Bread of Life Discourse
The Bread of Life Discourse is a portion of the teaching of
The title "Bread of Life" (
John's Gospel does not include an account of the blessing of the bread during the
Biblical account
In the central part of this discourse:
Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." They said to him, "Sir, give us this bread always." Jesus 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."
— John 6:32–35, New Revised Standard Version.[4]
The reference to the bread given by Moses concerns the
Church Fathers
The Liturgy of the Eucharist, from the earliest days, was performed behind closed doors out of fear of
Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of John the Apostle (the author of the gospel of John), first-century Christian writer and Patriarch of Antioch, explains the common understanding of the Eucharist as truly the body and blood of Jesus Christ in a letter written c. 110 AD:
Take note of those who hold heterodox opinions on the grace of Jesus Christ which has come to us, and see how contrary their opinions are to the mind of God…They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which that Father, in his goodness, raised up again. They who deny the gift of God are perishing in their disputes.
— Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Smyrnaeans 6:2-7:1
This orthodox understanding is further affirmed by Irenaeus of Lyon in his famous work "Against Heresies" where he asks rhetorically "If the Lord were from other than the Father, how could he rightly take bread, which is of the same creation as our own, and confess it to be his body and affirm that the mixture in the cup is his blood?" (Against Heresies 4:32-33).
Cyril of Jerusalem, a fourth-century Christian writer and bishop of Jerusalem during the Arian controversy, explains that "the bread and the wine of the Eucharist before the holy invocation of the adorable Trinity were simple bread and wine, but the invocation having been made, the bread becomes the body of Christ and the wine the blood of Christ" (Catechetical Lectures 19:7).
Augustine of Hippo in his Tractate on John 6 teaches that Jesus was speaking mystically and not carnally (that is, not solely physically): by eating his flesh and drinking his blood the Church not merely be consuming Jesus' body and blood, but would be ritually united with Christ.[7] Augustine elsewhere teaches that the bread and wine is the same body that Jesus gave up and the same blood that he shed on the cross.[8]
"I promised you [new Christians], who have now been baptized, a sermon in which I would explain the sacrament of the Lord’s Table….That bread which you see on the altar, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the body of Christ. That chalice, or rather, what is in that chalice, having been sanctified by the word of God, is the blood of Christ"
— Augustine of Hippo, Sermons 227
John Chrysostom, in his Homily 47 on the Gospel of John, teaches that Jesus' words are not an enigma or a parable, but to be taken literally.[9]
Writings in the modern era
Cornelius a Lapide comments on the words "comes down", writing: "not in the past, but the present tense. The Greek is καταβαίνων, the present participle. The expression therefore signifies the perpetual descent of Christ upon the Eucharistic altar even to the end of the world. For whensoever the priest consecrates the Eucharist, Christ, who after His death ascended into heaven, comes down from thence to the consecrated species of bread, and in them declares His presence."[10]
Meredith J. C. Warren and Jan Heilmann have challenged the Eucharistic interpretation of this passage. Warren argues that it reflects ancient Mediterranean traditions of sacrificial meals that identify a hero with a divinity.[12] Heilmann argues that the imagery of eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking his blood is to be understood against the background of the conceptual metaphor.[13]
In the Christological context, the use of the Bread of Life title is similar to the Light of the World title in John 8:12, where Jesus states: "I am the light of the world: he who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."[14] These assertions build on the Christological theme of John 5:26, where Jesus claims to possess life just as the Father does and provides it to those who follow him.[14][15] The alternative wording, "bread of God", appears in John 6:33, but not elsewhere in the New Testament.[4]
See also
- Farewell Discourse
- Gospel harmony
- I am (biblical term)
- "I Am the Bread of Life"
- Last Supper
- Life of Jesus in the New Testament
- Light of the World
- Water of Life Discourse
References
- ISBN 0-19-511811-1
- ISBN 0-664-25752-6
- ISBN 0-8146-5663-3page 118
- ^ a b "John 6:24-35 (New Revised Standard Version)". Oremus Bible Browser.
- ^ a b Barnes, A. (1834), Barnes' Notes on John 6, accessed 13 January 2024
- ^ Plummer, A. (1902), Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on John 6, accessed 13 January 2024
- ^ New Advent: Augustine Tractate 27 (John 6:60-72)
- ^ SERMON 227: PREACHED ON THE HOLY DAY OF EASTER TO THE INFANTES, ON THE SACRAMENTS
- ^ New Advent: Chrysostom Homily 47 on the Gospel of John
- ^ Cornelius Cornelii a Lapide; Thomas Wimberly Mossman The great commentary of Cornelius à Lapide, London: J. Hodges, 1889-1896.
- ^ Friedrich Justus Knecht (1910). . A Practical Commentary on Holy Scripture. B. Herder.
- ISBN 978-1451496697
- ISBN 978-3-17-025181-6.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-664-25010-2page 147
- ISBN 0-8028-4816-8page 163