The Giver

Gospel: John 6: 16-21

Jesus walks across the sea to the other shore while the disciples traverse the sea in their boat.  In crossing from one shore to the other we are placed in a transition stage.  We are going to be moving from one understanding of the loaves and fishes to another.  On the first shore Jesus multiplied the loaves and fishes in order to feed a hungry crowd.  The bread is literal bread and the hunger it satisfies is physical, and everyone receives this bread to eat without exception.

In the new understanding to come, the bread is now the life and body of Jesus given for us to share, providing us with spiritual nourishment.  However, that is not all.  We are not merely to receive this food as we did with the loaves.  We are to become the body of Christ, to become the bread shared for others in a life of mercy and compassion.  To receive this bread, the body of Christ, is to be in communion with Christ and to pledge to become him in our lives.

It is for this reason that many will not accept this new understanding.  Everyone likes receiving food and being nourished by it.  Everyone likes having their needs met.  However, we are not all so keen on becoming the bread, in going out to give our lives for others, in providing mercy and care to the world.  We are fine with the false theology of Jesus doing it all for us so we don't have to bear it.  We are less keen on the authentic theology that communion calls us to become Christ ourselves in the lives we live, in being mercy and loving kindness in the world.