March 13, 2014: John Chapter 6

The Gospel According to John Chapter 6

Originally posted Thursday, April 10, 2008

General Comment: Chapter six is commonly known as the Eucharist chapter. As with the other Gospels John has a "last supper" as part of his passion narrative (Jn. 13). The difference is surprising because there is no emphasis on the elements of the meal itself and there are none of the familiar words of institution we would recognize from our own service of Holy Communion. John certainly is aware of the Synoptic Gospels' treatment of this event. There is every reason to believe the sacrament was practiced at every gathering of his community in the same manner as it was in other communities. In fact the emphasis on regular participation is much more pronounced in John than elsewhere. For John the sacrament is not simply a service of remembrance. It is a revalidation of the ongoing presence of the spirit of Christ in the church and one's own "abiding" in Christ the giver of eternal life. Taking part in the sacrament was considered as necessary if not mandatory as a sign of one's state of being as one with Christ and so one with God. To not participate was to be outside of that unity.

The chapter opens with the feeding of the five thousand, a close parallel to the Synoptic Gospels. Its use here serves two purposes. First it is a sign of the presence of God's Glory at work in Jesus which will lead to belief, albeit a misguided belief. Second is the emphasis on bread as an introduction to the later discourse on the true bread from heaven and the disciples' misunderstanding of Jesus' words. In Jewish religious thought bread was a metaphor for teaching and revelation. Jesus will certainly use that understanding here, with a particular comparison between Moses' bread (manna) provided for the Israelites in the wilderness of Exodus and Jesus' bread which is the revelation of eternal life now available.

The words John uses will be very strange to us. Keep in mind that this is metaphorical language, not literal. We are on the edge of Christian mysticism here and the air is very thin.

John Chapter 6:1-15 Feeding The Five Thousand [see Mt 14:13-21; MK 6:30-44; LK 9:10-17]

The "Passover of the Jews" was near and Jesus and the disciples crossed the "sea of Galilee of Tiberias" to find some time apart so Jesus could teach them alone before going to Jerusalem. On their way along the coastline they noticed a very large crowd of people following them. This was the same crowd that witnessed Jesus' healing of the sick. Jesus did not trust their motive for being there. They were like so many others whose enthusiasm was rooted in his healing ability, not in the understanding of who he was as the one sent by God to bring eternal life. Leaving the boat, Jesus went up "the mountain" where, as a teacher does, he sat down with the disciples and began to teach them. It wasn't long before Jesus looked up and saw the crowd starting to come up toward them. There would be no more privacy today. As they made there way down toward the crowd where the ground was level he motioned to Philip who was from the nearby village of Bethsaida (Lk. 9:10). "Where are we going to buy enough bread to feed the crowd, Philip?" Of course he was testing him to see how he would respond. Would Philip understand what God could do in such a moment? Did he remember what God had done in the wilderness for Moses and the Israelites? Philip wasn't reflecting on Scripture. He could only think about what such a purchase would cost, about six months wages for a day laborer. Simon Peter's brother, Andrew, had heard the question. "Look, this little boy here has five barley loaves and two dried fish but what good is this for so many? Jesus knew what he was going to do but let the drama play out, perhaps to make it all the more clear how dependent they and these poor people were on God's help.

Jesus had everyone sit on the ground. He took the loaves, lifted them up to God, gave thanks, "Blessed are you, O Lord, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth" and distributed them along with the fish to the people. When everyone was satisfied the disciples gathered twelve baskets full of fragments. The people were astounded. They had seen Jesus heal, but this was something well beyond that. This was a sign from God. Surely this Jesus is "the prophet who is to come into the world. He is our King!" Jesus felt uneasiness as he saw the stirring among the people who seemed to be ready to take him by force. He could not let this happen. It was not yet his hour and they were about to make a very big mistake. He retreated back up the mountain alone.

John Chapter 6:16-21 Jesus Walks on the Water [see MT 14:22-33; MK 6:47-52]

John shares this story with Mark and Matthew using much of the same wording. In Mark and Matthew the passage is linked to the feeding of the five thousand. In John it serves as a transition from the feeding to the following discourse on the bread from heaven. It does have another important use. When the disciples see Jesus coming toward them "walking on the sea," they are terrified. Jesus calms their fears, calling out to them, "I AM; do not be afraid. The use of the divine name, signifying God's presence in Jesus, is a corrective to the previous attempt by the crowd to make Jesus their king. John has indicated that the Passover is near. Passover was the celebration of Israel's deliverance and became associated with the coming of the Jewish Messiah. The crowd at the mountain was thinking of this connection as they sought to make Jesus king. Here the use of I AM serves as a corrective to both the expectation of Passover and the crowd's ultra enthusiasm. Jesus as the bearer of the divine name is more than the anticipated prophet and more than the Messiah. He is both Son of God and Son of Man.

John Chapter 6:22-40 The Bread from Heaven

The crowd that had eaten their fill and had attempted to declare Jesus their king, has continued to follow him, now back with his disciples in Capernaum. Jesus knows they are looking for more bread to eat. It is not this perishable bread they should be working for, he tells them. Work instead for the food that leads to eternal life which God the Father has sent me to give. But they don't know what these works of God are. How can they perform them?

"If you truly wish to do the work of God, then believe in me as the one whom God has sent."

"Why should we believe in you?" they say. "What work are you doing? Moses gave our ancestors manna from heaven to eat in the wilderness. What will you do?"

"You are wrong. Moses did not give you bread from heaven. It is God who gives the true bread from heaven. That true bread of God comes down from heaven to give eternal life to the world."

"Well then. If that is so, give us that bread every day."

For John, if bread is symbolic of revelation then Jesus is the earthly presence of that heavenly bread. He is the Bread of life who has come down from heaven to do God's will. Insofar as anyone believes in and partakes of him as the true bread of heaven sent by God to bring eternal life, that one has eternal life and will never be lost or driven away. That one will be raised up on the last day when the Kingdom of God is fulfilled.

But the Jews complain. In their limited parochial understanding of what they have heard they look at Jesus and cannot "see" anything but the son of Joseph the carpenter and his mother, Mary. Jesus asks them to look through the transparency of the human and "see" heavenly things. But they can only see earthly things. They will not open themselves to be taught by God. If they had done so they would have been drawn to him by God and believed in him as the one sent by God. Had they done so they would have eternal life already. Instead they are content to wait for the manna to fall again when their expected Messiah comes, forgetting that all those who ate manna in the wilderness perished and so will they.

John now moves deeper into the metaphor of Jesus as the bread of life. The bread of eternal life Jesus gives is his own flesh. Again the Jews take him literally. How can he give them his flesh to eat? Jesus declares that apart from eating the flesh and drinking the blood of the Son of Man they have no life in them. Only those who do, have eternal life and will be raised up on the last day. Whoever eats this bread that came down from heaven will live forever because of me.

John Chapter 6:60-71 An Explanation

Even Jesus' disciples are perplexed by his language and do not understand his teaching. The idea of flesh and blood as food from heaven seems utterly disconnected from any reality they can understand. "What then if you were to (hypothetically) see me ascend to where I was before? Would that offend you? Understand this: eternal life comes from the Spirit of God not from the works a man of flesh can do. Such efforts are useless; it is the Spirit that gives life. This is why no one can come to me unless they are open to God's teaching. It is that inviting grace that is given to all which will draw those who accept the invitation and partake of the bread of life.

These words fell on many closed minds and deaf ears and even many disciples abandoned Jesus because of them. Of the Twelve who have listened only one has not "seen" that it is in Jesus that they will find eternal life and that there was no one else to seek. It is only Judas who has not "come to believe [he] is the Holy One of God."

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In so many difficult ways, John has presented his understanding of the sacramental nature of Jesus' life. Jesus as the bread of life, the revelation from God, gives the totality of who he is to all who seek God through him (in Aramaic flesh and blood is the single unity of the entire person). In the giving of himself he offers liberation to those who have felt their souls stirred by the voice that calls them to seek something more in life, some greater purpose and meaning than can be seen past the addictive blinders of self serving. Some are satisfied to look at the placid, motionless surface of a pond. But some want to jump in, to disturb the water and make ripples that touch another shore.