'While they were eating, Jesus took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and giving it to his disciples said, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be shed on behalf of many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, from now on I shall not drink this fruit of the vine until the day when I drink it with you new in the kingdom of my Father."
After the multiplication of the loaves (Jn. 6:1-15) and walking on the water (Jn.6:16-21), Jesus said to the crowd while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum, “Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world” (Jn. 6:32-33). The crowd asked Jesus for the bread of God, and Jesus replied, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst (Jn. 6:35)."
Passover was near and the Jews would have understood the reference to ‘manna in the desert,’ when God fed the Israelites quail and manna while they were wandering in the wilderness after he brought them out of slavery in Egypt (Ex.16:4-5). When Jesus said, “I am the bread of life,” the Jews could not accept it. Was Jesus, the son of Mary and Joseph, making himself to be equal with God? That was blasphemy, and according to their law, he should be put to death (Lev.24:15-16). Jesus further shocked them when he said, “Unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you (Jn. 6:53)." Jesus tells them that the living Father sent him so that they can feed on him and have eternal life, unlike their ancestors in the desert who ate the manna and still died (Jn. 6:58).
This teaching of Jesus was so intolerable to the Jewish audience that many of the early disciples of Christ stopped following him (Jn. 6:66). They said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it (Jn. 6:60)?" Accepting the teachings of Christ and living the way Christ asks us to live is difficult. Following Christ requires a willing sacrifice on our part so that others can be led to Christ to eat his flesh and drink his blood and be saved.
The Eucharist became a central part of Christian life in the early Church. The Eucharist that is celebrated by Christians today has its foundation in John chapter 6. At the Last Supper with his Disciples the night before he was crucified, Jesus ate and drank with his disciples (Mt.26:26-30; Mk. 14:22-26; Lk. 22:14-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-25). That was the institution of the Eucharist.
The early followers of Christ celebrated the Eucharist, the Breaking of the Bread (Acts 2:42; 46). St. Paul references the celebration of the rite of the Lord’s Supper, eating the bread and drinking the cup of the Lord, about 25 years after the death of Christ (1 Cor. 11:17-34). St. Paul preached Christ crucified (1 Cor.1:23), in which we find our most profound relationship with Christ. But we find our most glorious relationship in the Risen Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father (Eph. 1:18-23), for if, “We have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him (Rom.6:8).
Lord Jesus Christ, you willingly sacrificed your body and blood so that your unfaithful servants may obtain eternal life through your body and blood. Strengthen us during the hard times in our life so that we will not turn away from you but offer our suffering for the salvation of others as you did on the Cross. This we pray to our merciful Father in your name. Amen!
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