The Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 42 and they said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother? Then how can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus answered and said to them, “Stop murmuring among yourselves. 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him, and I will raise him on the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets: ‘They shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father.”
The Jews murmured in their unbelief like the Israelites in the desert during the exodus (Ex. 15:24; 16:2,7,12), and they complained that it was not possible for Jesus (portrayed in John’s Gospel as the new Moses) to claim to be the bread from heaven because they knew of his origin – Joseph and Mary. Jesus told them that only he could make God known to them and give life both now and throughout eternity because of his relationship with God, his Father, who sent him. But this could only happen if they believed in him. Jesus quoted (v. 45) from the prophets Isaiah (Is. 54:13) and Jerimiah (Jer. 31:34) to show that it is God who draws people to him. He is from the Father and has seen the Father and will make known to them what the Father tells him. He is the true revelation from God, the true bread of life. Because you can only have knowledge of God through Jesus, you must first hear and believe the word of Jesus in order to be taught by God.
Collect for 01 02 22
Almighty God, you revealed your Only Begotten Son to the nations by the guidance of a star, grant in your mercy that we, who know you already by faith, may be brought to behold the beauty of your sublime glory. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.
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References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Expanded Edition, Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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