John 6:41-51
New Catholic Bible
41 Faith, a Gift of God.[a] Then the Jews murmured about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know his father and mother. How can he say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?”
43 “Stop murmuring among yourselves!” Jesus said.
44 “No one can come to me
unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me,
and I will raise up that person on the last day.
45 It is written in the Prophets,
‘They will all be taught by God.’
Everyone who has listened to my Father
and learned from him comes to me.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father
except the one who is from God;
he has seen the Father.
47 “Amen, amen, I say to you,
whoever believes has eternal life.
My Flesh for the Life of the World[b]
48 “I am the bread of life.
49 Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness,
and yet 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.”
Footnotes
- John 6:41 During the period in the wilderness, the Hebrews doubted the Lord and “grumbled” against him; the memory of this had remained as a warning for all time (see Ex 16; Num 11; Ps 106:25).
When the fourth Gospel speaks of “the Jews,” the reference is to this mentality, this attitude of rejection, rather than to people as a whole or even to their leaders. - John 6:48 In what sense does Jesus do the Father’s will? By giving his life. He does not use the word “sacrifice,” but the terms “flesh” and “blood” express that idea in a very realistic way. In this gift, the life of the Father is given to human beings and becomes their everlasting life. That is a strong statement, and yet the objection of the Jews, who take it in the most material sense, does not lead to any toning down of it. On the contrary!
