"The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life" John 6:63.
John chapter 6 is full of so many important events and speeches of Jesus. He feeds the multitudes of followers with “five loaves and two fishes” (John 6:9). He walks on water in this chapter (John 6:19). And most importantly he explains that he is the “Bread from Heaven.” “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:51). His words are shocking! They cause many of the people following to “return to their former way of life” (John 6:66). Our key verse today seems to sum up the whole chapter: “It is the spirit that gives life while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life.”
Fr. Richard Rohr reflects on this passage in a great homily linked here. He states that unless we already have a storehouse of positive feelings: “love, grace, God,” it’s very hard to gather it from our outside world. However, the negative, angry emotions of our world are easy to stir up. We are already angry: just watch the news. Christians are lukewarm about their faith at best, and it is not bringing people, especially young people, to church. Fr. Rohr explains, “What do you get up in the morning for? That is your real faith! If you get up in the morning to make money, then money is your faith.”
Am I living only to survive?
If so, is that living?
If every day, my thoughts, words, and actions are predominantly focused on survival, then I am no different than the deer and squirrels in my yard, who spend their whole life gathering and eating food for survival. Jesus says, “the flesh is of no avail”. Mere survival--feeding our flesh-- is not life. At the beginning of this chapter, Jesus shows us how very easy it is to feed thousands of people: he only needed five loaves, two fishes, and to give thanks. In all of the Gospels Jesus is showing and telling us not to worry about basic survival. In Matthew 6:8, Jesus says, “Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.”
Jesus is asking us to eat his “bread,” the “bread of life”. It is not food for survival like the Israelites received as manna in the desert. The “bread of life” is spiritual food-- it is the breath, life and energy of God that can get us up-- energize us to be able to accomplish the work of Love. Jesus is trying to give us a life-- not survival! Jesus says in John 10:10, “I came so that [you] might have life and have it more abundantly.”
Do we want to survive or do we want to live? I am encouraged by this scripture to seek the spirit, the energy, the love of God to fill me with life. I want to live my life for a cause that brings love, or beauty, or kindness, or hope into this world. When I find love, beauty, kindness, and hope, I want to savor it, and enjoy it. That is life! What are you living for?