The Face of Christ as the Son of God

Photo by Myriam Zilles on Unsplash

In the beginning of this Bread of Life Discourse Passage we see Jesus reveal His Face as the Son of God by the words He carefully chooses to use when He speaks to the Jews. He understands His audience and purposely parallels His words to that of the prophets of old, and to the previous experience of the Jewish people. Jesus begins with “I am the Bread of Life” not by pure coincidence; He is typologically likening Himself to the “manna,” which gave sustenance to the Jewish people in the desert .

He wants his fellow brethren to make a connection, but to also know there is a major difference between His reference to bread now as there is the movement towards the new covenant and to the reference to the bread of the old covenant; the “manna” in the desert. The bread from heaven was called down by the prophet, Moses, but as Jesus speaks of in this Gospel, it was not Moses though who sent the bread from Heaven, but the Father. And now again, bread is being sent from heaven, but no longer bread for temporary physical nourishment, but bread for eternal life; eternal spiritual nourishment. Jesus is referring to His own Flesh; the foreshadowing of the Eucharist.

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen Me, and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:35-40)

Jesus wants His Jewish brothers to understand that just as the Father sent the bread from heaven; the manna, to the Israelites in the desert, the Father now sends bread from heaven, but this time the bread is God; Himself. The bread of heaven is the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity, the Christ, Who is one and the same as God, in Heaven. As being sent from heaven Jesus is emphasizing and making clear that He is Divine, not simply a prophet. That is why He states that Moses did not send the bread from heaven, but God Himself. It is only God that can give the Jews and all people the Bread of Life forever; therefore, Jesus must be God. It is only by the belief in Christ’s Divinity that anyone can grasp the concept and truth of the Eucharist. Faith is necessary for attaining eternal life, for which without such, we can only sustain ourselves temporarily with physical nourishment. Physical nourishment cannot sustain our souls for eternity, only the Bread of Life can give us life forever in heaven with God.

“Therefore the Jews were grumbling about Him, because He said, “I am the bread that came down out of heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does He now say, ‘I have come down out of heaven’?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the One who is from God; He has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.” (John 6:41-47)

We can be raised up on the Last Day by coming to Him through the Father, which is faith. And faith is a gift given to us by God, Himself. Faith is a grace that we receive, and which leads us to full acceptance of the Truth. It brings us to belief in Christ’s Divinity, and the ‘Real Presence’ of His Body and Blood, which brings us eternal salvation. Jesus must reveal His Face as Son, first, and foremost before we can understand His mission, as the Son of God, and strive to imitate Christ as we do good works in our own lives and receive the Sacraments. If we know and truly believe that He is the Son of God then we can begin to contemplate on Jesus’ Face of truth, healer, mercy and compassion, missionary, humility, obedience, poverty. etc.

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Originally published at Called to Love – A Listening Heart