Church Fathers Commentary John 6:47-51

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth hath eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread which cometh down out of heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came down out of heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: yea and the bread which I will give is my flesh, for the life of the world." — John 6:47-51 (ASV)

John 6:47-51a

St. Augustine of Hippo: Our Lord wishes to reveal what He is: Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life. It is as if He said: “The one who believes in Me has Me.” But what does it mean to have Me? It is to have eternal life, for the Word, who was in the beginning with God, is eternal life, and the life was the light of men. Life underwent death so that life might kill death.

St. John Chrysostom: Since the multitude was urgently asking for physical food and reminding Him of what was given to their fathers, He tells them that the manna was only a type of the spiritual food that was now to be tasted in reality: I am that bread of life.

He calls Himself the bread of life because He constitutes one life, both present and to come.

St. Augustine of Hippo: And because they had taunted Him with the manna, He adds, Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. They are your fathers, for you are like them: murmuring sons of murmuring fathers. For in nothing did that people offend God more than by their murmurs against Him. And therefore they are dead, because they believed what they saw, but they did not believe or understand what they did not see.

St. John Chrysostom: The addition, "in the wilderness," is not included without meaning, but to remind them how short a time the manna lasted—only until they entered the land of promise. And because the bread that Christ gave seemed inferior to the manna, since the manna had come down from heaven while Christ's bread was from this world, He adds, This is the bread which comes down from heaven.

St. Augustine of Hippo: This was the bread that the manna typified; this was the bread that the altar typified. Both were sacraments, differing in their symbol but alike in what they signified. Listen to the Apostle: They did all eat the same spiritual meat.

St. John Chrysostom: He then gives them a strong reason to believe that they were given higher privileges than their fathers. Their fathers ate manna and died, whereas of this bread He says, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. The difference between the two is evident from their different outcomes. By "bread" here is meant wholesome doctrine and faith in Him, or His body, for these preserve the soul.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But are we, who eat the bread that comes down from heaven, freed from death? We are not freed from visible and carnal death—the death of the body. We will die, just as they died. But we are delivered from the spiritual death that their fathers suffered. Moses and many others, acceptable to God, ate the manna and did not die, because they understood that visible food in a spiritual sense, tasted it spiritually, and were spiritually filled by it.

And we too, today, receive the visible food; but the sacrament is one thing, and the power of the sacrament is another. Many a person receives from the altar and perishes in the act of receiving, eating and drinking his own damnation, as the Apostle said. To eat the heavenly bread spiritually, then, is to bring an innocent mind to the altar.

Sins, though they may be daily, are not deadly. Before you go to the altar, pay attention to the prayer you repeat: Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. If you forgive, you are forgiven. Approach with confidence; it is bread, not poison. Therefore, none who eat of this bread shall die. But we are speaking of the power of the sacrament, not the visible sacrament itself; of the one who eats inwardly, not outwardly.

Alcuin of York: Therefore I say, whoever eats this bread does not die: I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

Theophylact of Ohrid: By becoming incarnate, He was not first a man who afterwards assumed divinity, as Nestorius falsely teaches.

St. Augustine of Hippo: The manna also came down from heaven, but the manna was a shadow; this is the substance.

Alcuin of York: But people must be made alive by my life: If any man eat of this bread, he shall live—not only now by faith and righteousness, but for ever.

John 6:51b

St. Augustine of Hippo: Our Lord declares Himself to be bread, not only with respect to His divinity, which feeds all things, but also with respect to the human nature that was assumed by the Word of God: And the bread, He says, that I will give is My flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

The Venerable Bede: Our Lord gave this bread when He delivered to His disciples the mystery of His Body and Blood, and offered Himself to God the Father on the altar of the cross. For the life of the world means not for the elements, but for mankind, who are called "the world."

Theophylact of Ohrid: Which I will give: this shows His power, for it reveals that He was not crucified as a servant in subjection to the Father, but of His own accord. For though He is said to have been given up by the Father, He also delivered Himself up.

And observe, the bread that we take in the mysteries is not only a sign of Christ’s flesh, but is itself the very flesh of Christ. For He does not say, "The bread that I will give is the sign of My flesh," but rather, "is My flesh." The bread is transmuted into the flesh of Christ by a mystical blessing, conveyed in unutterable words, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

But why do we not see the flesh? Because if the flesh were visible, it would revolt us to such a degree that we would be unable to partake of it. Therefore, in condescension to our weakness, the mystical food is given to us in an appearance suitable to our minds.

He gave His flesh for the life of the world, in that by dying, He destroyed death. By "the life of the world," I also understand the resurrection, since our Lord’s death brought about the resurrection of the whole human race. It may also mean the sanctified, blessed, spiritual life. For though not all have attained this life, our Lord still gave Himself for the world, and as far as it depends on Him, the whole world is sanctified.

St. Augustine of Hippo: But when does flesh receive the bread that He calls His flesh? The faithful know and receive the Body of Christ if they labor to be the body of Christ. And they become the body of Christ if they strive to live by the Spirit of Christ, for that which lives by the Spirit of Christ is the body of Christ. The Apostle presents this bread where he says, We being many are one body. O sacrament of mercy, O sign of unity, O bond of love! Whoever wishes to live, let him draw near, believe, and be incorporated, so that he may be made alive.