19th Sunday in Ordinary Time B – August 11, 2024
1 Kings 19:4-8; Ephesians 4:30 – 5:2; John 6:41-51
Theme:
“The Bread that I will Give is my Flesh for the Life of the World.”
We
continue our five-Sunday meditation on the “Bread of Life” discourse in chapter
6 of the Gospel of John, which we started two Sundays ago. The story of the
miraculous feeding of over five thousand people, which we heard on Sunday, July
28th, served as our gateway into this meditation. In the Last
Sunday’s Gospel passage, Jesus boldly proclaimed that he was the bread of life.
He assured the crowd followed him that whoever comes to and believes in him
will never hunger and thirst. In today’s section, the crowd reacts to Jesus’
declaration, and Jesus affirms with precision that the leaving bread that comes
from heaven, which he gives, is his flesh. In the first reading, God miraculously fed Elijah with food, which strengthened him, enabling him to pursue his forty-day and forty-night
journey to the mountain of Horeb to meet with God. In the second reading, Saint
Paul exhorts the Ephesian believers not to grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with
which they were sealed for the day of redemption. He calls them to imitate God
in forgiving and Jesus in loving.
Our
Gospel passage continues the Bread of Life Discourse. It is preceded by the stories
of Feeding over five thousand people (6:1-15), Walking on the Water (6:16-21), and
the first part of this discourse (vv. 22-40). A big part of this discourse
still follows after our text. It is necessary to remember the context. Over
five thousand people followed Jesus because they had seen how Jesus healed the royal
official’s son (see John 4:46-540) and the man at the pool on the Sabbath (see
John 5:1-9). Jesus fed all of them with just five barley loaves and two fish
that he multiplied miraculously (6:1-15). In the evening of that day, Jesus’
disciples left on a boat, going across the sea to Capernaum without Jesus. It
was dark, and the sea was stirred up because of the strong wind when they saw
Jesus walking on the water toward them. They were afraid. Jesus told them, “It
is I. Do not be afraid.” (6:14-23). The following day, the crowd who ate the
miraculous food followed Jesus again. Jesus revealed to them that their discipleship
was based on a wrong motivation, “You are looking for me not because you saw
signs but because you ate the loaves and were filled.” He then invited them to rather
work for the food that endures eternal life, which is faith in him, instead of
the food that perishes. The crowd requested of him a sign greater than what
happened with Moses when their ancestors ate the manna in the desert during
their journey from Egypt to the promised land. Jesus clarified that his Father
God, not Moses, gave the manna to their ancestors as they mistakenly thought.
Jesus added an essential note here. He said that his Father “gives them true
bread from heaven.” Jesus is this “true bread from heaven,” which gives eternal
life to the world. The crowd asked Jesus to give them this bread from heaven. Jesus
declared that he is the Bread of Life. Whoever comes to and believes in him
will never hunger and thirst. Jesus assured them that his will, which is also
his Father’s will, is to raise everyone who believes in him on the last day for
eternal life (vv. 24-40). Our Gospel passage picks up from here. It is a
conversation with images, which can be divided into two parts. The first part tells
the murmurs of the crowd (vv. 41-42), and the second is Jesus’ teaching on his
relation with his Father and his being the bread of life (vv. 43-51).
In
the first part of our text, the Jews murmur about Jesus, who declares that he
is the “bread that came down from heaven,” the food and drink that, once consumed,
people will never hunger and thirst. Notice that the crowd is now identified as “Jews” from Galilee, just as Jesus is. They know Jesus and his family. They know he is
not someone with a high status but a regular Galilean Jew just like them. They
murmur because what Jesus says of himself does not correspond with his human
status they know very well (vv. 41-42). Note that “signs” (miracles) in the
Gospel of John are meant to teach the people and reveal Jesus’ divine identity.
However, here in our text, these Jews do not transcend Jesus’ humanity status to
reach his divinity. Likewise, today, many believers do not transcend the
physical nature of the bread and wine, which become the real Body and Blood of
Christ after the consecration. Our Holy Mother calls us to believe that Jesus
is the heavenly bread that gives us eternal life.
The
second part of our pericope discusses Jesus' answer to the Jews. Jesus teaches
them about his relationship with his Father, God. He declares that his Father
sent him. His mission is to raise up on the last day those who believe in him. Anyone
who comes to him is drawn by his Father. To support his statement, he cites
first Isaiah 54:13, in which he reminds his audience of the prophetic tradition,
which promised that God would attract and teach all people. Then, he refers to the
story of the manna that their ancestors ate in the desert (see our last Sunday
first reading) to explain that the manna was a temporary solution to their
ancestors’ concern. He is the living bread that gives eternal life, not only to
the Jews but to the whole world. He affirms that this leaving bread is his flesh
(vv. 43-51). At the celebration of the Mass, we receive Jesus’ Body and Blood.
This Holy Communion gives us eternal life on the last day and strengthens us
now while on our earthly journey. This is what our first reading teaches us.
In
the first reading, Elijah is depressed because Queen Jezebel has promised to
kill him. In fear, Elijah is fleeing to save his life. He is heading to the
mountain Horeb, where he will meet with God. This trip will take him about
forty days and forty nights. In our text, he is only on his first day in the
desert and is very hungry and exhausted. Beneath a solitary bush, Elijah complains
and prays for his death. God provides him with food and water, which strengthen
and enable him to pursue his journey to Horeb, the mountain of God. Like
Elijah, we, too, are on our earthly journey to heaven. Like Elijah needed angelic
bread to get strength and pursue his journey to meet God in the mountain of
Horeb, our souls need Jesus, the Bread of Life, in our spiritual journey to
meet God in heaven one day. Jesus calls us to believe in him to have eternal
life. “Whoever believes has eternal life.” (V. 47). To believe in Jesus,
according to Paul in our second reading, is, first, to put aside sins such as
bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, reviling, and all malice, and second, to be
kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven
us in Christ (Eph 4:30-32). Paul invites the Ephesian believers and us to imitate
God in forgiving and Jesus in loving (Eph 5:1-2).
May
the liturgy of this Mass enable us to believe that the Eucharist is Jesus’ Body
and Blood, which strengthens us in our earthly journey and gives us eternal
life on the last day. Amen.
Rev. Leon Ngandu, SVD
This is an inspiring reflection.
ReplyDeleteCongrats.