Homily originally presented August 5, 2018
What do you think of when you hear the word “Bread”?
Many will think of an actual loaf of bread, which is food ...
that is made from flour and water and yeast and baked in an oven.
Some hearing the word “Bread” will think of food in a general way … food of any kind, such as when one says, “I work hard to put bread on the table!”
Some hearing the word “Bread” will think of money … cash, currency or bucks!
In the 50’s and 60’s ... bread was a slang word for money ...
and you’d hear some people say, “I’m out of bread” or “I need some bread”!
Well, there’s yet another meaning of the word “Bread” that was commonly held in Old Testament times. To those people “Bread” referred to … the wisdom of God!
For example in the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom says: “Come, eat of my bread, and drink the wine I have prepared,” where bread and wine were the teachings of God.
There was this real understanding that God feeds us with … His teachings.
And so ... the wisdom of God was considered to be ... bread from Heaven.
It’s important to understand this when we hear Jesus say in the Gospel today, “For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
When Jesus says, “the bread of God”, does He mean manna, or food in general or money? No, when Jesus says, “bread of God”, He means Divine Wisdom of God!
That may not have been your first thought, because from a Catholic perspective, it’s all too easy to listen to today’s Gospel and simply think of the Eucharist
... as soon as Jesus starts talking about bread.
But closer examination of this text shows that this passage refers to ...
a much bigger picture … it refers to … the whole mystery of Christ.
What the Evangelist John wants us to see in this Bread of Life discourse ...
is the Eucharist in the context of the whole mystery of Christ.
And so he’s going to take the central image of bread ...
(bread from heaven, living bread) to speak of the whole mystery of Christ.
That includes the mystery of Christ’s Incarnation, (that God came to be with us)
the mystery of Christ’s Death on the Cross, (that God would die so we could live)
the mystery of the Christ’s Resurrection, (that God has power over death)
and the mystery of our salvation by our faith in Christ. (that faith will save us)
and the mystery of our fellowship with Jesus (truly brothers & sisters with Him)
And then once John has that all this in place ...
he’ll let Jesus speak about another mystery … the mystery of the Eucharist.
But we first have to see the whole notion of God imparting Wisdom to us through Jesus Christ. That is really at the heart of what is being taught in this chapter. Jesus is the fullness of God’s Wisdom. Jesus is the true bread from Heaven.
Recall that today’s Gospel passage comes right after Jesus multiplied the loaves and fed the 5000. That was last Sunday’s Gospel. Today, the crowd is trying to get Jesus to make them some more bread and so they refer to how their fathers ate
the miraculous manna in the desert and they quote Scripture saying,
“He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
It’s clear they understand that God was doing the giving; God gave them the manna.
Yet, when Jesus replies, He says this, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven.”
So, what’s Jesus talking about? Of course Moses didn’t give them the manna.
The manna was from God. So why does Jesus bring up Moses at all?
It had to be that already the manna symbolized something else …
the manna had to symbolize something that Moses himself gave to Israel.
What did Moses give to Israel?
Moses gave them the 10 Commandments, the Law, the Torah!
So when Jesus speaks of the bread previously given to the people by God ...
He’s referring to the wisdom of God given to the people through Moses!
This was “bread” … “bread from heaven”.
And then, Jesus adds the word ‘true’ ... saying,
“My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven”.
In doing so, He sets this “true” bread above all other breads,
even above the bread given to their ancestors through Moses.
You see, unlike the Torah that gave life … just to Israel,
this new gift of God … that is Jesus … gives life to the whole world!
Jesus clearly expresses this truth today when He says, “The bread of God is that
which comes down from heaven and gives life to the whole world.”
And Jesus points out that the true bread of God is Himself, saying,
I am the bread of life.
What a bold proclamation! Jesus identifies Himself as the ultimate gift of bread. Jesus is the True Bread. He is the fullness of Divine Wisdom!
He is able to bring one to eternal life.
This is far superior to the Torah, which was unable to nourish to eternal life.
Gone is the limitation that the Torah was just for the Chosen People.
Here, Jesus promises that anyone who comes to him will not hunger
and that anyone who believes in him will not thirst.
Those who come to Jesus and believe in Him will find rest from the never-ending search for Wisdom. No longer will Moses, the manna, or the Torah provide sufficient nourishment. Jesus, the true bread from Heaven,
is the only nourishment that will truly satisfy man’s hunger and thirst.
Our spirit thirsts to be satisfied.
And only Jesus, the true bread, will satisfy us always. Everything else falls short.
That means all efforts to find satisfaction in alcohol or drugs or food or sex or pornography are wasted efforts. They may give some temporary satisfaction, but we’ll soon hunger again. We must have true food to be satisfied forever.
We saw the reality of this in two of our readings today. In our First Reading from Exodus, the Israelites grumbled against Moses when they were hungry in the desert. And in the Gospel, the Jews who were fed from the 5 loaves come looking for Jesus to be fed again.
Is there any food that nourishes us for all time? Yes, it is Jesus, the true Bread.
And once we recognize this, we’ll be moved to say what they said in the Gospel,
“Sir, give us this bread always.”
God the Father has given us true bread. The true bread is His Son Jesus.
Jesus is the fullness of God’s wisdom.
He is the fullness of God’s self-revelation to us.
He is the Father’s greatest gift to us!
Next week as we continue to read from the 6th chapter of John we’ll discover that ...
as the Father gives us true bread, His Son, Jesus ...
Jesus gives us true food, His very self!
Yes, Jesus will say, “For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in Me and I in him.”
We will continue to be hungry until we feed on Jesus, His words and His Flesh!
Jesus is the true bread come down from Heaven.
In Him we have both the Menu and the Meal.
Where the Menu is the fullness of God’s wisdom
and the Meal is the Flesh and Blood of the Son of God.
The whole mystery of Jesus being the true food of God
is what St. John reveals in the 6th Chapter of his Gospel.
So rich is the content of this Chapter that I once again suggest that you read it at home during the week. Just open your Bible to the 6th Chapter of John and read it all the way through. It’s only 3 pages long.
Take this on as your homework assignment for each of the next three weeks.
It will really help you begin to comprehend
the great mystery of God’s gifts and God’s saving plan for us.
So now I hope that each time you feel hungry for bread,
You remember there is such a thing as “true” bread.
It’s not a loaf
It’s not food in general
It’s not money
It is the Divine Wisdom of God!
Yes, The True Bread comes from Heaven … the True Bread is Jesus!
That’s the Bread to hunger for!
That’s the Bread that will give you Eternal Life!
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