By
Email: josleminhthong@gmail.com
July 29, 2012
Contents
I. Introduction
II. Text and
structure of Jn 6:22-40
1. Text of Jn 6:22-40
2. Structure of Jn 6:22-40
III. Daily bread
and everlasting bread
1. Daily bread
2. Misunderstanding of hearers
3. Everlasting bread
a) The bread comes down from
heaven
b) The true bread
c) The bread gives life to the
world
d) The bread of life is Jesus
himself
e) The bread satisfies all hunger
and thirst
IV. Conclusion
Bibliography
I. Introduction
In his commentary on Gospel of
John, Raymond E. BROWN
points out many problems relating to the composition of Jn 6. He also remarks
upon the difficulty of coherence among the two signs (6:1-21) and the discourse
(6:25-59) from a historical point of view (cf. BROWN, The Gospel, vol. I, p. 258-259. The details
of references are presented at the end of this article). However, from a
literary and a theological point of view, we can consider the entire chapter 6
as a coherent text. Rudolf SCHNACKENBURG wrote: “Jn 6 is a self-contained unit which shows evidence of careful composition.
Its function within the gospel is to portray a segment of Jesus’ Galilean
activity, in fact the climax and turning-point. Thematically it presents us
with Jesus’ revelation of himself as the bread of life” (SCHNACKENBURG, The Gospel, vol. II, p. 10).
In this literary and theological
perspective, Jn 6 is a unity of literature, this chapter related to Jesus’ mission
in Galilee, while chapter 5 and 7 told us about Jesus’ activity in Jerusalem
(5:1; 7:10). In Jn 6, Jesus reveals his origin and his mission through the
theme of “bread”. Jn 6 is the longest chapter of the Fourth Gospel (71 verses),
it can be structured in three large parts: Signs – Discourse – Effect:
I. Two signs (6:1-21).
1) 6:1-15, Sign 1: Multiplication of five loaves and two fishes
2) 6:16-21, Sign 2: Walking on the sea of Galilee
II. Discourse (6:22-59)
1) 6:22-24: Transition - The crowd finds Jesus
2) 6:25-59: The discourse on the bread of life
a) 6:25-40: Bread
from heaven, bread of life
b) 6:41-51: Discuss
on origin of Jesus
c) 6:52-59: Eating the flesh and drinking
the blood
III. Effect (6:60-71)
1) 6:60-66: Many of Jesus’ disciples went away
2) 6:67-71: Peter professes his faith
in Jesus
In this article, we talk about
the topic: From “bread for daily life” to “bread for everlasting life” in Jn
6:22-40. First, we present the text and structure of Jn 6:22-40, then we treat this
theme in three points: (1) Daily bread, (2) Misunderstanding of hearers and (3)
Everlasting bread.
II. Text and structure of Jn 6:22-40
1.
Text of Jn 6:22-40 (New Jerusalem Bible, 1985)
[6:22-24: Transition: seeking
Jesus]
22 Next day, the crowd that had
stayed on the other side saw that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus
had not got into the boat with his disciples, but that the disciples had set
off by themselves. 23 Other boats, however, had put in from Tiberias, near the
place where the bread had been eaten. 24 When the people saw that neither Jesus
nor his disciples were there, they got into those boats and crossed to
Capernaum to look for Jesus.
[6:25-29: God’s Work and to
believe]
25 When they found him on the
other side, they said to him, 'Rabbi, when did you come here?' 26 Jesus
answered: In all truth I tell you, you are looking for me not because you have
seen the signs but because you had all the bread you wanted to eat. 27 Do not
work for food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life,
which the Son of man will give you, for on him the Father, God himself, has set
his seal. 28 Then they said to him, 'What must we do if we are to carry out God's
work?' 29 Jesus gave them this answer, 'This is carrying out God's work: you
must believe in the one he has sent.'
[6:30-36: Bread from heaven, bread
of life]
30 So they said, 'What sign will
you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will
you do? 31 Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them
bread from heaven to eat.' 32 Jesus answered them: In all truth I tell you, it
was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you
the bread from heaven, the true bread; 33 for the bread of God is the bread
which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. 34 'Sir,' they said,
'give us that bread always.' 35 Jesus answered them: I am the bread of life. No
one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever
thirst. 36 But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not
believe.
[6:37-40: Jesus come from heaven
to offer eternal life]
37 Everyone whom the Father gives
me will come to me; I will certainly not reject anyone who comes to me, 38
because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of
him who sent me. 39 Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose
nothing of all that he has given to me, but that I should raise it up on the
last day. 40 It is my Father's will that whoever sees the Son and believes in
him should have eternal life, and that I should raise that person up on the
last day.
Note: In general, we cite the biblical
text from “New Jerusalem Bible, 1985” version (NJB), when we use “New American
Bible, 1991” version (NAB), this abbreviation will be provided at the end
of citation.
2.
Structure of Jn 6:22-40
Jn 6,22-40 belongs to the first
part of the Discourse in Jn 6. This literature’s unity relates to two stories:
(1) The crowd seeks Jesus and sees him (6,22-24), (2) Then they hold a dialogue
with Jesus. This dialogue (Jn 6,25-40) can be divided into three sections:
Transition: Jn 6,22-24, the crowd
finds Jesus at Capernaum
Section 1: 6:25-29, God’s work
and believing
Crowd’s
question (6:25), Jesus’ answer (6:26-27)
Crowd’s
question (6:28), Jesus’ answer (6:29)
Section 2: 6:30-36, bread from heaven, bread of life
Crowd’s
questions (6:30-31), Jesus’ answer (6:32-33)
Crowd’s
request (6:34), Jesus’ answer (6:35-36)
Section 3: 6:37-40, Jesus reveals
his Father and himself
The opening of section 1 (6:25-29)
relates to the misunderstanding of the crowd about bread. Jesus talks to them:
“You are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had
all the bread you wanted to eat” (6:26). Then Jesus asks them “Do not work for
food that goes bad, but work for food that endures for eternal life” (6:27). The
conclusion of the first section (6:28-29) defines the work of God. God’s work means
to believe in Jesus, the one the Father has sent (6:29).
The second section (6:30-36)
reports another theme: The crowd asks Jesus for a sign, and then they introduce
a new topic: “manna in the desert” (in the past) as the bread from heaven. Based
on this topic, Jesus reveals the “true bread” from heaven is the one his Father
gives them for now (in the present). Then the crowd requests of Jesus: “Give us
that bread always” (6:34). Jesus’ answer in 6:35-36 shows to readers three
ideas: (1) The identity of Jesus: “I am the bread of life” (6:35a); (2) His
gift for everyone: “No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who
believes in me will ever thirst” (6:35b); (3) The misunderstanding of the
crowd. In fact, the crowd still does not believe (6:36), it means they
misunderstand the sign of the multiplication of loaves (6:1-15) and
misunderstand Jesus’ teaching until now (6:25-35).
In the third section (6:37-40),
Jesus continues to reveal (1) the relationship between him and his Father, (2) his
origin and his mission in the world, and (3) his gift of true life for whomever
“sees the Son and believes in him” (6:40). The affirmation of Jesus: “I should
raise that person up on the last day” is emphasized twice in 6:39 and 6:40. In
the Gospel of John, “rising on the last day” connects to “future eschatology”
(traditional eschatology) and it is in parallel to “Johannine realized
eschatology”. It means that the believer already has eternal life right now, in
the present. Because Jesus solemnly affirms to the Jews: “Amen, amen, I say to
you, whoever believes has eternal life” (6:47 NAB).
III. Daily bread and everlasting bread
In this article, we focus on the
theme “bread” in the second section (6:30-36). How does the narrator use the
sign of the multiplication of loaves in 6:1-15 and the teaching of Jesus in
6:25-40 to transmit to readers the sense of “everlasting bread”, “the food that
endures for eternal life” (6:27)? By using the technique of misunderstanding, the
narrator makes known to readers Jesus’ revelation about “the bread of life”. We
analyze the theme of bread in three different points: Daily bread, misunderstanding, and everlasting bread.
1.
Daily bread
There are two elements which relate
to “daily bread” in Jn 6. The first one is the sign of multiplication of the
five loaves and two fishes in 6:5-13. Jesus nourished “about five thousand in
number” (6:10) and they had eaten enough (6:12). Seeing the sign that Jesus had
done, the crowd said: “This is indeed the prophet who is to come into the
world” (6:14). Then they intend to come and take Jesus by force and make him
king (6:15). Jesus had known their intention, so he “fled back to the hills
alone” (6:15). In fact, Jesus disagrees with the crowd, which wants to make him
king, because they don’t understand the significance of the sign of multiplication.
The truth is that the crowd misunderstands about the sign and about Jesus
himself.
The second element connected to
daily bread is “manna”. The crowd questions Jesus: “What sign will you yourself
do, the sight of which will make us believe in you? What work will you do?”
(6:30), then they recalled the event of manna in the desert by these words:
“Our fathers ate manna in the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from
heaven to eat” (6:31). In the book of Exodus (Ex), the Israelites complained to
Moses (Ex 16:2), because in the desert, they didn’t have enough food and water.
Therefore, the LORD said to Moses: “Look, I shall rain down bread for you from
the heavens. Each day the people must go out and collect their ration for the
day; I propose to test them in this way to see whether they will follow my law
or not” (Ex 16:4). Then “morning by morning they collected it, each man as much
as he needed to eat, and once the sun grew hot, it melted away” (Ex 16:21). The
Israelites named this food “manna”.
This was a great sign in the
desert for Israelites. However, manna is still a type of daily bread; the
Israelites eat manna every day for survival in the desert. In the Gospel of
John, Jesus affirms to the Jews: “Your fathers ate manna in the desert and they
are dead” (Jn 6:49), then he reveals the true bread: “This is the bread which
comes down from heaven, so that a person may eat it and not die” (6:50). The
true bread from heaven is Jesus himself (6:35).
When the crowd asks Jesus to do a
sign (6:30) and recalls the manna in the desert as the bread from heaven, they
want to compare Jesus with Moses. But Jesus doesn’t compare himself with Moses.
Verily, Jesus surpasses Moses, Jesus calls God “My Father”, and he identifies Him
with “true bread” (6:32). In the dialogue with the form of “question – answer”
(6:30-33), the crowd misunderstood about Jesus’ identity.
For readers, the
theme of audience’s misunderstanding is frequent in Jn 6. How can the narrator
guide readers to understand the significance of the sign of multiplication?
Where is the connection between “daily bread” and “everlasting bread” in Jn 6?
We can respond to these questions by analyzing “hearer’s misunderstanding” in
Jn 6.
2. Misunderstanding of hearers
“Misunderstanding” is a technical
literature of the Gospel of John. The narrator uses the technique of
misunderstanding to explain to readers many important theological subjects. We
can compare the crowd’s misunderstanding in Jn 6:25-34 and misunderstanding of
the woman of Samaritan in Jn 4:9-15. These two passages are in parallelism
(6:25-34 // 4:9-15). The question (Q) and answer (A) form are taken part of the
technique of Johannine misunderstanding.
The parallelism in 6:25-34 and
4:9-15 shows us the technique of misunderstanding in the Gospel of John (cf.
BROWN, The Gospel, vol. I, p. 267).
There are many other stories which convey misunderstanding to hearers, for
example, the dialogue between Jesus and Nicodemus (3:1-12), the discussion
Jesus has with the Jews and Pharisees in Jn 7–8. The misunderstanding of his audience
allows Jesus to reveal insights about God Father and about himself, about his
origin, his identity, his mission and his gift to the world. In Jn 6, we can
note misunderstanding by many in the crowd.
(1) After seeing the sign of multiplication
of loaves, the crowd wants to make Jesus king (6:15), this enthusiasm was based
on the physical seeing of the marvelous aspect of the sign. Their concept of
Jesus as a Davidic king was political. They don’t understand the real meaning
of the sign of multiplication taught by Jesus.
(2) After finding Jesus, the
crowd asks him: “Rabbi, when did you come here?” (6:25) Jesus answers them: “You
are looking for me not because you have seen the signs but because you had all
the bread you wanted to eat” (6:26). People don’t understand the sense of the sign;
they are looking to Jesus only for “daily bread”. They want more bread to eat
like in the multiplication of loaves (6:1-15).
(3) In 6:34, the crowd asks
Jesus: “Sir, give us that bread always”. They have only understood that Jesus
talked about unusual bread offered by God in 6:33, but they misunderstood in
their thinking that he spoke of a miraculous earthly food. Thereby, they ask Jesus
to give them “always” (pantote) that bread. It means they would like to receive
repeatedly. The truth is on the contrary; Jesus talks about the eternal bread.
He said: “No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me
will ever (pôpote) thirst” (6:35).
(4) In 6:30, the crowd questions
Jesus: “What sign will you yourself do, the sight of which will make us believe
in you? What work will you do?” They already saw the sign of multiplication of
loaves (6:1-15), but this sign was not enough for them. In fact, they only see
this sign as an earthly gift from merely an earthly messiah. From a theological
point of view, the crowd doesn’t really “see” the sign.
With misunderstanding as a theme,
the narrator communicates to readers the real meaning of the sign through Jesus’
discourse about “the bread of life”, “the everlasting bread”.
3.
Everlasting bread
Basing on the misunderstanding of
the audience, Jesus reveals what is the “true bread”. There are many ways to
qualify this gift: “the Bread of life”, “the true bread”, “the living bread” or
“the everlasting bread”. We can enlighten the bread “which comes down from
heaven and gives life to the world” (6:33) through some of its characteristics:
(a) The bread comes down from heaven, (b) The true bread, (c) The bread gives
life to the world, (d) The bread of life is Jesus himself, and (e) The bread
satisfies all hunger and thirst of mankind.
a) The bread comes
down from heaven
The expression “bread from
heaven” appears in 6:31-33. The crowd says to Jesus: “Our fathers ate manna in
the desert; as scripture says: He gave them bread from heaven to eat” (6:31).
Jesus answers them: “In all truth I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the
bread from heaven, it is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the
true bread; for the bread of God is the bread which comes down from heaven and
gives life to the world” (6:32-33). The crowd talks about the manna in desert,
which is the bread from heaven that their fathers ate in the past. But Jesus talks
about the bread from heaven that his Father gives them today, in the present. Another
characteristic of the new bread from heaven is “the true bread”.
b)
The true bread
The use of the word “true”
(alêthinos) to define the bread from heaven sets this bread over all other
breads, even the one which was given to the fathers of the Jews in the desert.
Craig S. KEENER points out: “The bread Jesus announces is more essential than
manna given in Moses’ day, for it is the “true bread” (6:32)” (KEENER, The
Gospel, vol. I, p.
682). The position of “true” or “genuine” is emphatic in saying of Jesus to the
crowd: “It is my Father who gives you the bread from heaven, the true bread”
(6:32).
The “true” qualification is a
characteristic of metaphors in the Gospel of John. Indeed, Jesus is “the true
light” (1:9), “the true vine” (15:1). In the same way, Jesus’ judgment is true
(8:16) and the witness of the disciple, whom Jesus loved, is true (19:35). Particularly,
Jesus says that his Father who sent him is true (7:28) and the Father is “the
only true God” (17:3). The true bread is the authentic bread “which comes down
from heaven and gives life to the world” (6:33).
c)
The bread gives life to the world
Jesus reveals that the true bread
can give life to the world. This affirmation shows the contrast to the manna in
the desert. Francis J. MOLONEY notes the parallelism between the manna and the
true bread by these words: “In the past, it was God who gave the bread, not
Moses (cf. v. 32). Now this same God, the Father of Jesus, gives the true bread
from heaven. The Mosaic manna provided nourishment for Israel; the true bread
from heaven gives life to the whole world” (MOLONEY, The Gospel, p.
212).
The idea the true bread comes
down from heaven and “gives life to the world” (6:33) is familiar in Johannine
vocabulary of the object of God’s salvation. When John the Baptist sees Jesus
coming toward him, John introduces Jesus by these words: “Look, there is the
lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” (1:29). In 3:16, Jesus says
about God’s love to the world: “For this is how God loved the world: he gave
his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have
eternal life” (3:16). For the Samaritans, they say to the woman about Jesus in
4:42: “Now we believe no longer because of what you told us; we have heard him
ourselves and we know that he is indeed the Saviour of the world.”
Truly, God loves the world, He
sent Jesus to save the world (3:16), to take away the sin of the world (1:29),
to give life to the world (6:33). “The world” is the object of Jesus’ mission.
However Jesus is not only the giver of true bread, but he himself is the bread
of life.
d)
The bread of life is Jesus himself
When the crowd requests Jesus: “Sir,
give us that bread always” (6:34), Jesus answers them: “I am the bread of life.
No one who comes to me will ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever
thirst” (6:35). By the affirmation “I am the bread of life”, Jesus identifies
with the true bread which comes down from heaven. Later on, Jesus said: “I have
come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him who sent me”
(6:38). The bread of God which comes down from heaven (6:33) is Jesus himself,
who comes down from heaven to do the will of his Father (6:38).
The saying “I AM” in the sentence
“I am the bread of life” is a specific Johannine theology. In the Gospel of
John, there are some sayings “I AM” without predicate which reveals Jesus’
essence. For example, Jesus said to the Jews in 8:24: “If you do not believe
that I AM, you will die in your sins” (8:24 NAB). This “I AM” alludes to the
revelation of God to Moses about His name in Ex 3:14. When Moses asks God for his
name, “God replied, ‘I am who I am.’ Then he added, ‘This is what you shall
tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you’” (Ex 3:14 NAB). “I AM” is
the “name” of God, it means God doesn’t reveal his name to Moses. Following the
conception of the Israelites, having the name of someone, it means to know him,
to have a possibility to govern him. Human beings cannot know God and govern
him. Therefore, Moses hasn’t the name of God. However, the “I AM” as a name
invites people to pay attention to recognize God’s intervention in the world. The
God “I AM” is the God who operates the world. Thereby, mankind can recognize
God through God’s works. When Jesus uses the title “I AM” without predicate, he
identifies himself with God of Israelites.
When Jesus uses the saying “I AM”
with a predicate, he doesn’t reveal his identity (who he is) but reveals his
mission (what he does) in the world. On numerous occasions in the Gospel of
John, Jesus declares “I am” with predicate, he expresses his works, his gift
for man. For example, Jesus is the light of the world (8:12; 9:5). He says: “I
am the light of the world; anyone who follows me will not be walking in the
dark, but will have the light of life” (8:12). In the same way, Jesus declares
that he is the door (10:7,9); the shepherd (10:11,14); the resurrection and the
life (11:25); the way, the truth and the life (14:6); and he is the vine
(15:1,5). When Jesus affirms that “I am the bread of life”, it means he
nourishes people with bread that produces life.
e)
The bread satisfies all hunger and thirst
The bread of life, that is Jesus
himself, can satisfy all hunger and thirst of mankind. How can this wonderful
reality be realized? Jesus’ response is clear: “No one who comes to me will
ever hunger; no one who believes in me will ever thirst” (6:35). Another way to
translate this verse is: “Whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever
believes in me will never thirst” (6:35 NAB). This saying is constructed in
parallelism. The first expression, “Whoever comes to me” interpreted by the
second, “whoever believes in me”. The expression “will never hunger” is
parallel with “will never thirst”. In this sentence, “coming to Jesus” means
“believing in him”. We also see the same construction of “to come to”, “to
believe in” and other themes of water and thirst in 7:37-38: “On the last day,
the great day of the festival, Jesus stood and cried out: ‘Let anyone who is
thirsty come to me! Let anyone who believes in me come and drink! As scripture
says, ‘From his heart shall flow streams of living water’.”
The proclamation of Jesus in 6:35
has Old Testament background. Jesus makes his saying intelligible to the
audience. The link of Jesus’ saying with the Old Testament occurs in Sir 24:21:
“They who eat me [Wisdom] will hunger for more, they who drink me will thirst
for more” and in Is 49:10, the departing captives are promised: “They will
never hunger or thirst, scorching wind and sun will never plague them; for he
who pities them will lead them, will guide them to springs of water” (Is
49:10). Jesus realized the promise in the Old Testament. He is the bread of
life (6:35a), and he has the power to satisfy the deepest needs of humankind,
all hunger and all thirst (6:35b).
IV. Conclusion
There are many difficulties and much
complexity in Jn 6 from a compositional point of view. However, from a literary
and a theological point of view, we can consider the entire chapter 6 as a coherent
text. The structure of Jn 6 indicates that the two signs (multiplication of
loaves and walking on the sea) prepare the discourse about the bread of life
(6:25-59). In other words, the discourse explains the sense of the sign of
multiplication, and this sign helps readers to understand Jesus’ teaching in his
discourse.
The narrator uses the technique
of misunderstanding to communicate with readers. Basing his approach around the
misunderstanding of the crowd, Jesus explains and reveals the significance of the
bread of life. We can recapitulate five characteristics of everlasting bread:
(1) Coming down from heaven, (2) The true bread, (3) Giving life to the world,
(4) This bread is Jesus himself, (5) Satisfying all hunger and thirst of mankind.
Through the story of Jn 6:22-40,
the narrator invites readers “to see the sign” (6:25), “to see Jesus” (6:40), “to
come to him” and “to believe in him” (6:35). However, in Jn 6, the crowd saw
the sign of multiplication (6,14), they saw Jesus (6:36) and they also came to
Jesus (6:24), but they don’t believe in him (6:36). What must we do to attain
“true seeing”, “true coming” and “true belief in” Jesus? These questions can be
broached in another article.
Bibliography
[1966] Raymond E. BROWN, The Gospel According to John, I–XII,
vol. I, (Anchor Bible 29),
New York (NY), Doubleday, 1966, 538 p.
[1971]
Rudolf schnaCkenburg, The Gospel According to St. John, vol. II: Commentary on Chapter 5–12, (Herder’s
Theological Commentary on the New Testament), London, Burns & Oates, (1971), 1980, 556 p. (Orig. Das
Johannesevangelium).
[1998] Francis J. MOLONEY, The Gospel of John, (Sacra Pagina Series 4), Collegeville (MN),
The Liturgical Press, 1998, xxii-594 p.
[2003] Craig S. KEENER, The
Gospel of John. A Commentary, vol. I, Peabody
(MA), Hendrickson Publishers, 2003, 831 p.
July 29, 2012
