John 6:41-51 forms part of the Bread of Life section that begins in 6:22 and ends in 6:71. This section is actually prefaced by a search for Jesus (6:22-25) about which he comments:
You are looking for me not because you saw the signs
but because you ate the loaves and were filled.
Jesus refers to the feeding of the five thousand narrated at the beginning of chapter 6 (John 6:1-15) the meaning of which he is now about to explain. First however he requires the crowd to believe in him whom the Father has sent (John 6:29). Here begins the tension between Jesus on the one hand, the crowd and the disciples on the other about the Bread of Life. For the bread of life is not the manna in the desert but Him whom God has sent:
It was not Moses
who gave the bread from heaven;
my Father gives you the bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:32-33)
"...the Jews murmured...". The Israelites in the desert murmured against God and Moses because of their lack of faith. Now the Jews do the same. Their objection is based on what they knew about Jesus. Here, John puts the scandal of Jesus' origins already narrated in the Synoptic gospels (cf. Mark 6:1-6 and parallels) within the context of the discourse on the Bread of Life.
In John 3:31-36, John the Baptist had testified to his disciples that Jesus is "the one who comes from above and is above all." It is a testimony that echoes what Jesus said to Nicodemus about the Son of Man who "has come down from Heaven" (cf. John 3:13). In John 8:21-28 Jesus will say to the Jews "I am from above..."
"...Unless the Father draw him...". As in the Synoptics, Jesus does not provide counterarguments about his origins here. He does however assert that only those whom the Father draws to Himself will come to him (v. 44). The passage he quotes is from Isaiah 54:13, a line from an oracle about God's future with His people. The encounter with Jesus on the question of the mannah from heaven is no idle debate. Judgment will be passed on those who accept Jesus' words or reject it. Acceptance of Jesus means deciding for God's future that has broken through in His person. "Stop murmurring" Jesus had commanded. The unsaid command is "Listen!" -- an invitation to faith. "Everyone who listens to my Father learns from Him and comes to me." Those who believe in Jesus are the ones whom the Father has given him (cf. John 10:29, John 17:6)
"I am the Bread of Life..." John 6:48-51 is the formal announcement that the mannah in the desert wanderings is but a symbol that points to Jesus as the Bread of Life. Beginning from the very first chapter of the gospel, we already know that Jesus is the Word of God which gives life and light. This Word took on flesh and lived among men. But God's Word does not only instruct and leads to truth. It also is the source of life. By the word of a prophet, men were fed (cf. 2 Kings 4:42-44). So now, the Word that took on flesh becomes bread that gives life to all.
Raymond Brown divides John 6:35-58 into two parts:
- 31-50: the sapiential theme
- 51-58: the sacramental theme
It is a pattern that strongly suggests the succession of the liturgy of the word and the liturgy of the eucharist in the Mass. (This pattern is also visible in the account of the Two Disciples Journeying to Emmaus of Luke 24) Thus even in this section of the Bread of Life, the echo of the Eucharist that is already heard in John 6:1-15 still pervades.
R. Brown. The Gospel and Epistles of John: A Concise Commentary, p. 45
See the Related Article "Unless the Father Draw Him" (Otium Sanctum)
