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| Good, but not the Bread of Heaven |
Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15
Psalm 78
Ephesians 4:17, 20-24
John 6:24-35
We continue this week with the
second installment of the five-week reading of John 6. If you remember, last
week we heard the back-story with the feeding of the 5000 with five loaves and
two fish. It was prefaced by the story of a similar miracle worked at the words
of the prophet Elisha, but the difference between the two was the ‘something
new’ that Christ was working and we found it in that key phrase of St. John:
The Jewish feast of Passover was near. We saw how the feast sets the stage for
what is to follow, namely a call to partake of a special food, embark on a
journey, witness the shedding of blood, and make a decision that has life and
death consequences. And so we pick up today in the place where Louisianans
almost always start: food.
Our body needs food. When we
don’t get it or don’t get enough of it, our body lets us know. When I was in
college and had just come back to the Church I was zealous in my desire to do
great things for the Lord and so when Lent came around I resolved to embark
upon an intense fast from food. One day I was sitting in my Latin class working
on an exam and my stomach began the ‘hungry gurgle’ and proceed to make this
loud, awkward sound for a solid minute. Not exaggerating. My classmates looked
at me with the obvious question in their eyes “What is going on with this guy?”
I was hungry and my stomach let me, and everyone around me, know it.
The key, I said, to the whole
story is the event of Passover. In our first reading we get a glimpse of life
after the Passover. The Israelites ate the lamb and special foods as prescribed
by the Lord and they survived just as they had been promised. And now they set
out from Egypt, passed through the Red Sea and have begun to wander in the
desert on the way to the Promised Land. But the problem is the hungry gurgle.
Their stomachs begin to rumble and then their mouths begin to grumble to one
another. Pretty soon the whole people is ready to return to slavery simply in
order to have their bellies full once more!
The Lord hears the cry of His
people, as He always does, and commits Himself to providing for them bread in
the morning and flesh in the evening. Evening comes that first day and upon the
camp descends a flock of quail enough to feed everyone. This is miraculous in
itself because there were over 600,000 men, not counting women and children in
this great exodus of the Israelites. That’s A LOT of quail! And then in the
morning they wake up and walk outside of their tents and ask ‘Manna?’ The word
‘Manna’ literally means ‘what is it’ and so this stuff scattered far and wide
was not something they were familiar with at all, even having travelled the
desert for a while. Moses comes to them to explain that it is the Bread of
Heaven, as promised by God Himself.
This Bread of Heaven was also
miraculous. It was such that those who could only gather a little and those who
gathered a lot were both perfectly supplied, none were left wanting. It was
required that the Manna be gathered only enough for that day. In some cases the
people tried to increase the amount gathered to last them two days so they
could take a break and not work; the manna spoiled overnight every time except
on one specific night: that of Sabbath. Only on Friday were they Israelites
able to gather a double portion and have it keep for the next day without
souring and this was at the Lord’s command so that they could keep holy the
Sabbath and not be consumed with work. What’s more, this miraculous bread
appeared every day for 40 years while the people were on the journey to the
Promised Land and it stopped on the exact day that they cross over into it and
not a soul has seen the Manna fall since that day. The Bread of Heaven
nourished them all along the journey and was among the most powerful reminders
of the power and providence of God for His people.
This is the back-story this week
for the words of Jesus. Keep in mind the 5000 had just been fed and Jesus went
off with the disciples to another place. In the passage we just heard the crowd
has tracked Him down and His response gets us into the really meat of His
teaching on the Eucharist. The people gather around Him and He tells that they
are seeking Him not because they saw signs – not because they had encountered
God or experienced His power – but because their stomachs were full and it’s
time to eat once more. He points out that they were driven by a less noble
reason, much like their ancient ancestors who were tempted to return to slavery
just to get food once more. Recognizing that they have come with empty stomachs
He tells them to strive for the food that endures to eternal life. Jesus
obviously knows because nobody is going to tell you to strive for something and
shrug their shoulders when you ask them about where to find it. Jesus is
drawing them into the dialogue to pull from them the desire to attain this food
that endures to eternal life. And so they ask. They recall how their ancestors
ate Manna in the desert and boldly look at Jesus and question Him: “What can
you do?”
“It was not Moses who gave you the bread of Heaven; my Father gives you
the true bread of Heaven. The bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven
and gives life to the whole world.”
With this Jesus powerfully drives
home the point that it was not Moses, but His Father who provided the bread.
But even more powerfully He states that it was not the TRUE bread of Heaven. It
was simply a foreshadowing, a symbol of the reality that the Father would
eventually send not just to feed ONE nation but to feed ALL the nations. And
what is this true bread of Heaven? What is this ultimate reality that the
Father sent to give life to the whole world? Where can one partake of this true
Bread?
“I AM the Bread of Life.”
‘Jesus Himself is the Bread of
Life? How can this be? How are we to eat of Him and receive eternal life?’ the
Jews immediately questioned in their hearts. We already know the teaching that
is come and yet with what joy we pause to contemplate the wonder of such a
claim!
The readings both challenge us
this weekend with one basic question: why are we here? Why do we come to Mass?
Do we come to come to encounter the Living God once more or is it that we get
some spiritual feeling out it? Maybe we just like the music or the sermon or the
community? What draws us here?
Today is the feast of St. Peter
Julian Eymard, a priest of the 1800’s who had a fiery love for the Lord Jesus
in the Eucharist. I wanted to end here with a quote from the last sermon he
ever preached:
We believe in the love of God for us. To believe in love is everything. It is not enough to believe in the truth. We must believe in love, and love is Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. That is the faith that makes Our Lord loved. Ask for this pure and simple faith in the Eucharist. Men will teach you; but only Jesus will give you the grace to believe in Him. Come and receive Communion in order to have the strength of faith, not merely the satisfaction, the feeling of faith. You have the Eucharist, what more do you want?
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