John 6:24-35

Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15

Psalm 78:3-4, 23-24, 25, 54

Ephesians 4:17, 20-24

John 6:24-35

When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there,

they themselves got into boats

and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.

And when they found him across the sea they said to him,

“Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus answered them and said,

“Amen, amen, I say to you,

you are looking for me not because you saw signs

but because you ate the loaves and were filled.

Do not work for food that perishes

but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

For on him the Father, God, has set his seal.”

So they said to him,

“What can we do to accomplish the works of God?”

Jesus answered and said to them,

“This is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent.”

So they said to him,

“What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you?

What can you do?

Our ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written:

He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”

So Jesus said to them,

“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.

For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world.”

So they said to him,

“Sir, give us this bread always.”

Jesus said to them,

“I am the bread of life;

whoever comes to me will never hunger,

and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, I believe that your Son, Jesus Christ, is the Messiah and the New Moses. He is my king now and forever. I am grateful for the gift of the Eucharist, the New Manna. I look forward to the eternal banquet with you in heaven.

Encountering the Word of God

1. Four Qualities of the Old Manna: In the Book of Exodus we learn that the Israelites did not know what the manna was when they first saw it. They said in Hebrew, man-hu? Which means literally “What is it?” The first quality of the manna is that it was not ordinary bread. It “was miraculous ‘bread from heaven,’ given directly by God to his people for them to eat” (Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, 81). The second quality of the manna was that it was accompanied by the gift of flesh (quail) from heaven. “In the morning, they ate the manna, but in the evening, they ate the flesh of the quail that covered the camp” (Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, 83). The third characteristic of the manna was that was preserved in the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle of Moses (Exodus 16:32-34). This means that the manna was not only miraculous but also holy.  The fourth quality was that the manna tasted like wafers made with honey (Exodus 16:31). The honey was a foretaste of the promised land, the land flowing with milk and honey (Exodus 3:8). By means of the manna in the desert, “God was calling the Israelites to place their trust in his ability to provide for them and to see them home” (Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, 84). 

2. The New Manna: All four qualities of the old manna point toward the New Manna of the Eucharist that Jesus gives: It is bread from heaven; it is the body of Christ; it is holy; and it is a foretaste of the heavenly banquet. Many things in today’s Gospel passage point to the experience of the Israelites in the desert. The Israelites saw the signs and mighty deeds of God, yet grumbled and complained in the wilderness. Despite the fact of seeing the Ten Plagues, the splitting of the Red Sea, the destruction of Pharaoh’s army, and gifts of manna and water, they began to distrust God and his servant, Moses. We see the people around Jesus – who have been fed miraculously by Jesus – ask for yet another sign. They want Jesus, whom they have proclaimed as the Messiah-king (John 6:15), to bring down the manna from heaven. “The Jewish crowds knew that the Messiah was supposed to be a new Moses. They also knew that he was supposed to bring back the miracle of the manna. So, in order to test Jesus and see if he was in fact the one, they asked him to establish his messianic pedigree by performing a miracle. They challenged him to give them the new manna from heaven, with one twist. They wanted him to do so not just for forty years, like the old manna, but for always” (Pitre, Jesus and the Jewish Roots of the Eucharist, 99). The request of the crowds will prompt Jesus to launch into the bread of life discourse, which we will begin to read next Sunday.

3. Learn Christ and Put on the New Self: In the Letter to the Ephesians, Paul draws out a contrast between living as a pagan and living as a Christian. He has just spoken about building up the Church by striving for unity, ministering in the Church, and advancing toward Christian maturity (Ephesians 4:1-16). Paul calls the Ephesians and us to break from the immoral conduct of the surrounding culture (Ephesians 4:17-19). Paul’s message is this: “Do not keep living like the pagans. Let your thinking and values be transformed by Christ, in whom God has created you anew for a life and righteousness and holiness” (Prothro, The Apostle Paul and His Letters: An Introduction, 174). Paul points out how the conduct of the Gentiles leads to shallowness in their thinking. Immoral living and superficial thinking go hand in hand. The Christians in Ephesus have “learned Christ” and now possess a deep understanding of the meaning and purpose of human life. “Having depicted the degradation of the pagan lifestyle, now Paul reminds his readers of the profound change in their identity brought about through their conversion to Christ” (Williamson, Ephesians, 127). By speaking about putting away the old self and putting on the new self, Paul seems to be referring to Baptism. Christians “have ‘put on’ Christ in baptism, and so they must ‘put off’ evil works and ‘put on’ the way of the Lord into whom they have been baptized” (Prothro, A Pauline Theory of Justification, 106). A baptized person dies with Christ and rises to a new life. They are freed from the slavery to sin. This does not mean that a Christian cannot sin, but that we acquire a new freedom to reject sin (see Williamson, Ephesians, 128). 

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, help me to enter more deeply into the mystery of the Eucharist. I want to appreciate the gift of yourself as I should and need your grace and your wisdom. I want to spend time with you in the Eucharist and conform my life to yours.

Living the Word of God: The key to putting on the new self is to be renewed in our innermost thoughts in an ongoing manner. “Prayerful reading of Scripture, participation in the liturgy, and study of revealed truth can contribute to acquiring a renewed mind and a transformed life” (Williamson, Ephesians, 130). Which of these three do I most need at this moment?