“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,
and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6:44).
In John’s Gospel, we see Jesus fully focused on His mission on earth. Not even for a moment does Jesus lose His sense of mission. The purpose of His entire life on earth is to raise people up ‘on the last day’ and present them to God. As the scriptures continue, the purpose and focus of Jesus’ mission becomes intense. Even at Gethsemane, in the midst of His agony, Jesus prayed to His Father for the fulfillment of this mission – “Father… not my will, but yours be done” (Lk 22: 42).
In today’s passage, Jesus gives a deeper idea about the relationship He has with His Father. Because He was with the Father, Jesus has seen the Father and now He has come to this world as the people’s spiritual food, – “the bread that came down from heaven”. The purpose of Jesus coming to this world is simple and clear: it is to bring God’s life in the world. Therefore, “those who believe in Him have eternal life”.
The eternal life that Jesus gives us is a gift from God. We may think that we can choose God by our own volition, but the scriptures are very clear that our salvation is part of divine initiative. “No one can come to me unless the father draws Him”. Our secularistic society may over-emphasize human independence and teach us how to achieve ‘self-actualization’, but Jesus assures us that to attain salvation by our own efforts is an utter impossibility.
Then how can we attain our salvation? Jesus gives us a simple way to reach God. Since, He is the only begotten son of God, Jesus knows the Father very well and He has all the secrets to reach God. Therefore,
- Firstly, we must listen to Jesus carefully, for in Jesus “all will be taught by God”.
- Secondly, we need to believe in Jesus’ words, which sustain our spiritual life, for “he who believes has everlasting life”.
- Finally, assimilate Jesus in every aspect of our lives just like the bread assimilated becomes our flesh and blood, for “Jesus is the living Bread come down from Heaven”.
Jesus, in His total humanity – meek, humble, weak and fragile – is the source of our salvation. His entire person is our spiritual bread. He alone can nourish our souls to eternal life.
– Fr Ranjan D’Sa, OCD