Understanding John 6
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this Unit is to look closely at John 6, focusing on Christ explaining the Eucharist.
INTRODUCTION - 5 Minutes
For this lesson, please refer to the attachment below: The Staircase of John
We will follow from the bottom of the Figure to the top of it the steps of how the Holy Spirit through St. John gives us the explanation of the Holy Eucharist, from the mouth of Christ, Himself. It will be demonstrated how St. John the Evangelist and Theologian is demonstrating the explanation of Jesus Christ what the Eucharist is. It is best seen as a series of steps, an ascent of concepts, where the Lord is taking the audience from one step to the next until He reaches the apex -- The Eucharist.
STEP 1
The Chapter of John 6 is outset by the miracle of Feeding the Multitude where the Lord fed the multitudes by blessing the five loaves and two fish and giving it to his disciples to give to the five-thousand; and it ended with: "When the people saw the sign that he had done, they began to say, 'This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world.'" (John 6:14) This is the first step of a ladder of ideas in this chapter. In this step, Christ showed that He is able to feed the multitude - upon which they wanted to make Him King.
What this teaches us in our own lives is that He is able to provide what we need, thereby establishing the floor of confidence we have in Him.
STEP 2
Christ is getting their attention to another type of 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) When the Jews got interested with the thoughts not bent on faith but rather on whatever it takes to get daily food, they asked what work one would do in order to get this food, to which the Lord replied that it is faith that will grant you that food "believe in Him whom He sent" (John 6:29), and that is step 3.
What we learn from this is that we are constantly obsessed with what satiates the body, not realizing that God yearns to satiate the soul. We must ask Him to give us what we need for our souls, and not obsess over our bodies, knowing and believing He will satiate the body to its need.
STEPS 3 & 4
This is the step of "faith," to which the Jews with audacity pushed Christ into a comparison with Moses, who gave their fathers the food "daily." It is as if they are asking Christ not to haggle with them; if He is truly Holy then He would be able to give food daily following the line of Moses. But Christ corrected them saying that it is His Father who gave the Manna, not Moses, and this is step 4.
For us as Christians, we can accept the impossible and the power of the Eucharist if we first believe in the power of He who gives us His body and blood.
STEP 5
The next step (step 5) is crucial where Christ reveals that the Bread from Heaven is a "person;" "For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." To which they replied, "Sir, give us this bread always." (John 6:33-34) Their interest is still earthly as if they are saying: Just give us that bread always and get it over with. The Lord then says plainly that He is the Bread of Life which comes from heaven to satiate and quench every person: "I am the Bread of Life..." (John 6:35). The Jews then obstructed Him by a major question among themselves which they posed to Christ: paraphrasing "We know your parents, how come You say that He is coming from Heaven?" It is shown in the Figure as a red horizontal line attached to a flag which says challenge; a question that challenges Christ's discourse. We know His parents, how is He claiming to come down from heaven? This depicts that the Evangelist is manifesting to us a challenge to Christ's claim that He while being a "person," He is Bread (food) that is coming down from Heaven. The Lord then reminds them that it is faith that will raise them up to believe in Him. The Lord reminded them that those who ate the Manna in the wilderness are dead. This major statement shows that the Manna was a mere human food, but the real food to be eaten is His Flesh (John 6:47-51), and the Manna was a symbol of Jesus Christ as being the true Bread of Life. To which comes the crowd question to Christ in 6:52 inquiring about what He meant They are asking if He truly meant that they eat "Him," "his flesh." In their unwillingness to hear they missed that He gave them the key to life...faith In our lives, when we take communion with a faith that He will work in us through the partaking of His body and blood, He can do that work. He is giving us what we need in our spirits to continue pursuing Him in our daily work.
DISCUSSION
The Lord Jesus Christ answered the two main challenges to Communion: First, "how come this man claims that He is coming down from Heaven" (John 6:41), and the second is "how come He is asking us to eat His Flesh" (John 6:52).
This question is one of the attacks on Communion: "How come we eat the flesh of someone" (John 6:52). The Lord answered with four phrases (verses) where each contains the emphasis on "My Flesh and My Blood" which are the conclusion of Christ to emphasize that He meant truly to eat His Flesh and drink His Blood. He explains that reason by the pinnacle of these 4 verses, 27, namely "The one who eats My Body and drinks My Blood, abides in Me and I in Him" (John 6:56) Christ showed clearly that the ultimate salvation for man is to make himself "compatible" with God. He is then able to abide in God and God in him.
This is the goal of the Holy Trinity, that we become inseparable from God. And God in the Flesh explained how this would be achieved: by eating His Flesh and drinking His Blood. God will do all the work needed for this to occur, meaning He will transform bread and wine to Body and Blood, but this is the ultimate "state" to which God has destined man; the state of "union" with Him, hence man will never be separated from God. We partake of communion to remain connected to Him, that He may work in us.
REFERENCES
Lecture by Fr. Gregory Bishay