Three Mysteries in the Gospel of St. John

Homily for the 19th Sunday in Ordinary Time (B Cycle)

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”

These words closed the Gospel passage that we read last Sunday. To read these words as a believer is to have one’s heart warmed by Jesus’ promise of satisfying our human hunger and thirst for God. Today’s Gospel passage reiterates Jesus’ claim in the first “I AM” statement of St. John’s Gospel. The words lie at the heart of John’s longest chapter and serve as the climax of Jesus’ dialogue with the crowd.

This passage is pivotal in the Gospel of St. John. However, it is also a compendium of Johannine theology. The passage presents us with three mysteries. First, we encounter the mystery of the two natures of Jesus. Jesus is both true God and true man. The men who hear Jesus’ words ask, “How can this be?” They know that Jesus is the son of Joseph and Mary, but they hear him claim that he is “come down from heaven.” To the unbeliever it is an irrational claim; to the believer we simply bow to the premise that God transcends the limits of human reason. The Church holds dear the dogma that Jesus was truly human and truly divine.

Next we are confronted with the mystery of election and free will. This is implicit in Jesus’ rebuke of their incredulity and his affirmation that all whom the Father gives him will come to him. God has chosen us; however, the choice must also receive a response.

Finally, there is the very familiar mystery of present fulfillment and future hope. Jesus maintains that those who eat the bread of life have life eternal already and shall live forever. However, the world we live in reminds us that while we possess this gift, its completion is sometime in the future.

There is no question that the entire Gospel of St. John is an important document. At the same time, one could maintain that all of St. John’s theology is contained in these few verses. Running throughout that theology is the quintessential issue of faith in Jesus.

God chose to become one of us in the person of Jesus – the creator becomes the creature. Astounding as it sounds, it is the truth that lies underneath our faith in Jesus. The Scriptures introduce him to us under many titles. He is named the Messiah, the Son of God, the one about whom Moses and the prophets wrote, the promised one, the suffering servant. The list goes on and on. John’s Gospel places an exclamation point on that list by stating unequivocally that Jesus is God, the Word made flesh, the incarnation.

God chose us – the weak, human being is offered the gift of faith through which we draw near to God. Faith is offered to all. The Gospels tells the story of the seed that is sown on all types of soil. Those who accept that faith and respond to it are deemed the good soil that provides good fruit. However, the seed, the Word of God is available to all sorts of soil, all sorts of people.

We choose or reject the gift of faith. No one is forced to believe. We are not slaves but children and heirs. Those who can open their minds and hearts receive the mysteries of the Gospel, but receiving them is not the end of the process. Having received the gift of faith and eaten the bread of life, we are asked to be imitators of God; just as God chose us out of love, we are asked to love. Just as Jesus handed himself over for our sake and has become a fragrant sacrifice, we who believe are called to respond with our own sacrificial offering.

This past week took me back to be with my family after a long and tedious year of separation. In the course of that year, my aunt and godmother died on August 4, 2020. This past Wednesday, one year later, we did what we could not do last year. We gathered to remember her. She lived a long life as she had turned 100 on June 24 of last year. In the midst of laughter and tears, we remembered her as a woman of faith who produced much good fruit in the course of those 100 years. She was a true believer. She was not perfect. Like all of us, she was a sinner. However, today’s Gospel reminds us that those who believe in Jesus and eat the bread of life will have eternal life. One day we will join her and all the saints of heaven.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator