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LECTIO DIVINA John 6:51-58 The most Holy Body and Blood of Christ – Year A Fr. Michael Brizio, IMC www.frmichaelbrizio.com Free email newsletter: click there

1) OPENING PRAYER: Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit and they shall be created. And you shall renew the face of the earth.

O, God, who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations.

Through Christ Our Lord, Amen.

2) READING OF THE GOSPEL (What the Word says): John 6:51-58

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

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53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

3) EXPLANATION (What the Word means):

These verses constitute the ending of the Bread of Life Discourse (vv. 22-58), given at the synagogue in Capernaum (v. 59), Jesus’ hometown as an adult (Matthew 4:13). The discourse follows the stories of the feeding of the five thousand (vv. 1- 15) and Jesus walking on water (vv. 16-21).

The fact that Jesus delivers this discourse in his hometown makes it especially difficult for his listeners to accept his words - provocative words and claims that appear to be exaggerated. Jesus’ neighbors ask him for a validating sign, and mention Moses’ gift of the manna in the desert as an example of the kind of sign that they expect (v. 31).

Jesus corrects them – “It wasn’t Moses who gave you (past tense) the bread out of heaven, but my Father gives you (present tense) the true bread out of heaven” (v. 32). He then identifies himself as the bread of life (v. 35).

Jesus’ listeners complain about his apparent grandiosity - How can this local boy, their neighbor, claim to be bread from heaven (v. 41)? How can “his Father” give them the true bread from heaven? They know his father Joseph (v. 42)

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- an ordinary carpenter - not a baker of heavenly bread.

Jesus responds by making even bolder claims. The Israelites ate manna in the wilderness, but the manna sustained their lives for only a few years - they are long since dead. By contrast, Jesus claims to be “the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v. 51). Small wonder that these listeners find his words difficult!

v.51a: I am the living bread that came down from heaven;

This “living bread” parallels the “living water” that Jesus offered the Samaritan woman (4:10).

v.51b: whoever eats this bread will live forever;

To eat of this bread, in this context, means the once-and-for-all action of accepting or believing in Christ.

v.51c: and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.”

Jesus does not retreat from the offense of his words, but instead adds to it with his mention of “flesh.”

This is sacrificial language. The Law requires ritual sacrifices of animals, and specifies in detail how they are to be prepared and how their flesh is to be used. Some flesh is to be burned on the altar and other flesh is to be eaten.

The gift of one’s flesh is the most personal of all sacrifices that a person can make in behalf of another. In this instance, Jesus makes it in behalf of the world - not just Israel (3:16-17). His sacrifice is both voluntary and vicarious.

The sacrificial language recalls John the Baptist’s earlier reference to Jesus as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29) - which, in turn, brings to mind the Passover lamb sacrificed to save the lives of the Israelites in Egypt (Exodus 11-12), a sacrifice which Israel commemorates annually.

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It also recalls the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53, who “bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:13).

“God’s salvation is often described in Scripture in terms of eating and drinking…, nowhere more impressively than in Isaiah 55, where the descent of the word from God’s mouth is likened to that of rain and snow, which water the earth and make possible its production of bread (v. 10).

This after the opening… invitation: Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters! Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat! Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. (Isaiah 55:1)” (Smith, 159-160).

v.52: The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

This phrase, “the Jews,” refers to the Jewish religious leaders, who are in most cases Jesus’ opponents.

“Flesh” is a provocative word, raising the specter of cannibalism. It is especially provocative in a culture that distinguishes so precisely between clean and unclean meat and emphasizes strict observance of dietary laws.

The first consideration for any Jew, contemplating the eating of any flesh, would be whether that flesh is permitted or forbidden. No observant Jew would consider eating human flesh. v.53a: Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you,

These words make emphatic that which follows.

v.53b: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you.

The title that Jesus uses for himself here is “Son of Man.” “In one sense, he is simply a man, i.e., someone with flesh and blood; but he is also the one on whom God has set his seal of approval (v. 27), the bread from heaven, the one who descends and then ascends ‘to where he was before’ (v. 62)” (Carson, 296).

For most Catholic commentators these words of

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Jesus are Eucharistic in nature - referring to the Last Supper - although they also are incarnational/sacrificial - referring to the incarnation and the cross.

The word “flesh” in verse 51c is unusual. In all of the accounts of the institution at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:26; Mark 14:22; Luke 22:19; 1 Corinthians 11:24), the word is “body,” and not “flesh.”

However, “there is really no Hebrew or Aramaic word for ‘body,’ as we understand the term; and many scholars maintain that at the Last Supper what Jesus actually said was the Aramaic equivalent of ‘This is my flesh’” (Brown, 285).

At the same time, the word “flesh” also brings to mind the Incarnation – “The Word became flesh, and lived among us” (John 1:14).

In v.47, Jesus established belief as the condition for receiving eternal life. Here in v. 53, his language changes, and eating his flesh and drinking his blood become the condition for receiving eternal life.

It sounds as if any person who partakes of the bread and wine is guaranteed salvation regardless of any other consideration, such as belief or baptism.

But, do belief and eating and drinking function independently? Are we saved either by belief or by eating/drinking - or are both required? One scholar concludes that these are also intertwined. “Participation in the Eucharist and the faith decision are parallel in the Fourth Gospel, not either/or acts” (O’Day, 608).

In other words, it is difficult to think of true participation to the Eucharistic without faith, as if it were a magical rite

The crowd’s mention of manna (“bread from heaven”) as the kind of sign that they expect Jesus to perform (v. 31) constitutes the background of 6:51.

Jesus responds by identifying himself as “the bread of life” (v. 35) and “the living bread that came down from heaven” (v. 51). He then says, “Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (v. 51c). The language at this point is clearly Eucharistic.

The Gospel of John does not include an account of the institution of the Eucharist, but instead tells only the story of the foot washing (13:1-20). Some scholars think of 6:51-58 as John’s equivalent of the institution of the Last Supper.

At the beginning of this Bread of Life discourse, John establishes that the Passover is near (6:4). This is significant, because the Passover ritual involves the sacrifice and eating of the Pascal (Passover) lamb.

Earlier in this Gospel, John the Baptist proclaimed Jesus to be “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29), and the Lord’s Supper in the Synoptics is a Passover meal. The Passover context, then, gives Jesus’ words a decidedly Eucharistic flavor.

We should also note two things that were happening at the time of the writing of this Gospel that might have influenced the author to emphasize the eating of Jesus flesh and the drinking of his blood:

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The first was the influence of Docetic and Gnostic heresies, both of which considered flesh to be evil and denied that Christ could have a physical body. Vv. 6:53ff. emphasize the physical nature of his body - perhaps, in part, to counter these heresies.

The second was Jewish discrimination against Christian believers. Christians who observed the Last Supper were likely to be banned from synagogues.

It is possible that, by emphasizing the Eucharist as a requirement for receiving eternal life, the author intends to push fence-straddlers off the fence. Such participation is important, not only for their personal religious lives, but also as a visible witness to their faith.

As Paul says, “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes” (1 Corinthians 11:26).

v.54a: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

What has been put negatively is now stated positively in a way typical of this Gospel. Anyone who eats Christ’s flesh and drinks his blood “has eternal life,” and he “will raise him on the last day.”

The word for “eats, trogein” is different from that used previously (phagein), and it is used again in vv.56.57.58 (elsewhere in the New Testament only in Matthew 24:38; John 13:18).

The verb trogein applies to somewhat noisy feeding (like “munch” or “crunch”). There is often the notion of eating with enjoyment (so in Matthew 24:38). It is a startling word in this context and stresses the actuality of the partaking of Christ that is in mind.

However, the realistic understanding of the sacramental meal (eating the flesh and drinking the blood) is not a magical one. Through the meal Jesus unites himself directly with the participants (v.56), they live through him (v.57), and he will one day raise them (v.54). The sacramental eating and drinking are only a way of obtaining personal communion with him.

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It is as if John is saying: If you want life, you must come and sit at that table where you eat that broken bread and drink that poured-out wine which, in the grace of God, bring you into contact with the love and the life of Jesus Christ.

v.54b: has eternal life,

The promise is not only eternal life (available now) but also resurrection (available only later) (Brown, 292).

Jesus flesh and blood are true food and drink, bringing us sustenance at the deepest level of our being, in contrast with manna, which fed only the body.

In our culture, we are bombarded by advertisements for things claiming to meet our deepest needs. Such claims are empty, and ultimately disappoint. However, when we believe in Jesus and partake of his flesh and blood, he strengthens and sustains us in ways that nothing else can.

However important the Eucharist might be, it is one of the means by which we experience the presence of God. “The true sustenance and refreshment of our spiritual life are to be found… in all ways in which his people feed on him by faith - not only at the Holy Table, but in reading and hearing the Word of God, or in private or united prayer and meditation” (Bruce, 160).

v.54b: and I will raise him on the last day.

“The continuing reference to Christ’s raising up the believer at the last day is interesting. There may be more to eternal life than life in the age to come, but life in that age is certainly prominent” (Morris, 336).

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v.55: For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Earlier in this discourse, Jesus told the people who had experienced the feeding of the 5,000, “Most certainly I tell you, you seek me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves, and were filled. Don’t work for the food which perishes, but for the food which remains to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you” (vv. 24-25).

The manna that their ancestors experienced in the wilderness was not true food - did not give them life (v. 49). The bread that Jesus used to feed the 5000 on the mountaintop was something less than true bread, because it satisfied the people’s hunger only momentarily.

By way of contrast, Jesus’ flesh and blood are true food because “if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever” (v. 51) - and “has (present tense) eternal life” (v. 54).

v.56: Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him.

The close connection between fellowship with Christ and the activity of eating the flesh and drinking the blood is stressed, since Jesus gives what is almost a definition of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. Anyone who so eats and drinks “remains” (the tense is continuous; it denotes more than fleeting contact) in Christ.

Receiving the Eucharist has this effect because it brings about an intimate connection with Jesus: the communicant remains in Jesus and Jesus in him.

There is, however, an underlying connection between the two effects: the obtaining of life promised to the recipient of the Eucharist takes place through the enduring union with the divine bearer of life. The only purpose of the association with Jesus achieved through the sacramental communion is to bring the recipient into the sphere of God’s life (v.57).

The sacramental doctrine is now being extended: it is not the eating and drinking itself which is important, but the personal union with Jesus which it brings about. The sacramental link becomes a personal union.

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There is the closest possible relationship so that the eater is in Christ and Christ is in the eater. By mentioning the immanence of the communicant in Christ and immediately afterwards the converse immanence of Christ in the communicant, indicates simply but impressively, the uniqueness of the union. In the earthly and human sphere there is no counterpart to such mutual permeation without the surrender of personality.

The remarkable simplicity and conciseness of the wording must have been the fruit of a long period of meditation and reflection on this mystery of faith.

The thought of abiding is a prominent one in John. It reminds us that the believer enters no temporary state, but a permanent one, with fellowship with the Lord as the predominant note.

v.57: Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

The phrase, “living God,” is common in both Old Testament and New Testament, but this is the only occurrence of “living Father.”

Jesus establishes the life-giving chain of authority. The “living Father” sent him, and he lives because of the Father.

In like manner, the person who eats him (believes in him/ accepts him/participates in the Eucharist) will live. As the Father gave him life, so he gives us life. “Christ alone has direct access to the Father. Believers receive life only through Christ” (Morris, 337).

v.58: This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.”

As noted above, it was Jesus’ listeners who first mentioned manna, referring to it as “bread out of heaven” given by Moses (v. 31).

Jesus corrected them. It was not Moses who gave them bread, but God. Manna was not the true bread from heaven but was only a type (a foreshadowing) of the true bread from heaven.

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Jesus identified himself as the bread of life (v. 35) and the living bread (v. 51). He has already reminded his listeners that the manna could not be the bread of life, because their ancestors, who ate it, died in the wilderness (v. 49), and he reiterates that thought again here.

The death that the ancestors died was a physical death, but “there was a late Jewish tradition that the generation in the desert died spiritually as well and would have no place in the world to come” (Brown, 284).

Jesus is promising eternal life (v. 54) - a quality of spiritual life that we can begin enjoying now rather than a continuation into infinity of physical life.

In his High Priestly Prayer, Jesus will define eternal life in terms of the relationship of the believer to the Father and the Son: “This is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and him whom you sent, Jesus Christ” (17:3).

4) MEDITATION (What the Word suggests to me): a) We read the Word again. b) Select the word or a brief phrase which touched you or impressed you. Repeat this word/phrase aloud and slowly 3 times. Between each repetition allow a moment of silence for the Word to penetrate into our hearts. c) We will remain silent for 3 minutes, and let the Lord speak to us. d) We now share what the Lord has given us in this word. We avoid discussions or sermons or comments on what others have said. We share what the Lord has told us personally by using such expressions as, “To me this word has said …”

5) QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: (What the Word asks me) a) What would change in me if I were more fully convinced of the resurrected Christ’s presence in the Eucharist? b) Do I live in the expectation of receiving the Eucharist and in thanksgiving after receiving it? c) What can I do to participate to the Eucharist with my whole heart and mind? d) Does participating in the Eucharist strengthen my love and concern for others?

6) WORD OF LIFE (What the Word reminds me):

My flesh is true food

7) ACTION (What the Word invites me to do):

I will spend a few minutes in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.

8) PRAYER (What the Word makes me pray): PSALM 147

Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.

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Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise your God, O Zion. For he has strengthened the bars of your gates; he has blessed your children within you.

He has granted peace in your borders; with the best of wheat he fills you. He sends forth his command to the earth; swiftly runs his word!

He has proclaimed his word to Jacob, his statutes and his ordinances to Israel. He has not done thus for any other nation; his ordinances he has not made known to them.

And may the blessing of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit descend upon us and with us remain forever and ever.