me back and down
I close up inside myself, afraid to dare, fearing the light
Then slowly I feel again
Education and learning and living and becoming --
Are all like a strange but friendly dog
That will come only when I relax inside and hold out my hand
The tensions pull
I give and pull with them
Stumble often but try my feet
I straighten and feel my becoming
It won't hurt to spill all over
Go ahead, open up and be my
I am.
Jesus' opening words of the present text are "I am." For students of the Bible, "I am" returns us to God's "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). God must tell Moses numerous times before Moses can hear that God is present.
In the burning bush story, God appears at first to be engaged in an illusive hide-and-seek jog illustrative of a God who wants to be with us yet is too great and removed to come directly. The burning bush gains Moses' attention; something extraordinary is happening. God makes the case that Moses will not be alone in the task God has set before him.
The interplay of this divine chat opens to us the idea that God has found a way to be or has chosen to become accessible and present. "When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am' " (Exodus 3:4).
Who is the "he" here? One might read this "Here I am" either as Moses' first "Here I am" to answer God's call or as a continuation of God's overture. With either understanding, these words are an invitation to be in open relationship with another.
God continually comes to us as an "I am." God is no outsider God but the same God of Moses' family history. To Moses, "[h]e said further, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' " (Exodus 3:6a). We can imagine Moses still holding back. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' He said further, 'Thus you shall say to the Israelites, "I AM has sent me to you" ' This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations" (Exodus 3:14-15).
God's "I am" does not stop at that point. This "I am" is "with you." God's word stands firm: "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15). As is Christ, God is approachable. God's bottom line is "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12a). Moses' "Here I am" says that Moses likewise wants to be not hidden from God. Moses accepts the invitation to connect with God. Like Moses, how many times do we acknowledge, "Here I am, God, but do not ask me to do anything important"? Still, we waver and do not hear or choose not to hear. Still, God persists in offering and telling. [Again] "God also spoke to Moses and said to him: 'I am the Lord' " (Exodus 6:2). Three times in as many verses God tells Moses, "I am the Lord." (See Exodus 6:6-8.)
"Here I Am." In the interplay of God's "I am" with our "I am," at least 26 key players in the stories of the Bible answer, "Here I am." When God tested Abraham, Abraham answered God, "Here I am." (See Genesis 22:11.) Sometimes in scripture, as in our lives, the "I am" goes askew. Betraying familial trust, the "I am" becomes a deception when Rebekah and her son Esau create an identity ruse. (See Genesis 27.) We rebuff God's offering of guidance: "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices" (Isaiah 65:1-2).
God's "I Am." God's "I am" is at once intimate and beyond us: "And that very night the Lord appeared to [Isaac] and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake' " (Genesis 26:24); "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15); "God said to him, 'I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you' " (Genesis 35:11); and "God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob.' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there' " (Genesis 46:2-3).
"I Am The Lord." "I am the Lord" appears most often in Ezekiel (55) and Leviticus (33). It occurs five times in Numbers; thirteen in Exodus and Isaiah; Jeremiah (three); twice in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Kings; and once each in Judges, Psalms, Hosea, and Zechariah.
This passage from Ezekiel speaks of the complexity of one all-powerful God who proclaims, "I am the Lord": "All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it" (Ezekiel 17:24).
A barrage of earlier verses couple "[you] shall know" with "that I am the Lord" to display a punishing, judging, and power-wielding God. (See Ezekiel 6:7, 10, 13, 14; 7:4, 27; 11:10, 12, 15, 20; 13:9, 14, 21, 23; 14:8; 15:7.) Finally, the phrase describes the action of a beneficent God:
"I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 16:62);
"On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob -- making myself known to them in the land of Egypt -- I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God" (Ezekiel 20:5);
"You shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your ancestors" (Ezekiel 20:42);
"On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 24:27); and
"I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 25:5).
"Here I Am." "Here I am," the presenting of ourselves before God in response to God's call as well as God's quiet answer to our calling to God, occurs thirty times, among them are the following: "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9). Jacob answered God's calling (Genesis 31:11; 46:2) as did Joseph (Genesis 37:13), Moses (Exodus 3:4), Samuel (1 Samuel 3), and Ananias (Acts 9:10). Abraham answered both the calling of his son Isaac at the offering test and God's call. (See Genesis 22.) For further discussion of "I am," see Parable 2, Cycle A.
I Tell You
Of the 156 references to this phrase, only nine usages occur in Hebrew Scripture. Of the 143 occurrences in the gospels, 53 appear in Matthew, 16 in Mark, 45 in Luke, and 29 in John. "Truly" prefaces 78 of these gospel references. See "Very Truly" in Parable 6, Cycle B for comment about the intensity of Christ's "I tell you" when prefaced with "truly" or "very truly."
Instances such as Matthew 11:22 and 11:24 preface "I tell you" with "but," indicating emphasis that Jesus' word is the one to which we should listen. Not someone else, not by hearsay, but I, Jesus, tell you. I tell you, therefore it is true. You can believe it. Not I tell him or I tell her or I tell them, but I tell you. You are the one or the gathered group that I intend to hear what I say. Not I command, declare, say, reveal, or report to you, but I tell you. Jesus made his truth known through both actions and words. To tell is to teach using words. He put what he wanted to communicate into spoken words. Jesus also taught by doing, by action. When did the "telling" come in his teaching?
With exception of Matthew 2:13 in which people other than Christ were speaking, all "I tell you" passages are his. ("I tell you" in Matthew 25:12 and 40 are spoken by characters in stories that Jesus narrates.)
Live Forever
"Live forever" is the universal phrase for not wanting life as we know it to end. The fifteen occasions of biblical usage of this phrase offer variations on this desire, from the almost casual or, at the least, acidic chiding of Zechariah's, "Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?" (Zechariah 1:5) to the serious use of "live forever" as part of a phrase of promise: "For I lift up my hand to heaven, and swear: As I live forever" (Deuteronomy 32:40).
When things are good, we want them to continue forever. "Live forever" was part of ritual phrases to honor rulers: "May my lord King David live forever" (1 Kings 1:31). See also Nehemiah 2:3 and Daniel 2:4; 3:9; 5:10; 6:6, 21. When life is horrible, to live forever is the least desirable want: "I loathe my life; I would not live forever" (Job 7:16). The Psalmist uses the phrase as blessing: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; / those who seek him shall praise the Lord. / May your hearts live forever!" (Psalm 22:26).
Of greater interest in light of the present study is another among the fifteen "live forever" texts. The Johannine reference to eating of the "living bread" in order to "live forever" returns us again to the second expression of the creation story: "Then the Lord God said, 'See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever' " (Genesis 3:22). From the beginning, humankind has wondered how we came to be and what will come after earthly life.
The three New Testament occasions of "live forever" respond to the implied, "What do I need to do to live forever?" "And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever" (1 John 2:17). See also verses 51 and 58 in the present passage of study.
Living Bread
The "I am" saying, "I am the living bread," is the sole biblical reference to "living bread" (John 6:51). Eating of this living bread, the word and truth of Jesus, is intrinsic to understanding what Christ was about. "Living" implies life-giving, existing in the present, and active. "Bread" is basic and essential nourishment. The phrase enhances each word alone. The idea of the being of Jesus, a person, as "living bread" extends the idea of Jesus. When we eat rye bread, we take that bread into our system. Its components, its essence, nourishes and becomes part of our present being. When we eat of the word and truth that is Jesus, we take Christ into our being. Christ becomes part of who we are. The living bread fortifies and strengthens our spirit just as rye bread gives new life to our physical being.
My Flesh
The phrase, "my flesh," that Jesus uses four times in this passage pulls us back to the words of the man whom God formed out of the dust of the ground in the Genesis 2 creation story: "Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken' " (Genesis 2:23). God through God's creation of Adam created us of God's symbolic flesh. Drawing us into further union and oneness, that passage continues, "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). See also Jesus' answer to the Pharisees, "Have you not read that ... 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8).
Christ points to another flesh and another union. Through Christ's giving of his whole self for us at his physical death, God gives us God's flesh again. Through the symbolic act of eating Christ's flesh as we participate in the re-enactment of the Last Supper, God creates us anew, that is, gives us God's flesh again.
We want to be related, to sense that we belong, that we are more than ourselves alone. Today we say of a relative, "She is flesh and blood." In Hebrew Scripture, the phrase was "You are my bone and my flesh." "You are my kin, you are my bone and my flesh; 'why then should you be the last to bring back the king?' And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh?' " (2 Samuel 19:12-13). See also Genesis 29:14; 2 Samuel 5:1; 1 Chronicles 11:1; Nehemiah 5:5; and Matthew 16.
Circumcision is an act of the flesh, the permanent mark of a promise: "God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you' " (Genesis 17:9-11).
Law after law in Leviticus and Numbers pertains to matters of the flesh. Many of the 261 references to flesh occur here. Job, who gave us "You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews" (Job 10:11), hints at the exhilaration of resurrection: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26). For additional references to the idea of being knit together, see "For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). See also Job 40:17; 1 Chronicles 12:17; and Ephesians 4:16.
As psalmist, David sings of victory with God: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; / whom shall I fear? / The Lord is the stronghold of my life; / of whom shall I be afraid? / When evildoers assail me / to devour my flesh -- / my adversaries and foes -- / they shall stumble and fall" (Psalm 27:1-2) and "My flesh and my heart may fail, / but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
Consider these passages in light of the Crucifixion: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement" (Leviticus 17:11) and "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
The scriptural idea of God began with God speaking: "In the beginning ... and God said ..." (Genesis 1). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1), but we need flesh and blood. We need the idea of a touchable God: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
In the following singular, mysterious expressions of life between life and death and life, the flesh being and the spiritual being are nebulous: "Jesus said to [Mary], 'Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" ' " (John 20:17) and "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). It is the end of the flesh and blood Jesus, but it is not the end of Christ. Life is more than flesh. It is not the end of the Word. It is not the end of God: "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63).
Jesus understands our need to be related and the importance of being in community with God and with each other. The religion of Christianity is at once individual and communal. We are a religion of relationship. Moreover, Christ draws us into a special kinship and oneness of the spirit that transcends all time and space. We have a heritage of advocacy that is present in spirit. God is more than flesh. Our life and being are more than flesh.
Whoever Eats
"Whoever eats" occurs twice in this passage and on four other occasions in Hebrew Scripture. The texts from Exodus 12:15 and 19 refer to instructions from God to Moses and Aaron to tell their congregations that whoever eats leavened bread at a particular time will be cut off from Israel, "whether [that person is] an alien or a native of the land." The same words appear in Leviticus, this time referring to the eating of the blood of any creature. Note the emphasis on blood as the "life of every creature": "For the life of every creature -- its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off" (Leviticus 17:14). A last Hebrew reference containing "whoever eats" also has death as a consequence. (See Isaiah 59:5.)
The two occurrences in the present Johannine passage, "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever" (v. 51) and "whoever eats me will live because of me" (v. 57), transform the eating to bring positive, life-giving result. With a thread of the Leviticus passage above, Jesus insists "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" (v. 53). These texts from Hebrew Scripture may have formed yet another bridge to Jesus' imagery for new life, new creation, and the unity of God, Christ, and the Spirit of God.
"Whoever" means that, whoever, whether alien or native of the land, whether similar to you or differing from you, whether you are a woman or a man, whether you are visual or nonvisual, of clear or hazy or absent mind, ill or healthy. Take and eat, it is for you.
4. Parallel Scriptures
Authority
In his Johannine prayer for himself, for his disciples, and for all the world, Jesus acknowledges that God has "given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom [God has] given him." Knowing God and Christ is eternal life: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:1-3). Compare also, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).
Eternal Life
The writer of the Gospel of John also uses the "living water" and "harvester" metaphors with eternal life. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that "those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14) and "The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together" (John 4:36). John contrasts perishable with enduring food: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal" (John 6:27).
In chapter 12, these words offer a prerequisite to eternal life: "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25).
Whoever
Compare the present text, "Whoever eats of ... will live forever" (v. 51) and "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood ... have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (v. 54), with "[T]hat all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day" (v. 40). Again, "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life" (John 6:47).
(The) Word
See "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life' " (John 6:68); "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf" (John 5:39); "[F]or I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak" (John 12:49); and "And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me" (John 12:50).
5. Chat Room
A Chat About Eating The Bread
Charles: You want so much for us to know new life in you, Jesus. We keep hearing your voice say, "Take and eat." When we are reluctant, we hear the echo of a parent's, "Eat this, it is good for you." We hear a slight edge of impatience in your voice, "Just eat it. It is for you. I am doing this for you. I have given all that I have for you, my life. I cannot make you eat. Do your part and participate in this new life." You persist, Jesus, at presenting us with hope. Why do we resist so?
Gwenda: I was raised with taking communion about six times a year. In our new church, we have communion once a month. I was afraid it would lose its sense of being special. I was mistaken. Communion has become a deeper part of my life. Somehow it has come to mean more to me now. It reminds me. It calls me to be. It calls me back to God and to God's presence in my life. It reminds me of Whose I am.
Susan: It makes little sense to me when people feel they are not good enough to receive holy communion. The point is, we will never be perfect, but in our eating of this bread God keeps meeting us as we are, offering to us the possibility to try again, so we keep trying to live our lives in a better way. Eating the bread that is good for us, eating the good food, surrounding ourselves with what is life-giving now -- that is what the bread that Christ offers is all about for me.
John: The communion of spirit that we eat and drink is the fuel, the energy that enables us to keep the spirit of Christ in our lives and allow it to make a difference. This is why communion is a sacrament. This is why communion is holy. Can you not hear Christ say to you, "For your sake, will you just eat the bread"?
Charles: At first I, too, asked the Pharisee's question, "How can this man give me his flesh to eat?" How coarse. But then I tend to take things literally. His death on the cross was literal. It was real. It was tangible. Every time I eat the bread and drink the juice of the Savior's Supper, I remember how real that was on the cross. But it did not end there. He did not stay on that cross. I believe in a risen Christ. When I take and eat that bread, I take into my being the whole being of Christ. I carry the Spirit of the living God within myself.
Alan: Will eating the bread that Christ shares with us let us live forever? Forever, I do not know about. Live forever, I wonder. I would rather be open to God's forever in moments of this day. I would rather know now the timelessness of listening to the heart of a friend in a conversation. I would know the life given in enjoying so fully the work of my calling that I forget about clock time. In the living out of the talents and gifts that God has given me, I cherish the freedom of fullness of life.
Susan: Forever is a mystery. For a long time, the child in me rejected the idea of Christ's resurrection because it did not add up any more than did the birth of Jesus. I thought, if I had to believe in the resurrection, I could not be a Christian. An adult friend pointed out other mysteries. We can be stuck in a problem and see no way out. Everything comes to a halt. Then a solution makes itself known that alters our direction. A new plant lies waiting in a seed. A wheat plant germinates from seed planted in the late summer field. The green carpet freezes and revives repeatedly in the next months with a mysterious hardiness that brings it to August gold and to bread on the table. That bread nourishes our body so we might have renewal of life.
Gwenda: We make bad choices that kill our spirit yet that something within that same spirit has the strength to enable us to get on the right path again. Turn your listening to the mysteries of renewal of life and to your inner wisdom. I let what is a mystery be a mystery.
Alan: Sometimes for me, Jesus, you are more than person alone. All that you do and all that you are embodies the design of our creating, nurturing, and sustaining God. This God who cares so deeply for us tenderly presented you to us in human form so we might grow closer to God. You are part of a bigger plan, an unfolding plan, a oneness of being. When you left us, it felt as temporary to me as when another I know leaves. Death is not the end but only the ending of a chapter. Of course, you are gone as we knew you. That has all changed, but it is only a change. You, Jesus, God, have left us full-handed with promise, holiness of spirit, and solid, basic bread.
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1. Copyright by Dallas A. Brauninger
"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."
2. What's Happening?
First Point Of Action
Jesus repeats that he is the living bread that came down from heaven.
Second Point Of Action
Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.
Third Point Of Action
The bread that he will give for the life of the world is his flesh.
Fourth Point Of Action
Disputing among themselves, his Jewish opponents raised the question of how "this man" could give them his flesh to eat.
Fifth Point Of Action
Using the "very truly" phrase, Jesus told them unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, they would have no life within them.
Sixth Point Of Action
Jesus said those who eat his flesh and drink his blood have eternal life.
Seventh Point Of Action
He will raise up those people on the last day.
Eighth Point Of Action
His flesh is true food and his blood is true drink.
Ninth Point Of Action
Those who eat his flesh and drink his blood abide in him, and he in them.
Tenth Point Of Action
Jesus said that just as the living Father sent him,
Eleventh Point Of Action
and he, Jesus, lives because of the Father,
Twelfth Point Of Action
so whoever eats Jesus will live because of him.
Thirteenth Point Of Action
Jesus repeats from verses 49-50, see Parable 6, that this is the bread that came down from heaven.
Fourteenth Point Of Action
It is not like that which their ancestors, who died, ate.
Fifteenth Point Of Action
Rather, the one who eats this bread will live forever.
3. Spadework
Eat
We "eat the bread of wickedness and drink the wine of violence," says the wise writer of Proverbs (Proverbs 4:17). The Proverbs tell us not to eat the bread "of the stingy, do not desire their delicacies" (Proverbs 23:6). A capable partner "does not eat the bread of idleness" (Proverbs 31:27). Ezekiel advises not eating "the bread of mourners" (Ezekiel 24:17, 22).
A form of "eat" appears 685 times in scripture. In the creation story, God tells, commands, the man, "You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die" (Genesis 2:16-17). Then God says, "See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever" (Genesis 3:22).
In Isaac's blessing of Esau and Jacob, eating of specially prepared food was Isaac's requisite to blessing his son: "Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the Lord before I die" (Genesis 27:7).
A practice that would become Passover followed this ritual: "They shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they eat it. They shall eat the lamb that same night; they shall eat it roasted over the fire with unleavened bread and bitter herbs" (Exodus 12:8). Unlike the meal of Holy Communion, the Passover was exclusive: "The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 'This is the ordinance for the passover: no foreigner shall eat of it, but any slave who has been purchased may eat of it after he has been circumcised' " (Exodus 12:43-44).
"When the Israelites [in the wilderness] saw [the manna], they said to one another, 'What is it?' For they did not know what it was. Moses said to them, 'It is the bread that the Lord has given you to eat' " (Exodus 16:15).
Levitican law is filled with dietary rules. Consider how this passage might relate to today's passage: "For the life of every creature -- its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off" (Leviticus 17:14). See also Deuteronomy 12:23.
Hospitality means giving people something to eat and beyond that, inviting them to sit at your table, even if you would rather not: "If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat; and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink" (Proverbs 25:21). See "Welcome" in Parable 13, Cycle A.
Listen to the action of the verb, eat, in the present passage: "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever" (John 6:51); " 'How can this man give us his flesh to eat?' " (v. 52); "... unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man" (v. 53); "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life" (v. 54); "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them" (v. 56); "Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me" (v. 58); "But the one who eats this bread will live forever" (v. 58). Six of the eight verses of John 6:51-58 contain the word eat. Just eat it, it says. Eating the bread is the most important thing you will ever do.
The bread that Christ guides us toward is spiritual nourishment: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal" (John 6:27). When Jesus' disciples urged him to eat, he said, "I have food to eat that you do not know about ... My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to complete his work" (John 4:31-34).
Eternal Life
Not only did those at a spiritual distance from Jesus question him, following this dissertation even his disciples expressed difficulty in comprehending what he meant: "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?' " (John 6:60). Jesus explained further to them: "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63).
During this difficult time for Jesus when many of his disciples turned from him, he was prompted to ask the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?" (John 6:67). Happily, Simon Peter affirmed his authority, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68-69).
Of the 43 New Testament references to "eternal life," 23 occur in the gospel writings. Four relate to "inheriting eternal life." Answering Peter's question about what they will have after all they have given up to follow him, Jesus answers, "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields, for my name's sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will inherit eternal life" (Matthew 19:29).
In four parallel gospel stories, someone -- a rich young man, a man going on a journey, or a rich young ruler -- asks Jesus what he must do to "inherit eternal life." With the exception of the Luke 10:25ff version which prefaces the Good Samaritan story, the others preface Peter's question.
Jesus tells the lawyer if he followed the two great commandments, he "would live." (See Luke 10:25-28.) Later in Luke, he refers the rich young ruler to the Ten Commandments. When the man obeyed them, Jesus told him to sell all he owned, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow him. (See Luke 18:18-25.) Jesus tells the same thing to the rich man going on a journey in the Markan parallel. In both of these parallels, Jesus gives similar instructions, saying, "and in the age to come eternal life" (Mark 10:30). Additionally in Matthew, Mark, and then in Luke, he uses the terms "and you will have treasure in heaven" and "to enter the kingdom of God." (See Matthew 19:21, 24; Mark 10:21, 23; and Luke 18:22, 25.) In Matthew, he also says, "If you wish to be perfect" (19:21).
In Matthew, Jesus tells the man who had many possessions "if [he wishes] to enter into life" to keep the commandments, referring him to several of the Ten Commandments as well as to loving his neighbor as himself. When the man tells him he has done all of that, he tells him to sell all that he has and follow him. (See Matthew 19:16ff.)
Addressing eternal life, Jesus said that those blessed by his Father will "inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world" (Matthew 25:34). They will do so because when "I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me" (Matthew 25:35-36).
Further, when his listeners asked when that was, he answered, " 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me' " (Matthew 25:39-40) and " 'Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.' And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life" (Matthew 25:45-46).
Jesus told Nicodemus that "[N]o one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3:3-6).
The remaining gospel references to eternal life are in the Gospel of John, the most familiar being John 3:16: "And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 'For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life' " (John 3:14-16).
What Christ tells us about God is true (John 3:33). Belief in God through Christ is the core of trusting in eternal life: "Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever disobeys the Son will not see life, but must endure God's wrath" (John 3:36) and "Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24).
I Am
"I am Carlos." "I am Dee." "I am Jeremy." Before "I am" declares our identity, "I am" affirms our being. I choose in this now to be. I say, "Yes." "I am" is a response to having been given a name. It says, "I am here." "I am" acknowledges that we have heard the one who has called to us. However tentatively, as in the poem of becoming below, "I am" agrees, "I exist." Hear the universal "I am" in the poem of this youth:
Teen'er1
I am not just a mass of mussed hair and messy clothes
Bundled with life I quiver, tremble, and tug to come alive
My world opens with struggle and by snatches
Now I reach out, not sure at just what or why or even how
Sometimes my reach grasps something I cannot name with a word
I hold it and feel its strength become part of me
Momentary calm excitement of unspoken understanding
But, not always --
Sometimes I reach at nothing, sometimes I dare not reach
The world pounds in on me, pressing me back and down
I close up inside myself, afraid to dare, fearing the light
Then slowly I feel again
Education and learning and living and becoming --
Are all like a strange but friendly dog
That will come only when I relax inside and hold out my hand
The tensions pull
I give and pull with them
Stumble often but try my feet
I straighten and feel my becoming
It won't hurt to spill all over
Go ahead, open up and be my
I am.
Jesus' opening words of the present text are "I am." For students of the Bible, "I am" returns us to God's "I AM WHO I AM" (Exodus 3:14). God must tell Moses numerous times before Moses can hear that God is present.
In the burning bush story, God appears at first to be engaged in an illusive hide-and-seek jog illustrative of a God who wants to be with us yet is too great and removed to come directly. The burning bush gains Moses' attention; something extraordinary is happening. God makes the case that Moses will not be alone in the task God has set before him.
The interplay of this divine chat opens to us the idea that God has found a way to be or has chosen to become accessible and present. "When the Lord saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, 'Moses, Moses!' And he said, 'Here I am' " (Exodus 3:4).
Who is the "he" here? One might read this "Here I am" either as Moses' first "Here I am" to answer God's call or as a continuation of God's overture. With either understanding, these words are an invitation to be in open relationship with another.
God continually comes to us as an "I am." God is no outsider God but the same God of Moses' family history. To Moses, "[h]e said further, 'I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob' " (Exodus 3:6a). We can imagine Moses still holding back. "God said to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM.' He said further, 'Thus you shall say to the Israelites, "I AM has sent me to you" ' This is my name forever, and this my title for all generations" (Exodus 3:14-15).
God's "I am" does not stop at that point. This "I am" is "with you." God's word stands firm: "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15). As is Christ, God is approachable. God's bottom line is "I will be with you" (Exodus 3:12a). Moses' "Here I am" says that Moses likewise wants to be not hidden from God. Moses accepts the invitation to connect with God. Like Moses, how many times do we acknowledge, "Here I am, God, but do not ask me to do anything important"? Still, we waver and do not hear or choose not to hear. Still, God persists in offering and telling. [Again] "God also spoke to Moses and said to him: 'I am the Lord' " (Exodus 6:2). Three times in as many verses God tells Moses, "I am the Lord." (See Exodus 6:6-8.)
"Here I Am." In the interplay of God's "I am" with our "I am," at least 26 key players in the stories of the Bible answer, "Here I am." When God tested Abraham, Abraham answered God, "Here I am." (See Genesis 22:11.) Sometimes in scripture, as in our lives, the "I am" goes askew. Betraying familial trust, the "I am" becomes a deception when Rebekah and her son Esau create an identity ruse. (See Genesis 27.) We rebuff God's offering of guidance: "I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask, to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am,' to a nation that did not call on my name. I held out my hands all day long to a rebellious people, who walk in a way that is not good, following their own devices" (Isaiah 65:1-2).
God's "I Am." God's "I am" is at once intimate and beyond us: "And that very night the Lord appeared to [Isaac] and said, 'I am the God of your father Abraham; do not be afraid, for I am with you and will bless you and make your offspring numerous for my servant Abraham's sake' " (Genesis 26:24); "Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you" (Genesis 28:15); "God said to him, 'I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply; a nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall spring from you' " (Genesis 35:11); and "God spoke to Israel in visions of the night, and said, 'Jacob, Jacob.' And he said, 'Here I am.' Then he said, 'I am God, the God of your father; do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make of you a great nation there' " (Genesis 46:2-3).
"I Am The Lord." "I am the Lord" appears most often in Ezekiel (55) and Leviticus (33). It occurs five times in Numbers; thirteen in Exodus and Isaiah; Jeremiah (three); twice in Genesis, Deuteronomy, and Kings; and once each in Judges, Psalms, Hosea, and Zechariah.
This passage from Ezekiel speaks of the complexity of one all-powerful God who proclaims, "I am the Lord": "All the trees of the field shall know that I am the Lord. I bring low the high tree, I make high the low tree; I dry up the green tree and make the dry tree flourish. I the Lord have spoken; I will accomplish it" (Ezekiel 17:24).
A barrage of earlier verses couple "[you] shall know" with "that I am the Lord" to display a punishing, judging, and power-wielding God. (See Ezekiel 6:7, 10, 13, 14; 7:4, 27; 11:10, 12, 15, 20; 13:9, 14, 21, 23; 14:8; 15:7.) Finally, the phrase describes the action of a beneficent God:
"I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 16:62);
"On the day when I chose Israel, I swore to the offspring of the house of Jacob -- making myself known to them in the land of Egypt -- I swore to them, saying, I am the Lord your God" (Ezekiel 20:5);
"You shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, the country that I swore to give to your ancestors" (Ezekiel 20:42);
"On that day your mouth shall be opened to the one who has escaped, and you shall speak and no longer be silent. So you shall be a sign to them; and they shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 24:27); and
"I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and Ammon a fold for flocks. Then you shall know that I am the Lord" (Ezekiel 25:5).
"Here I Am." "Here I am," the presenting of ourselves before God in response to God's call as well as God's quiet answer to our calling to God, occurs thirty times, among them are the following: "Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry for help, and he will say, Here I am" (Isaiah 58:9). Jacob answered God's calling (Genesis 31:11; 46:2) as did Joseph (Genesis 37:13), Moses (Exodus 3:4), Samuel (1 Samuel 3), and Ananias (Acts 9:10). Abraham answered both the calling of his son Isaac at the offering test and God's call. (See Genesis 22.) For further discussion of "I am," see Parable 2, Cycle A.
I Tell You
Of the 156 references to this phrase, only nine usages occur in Hebrew Scripture. Of the 143 occurrences in the gospels, 53 appear in Matthew, 16 in Mark, 45 in Luke, and 29 in John. "Truly" prefaces 78 of these gospel references. See "Very Truly" in Parable 6, Cycle B for comment about the intensity of Christ's "I tell you" when prefaced with "truly" or "very truly."
Instances such as Matthew 11:22 and 11:24 preface "I tell you" with "but," indicating emphasis that Jesus' word is the one to which we should listen. Not someone else, not by hearsay, but I, Jesus, tell you. I tell you, therefore it is true. You can believe it. Not I tell him or I tell her or I tell them, but I tell you. You are the one or the gathered group that I intend to hear what I say. Not I command, declare, say, reveal, or report to you, but I tell you. Jesus made his truth known through both actions and words. To tell is to teach using words. He put what he wanted to communicate into spoken words. Jesus also taught by doing, by action. When did the "telling" come in his teaching?
With exception of Matthew 2:13 in which people other than Christ were speaking, all "I tell you" passages are his. ("I tell you" in Matthew 25:12 and 40 are spoken by characters in stories that Jesus narrates.)
Live Forever
"Live forever" is the universal phrase for not wanting life as we know it to end. The fifteen occasions of biblical usage of this phrase offer variations on this desire, from the almost casual or, at the least, acidic chiding of Zechariah's, "Your ancestors, where are they? And the prophets, do they live forever?" (Zechariah 1:5) to the serious use of "live forever" as part of a phrase of promise: "For I lift up my hand to heaven, and swear: As I live forever" (Deuteronomy 32:40).
When things are good, we want them to continue forever. "Live forever" was part of ritual phrases to honor rulers: "May my lord King David live forever" (1 Kings 1:31). See also Nehemiah 2:3 and Daniel 2:4; 3:9; 5:10; 6:6, 21. When life is horrible, to live forever is the least desirable want: "I loathe my life; I would not live forever" (Job 7:16). The Psalmist uses the phrase as blessing: "The poor shall eat and be satisfied; / those who seek him shall praise the Lord. / May your hearts live forever!" (Psalm 22:26).
Of greater interest in light of the present study is another among the fifteen "live forever" texts. The Johannine reference to eating of the "living bread" in order to "live forever" returns us again to the second expression of the creation story: "Then the Lord God said, 'See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever' " (Genesis 3:22). From the beginning, humankind has wondered how we came to be and what will come after earthly life.
The three New Testament occasions of "live forever" respond to the implied, "What do I need to do to live forever?" "And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever" (1 John 2:17). See also verses 51 and 58 in the present passage of study.
Living Bread
The "I am" saying, "I am the living bread," is the sole biblical reference to "living bread" (John 6:51). Eating of this living bread, the word and truth of Jesus, is intrinsic to understanding what Christ was about. "Living" implies life-giving, existing in the present, and active. "Bread" is basic and essential nourishment. The phrase enhances each word alone. The idea of the being of Jesus, a person, as "living bread" extends the idea of Jesus. When we eat rye bread, we take that bread into our system. Its components, its essence, nourishes and becomes part of our present being. When we eat of the word and truth that is Jesus, we take Christ into our being. Christ becomes part of who we are. The living bread fortifies and strengthens our spirit just as rye bread gives new life to our physical being.
My Flesh
The phrase, "my flesh," that Jesus uses four times in this passage pulls us back to the words of the man whom God formed out of the dust of the ground in the Genesis 2 creation story: "Then the man said, 'This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called Woman, for out of Man this one was taken' " (Genesis 2:23). God through God's creation of Adam created us of God's symbolic flesh. Drawing us into further union and oneness, that passage continues, "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:24). See also Jesus' answer to the Pharisees, "Have you not read that ... 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate" (Matthew 19:5 and Mark 10:8).
Christ points to another flesh and another union. Through Christ's giving of his whole self for us at his physical death, God gives us God's flesh again. Through the symbolic act of eating Christ's flesh as we participate in the re-enactment of the Last Supper, God creates us anew, that is, gives us God's flesh again.
We want to be related, to sense that we belong, that we are more than ourselves alone. Today we say of a relative, "She is flesh and blood." In Hebrew Scripture, the phrase was "You are my bone and my flesh." "You are my kin, you are my bone and my flesh; 'why then should you be the last to bring back the king?' And say to Amasa, 'Are you not my bone and my flesh?' " (2 Samuel 19:12-13). See also Genesis 29:14; 2 Samuel 5:1; 1 Chronicles 11:1; Nehemiah 5:5; and Matthew 16.
Circumcision is an act of the flesh, the permanent mark of a promise: "God said to Abraham, 'As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you' " (Genesis 17:9-11).
Law after law in Leviticus and Numbers pertains to matters of the flesh. Many of the 261 references to flesh occur here. Job, who gave us "You clothed me with skin and flesh, and knit me together with bones and sinews" (Job 10:11), hints at the exhilaration of resurrection: "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh I shall see God" (Job 19:25-26). For additional references to the idea of being knit together, see "For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb" (Psalm 139:13). See also Job 40:17; 1 Chronicles 12:17; and Ephesians 4:16.
As psalmist, David sings of victory with God: "The Lord is my light and my salvation; / whom shall I fear? / The Lord is the stronghold of my life; / of whom shall I be afraid? / When evildoers assail me / to devour my flesh -- / my adversaries and foes -- / they shall stumble and fall" (Psalm 27:1-2) and "My flesh and my heart may fail, / but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
Consider these passages in light of the Crucifixion: "For the life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar; for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement" (Leviticus 17:11) and "My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever" (Psalm 73:26).
The scriptural idea of God began with God speaking: "In the beginning ... and God said ..." (Genesis 1). "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1), but we need flesh and blood. We need the idea of a touchable God: "And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father's only son, full of grace and truth" (John 1:14).
In the following singular, mysterious expressions of life between life and death and life, the flesh being and the spiritual being are nebulous: "Jesus said to [Mary], 'Do not hold on to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and say to them, "I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God" ' " (John 20:17) and "Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have" (Luke 24:39). It is the end of the flesh and blood Jesus, but it is not the end of Christ. Life is more than flesh. It is not the end of the Word. It is not the end of God: "It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life" (John 6:63).
Jesus understands our need to be related and the importance of being in community with God and with each other. The religion of Christianity is at once individual and communal. We are a religion of relationship. Moreover, Christ draws us into a special kinship and oneness of the spirit that transcends all time and space. We have a heritage of advocacy that is present in spirit. God is more than flesh. Our life and being are more than flesh.
Whoever Eats
"Whoever eats" occurs twice in this passage and on four other occasions in Hebrew Scripture. The texts from Exodus 12:15 and 19 refer to instructions from God to Moses and Aaron to tell their congregations that whoever eats leavened bread at a particular time will be cut off from Israel, "whether [that person is] an alien or a native of the land." The same words appear in Leviticus, this time referring to the eating of the blood of any creature. Note the emphasis on blood as the "life of every creature": "For the life of every creature -- its blood is its life; therefore I have said to the people of Israel: You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood; whoever eats it shall be cut off" (Leviticus 17:14). A last Hebrew reference containing "whoever eats" also has death as a consequence. (See Isaiah 59:5.)
The two occurrences in the present Johannine passage, "Whoever eats of this bread will live forever" (v. 51) and "whoever eats me will live because of me" (v. 57), transform the eating to bring positive, life-giving result. With a thread of the Leviticus passage above, Jesus insists "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" (v. 53). These texts from Hebrew Scripture may have formed yet another bridge to Jesus' imagery for new life, new creation, and the unity of God, Christ, and the Spirit of God.
"Whoever" means that, whoever, whether alien or native of the land, whether similar to you or differing from you, whether you are a woman or a man, whether you are visual or nonvisual, of clear or hazy or absent mind, ill or healthy. Take and eat, it is for you.
4. Parallel Scriptures
Authority
In his Johannine prayer for himself, for his disciples, and for all the world, Jesus acknowledges that God has "given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom [God has] given him." Knowing God and Christ is eternal life: "And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent" (John 17:1-3). Compare also, "I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one will snatch them out of my hand" (John 10:28).
Eternal Life
The writer of the Gospel of John also uses the "living water" and "harvester" metaphors with eternal life. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman at the well that "those who drink of the water that I will give them will never be thirsty. The water that I will give will become in them a spring of water gushing up to eternal life" (John 4:13-14) and "The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together" (John 4:36). John contrasts perishable with enduring food: "Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal" (John 6:27).
In chapter 12, these words offer a prerequisite to eternal life: "Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life" (John 12:25).
Whoever
Compare the present text, "Whoever eats of ... will live forever" (v. 51) and "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood ... have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day" (v. 54), with "[T]hat all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day" (v. 40). Again, "Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life" (John 6:47).
(The) Word
See "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life' " (John 6:68); "You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that testify on my behalf" (John 5:39); "[F]or I have not spoken on my own, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment about what to say and what to speak" (John 12:49); and "And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I speak, therefore, I speak just as the Father has told me" (John 12:50).
5. Chat Room
A Chat About Eating The Bread
Charles: You want so much for us to know new life in you, Jesus. We keep hearing your voice say, "Take and eat." When we are reluctant, we hear the echo of a parent's, "Eat this, it is good for you." We hear a slight edge of impatience in your voice, "Just eat it. It is for you. I am doing this for you. I have given all that I have for you, my life. I cannot make you eat. Do your part and participate in this new life." You persist, Jesus, at presenting us with hope. Why do we resist so?
Gwenda: I was raised with taking communion about six times a year. In our new church, we have communion once a month. I was afraid it would lose its sense of being special. I was mistaken. Communion has become a deeper part of my life. Somehow it has come to mean more to me now. It reminds me. It calls me to be. It calls me back to God and to God's presence in my life. It reminds me of Whose I am.
Susan: It makes little sense to me when people feel they are not good enough to receive holy communion. The point is, we will never be perfect, but in our eating of this bread God keeps meeting us as we are, offering to us the possibility to try again, so we keep trying to live our lives in a better way. Eating the bread that is good for us, eating the good food, surrounding ourselves with what is life-giving now -- that is what the bread that Christ offers is all about for me.
John: The communion of spirit that we eat and drink is the fuel, the energy that enables us to keep the spirit of Christ in our lives and allow it to make a difference. This is why communion is a sacrament. This is why communion is holy. Can you not hear Christ say to you, "For your sake, will you just eat the bread"?
Charles: At first I, too, asked the Pharisee's question, "How can this man give me his flesh to eat?" How coarse. But then I tend to take things literally. His death on the cross was literal. It was real. It was tangible. Every time I eat the bread and drink the juice of the Savior's Supper, I remember how real that was on the cross. But it did not end there. He did not stay on that cross. I believe in a risen Christ. When I take and eat that bread, I take into my being the whole being of Christ. I carry the Spirit of the living God within myself.
Alan: Will eating the bread that Christ shares with us let us live forever? Forever, I do not know about. Live forever, I wonder. I would rather be open to God's forever in moments of this day. I would rather know now the timelessness of listening to the heart of a friend in a conversation. I would know the life given in enjoying so fully the work of my calling that I forget about clock time. In the living out of the talents and gifts that God has given me, I cherish the freedom of fullness of life.
Susan: Forever is a mystery. For a long time, the child in me rejected the idea of Christ's resurrection because it did not add up any more than did the birth of Jesus. I thought, if I had to believe in the resurrection, I could not be a Christian. An adult friend pointed out other mysteries. We can be stuck in a problem and see no way out. Everything comes to a halt. Then a solution makes itself known that alters our direction. A new plant lies waiting in a seed. A wheat plant germinates from seed planted in the late summer field. The green carpet freezes and revives repeatedly in the next months with a mysterious hardiness that brings it to August gold and to bread on the table. That bread nourishes our body so we might have renewal of life.
Gwenda: We make bad choices that kill our spirit yet that something within that same spirit has the strength to enable us to get on the right path again. Turn your listening to the mysteries of renewal of life and to your inner wisdom. I let what is a mystery be a mystery.
Alan: Sometimes for me, Jesus, you are more than person alone. All that you do and all that you are embodies the design of our creating, nurturing, and sustaining God. This God who cares so deeply for us tenderly presented you to us in human form so we might grow closer to God. You are part of a bigger plan, an unfolding plan, a oneness of being. When you left us, it felt as temporary to me as when another I know leaves. Death is not the end but only the ending of a chapter. Of course, you are gone as we knew you. That has all changed, but it is only a change. You, Jesus, God, have left us full-handed with promise, holiness of spirit, and solid, basic bread.
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1. Copyright by Dallas A. Brauninger
