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. 47 Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.
Jesus told the crowd that he was of divine origin, “I am the bread that came down from heaven (v. 41),” The Jews murmured in their unbelief as the Israelites did in the desert during the Exodus (Ex. 15:24; 16:2,7,12). They rejected Jesus’ assertion that he was sent from God because they knew his origin, that he was the son of Joseph and Mary (Jn. 1:45; Mk. 6:3). Manna was not the bread from heaven (Ex. 16:13-36), he was the bread from heaven (Jn. 6:38). Faith is a divine gift from the Father and the Father knows those who will accept the gift, be drawn to Him, and be raised to new life by the Son. Faith does not override man’s free will. It is an interior action. It is the Law written into our hearts by God (Jer. 313:33) that draws men to Jesus. When one hears the word of God he is taught by God, and the soul will come to Jesus and rise with him on the last day (Is. 54:13).
Jesus told them that because of his relationship with God, his Father, who sent him, only he could make God known to them and give life both now and throughout eternity. But he can only give life if they believe in him. He is from the Father, 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 (Jn. 6:32). One can only have knowledge of God through hearing and learning from the words of Jesus.
Almighty God, in your mercy, grant us the grace to seek the Bread of Life and to believe in all that he taught and did so that we will be raised up on the last day. This we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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