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 Mini Exegesis of v. 35-I am the bread of
life. Whoever come to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be
thirsty. Note Jesus’ use of the e?? ??µ? ("I am") saying. The use does not
reveal Jesus’ essence but reflects his dealing with people, in this case, his
presence nourishes others. . . . comes to me . . . believes in me: These two lines form a
synonymous parallelism and echo Sirach 24:21-"Those who eat of me [Wisdom] will
hunger for more; and those who drink of me will thirst for more." Sirach and John
6:35 are making a similar claim-in Jesus’ saying, people will never hunger/thirst for
anything other than Jesus’ own revelation and presence. [1]
Human Responsibility - In verses 44-45, "hearing" and
"learning"-like "seeing" and "believing"-indicate our human
responsiveness to God. [2]
Allusions - Verses 50-51 must be read alongside 6:35. The satisfaction
of hunger and thirst recalls the gifts of manna (Exodus 16) and water (Numbers 20:9-13) in
the wilderness. It also recalls wisdom traditions where God’s self-disclosure is
metaphorically described as Israel’s food and drink (Proverbs 9:5). For John’s
Christian community, such language also suggests the eucharist. [3]
 Inward
Journey Qs: What is the main reason you follow Jesus? How would you describe your daily
spiritual diet: Junk food? Frozen food? Baby food? TV microwave food? Leftovers? Meat and
potatoes? Pure bread and wine?
Has your familiarity about Jesus from Sunday School days, parochial school, worship
services, etc. ever kept you from seeing who he really is.
If someone asked, "How do you hunger and thirst after God," what counsel
could you offer?
 Peter
Gomes offers his homily on this passage in his excellent book, Sermons. [4]
Barbara Brown Taylor also offers a great treatment of the text in her book, Home By
Another Way. [5]
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[1] Raymond E. Brown, The Anchor Bible 29: The Gospel of John (NY: Doubleday,
1966), page 269.
[2] The New Interpreter’s Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), page
1920.
[3] Ibid, page 1920.
[4] Peter J. Gomes, Sermons (NY: Wm. Morrow & Co., 1998), page 139.
[5] Barbara Brown Taylor, Home By Another Way (Boston: Cowley Press, 1999), page
47.
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