Jn 6:51-58
I am the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever. The bread I shall give is my flesh and I will give it for the life of the world.”
The Jews were arguing among themselves, “How can this man give us flesh to eat?” So Jesus replied, “Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. The one who eats my flesh and drinks my blood lives eternal life and I will raise him up on the last day.
My flesh is really food and my blood is truly drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood, live in me and I in them. Just as the Father, who is life, sent me and I have life from the Father, so whoever eats me will have life from me. This is the bread which came from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.”
REFLECTION
READ: Jesus gave a discourse on His being the bread that came from heaven. He is the bread that gives life unlike any other bread, even the one given to their ancestors in the desert. Because of this, the Jews became even more confused and misunderstood what He was saying.
REFLECT: Words at times do not mean what they literally convey. Words can cleverly mask the real meaning and hide it from the unreflective and discerning. Thus words need proper respect. Jesus seemed to speak in words that were hard to decipher. Perhaps this was His own way of inviting His hearers to dwell more on His words to unpack its meaning: That they come to a slow but sure understanding of these words by gnawing on them until they reached its marrow. Perhaps what vexed the people that day was not so much the obtuse meaning of Jesus’ words but that they were impatient and had no time to allow the wonder of the words Jesus brought to slowly unfold in their lives. They wanted everything served to them at once without the benefit of waiting.
RESPOND: We sometimes go hurriedly over the words of Jesus. We do not allow it to stay with us. Come to think about this, we never spend time enjoying the nourishing Word of God in our life. Perhaps it is a good idea to brush the dust from our Bibles long kept on the shelf. We can start a program of continuous reading of the Bible today.
PRAY: Loving Father, may I read and listen to Your Word today. Cleanse my ears and ready my mouth to receive and proclaim Your Words that come to me every day of my life. May I never doubt or fear through Christ Your Son and our Savior. Amen.
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