In Jesus There Is Life

𝐌𝐀𝐘 𝟕, 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓: 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐃 𝐖𝐄𝐄𝐊 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝐀𝐜 𝟖:𝟏-𝟖

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦: 𝐏𝐬𝐚 𝟔𝟔:𝟏-𝟕 “𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐣𝐨𝐲.”

𝐆𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐋: 𝐉𝐍 𝟔.𝟑𝟓-𝟒𝟎

𝑲𝒆𝒚 𝑽𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.” (𝒗.35)  

         This is probably one of the greatest passages in the New Testament and in it we will find two great truths that we need to reflect upon as these have a bearing on the life we now live. There will be some who may look at what Jesus said in a poetic sense, but the truth is that it presents us with the reality that we cannot live without him for he is the only one who can sustain us.

         Right from the beginning of this passage when Jesus said: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.” (𝒗.35) Jesus already equated himself with bread that sustains life. However, we need to go beyond the words of this passage to fully understand how it is related to life.

         An authentic Christian life is one that is lived in perfect harmony with God, a kind of relationship that is anchored on complete trust and obedience to everything that Jesus tells us to do because the truth is that apart from him, we are nothing. We may continue to exist yes, but we won’t have life in us without Jesus and this should bring us to the real meaning of life.

         A truly Christian life is one that is filled with the fruit of the Spirit (𝐆𝐚𝐥 𝟓:𝟐𝟐) that was borne out of the gifts of the Spirit that have been given to us on the day of our baptism at which time we also laid to rest our sinful nature as we accepted Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior.

        In other words, if Jesus is the essence of life through whom our life revolves then it is only right that we look up to him as the bread of life and the hunger that our human nature experiences ends when we come to know him through whom we are also brought before God and the restless souls in us is out to rest and our hunger is satisfied.

        We also see in this gospel passage the progression of the Christian life that we live and this should also lead us to a recollection of our spiritual experience during our baptism in the Spirit for those who have attended a Life in the Spirit Seminar.

        As in the LSS, the first stage is when we see Jesus as we are introduced into the Sacred Scriptures, in the readings and homilies during the Mass, and in most cases in face-to-face encounter with people whom we meet on the street and at the workplace although there may be times that the image of Jesus may be clouded by our biases and prejudices.

        Having encountered Jesus in whatever way, the natural tendency is to come to him especially when we are made aware that he is a God whom we can always come to in every circumstance we are in. We regard him not as a distant God and Savior although he now sits at the right of the Father in heaven, but someone who will always lend a listening ear to the cry of our hearts.

         Having been led to the knowledge that only those who believe in him will be saved, the grace of faith that has been given to us moves us to offer our lives in complete submission to him who gives us life. However, we should not regard this as a form of submission that is one way rather this submission of our human will to him who saved us elevates us to a position in which we have passed on from being a slave into becoming a friend.

         If there is one thing that we need to understand and keep in mind, it is the reality that without Jesus the bread of life it would be utterly impossible to live a new life and it becomes impossible still if we are to live our lives that is apart from him.

         What we should be grateful for is the fact that God has taken the initiative to give us the gift of faith that enables us to approach Jesus and fan the flames that burns away the rebellion and the pride that has separated us from God. In effect, it is God who seeks us first as he gathers all those whom he had created into the sheepfold of his Kingdom.

         How foolish I was to even think and say before that I came and remained in the renewal because I found God not knowing that it is God who searches and keeps us when we are found. As I have always shared in all the teachings that I have facilitated, life is built around the choices that we make.

         The authentic Christian life that is built and filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is there for us to take and refuse. When we decide to take, there are two things that happen – one is that life becomes complete with hunger and thirst for the ephemeral world gone and, the other is the realization that God assures us of eternity.

        When Jesus made the claim which only him and he alone can make: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆.” (𝒗.35) he was referring to none other than the very life of God. Jesus is indeed the true bread which can truly satisfy the hunger in our hearts. The manna from heaven sustained the Israelites on their journey but it could not produce eternal life.

        But the unique bread that Jesus is offering which is repeated in the celebration of the Eucharist will sustain us not only in our journey to the heavenly paradise, but it will give us the abundant supernatural life of God that will sustain all of us who will believe.

         The reality is that when we receive from the Lord’s table of Grace His Body and Blood at every celebration of the Holy Eucharist that we attend we are being grafted to Jesus Christ who makes us sharers of His Body and Blood and partakers of his divine life. What happens is that when we are ushered into that state of Grace through our reception of the Sacrament of Confession and as we partake of the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist we are being restored to our original nature.

        St. Ignatius of Antioch (35-107 A.D.) calls it the “𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘑𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘴 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘵.” This supernatural food is the healing for both body and soul and strength for our journey heavenward. The question we need ask is do we hunger for God and for the food that produces everlasting life?

       Today would be a good opportunity for us to ask Jesus Christ to satisfy the hunger in our hearts that will help sustain us in our journey of faith to the Kingdom of Heaven which is our home. (𝘌𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘺 – 𝘔𝘢𝘺 7. 2025)