Week 37 of the Church year
പെന്തിക്കോസ്തിക്കു ശേഷം എട്ടാം ഞായർ
Jesus says the bread he gives is his own flesh, for the life of the world. The listeners argue among themselves. How can this man give us his flesh to eat?
In the synagogue at Capernaum, Jesus says he is the living bread from heaven. Those who ate manna died, but whoever eats this bread will live for ever. The bread is his flesh. The crowd argues, and Jesus says: unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you have no life in you.
This is the third reading from John 6 in this season. It speaks most directly about the Holy Qurbana.
In the Qurbana we do not only remember Jesus. We receive him, and he lives in us.
ഈ ഞായറാഴ്ചയുടെ വായനകൾ
The sower, and a lamp not meant to be hidden under a basket.
Why Jesus speaks in parables, and the meaning of the sower.
God tells Moses his name: I AM WHO I AM.
Obey my voice, and I will be your God.
Awake, awake, put on your strength, Zion.
Come to the living stone, and be built into a spiritual house.
We have a high priest who sympathises with our weakness; approach the throne of grace.
My flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. This is the Gospel of the day.
Open in five scenesGod reveals his name to Moses at the burning bush, and Jeremiah says God wants obedience more than sacrifice. Isaiah calls Jerusalem to wake and put on strength. Peter calls believers living stones, and Hebrews calls Jesus our great high priest.
References follow the official lectionary of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church. Your parish may read them in a different order.
Pick a scene to see what happens in it and what is easy to miss.
Whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness and they died. This is the bread from heaven, so that whoever eats it will not die.
Manna kept Israel alive for a day at a time. Jesus offers a life death cannot end.
I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats it will live for ever. The bread I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
“For the life of the world” points to the cross, where Jesus gives his flesh.
The people argue: how can this man give us his flesh to eat? Jesus says: unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Jesus does not soften his words when they object. He makes them stronger.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day. My flesh is true food and my blood true drink. They remain in me and I in them.
John uses a blunt Greek verb here, trogo, “to chew”. It is hard to read as only a metaphor.
This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread your ancestors ate and died. Whoever eats this bread will live for ever. He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
John notes the place. Ruins of a later synagogue built on the same site still stand in Capernaum.
The verse to keep
“സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽനിന്നു ഇറങ്ങിയ ജീവനുള്ള അപ്പം ഞാൻ ആകുന്നു; ഈ അപ്പം തിന്നുന്നവൻ എല്ലാം എന്നേക്കും ജീവിക്കും; ഞാൻ കൊടുപ്പാനിരിക്കുന്ന അപ്പമോ ലോകത്തിന്റെ ജീവന്നു വേണ്ടി ഞാൻ കൊടുക്കുന്ന എന്റെ മാംസം ആകുന്നു.”I am the living bread which came down out of heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. Yes, the bread which I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
The listeners in Capernaumകഫർന്നഹൂമിലെ കേൾവിക്കാർ
People in the synagogue, many of whom find this teaching too hard (John 6:60).
“—”
അവൻ നമ്മിൽ വസിക്കുന്നു
The people in the synagogue at Capernaum find Jesus’ words shocking. Eat his flesh? Drink his blood? Many of his own disciples leave after this conversation. Jesus does not call them back by softening what he said. He lets the words stand.
The Church has always heard these words at the Holy Qurbana. The bread and wine offered and consecrated become for us the body and blood of Christ. We do not only think about him or remember him. We receive him, and Jesus says that whoever receives him remains in him, and he in them.
It is easy to let the Qurbana become routine: something we attend, stand through and leave. This Gospel asks us to see it as Jesus saw it: food for eternal life, given for the life of the world. Preparing for it, through fasting, confession and prayer, is how we take it seriously.
കുടുംബമായി സംസാരിക്കാം
How do we prepare to receive Holy Qurbana? How could we prepare better?
Two minutes after the audio. Everyone gets a turn, and nobody is interrupted.On Saturday evening, set aside a few minutes as a family to prepare for receiving Holy Qurbana.
Lord Jesus, living bread from heaven, you give your flesh for the life of the world. Make us ready to receive you, and remain in us as we remain in you. Amen.
The whole year
Every Sunday of the Church year, season by season: readings, the Gospel and a question for the family.
Sunday 9 of 18 in Pentecost