Related articles
The multiplication of the breads
The day after multiplying the breads, the crowds meet Jesus in Capernaum, and Jesus instructs them on the food he will give them, a heavenly food that gives life to the world. This food is Jesus himself, the word of God who gives life to the world and offers his own life to each of his creatures. Jesus thus announces the Eucharistic meal he will institute at the Last Supper. The bread that came down from heaven is Jesus himself, giving himself to be eaten by mankind.
This heavenly bread invites us to a meal of communion and covenant. Those who are invited must come together as one, as members of a single body, to make together a covenant with God. In this meal, it is God who unites himself with his fiancée, with all those who are invited, with his church (ekklesía in Greek, the assembly of the invited ones, from the verb kaléō to call, to invite). They are now one, because they have taken a step towards each other to sit at the same table, they have acknowledged their mistakes, so that they can forgive each other, and God by his own forgiveness has sanctified them. Now the bride is ready, clothed in the linen of the works of righteousness, adorned for the wedding. This bride is the church, the assembly of those who are invited, united by the bread sent down from heaven, by Christ the word of God. They partake of the same food, become one, and consume in this bread descended from heaven their union with God. They are already partaking of the marriage supper of the Lamb. At the same time, this heavenly food makes the multitude one, and unites this unified multitude with God like a bride whom God himself has prepared and adorned for the wedding. He feeds them with bread from heaven, he feeds them with himself, so that they may all remain in him, in his love, and through this love remain in unity. All this will be realized in a permanent condition in heaven, but it is already possible to experience it on earth through participation in the Eucharistic meal, as Jesus says: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him” (John 6:56).
For when God utters a word, it’s to share, to spread his own good, to share his joy and love, to offer it to the world. This means offering one’s own divine life, for God is love, and this love is relationship, an eternal, Trinitarian relationship, that is, a wonderful exchange between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. So that we can participate in this wonderful exchange, which fills us with joy, the Son, who is the Word of God, associates us with him, offering us his life, his spirit. He comes to dwell within us, and his spirit itself dwells within us, the Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son. This spirit is what links the Father and the Son, it is their mutual love, love is spirit, God is spirit. To enter into God’s love, to share in his life and joy, is to love as he loves us, and therefore to love all our brothers and sisters as he loves them. It means discovering his love for all of us, for ourselves and for the others, and in turn becoming capable of loving them as the Father who gives them life loves them (“We will be like him, because we will see him as he is.” (1 John 3:2)). There is room for everyone in God’s heart and love. To enter God’s kingdom is to enter the fullness of his love. This love unites us to him, who is its source, and also to our brothers and sisters, with whom we become one, like members of the same body, in harmony and complementarity, rejoicing in each other’s beauty. Christ is the head who gives life to the body through his spirit. This spirit is the life transmitted by the Father, and it unites the Father with his creatures like a mother with her children, for God carries his children within himself (see Ruah-God’s spirit is feminine). The whole world is in God and subsists through him, animated by his spirit, which infuses life in it and unites us to him in the filial relationship offered to us by his son, who makes us members of his body. It is through the miracle of the Eucharistic meal that we are nourished by the life of the Son of God, bread sent down from heaven (see The Eucharistic meal). We are thus invited to a meal that is a wedding feast, in which the bridegroom is Christ and the bride is humanity. The union of God and humanity is celebrated. All human beings are invited to the meal.
Deuteronomy 8:3: Man shall live on everything that comes from the mouth of God.
וַֽיְעַנְּךָ֮ וַיַּרְעִבֶךָ֒ וַיַּֽאֲכִֽלְךָ֤ אֶת-הַמָּן֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לֹא-יָדַ֔עְתָּ וְלֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּן אֲבֹתֶ֑יךָ לְמַ֣עַן הֹודִֽעֲךָ֗ כִּ֠י לֹ֣א עַל-הַלֶּ֤חֶם לְבַדֹּו֙ יִחְיֶ֣ה כִּ֛י עַל-כָּל-מֹוצָ֥א פִֽי-יְהוָ֖ה יִחְיֶ֥ה הָאָדָֽם׃
He afflicted you, he made you hungry and he made you eat the manna that you did not know and your fathers did not know, in order to make you know that not only from bread will man live because from everything that comes out of the mouth of god will man live.
John 6, 22-59
22 Τῇ ἐπαύριον ὁ ὄχλος ὁ ἑστηκὼς πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἶδον ὅτι πλοιάριον ἄλλο οὐκ ἦν ἐκεῖ εἰ μὴ ἕν, καὶ ὅτι οὐ συνεισῆλθεν τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὁ Ἰησοῦς εἰς τὸ πλοῖον ἀλλὰ μόνοι οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ ἀπῆλθον-
22 The next day, the crowd standing on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other boat except one, and that Jesus had not gone with his disciples to the boat, but that his disciples had gone alone;
23 ἀλλὰ ἦλθεν πλοιάρια ἐκ Τιβεριάδος ἐγγὺς τοῦ τόπου ὅπου ἔφαγον τὸν ἄρτον εὐχαριστήσαντος τοῦ Κυρίου.
23 But boats came from Tiberias near the place where they had eaten the bread, when the Lord gave thanks.
24 ὅτε οὖν εἶδεν ὁ ὄχλος ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκεῖ οὐδὲ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ, ἐνέβησαν αὐτοὶ εἰς τὰ πλοιάρια καὶ ἦλθον εἰς Καφαρναοὺμ ζητοῦντες τὸν Ἰησοῦν.
24 When the crowd, therefore, saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they got into the boats and came to Capernaum looking for Jesus.
25 καὶ εὑρόντες αὐτὸν πέραν τῆς θαλάσσης εἶπον αὐτῷ Ῥαββεί, πότε ὧδε γέγονας;
25 And when they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
26 ἀπεκρίθη αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ζητεῖτέ με οὐχ ὅτι εἴδετε σημεῖα, ἀλλ’ ὅτι ἐφάγετε ἐκ τῶν ἄρτων καὶ ἐχορτάσθητε.
26 Jesus replied and said to them, “Amen amen, I say to you, you seek me not because you saw signs, but because you ate bread and were filled.
27 ἐργάζεσθε μὴ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν ἀπολλυμένην, ἀλλὰ τὴν βρῶσιν τὴν μένουσαν εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον, ἣν ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ὑμῖν δώσει- τοῦτον γὰρ ὁ Πατὴρ ἐσφράγισεν ὁ Θεός.
27 Do not work for the food that is destroyed, but for the food that remains for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you: for the Father God has marked him with his seal.
28 εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτόν Τί ποιῶμεν ἵνα ἐργαζώμεθα τὰ ἔργα τοῦ Θεοῦ;
28 They said to him, then, “What would we do to work the works of God?”
29 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Τοῦτό ἐστιν τὸ ἔργον τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἵνα πιστεύητε εἰς ὃν ἀπέστειλεν ἐκεῖνος.
29 Jesus replied and said to them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
30 εἶπον οὖν αὐτῷ Τί οὖν ποιεῖς σὺ σημεῖον, ἵνα ἴδωμεν καὶ πιστεύσωμέν σοι; τί ἐργάζῃ;
30 They said to him, therefore, “What sign are you doing, then, that we may see and believe you; what are you working?
31 οἱ πατέρες ἡμῶν τὸ μάννα ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ, καθώς ἐστιν γεγραμμένον Ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς φαγεῖν.
31 Our fathers ate manna in the wilderness, as it is written, “He gave them bread from heaven to eat.”
32 εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, οὐ Μωϋσῆς δέδωκεν ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἀλλ’ ὁ Πατήρ μου δίδωσιν ὑμῖν τὸν ἄρτον ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ τὸν ἀληθινόν-
32 Jesus said to them, therefore, “Amen amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gave you the true bread from heaven.
33 ὁ γὰρ ἄρτος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐστιν ὁ καταβαίνων ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ ζωὴν διδοὺς τῷ κόσμῳ.
33 indeed, the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
34 εἶπον οὖν πρὸς αὐτόν Κύριε, πάντοτε δὸς ἡμῖν τὸν ἄρτον τοῦτον.
34 They said to him, therefore, “Lord, give us such bread all the time.”
35 εἶπεν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς- ὁ ἐρχόμενος πρὸς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ, καὶ ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμὲ οὐ μὴ πώποτε.
35 Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life: whoever comes to me may not hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.
36 ἀλλ’ εἶπον ὑμῖν ὅτι καὶ ἑωράκατέ με καὶ οὐ πιστεύετε.
36 But I also told you that you have seen and you do not believe.
37 Πᾶν ὃ δίδωσίν μοι ὁ Πατὴρ πρὸς ἐμὲ ἥξει, καὶ τὸν ἐρχόμενον πρός με οὐ μὴ ἐκβάλω ἔξω,
37 Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me let me not cast him out,
38 ὅτι καταβέβηκα ἀπὸ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ οὐχ ἵνα ποιῶ τὸ θέλημα τὸ ἐμὸν ἀλλὰ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με.
38 because I came down from heaven not in order to do my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.
39 τοῦτο δέ ἐστιν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ πέμψαντός με, ἵνα πᾶν ὃ δέδωκέν μοι μὴ ἀπολέσω ἐξ αὐτοῦ, ἀλλὰ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸ ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
39 This is the will of the one who sent me: that I lose none of those he has given me, but that I will resurrect them on the last day.
40 τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ θεωρῶν τὸν Υἱὸν καὶ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον, καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐγὼ ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will resurrect him at the last day.
41 Ἐγόγγυζον οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι περὶ αὐτοῦ ὅτι εἶπεν Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ καταβὰς ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ,
41 The Jews, therefore, murmured against him, because he had said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.”
42 καὶ ἔλεγον Οὐχ οὗτός ἐστιν Ἰησοῦς ὁ υἱὸς Ἰωσήφ, οὗ ἡμεῖς οἴδαμεν τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὴν μητέρα; πῶς νῦν λέγει ὅτι Ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβέβηκα;
42 and they said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How now does he say, ‘I came down from heaven’?”
43 ἀπεκρίθη Ἰησοῦς καὶ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς Μὴ γογγύζετε μετ’ ἀλλήλων.
43 Jesus replied and said to them, “Do not murmur with one another.
44 οὐδεὶς δύναται ἐλθεῖν πρός με ἐὰν μὴ ὁ Πατὴρ ὁ πέμψας με ἑλκύσῃ αὐτόν, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will resurrect him on the last day.
45 ἔστιν γεγραμμένον ἐν τοῖς προφήταις Καὶ ἔσονται πάντες διδακτοὶ Θεοῦ- πᾶς ὁ ἀκούσας παρὰ τοῦ Πατρὸς καὶ μαθὼν ἔρχεται πρὸς ἐμέ.
45 It is written in the prophets, “And they shall all be taught by God: every [man] that has heard from the Father, and has understood, comes to me.
46 οὐχ ὅτι τὸν Πατέρα ἑώρακέν τις, εἰ μὴ ὁ ὢν παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὗτος ἑώρακεν τὸν Πατέρα.
46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except the one who is with God, this one has seen the Father.
47 ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ὁ πιστεύων ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
47 Amen amen I say to you, he who believes, has eternal life.
48 ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς.
48 I am the bread of life.
49 οἱ πατέρες ὑμῶν ἔφαγον ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ τὸ μάννα καὶ ἀπέθανον-
49 Your fathers ate manna in the desert and died:
50 οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβαίνων, ἵνα τις ἐξ αὐτοῦ φάγῃ καὶ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ.
50 This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that someone may eat of it and not die.
51 ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς- ἐάν τις φάγῃ ἐκ τοῦ ἄρτου, ζήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα- καὶ ὁ ἄρτος δὲ ὃν ἐγὼ δώσω ἡ σάρξ μού ἐστιν ὑπὲρ τῆς τοῦ18 ζωῆς.
51 I am the bread, the living one who came down from heaven: if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.
aiõn: indicates a length of time, the duration of a life, of a generation. This term is etymologically close to the word aeí (ἀεί) which means always. This word is often translated as age, epoch, but it is often used by Jesus and the apostles to indicate the age to come, that which will have no end because associated in this context with heavenly life which is eternal. In Luke 18:30, for example, Jesus promises those who have left everything (home, family) for the kingdom of heaven that they will receive much more, not only in this age but also eternal life in the age to come:
ἐν τῷ καιρῷ τούτῳ καὶ ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ ἐρχομένῳ ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
in this time (kairós) and in the age (aión) that is coming eternal life (aiōnion) .
When Jesus points to this present time, he uses the term kairós, a term that indicates the opportune moment, where action is needed. When he speaks of the age to come, he uses the term aión and when he wants to speak of the eternal life proper to this age to come he uses the term aiōnion in the sense of eternal, which is derived from aión, whereas there is another word for eternal which is aídios. Here we should understand that in the age to come we will receive the life that is proper to that age. It’s the age of life with God that doesn’t fit into our time, which is why we’re probably leaving the vocabulary that refers to the course of time to indicate a reality that escapes the notion of time we have now. Nevertheless, we are also often reminded that this age, will have no end, that it is infinite and for this reason we translate the Semitic expression le’olam by eis toùs aiõnas tõn aiõnōn (εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων), for the ages of the ages. Now the Hebrew word ‘olam (עולם) comes from the root ‘alam which has the meaning of to hide and is translated as eternity, but it also has the meaning of world in Semitic languages. The expression le’olam in the sense of “forever” is very common in the Bible and already at the beginning of the book of Genesis 3:22 it is said that if man ate of the tree of life, he would live “forever” (le’olam), this in the ancient Jewish Greek version of the Septuagint Bible is translated as eis tòn aiõna (εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα). So this coming age is also a hidden world to come. And when we say for the ages of ages or the world of worlds, the eternity of eternities, this also alludes to a world that is above all others and has no end.
52 Ἐμάχοντο οὖν πρὸς ἀλλήλους οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι λέγοντες Πῶς δύναται οὗτος ἡμῖν δοῦναι τὴν σάρκα φαγεῖν;
52 The Jews argued, therefore, with one another, saying, “How can this one give us flesh to eat?”
53 εἶπεν οὖν αὐτοῖς ὁ Ἰησοῦς Ἀμὴν ἀμὴν λέγω ὑμῖν, ἐὰν μὴ φάγητε τὴν σάρκα τοῦ Υἱοῦ ἀνθρώπου καὶ πίητε αὐτοῦ τὸ αἷμα, οὐκ ἔχετε ζωὴν ἐν ἑαυτοῖς.
53 Jesus said to them, therefore, “Amen amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
54 ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον, κἀγὼ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν τῇ ἐσχάτῃ ἡμέρᾳ.
54 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life (aiõnion), and I will raise him up at the last day.
55 ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθής ἐστιν βρῶσις, καὶ τὸ αἷμά μου ἀληθής ἐστιν πόσις.
55 Indeed, my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink.
56 ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἐν ἐμοὶ μένει κἀγὼ ἐν αὐτῷ.
56 He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him.
57 καθὼς ἀπέστειλέν με ὁ ζῶν Πατὴρ κἀγὼ ζῶ διὰ τὸν Πατέρα, καὶ ὁ τρώγων με κἀκεῖνος ζήσει δι’ ἐμέ.
57 As the living Father sent me and I live by the Father, so he who eats me, that one will live by me.
58 οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καταβάς, οὐ καθὼς ἔφαγον οἱ πατέρες καὶ ἀπέθανον- ὁ τρώγων τοῦτον τὸν ἄρτον ζήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
58 this is the bread that came down from heaven, not as the fathers ate and died: he who eats this bread will live forever (aiõna).
59 Ταῦτα εἶπεν ἐν συναγωγῇ διδάσκων ἐν Καφαρναούμ.
59 He said these things, teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.