20TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (B)

For my flesh is true food,

and my blood is true drink. 

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood

remains in me and I in him.

Jn 6:51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds…

The traditional translation would be: “Jesus said to the Jews….” It is as if Jesus and his disciples were not Jews. It would seem that when John wrote his gospel, Christians were already aware that they had an identity of their own. They were not a religious group within the Jewish religion.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.

The Jewish hearers of Jesus would know that the bread that came down from heaven was manna. It was this bread that kept their ancestors alive during their wandering in the desert. Jesus asserts that he is the true manna (for he is the LIVING bread) that came down from heaven.

Whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world

And just as the manna of the Old Testament kept the Israelites alive in the desert, so also this manna which is his flesh will give life to those who eat it. Obviously, Jesus is talking here about the Eucharist.

Giving his flesh refers to his death on the cross. For the life of the world is another way of saying “saving mankind”. In other words, the death of Jesus is salvific.

Life is a favourite theme in John’s gospel. In his encounter with the Samaritan woman, he offers to give her living water. When Jesus went to see Lazarus who had died, he tells Martha that he is the way, the truth and the life.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.

The word “eat” here is literally “chew” or “masticate”. John may want to underline the fact that the Eucharist is REALLY partaking of the body and blood of Jesus.

Jesus also tells us that the Eucharist is contains within itself the promise of resurrection to those who believe.

For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink.

Food and drink sustains life. Since the Eucharist is real food and drink, it follows that it gives life, eternal life.

Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.

To live is to enter into communion with the Son and with the Father. The Eucharist is a special sign of this communion. Hence, the Eucharist when received is called Holy Communion.