Down from Heaven written by Bincy Thomas, North Plainfield, NJ

St. John6:35-46

"And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will by no means cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have everlasting life; and I will raise him up at the last day.

The Jews then complained about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

Jesus therefore answered and said to them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. it is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father."

Jesus Christ being the bread of life is a familiar sermon to many of us. In fact, two Sundays ago, a very similar gospel passage was read during Liturgy. But in this week’s portion, I’d like to bring to your attention the question raised amongst the Jewish leaders.

And they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”

I’m sure many of us can remember when we were younger spending summer nights playing outdoors after school. One thing my friends and I used to enjoy was staying out till it was dark and spotting lightning bugs. We were attracted to their glow which almost seemed magical. They made the evening dusk look pretty. The best thing was that these fireflies moved slow enough that you can cup your hands and actually catch them. So we would raid our kitchen cabinets for all the glass jars our mothers saved and catch lightning bugs in them. Of course you would be excited you have your own firefly and keep it as long as could in that airtight container, which was sadly only about 8 hours.

How we treated these fireflies is sometimes the way we treat God – we contain Him in ways that we think we can experience Him best. Take a look at how the Jewish leaders in the passage contained Christ. They are quick to question Jesus’ identity when He claims that he is the bread that came from heaven. They used their limited knowledge about Him to negate this truth. We see that they were having a hard time accepting Christ to be more than ‘just the son of Joseph and Mary whom they knew’. Their ignorance made me ponder if we too sometimes refuse to see Christ for who He really is, beyond our imperfect understanding of His role and presence in our life.

Is he just a God we beg to perform miracles? Or only praised when our prayers are answered? Or only worshipped on Sundays because our families give us no other choice?

He tells us that He is more than that--- that He is the bread of life. The very sustenance we need for life today and eternal life. He is food that satisfies our every hunger. But do we see Christ as that essential in our daily lives? Or are we settling for less by reducing Him and His works? Take a moment to imagine how different would our relationships would be if we sought Him as our Counselor, our academic life if we sought Him as our Teacher, our health if we sought Him as Healer.

Christ reminds us that He has come to give life, and to give it abundantly. Let’s make an effort to experience Him in fullness. And be encouraged knowing that Christ and the Church gave us many avenues to accomplish this – the Eucharist, the Scriptural Word, sacramental life, and each other! So, my friends, let us behold the Bread of Life and taste and see that the Lord is good.

Questions for Mediation

1. Do we find ourselves placing limits on the power of Christ?

2. Where do we look for life? Do we find life in Christ or in other things?

Name: Bincy Thomas

Area: Sts. Basilios-Gregorios Orthodox Church, North Plainfield, NJ