Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; 50 this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 52 The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us [his] flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. 55 For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” 59 These things he said while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
The Gospel of John was written around 90 AD and John already had developed a Johannine Christology with a Eucharistic formula. Jesus told the Jews that he replaced Manna as the bread from heaven, the bread of life that one may eat and never die. The Jews then asked amongst themselves, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph (Jn. 6:42)?” John then has Jesus using a Eucharistic formula commonly used in the Johannine community; “…. unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day (vv. 53-54).”
This formula, and the Priesthood itself, has been handed down through Apostolic Succession in an unbroken line to the current Roman Catholic Church. The Body and Blood formula is also found in the three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark & Luke) – The Last Supper; “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 (Mt. 26:26-28).”
Almighty God, help us
to embrace the commands of your Son so that we may, through obedience, be
strengthened by his body and blood. This
we pray through the same Christ our Lord. Amen!
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.
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