John 6:51-58

Summary

This presentation delves into John 6:51-58, focusing on the 'Bread of Life' discourse. The speaker explores the text's placement within the chapter and its rabbinic homily structure, providing detailed commentary and theological insights. Key themes include the Eucharist, Jesus' sacrificial offering, and the concept of true spiritual nourishment. The presentation encourages reflection on faith, discipleship, and the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection, concluding with a prayer for unity and spiritual sustenance.

Takeaways

• 📖 This presentation focuses on John chapter 6, verses 51-58, exploring the themes of the bread of life and the Eucharist.
• 🍞 The reading discusses Jesus as the living bread that came down from heaven, emphasizing the importance of eating his flesh and drinking his blood for eternal life.
• 🔍 The structure of the presentation includes a word of welcome, reading the text, noting its place in the chapter, commentary, conclusions, and a prayer.
• 📝 The homily is divided into an introduction, three steps (bread of life, come down from heaven, to eat), and a conclusion.
• 🗣️ Jesus' statement about eating his flesh and drinking his blood is a figurative way of expressing faith in his sacrificial death and resurrection.
• 📜 The commentary highlights the misunderstanding of Jesus' words by the Jews, comparing it to other instances in the Gospel where literal interpretations caused confusion.
• ⚖️ The term 'true' in this context means faithful, trustworthy, and reliable, emphasizing a relational understanding rather than literal truth.
• 🌿 The passage invites reflection on the relationship with Jesus and the significance of the Eucharist as a means of abiding in him.
• 💬 The small Greek word 'kathos' (just as) plays a significant role in connecting the mission of Jesus with that of his disciples.
• 🙏 The prayer at the end emphasizes the unity and nourishment provided by the word of life and the bread from heaven, asking for a taste of the life to come.

Q & A

What is the main focus of the presentation in John chapter 6?

The main focus of the presentation is on John 6:51-58, which is the climax of the rabbinic homily, discussing the Bread of Life discourse and its implications for the Eucharist and Jesus' death and resurrection.

How does the presenter plan to structure the presentation?

The presenter plans to start with a word of welcome, read the text, discuss its place in the chapter and within the rabbinic homily, provide commentary, draw conclusions, and end with a prayer.

What two directions does the gospel reading invite reflection on?

The gospel reading invites reflection on what happened for us in the great events that give us new life in Christ, and what we are doing when we celebrate the Lord's Supper.

What is the significance of verse 51 in John 6?

Verse 51 is significant because it is the third time Jesus says, 'I am the living bread that came down from heaven,' emphasizing the Eucharistic overtones and the sacrificial nature of Jesus giving his flesh for the life of the world.

What misunderstanding do the Jews express in verse 52?

The Jews express a literal misunderstanding of Jesus' statement about giving his flesh to eat, questioning how he can give them his flesh to eat.

How does Jesus respond to the misunderstanding in verse 53?

Jesus responds by intensifying the statement, saying that unless they eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, they have no life in them, emphasizing the spiritual significance of his death and resurrection.

What does the term 'true' signify in the context of this passage?

In this gospel, 'true' signifies something that is faithful, trustworthy, and reliable, rather than simply meaning accurate or real.

What does the mutual language in verse 56 indicate?

The mutual language in verse 56 indicates a relationship between Jesus and his followers, where abiding in Jesus and Jesus abiding in them is central to the passage's meaning.

What is the significance of the word 'catholics' (just as) in verse 57?

The word 'catholics' (just as) carries immense meaning, indicating that the actions and mission of Jesus continue through his disciples in a similar manner.

How does verse 58 conclude the homily?

Verse 58 concludes the homily by summarizing the key points about the bread from heaven, contrasting it with the manna eaten by the ancestors, and emphasizing that those who eat this bread will live forever.

Outlines

00:00

📖 Introduction and Overview of John 6:51-58

The presentation begins with a welcome and an overview of John 6:51-58, the final part of the homily on the bread of life. The speaker outlines the steps for the presentation: a welcome, reading the text, discussing its place in the chapter and rabbinic homily, commentary, conclusions, and a prayer. The reading reflects on two themes: the great events giving new life in Christ and the celebration of the Lord's Supper. The passage revisits verse 51, highlighting Jesus as the living bread from heaven.

05:00

🍞 Commentary on Eating the Bread of Life

The commentary begins with verse 51, emphasizing Jesus as the living bread from heaven, with a focus on eating and Eucharistic overtones. The speaker references John Marsh's commentary, explaining the significance of flesh and blood in Jewish sacrificial terms. The true food is Christ's flesh and blood, providing nourishment for eternal life. Verse 52 shows the Jews' literal misunderstanding of Jesus' words, which is a common theme in John's Gospel.

10:06

💬 Misunderstandings and True Meaning of Jesus' Words

Verses 53-56 detail Jesus' explanation of eating his flesh and drinking his blood as essential for eternal life, symbolizing faith in his sacrificial death. The term 'true' in this context means faithful and trustworthy. Jesus' language is mutual, emphasizing a relationship rather than literal consumption. This is further explored in the farewell discourse, where abiding in Jesus is key to understanding the relationship he offers.

15:06

🔄 The Significance of 'Just As' in John's Gospel

Verse 57 discusses the phrase 'just as' (cathos), highlighting its deep significance in John's Gospel. It denotes the continuity of Jesus' mission and love through his disciples. Examples include loving one another, abiding in Jesus' love, and the disciples' mission mirroring Jesus' mission. Verse 58 concludes the homily, summarizing the key themes of bread, heaven, and eating for eternal life. Verse 59 confirms the setting in a synagogue, reinforcing the structure as a rabbinic homily with Christian reflections.

🙏 Final Reflections and Prayer

The speaker concludes with reflections from the full PDF notes, emphasizing the connection between Jesus' teachings and lived experiences. This includes recalling situations where self-giving nourished others, paralleling Jesus' gift of life through his sacrifice. Questions for personal reflection are suggested, such as what gives nourishment and energy in one's life. The session ends with a prayer, thanking viewers and summarizing the teaching on the death and resurrection of Jesus and the Eucharist.

Keywords

💡John Chapter 6

John Chapter 6 is a key section of the Gospel of John in the New Testament, which includes the 'Bread of Life' discourse. This chapter is central to the video's theme, focusing on the spiritual significance of Jesus as the bread of life and the deep theological reflections on the Eucharist.

💡Bread of Life

The 'Bread of Life' is a metaphor used by Jesus in John 6 to describe himself as the spiritual sustenance necessary for eternal life. This concept is explored in depth in the video, emphasizing the importance of faith in Jesus and the spiritual nourishment he provides through the Eucharist.

💡Eucharist

The Eucharist, or Holy Communion, is a Christian sacrament commemorating the Last Supper, where bread and wine are consecrated and consumed. The video discusses the Eucharistic overtones in John 6:51-58, where Jesus speaks of his flesh and blood as true food and drink, symbolizing the sacrificial giving of his life.

💡Flesh and Blood

In the context of John 6, 'flesh and blood' refer to Jesus' sacrificial offering of his body and blood for the salvation of humanity. The video explains how these terms are used metaphorically to express the necessity of accepting Jesus' sacrifice to attain eternal life.

💡Rabbinic Homily

A rabbinic homily is a Jewish sermon or teaching that interprets scripture. The video frames John 6:51-58 as part of a rabbinic homily, structured with an introduction, three parts, and a conclusion, reflecting a traditional Jewish approach to scripture interpretation.

💡Eternal Life

Eternal life in the video refers to the life that believers gain through faith in Jesus Christ and his sacrificial death. This concept is central to the message of John 6:51-58, where Jesus promises eternal life to those who partake in the spiritual 'bread' and 'drink' he offers.

💡Faith

Faith is the trust and belief in Jesus Christ and his teachings. The video highlights the importance of faith in understanding and accepting the metaphorical language of eating Jesus' flesh and drinking his blood, which signifies believing in his sacrifice for eternal life.

💡Mutual Abiding

Mutual abiding describes the relationship between Jesus and believers, where they remain in each other spiritually. The video explains this concept in the context of John 6:56, where Jesus speaks of those who eat his flesh and drink his blood as abiding in him and he in them.

💡Sacrifice

Sacrifice in the video refers to Jesus' offering of his life for the salvation of humanity. The discussion includes how his flesh and blood symbolize this sacrifice and how believers participate in it through the Eucharist, reflecting on the meaning of Jesus' death and resurrection.

💡Resurrection

Resurrection is the belief in Jesus' rising from the dead, granting eternal life to his followers. The video ties this concept to John 6:54, where Jesus promises to raise those who eat his flesh and drink his blood on the last day, linking faith in his resurrection to the hope of eternal life.

Highlights

Welcome and introduction to John 6:51-58 as the focus of the presentation.

Overview of the structure of the presentation, including reading the text, commentary, and prayer.

Emphasis on the dual reflection: understanding the events that give new life in Christ and the meaning of celebrating the Lord's Supper.

Discussion on the significance of 'I am the living bread' and its eucharistic overtones.

Insight into the Jewish understanding of 'flesh and blood' as sacrificial terms and their relevance to Jesus' teachings.

Clarification that Jesus' statements about eating his flesh and drinking his blood are figurative, not literal.

Connection to other instances of literal misunderstandings in the Gospel, such as Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman.

Explanation of the importance of faith in Jesus' death and resurrection for eternal life.

The term 'true' in the Gospel means faithful, trustworthy, and reliable, rather than simply factual.

Abiding in Jesus as a mutual relationship highlighted in the farewell discourse.

The significance of the phrase 'just as' in the Gospel, indicating the continuation of Jesus' mission through his disciples.

Summary of the homily with key terms: bread, heaven, and eat.

Confirmation that the discourse is a Christian homily in a rabbinic outline, reflecting on Jesus' teachings and controversies.

Conclusion emphasizing the practical application of Jesus' teachings in everyday life through self-giving.

Final prayer for unity and nourishment through the Word of Life and the Bread from Heaven.

Transcripts

so welcome again

everybody to hears of the word for the

second last presentation on

john chapter six and our reading this

sunday is verses 51 to

58 the last part of the homily so to

speak

in john chapter 6. so i look forward

very much

to being with you

the bread of life exploring john

6 51-58 continuing

the discourse

for this presentation we'll take the

following steps

the usual word of welcome then we'll

read the text

itself notice the place in the chapter

as a whole

and in particular its place in the

rabbinic homily and then we spend some

time on the commentary

before drawing some conclusions and

finally a prayer

our gospel reading invites reflection

in two directions firstly what do we

believe

happened for us in the great events that

gave give us new life

in christ and secondly

what are we doing when we celebrate the

lord's supper

and the fourth gospel has deep

reflections on both topics to offer

in this passage

this time our gospel reading repeats the

previous

sunday's last verse so verse 51

i am the living bread that came down

from heaven

whoever eats of this bread will live

forever

and the bread that i will give for the

life of the world

is my flesh

the jews then disputed among themselves

saying

how can this man give us his flesh to

eat

so jesus said to them very truly i tell

you unless you

eat the flesh of the son of man and

drink his blood you have

no life in you those who eat my flesh

and drink my blood

have eternal life and i will raise them

up on the last day

for my flesh is true food and my blood

is true drink

those who eat my flesh and drink my

blood abide in me

and i in them just as

the living father sent me and i live

because

of the father so whoever eats me

will live because of me this is the

bread

that came down from heaven not like the

bread which your ancestors ate

and they died but the one who eats

this bread will live forever

according to my overall map of john

chapter six

we're still in section four the remarks

about the bread

and we're in the closing section of that

and even in these paragraph divisions

you can see that our reading

cuts across two passages

it is perhaps a little more significant

to see the section within the outline of

the rabbinic homily

and according to my own analysis this

homily is in

five parts with an introduction and

a conclusion and then within that there

are

three steps the bread of life 35 to 40

come down from heaven 41 to 47 and

to eat 48 to 57.

so our reading gives the substance of of

uh

bread from heaven to eat part three and

then takes us

into the conclusion in verse 58.

as before it may be easier to see the

structure by looking at the whole text

of the homily here with its introduction

and conclusion

and its three parts we find ourselves in

the third part a little bit into it but

it includes the conclusion in verse

58. as before the

viewer may like to pause the video here

and just consider the text

of the whole homily

and so we come to the commentary

beginning with verse

51 i am the living bread that came down

from heaven

whoever eats of this bread will live

forever

and the bread that i will give for the

life of the world is

my flesh so this is the third time we've

had the expression

i am the living bread a kind of heading

over each of the sections

and here the emphasis is going to fall

on eating

and the eucharistic overtones are

evident

and as noted in the previous talk in

paul we have this is my body that is for

you

and in john for you becomes for the life

of the world

and in john body becomes flesh

a comment on at this point by a very old

commentary on john's gospel that of john

marsh

in the penguin series may help us john

marsh wrote

in jewish thinking the twin terms flesh

and blood constitute a pair

used in reference to the sacrificial

giving and taking of life

so in speaking of eating his flesh and

drinking his blood

jesus is saying that unless we come to

live by his death

and find our own real life in accepting

the destiny

that his own life has marked out as

characteristic for the disciples

we cannot find the way to the life he

has come to bestow

entry upon life in this world and

inheritance of life in the world to come

are both bound up with our relationship

to the self-offering of jesus in his

sacrifice

so it is the conclusion of the discourse

that the true food is christ's flesh and

the true drink

is blood both of these are what satisfy

those hungers and thirsts from which we

suffer

in distinction from all other earthly

creatures

our genuine nourishment lies in them

without them the really human person

dies

even though they continue to live in the

flesh but with them

they live the life that is really life

both here in the course of history

and in that which lies beyond history in

the world

to come i have changed the language a

little to make it

inclusive

verse 52 the jews then disputed among

themselves

saying how can this man give us his

flesh to eat

so as before the reaction remains at the

physical level

already criticized by jesus of course

jesus had not said

people must literally eat his flesh he

was speaking

figuratively but this sort of literal

misunderstanding occurs elsewhere in the

gospel

for instance in the story of nicodemus

we read how can anyone be born after

having grown old

can one enter a second time into the

mother's womb and be born

or in the case of the woman at the well

sorry give me this water

so that i may never be thirsty or have

to keep coming here

to draw water and both of these are

kind of fairly crass misunderstandings

and

the question must we eat jesus kind of

cannibalistically

is also a crude and crass

misunderstanding

verse 53 so jesus said to them

very truly i tell you unless you eat the

flesh of the son of man and drink his

blood you have no life in you

those who eat my flesh and drink my

blood have eternal life

and i will raise them up on the last day

for my flesh is true food and my blood

is

true drink as with nicodemus and the

samaritan woman

jesus kind of sarcastically intensifies

the problems the expression son of man

is always linked to the passion so an

indication that we are must be thinking

of

the death and resurrection of jesus so

the primary meaning here is

faith in jesus death on the cross where

he actually gives his flesh and his

blood

pours out and the gift of life

then expanded in two directions number

one

eternal life present and number two

resurrection

in the future the adjective true

is worth commenting on truth are true in

this gospel

do not simply mean some veracity instead

it means faithful trustworthy

reliable it's a relationship term

in the jerusalem bible translation

electionary it's translated as

real which is retained in the new

jerusalem bible

but the revised neutralized jerusalem

bible is more accurate

using the word true

verse 56 those who eat my flesh and

drink my blood

abide in me and i in them

and here we see the confirmation that

the language is really

mutual language rather than literal

abiding and dwelling become very

significant in the farewell discourse

in chapters 14 to 17 in particular in

two places

the true vine discourse in chapter 15

but also in the

great final prayer in chapter 17.

so we're meant to think of the whole

gift as a gift of

relationship and we're meant to respond

on the level of relationship

verse 57 just as the living father sent

me

and i live because of the father so

whoever eats me

will live because of me the little

expression

just as in greek is catholics a tiny

word

carrying an immense meaning in this

gospel as you can see from these

selected quotations all using catholics

just as i have loved you you also should

love one another meaning

the love from jesus continues itself in

the love of disciples

as the father has loved me so i have

loved you abide in my love

this is my commandment that you love one

another as

i have loved you again catholics

as you have sent me into the world so i

have sent

them into the world otherwise the

mission the sending of jesus continues

in the descending of the disciples

and finally peace be with you as the

father has sent me

so i send you and so the mission of

jesus continues

in the mission of the disciples and in

the mission of the community of faith

so little word catholes just as or as

is highly significant in the fourth

gospel

verse 58 this is the bread

that came down from heaven not like that

which your ancestors ate

and they died but the one who eats this

bread will live

forever so here we have the homily

conclusion

taking us back to the start in verses 30

to 34

and the important words present are

bread

heaven and eat so it makes a very fine

summary of the whole homily

for the sake of completeness i'm going

to include verse

59 he said these things

while he was teaching in the synagogue

at copper nam

and teaching in a synagogue is a kind of

confirmation

that the whole discourse is a homily in

good rabbinic outline

as we saw it is of course

a christian homily written much later

in the light of the events of salvation

and in the light of the controversies of

joanna and christianity including its

crisis

so it's a a christian reflection put

back on the lips of jesus

this is jesus only time actually in a

synagogue

in the fourth gospel even though he says

in chapter 18

that he was in many synagogues where we

read jesus answered

i have spoken openly to the world i've

always taught in

synagogues and in the temple where all

the jews come together i have said

nothing in secret and so the great

homily of john chapter 6

comes to rest

our conclusions this time are really

some reflections

taken from the full pdf of notes

even though this text is very focused on

jesus

and may seem distant from ordinary life

nevertheless the starting point

has to be something within our lived

experience

thus providing a foothold in the

familiar to open up the gospel passage

one could launch the reflection by

recalling significant situations

in which the costly gift of self

nourished

others leading perhaps to the gift of

new courage and

new life christians believe that jesus

gives life by giving himself

this is also the path of discipleship

the believer also gives life by the gift

of self

and such memories may lead to the real

heart of what is being said here

faith in jesus and the meaning of his

death and resurrection

at this point questions arise such as

what is at the center of my life

what gives me nourishment and energy how

has that actually taken place in my own

quite personal journey and so on

and so we pray wise and

gracious god you spread a table before

us

and nourish your people with the word of

life and the bread from heaven

in our sharing of these holy gifts show

us

our unity in you and give us a taste

of the life to come we make our prayer

through our lord jesus christ

who lives and reigns with you in the

unity of the holy spirit

god forever and ever amen

once again thank you for your patience

in

watching this program on john 6 verses

51 to

58 the climax really of the rabbinic

homily

when the teaching on the death and

resurrection of jesus and the teaching

on the eucharist really do come

together so i hope the few reflections

have been helpful

will help you to reflect and to pray and

to live

the marvelous teaching in this passage

thanks very much