Both his works & his words!

John 6:35-40

Jesus said to the crowd: ‘I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never be hungry; he who believes in me will never thirst. But, as I have told you, you can see me and still you do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I shall not turn him away; because I have come from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of the one who sent me. Now the will of him who sent me is that I should lose nothing of all that he has given to me, and that I should raise it up on the last day. Yes, it is my Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that I shall raise him up on the last day.’

Food for thought!

In today's gospel reading, Jesus makes a worrisome statement: "you can see me and still you do not believe." How is so? How comes we can see him and not believe? What is wrong with us? What is wrong with man? In fact, this is what is happening since we started chapter six of the Gospel of John. At the beginning of the chapter, Jesus made two miracles, of multiplying a few bread for thousands of people; the other miracle was walking on water. All these miracles were seen by the people, including his disciples.

The people saw Jesus at work and did not believe; they saw the miracles of Jesus and did not believe in the Jesus doing the miracles. The people cannot go beyond the bread; they got stuck with bread of Jesus. They have seen Jesus but still cannot believe in Jesus. They have seen his works but cannot believe his words. Are we any different? Don't we do the same?

The people ate Jesus' works but they don't want to eat Jesus' words. His explanation is too difficult to take in. His  works are ok, the words are not. The people did stand Jesus' works; they cannot stand Jesus' words. We too, we see Jesus. We see him in the pages of the New Testament, in the teaching of the church, sometimes even face to face.  Having seen him, we come to him. We regard him not as some distant hero and pattern, not as a figure in a book, but as someone accessible. We believe in him. That is to say, we accept him as the final authority on God, on man, on life, on everything.

Let us believe that Jesus is indeed the bread of life; that he who comes to Jesus will never be hungry; that he who believes in Jesus will never thirst; that all that the Father gives to Jesus will come to him, and whoever comes to him he shall not turn him away; that he will lose nothing of all that he has given to him, and that he will raise us up on the last day. Yes, it is his Father’s will that whoever sees the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and that Jesus shall raise him up on the last day.’

God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through? (Numbers 23:19); I, the LORD, have spoken, and I will surely do these thing (Numbers 14:35); He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind." (1Samuel 15:29); From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do (Isaiah 46:11); so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it (Isaiah 55:11).