John 6:35, 41-45 (NRSV)
Read John 6:35, 41-45 on biblegateway.com
Verse 35Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. Verse 41Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." Verse 42They were saying, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, 'I have come down from heaven'?" Verse 43Jesus answered them, "Do not complain among yourselves. Verse 44No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. Verse 45It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me.
Devotion
I understand why those who heard Jesus call himself "bread of life" and "bread that came down from heaven" started to complain. It was confusing. Jesus can't have come from heaven, since he came from Nazareth, right? It's still confusing today. This is about Holy Communion, right? Or is it? Scholarly debate is often confused, and confusing. Perhaps Jesus' words are just as fresh today: "Do not complain among yourselves."
Even if we cannot answer every question, we see how Jesus draws on ways God has worked in the past. Elijah was instructed, "Get up and eat." Jesus declares that whoever eats the bread that came down from heaven will live forever. The psalmist invited us to "taste and see that the Lord is good." Jesus announces that everyone who comes to him will never be hungry. Manna fell from heaven, and was for this world only. Now it is Jesus—both bread and flesh—that is given for the life of the world, "that one may eat of it and not die."
Prayer
God of our sustenance, feed us with the bread of life, come down from heaven, that I may never be hungry for you. Amen.