Gospel of John, Chapter 6 (The Bread of Life Discourse)

John 6 is one of the best known and most beloved chapters in all of the Bible. You have the miracle of the loaves and fishes, as well as the "Bread of Life Discourse." But, while you often hear about the miracle of the loaves and fishes in isolation, you need to read the rest of the chapter to see what John is trying to convey. Like the Wedding of Cana, this chapter paints a picture that isn't obvious on first reading. Cana was a picture of Heaven. This is a picture of Christ's death and resurrection.

The break-neck version of the story is this: Jesus breaks bread and then goes up on the mountain. His disciples get in a boat to cross the sea, and only arrive on the other shore when Jesus comes down from the mountain and (depending on the translation you're using) gets into the boat (or at least is invited into the boat). That's when the Bread of Life discourse begins, and Jesus teaches about the attainment of Eternal Life. Of course, the Bread of Life discourse is amplified by the story that precedes it.

Let's explore the events that happen here. You have breaking of bread, which most Christians, early Christians included, would have recognized as being similar to the Last Supper. (See Acts 2:42.) Andrew and Philip are mentioned here, implying that this is a meal to be shared with the whole world. After all, Philip is a Greek name, and Andrew was martyred in Greece. To the ancient Jews, Greeks/Gentiles were the outsiders, and emblematic of the wider world. Jesus and these Apostles with Greek ties are feeding a multitude, again symbolizing the whole world that is to be evangelized and fed.

Then, rather suddenly, Jesus goes up to the mountain, which is strange, because John 6:3 seems to imply that they were already on a mountain. Now, there are various explanations as to what's going on here, but the Evangelist is forcing you to stop and think here. Mountains were a symbol for heaven, or the place of the gods to ancient peoples. Mount Olympus would be a good example.

Going up to the mountain is a symbol of Christ's death. This is supported elsewhere in the text. "He said to them again, 'I am going away and you will look for me, but you will die in your sin. Where I am going you cannot come."So the Jews said, 'He is not going to kill himself, is he, because he said, 'Where I am going you cannot come'?'" (John 8:21-22) Christ had to draw away from us by dying, and that's why he draws away to the mountain -- so that we would not carry him off to make him King, but rather that we would share in his resurrection.

The next strange part of this story is the disciples' passage across the Sea of Galilee. The disciples are frightened, but as soon as Jesus shows up they reach their destination. The whole episode is told in one short paragraph. But it's a fitting image of Christ's death and resurrection and how that relates to us. As long as there have been people, people have died. It's something that all human beings understand and naturally fear. The image of a boat ride is also a common image of that journey. In Greek mythology, Charon would take the dead across the River Styx. Here, Christ is the one who brings us to our destination. But, unlike Charon, he joins us on the other side.

The Bread of Life Discourse is very rich. It can be seen as a continuation or amplification of what Christ tells his disciples about food in chapter 4. Remember that the food represents action. Well, that's not entirely true. As we learn hear, it may be more accurate to say bread, the food is action. It is Life. I always capitalize that word, because Jesus Christ is the Life. He is the Bread of Life, and He is Life itself. If we do not have Him in us, then we are dead. We have Him in us if we believe (remember that belief means trust, and not just knowledge) in Him. That, in a nutshell, is the lesson of the Bread of Life Discourse.

I can't say it enough. We need to be united to the will of God, so that we can share in His Life. The Eastern Orthodox would explain it this way: we cannot (and should not desire) to be God. We're us and He's Him. So, we are separate persons, and are not one with Him in Person. We also can't be gods. We're people, with human nature. So, we do not share the Nature, the Essence, the Being of God. Jesus is one in Being with the Father, but we are not. That leaves Life, Energy, Acts. We can be, and are called to be one with God in His Life. The whole reason Jesus came down from Heaven was so that we might share with God his Eternal Life.

Christ is the Word of God. When God said, "Let there be Light," that active, creative word was Jesus. His flesh, his being is Life. We can't be Life, because that would mean being God, but we can have Life within us, and in doing so, we can be one with God. Going to Heaven isn't just an arbitrary reward for being good. It is the proper outcome of being one with God, whose Life is outside of time, eternal. That's what Christ is offering us here, and it is our challenge to trust Him and accept this tremendous gift that He is giving us.