The Bread from Heaven
A Gospel Enquiry
Introduction
Easter brings with it a heightened awareness of Jesus’ promise of eternal life to all who follow him. The promise seems to be everywhere in the Gospel; in John’s Gospel, it occurs sixteen times. In reality, it is the Church, through its liturgy, reminding us of what is central to our faith: that Jesus suffered and died on the Cross and rose again and ascended to heaven, our true home. We say in the Nicene Creed, “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.”
While it is true that the promise of life after death can be a powerful incentive for many to choose to do good and avoid evil; and it is also equally true that many people live good and heroic lives without belief in an after-life, our Christian faith teaches us that heaven is our true home. This is not something that we humans have decided, but rather it is the truth revealed to us by God. Our lives are meant to be about journeying together to our heavenly home.
May we live with the hope that when we reach our heavenly home, we will meet our neighbours who never darkened the doors of the churches in our suburbs. As for me, I hope I will meet my parents in heaven, where I will reflect with my Dad on the truth in the conversation we had shortly before he died … he spoke about going to Mass in his car, parked under a shady tree, and reading the Sunday Times, while Mum went to Mass in the parish church, not fifty metres from where he found God in the news.
The Gospel
Jesus said to the crowd:
‘No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to come to me. Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father. I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life.
‘I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for the life of the world.’ (John 6:44-51)
The Enquiry
See
Summarise Jesus’ teaching to the crowd. What does he promise to his followers? What do they have to do to receive what he promises them? How often do they have to do what he tells them?
Why does Jesus talk about himself as “bread”? How does eating this “bread” ensure “the life of the world”?
According to Jesus, what is that life meant to be like?
Judge
What do you think about Jesus’ teaching? Does the Church’s sacramental life have any relevance in relation to his teaching?
Where and when is your experience of this life like what Jesus tells the crowd?
How is your faith challenged by what Jesus teaches here?
Act
What needs to change in the world so that Jesus’ “flesh” is accepted as what is necessary for “the life of the world”?
What small action can you carry out to help bring about the change you want to make in the world?
Who can you involve in your action, when, where and how often?
Image Source: Fr Lawrence Lew OP (Creator) The stained glass window of the Last Supper in St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh, Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0