Jesus spoke these words in response to the crowd's complaint that he had declared, "I am the bread that came down from heaven." In this light, Jesus' response is fascinating. The Lord was telling the crowd that they would understand his words only to the extent that they truly knew God the Father. The Father Himself leads people to Christ His Son. As people listen to the Father, He will lead them to Jesus. Jesus' words offer a different perspective of our usual view that faith involves Christ leading us to the Father. In light of Jesus' words, it is also true to say that the Father leads people to Jesus Christ. In the context of John 6, Jesus was inviting the crowd to consider how all the words and deeds of the Father recorded in the Old Testament actually point to they mystery of the Eucharist—that the Father, too, witnesses that Jesus truly is "the bread of life, the bread that came down from heaven."

We know from the account in John 6 that the crowd did not respond to Jesus' invitation. But let us not fail to do so. Let us look to the words and deeds of the Father in the Old Testament to see how they point forward to the mystery of the Eucharist. Let us go as deeply and as far back into the revelation given in the Old Testament as we can. Let us aim our sights at nothing short of understanding the will of God the Father Himself. And then, as we come to see the Eucharist in the perspective of God the Father's plan, we will find ourselves rooted in the most secure position to understand and experience the wealth of blessings that are given us in this marvelous sacrament.

"Israel I would feed with the finest wheat" (Psalm 81:17)

There are two types of Old Testament foreshadowings of the Eucharist. First of all, there are many stories or miracles involving bread that, after Christ's institution of the Eucharist, take on a new light. For instance, there are the miracles of Elijah and Elisha, whereby the widow of Zarephath in Sidon was able to make bread for a year out of one small jar of flour, and Elisha fed one hundred men with only twenty barley loaves (see 1 Kings 17:7–16 and 2 Kings 4:42–44). On another occasion, Elijah miraculously received a loaf of bread and water in the desert and from this food was strengthened to walk forty days and forty nights to Mount Sinai (1 Kings 19:1–18). Of course, the miracle par excellance involving bread in the Old Testament was the gift of manna that sustained Israel for forty years in the desert after her Exodus from Egypt. In later times, Jewish tradition was particularly open to the deeper meaning of this miracle—some rabbis believed that when the Messiah came he would repeat the miracle of the manna in a new and marvelous way. This belief was vindicated through Jesus' offering of his own body and blood under the form of bread and wine. Like wonderful manna raining down from heaven, this new and true "bread from heaven" is now feeding Christ's faithful around the world at every minute of the day. What an incredible manifestation of the Father's love for mankind!

The second type of Old Testament foreshadowing of the Eucharist is in the many teachings that speak of God's desire to feed His people. Consider, for example, the well-known Psalm 23, which speaks of God as the Shepherd of His people. In verse five the psalmist also gives thanks to the Lord because "You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes." The prophets frequently develop this theme of God preparing a banquet for His people. Perhaps the most frequent image used to describe the blessings that God will bestow in the days of the Messiah is the image of a Messianic "banquet" (see, for example, Isaiah 25:6–8). Psalm 81 also speaks in clear terms of God's desire to feed His people:

"I, the Lord am your God who led you forth from the land of Egypt; open wide your mouth, and I will fill it… Israel I would feed with the finest wheat, with honey from the rock I would fill them" (Psalm 81:11.17).

Another powerful image is found in the book of Sirach, in the description of God's Wisdom, which pitches her "tent" in Israel:

"I bud forth delights like the vine, my blossoms become fruit fair and rich. Come to me, all you that yearn for me, and be filled with my fruits. You will remember me as sweeter than honey, better to have than the honeycomb. He who eats of me will hunger still, he who drinks of me will thirst for more" (Sirach 24:18–20).

Jesus adapted some of these very words in his discourse in John 6 as he invited people to come and eat and drink of his body and blood.

The above passages are only a small selection of texts from the Old Testament that manifest the deep longing of the Father to feed His people. From his ongoing meditation on the Word of God, the psalmist was able to grasp the deepest meaning of this desire of God to feed us. It is simply that the Lord God Himself is to be our food—"Taste and see that the Lord is good" (Psalm 34:9). If we take time to ponder the simple meaning of this verse, we can appreciate that all the Old Testament references to God feeding His people do indeed point forward to the mystery of the Eucharist.

The Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden

We have seen that the Old Testament contains abundant references of the desire of God to feed His people. Actually, this desire of God is manifested from the very beginning of the creation of man and woman. Chapter two of Genesis records that in the Garden of Eden God provided man with "various trees that were delightful to look at and good for food" (Gen 2:9). Special mention is made of "the tree of life" and "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Adam and Eve were commanded not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but no command was given them regarding "the tree of life." The clear implication is that God desired them to eat of this tree of life. However, when Adam and Eve sinned by eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they were banished from the Garden, and God stationed cherubim "to guard the way to the tree of life" (Gen 3:24). What is this mysterious "tree of life?" Is it possible that this image of "the tree of life" contains the key that will reveal the deepest meaning of God's desire to feed His people?

The text in Genesis 2–3 indicates that the original plan of God in creating man and woman was to give them eternal life through their eating of the tree of life. In this light it is helpful to return to Jesus' words in John 6, where he promises the same gift of "eternal life" by offering us his very flesh: "Whoever eats this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world" (John 6:51). It is quite possible that in these words Jesus was actually alluding to "the tree of life" in Genesis 2. If the fruit of the tree of life would allow one to "live forever," it would seem that this tree is indeed a mysterious foreshadowing of the gift that Jesus gives in the Eucharist—eternal life. Do the Scriptures contain any other evidence that sheds further light on the relationship of the tree of life in Genesis 2 and the gift of the Eucharist?

Although there are not many references to the tree of life outside of Genesis 2–3, there is one notable exception. The last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, speaks of the tree of life in two places. The first reference is in the opening of the book, as the seer receives God's words for the seven churches in Asia Minor. In the first prophecy to the church of Ephesus, John concludes: "Let him who has ears heed the Spirit's word to the churches! I will see to it that the victor eats from the tree of life which grows in the garden of God" (Rev 2:7). At the end of the book of Revelation, John receives a vision of heaven, with three references to the tree of life that is found in the presence of God. In all of these texts it is Jesus who restores humanity's access to the tree of life. So the Scriptures do bear witness that it is Jesus himself who restores to humanity the gift forfeited by Adam's sin—access to the tree of life. But we can go even further than this. In John 6, the "bread of life" that Jesus gives is his "flesh…for the life of the world" (John 6:51). This is a clear reference to the Lord's offering of his life on the Cross. The Eucharistic "bread" that we eat is our reception of Jesus' body and blood offered on the tree of the Cross. Christian artists have often utilized this notion of the Cross as a tree (see Galatians 3:13) to depict the Cross as the true "tree of life" that is mentioned in Genesis 2–3.

These reflections on the Eucharist and the "tree of life" open our gaze to the deepest intention of God the Father in creating humanity. From the very dawn of creation, it was the Father's will to feed humanity with the life of His only begotten Son. If Adam and Eve had not sinned they would have been fed by the life of God's Son in the Garden of Eden. Their sin, though grievous, did not frustrate God's desire to feed humanity with the life of His Son. The plan of God was revealed again in splendor through the incarnation, birth, suffering, death and resurrection of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. When he offered his body and blood on the Cross and gave us this food through the sacrament of the Eucharist, the fruit of the tree of life, first mentioned in Genesis, was finally given to humanity. How faithful God the Father is to all of His plans and promises!

The Eucharist and the life of the Holy Trinity

The gift of the Eucharist has its deepest roots in the will of God the Father. In creating humanity, the Father's desire was to feed them with the life of His Son. By pondering Jesus' reference to the Father in John 6, we have finally come face to face with the mystery of God's eternal plan—the deep things that have been hidden in God from all eternity. Here, in the mystery of God's own inner life, the deepest roots of the Eucharist are to be found. Since the Eucharist has its source in the inner life of God Himself, it behooves us also to contemplate the relationships of love between the Persons of the Holy Trinity. Perhaps there is something in the relationships among the Persons of the Trinity that is a "model" of what the Eucharist is—a gift of self so complete and perfect that it may be said to "feed" and "nourish" the other.

We know, of course, that God is spirit and therefore there is nothing that truly involves "eating" or "feeding" in God. Nonetheless, the Persons of the Trinity are continuously relating to one another in perfect and complete acts of love. The Father is the source of all life in the Godhead, and He pours out all His love and divinity upon the Son. The Son, equal to the Father in divine majesty, possesses the divine nature in the mode of receiving it from the Father. The Son's life is to be completely and perfectly receptive to the Father and His love. The Holy Spirit is the breath of life and love that unites the Father and the Son. Each Person of the Trinity possesses the same divine nature. The only thing that distinguishes the Three Persons is how the divine nature is possessed: the Father as the source of love and the giver of paternal love; the Son in the mode of receiving, of filial love; and the Holy Spirit as the gift of Love itself. The life of the Trinity is thus a mystery of perfect and complete giving. But as we listen to the words of Jesus concerning his relationship to the Father, we can go even further than this.

In John 4, there is a wonderful account of Jesus' devotion to the Father. The Lord and his disciples were passing through Samaritan territory, and Jesus stopped at a well, tired and thirsty. The disciples went into the town to buy food, while Jesus remained at the well. A Samaritan woman came by, and Jesus asked her for a drink of water from the well. Then he began to talk to her about "the living water" that he himself could give to people—a water that wells up to "eternal life" (John 4:7–15). The disciples finally came back and began to urge Jesus to eat. The Lord's response to them is a profound revelation about his relationship to the Father:

"I have food to eat of which you do not know… My food is to do the will of the One who sent me and to finish His work" (John 4:32.34).

In these words Jesus himself describes his relationship to the Father in terms of feeding on His will. Perhaps there is no more powerful a word than this to describe the complete dependence upon another, the complete reception of life from another. This, of course, is how a baby grows in the womb of his or her mother—by constantly feeding on her. In a similar way, Jesus is so utterly dependent on, and receptive to, the Father that he describes this relationship as "feeding" on the Father's will.

In the light of Jesus' "feeding" upon the Father's will, the mystery of the Eucharist is revealed as something that truly plunges us into the relationship of love between the Father and the Son. As Jesus "feeds" upon the Father, so we feed upon him in the Eucharist. Isn't this exactly what Jesus was implying at the Last Supper, when he declared to his disciples at the Last Supper: "As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love" (John 15:9). As the Father feeds me, so I feed you. Abide in this love.

"Abide in my love." These words of Jesus at the Last Supper echo his words in the Bread of Life discourse in John 6. When Jesus proclaimed that he was the living bread from heaven who would give his flesh for the life of the world, the crowd began to protest. The Lord responded, not by softening his words, but by reaffirming them with even more graphic imagery in order to make perfectly clear how it is that we are to "abide" in him. (In the following passage there are two different Greek words used for eating—the first one means "to eat," the latter two mean "to munch or chew.")

"Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats [chews] my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats [chews] my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me" (John 6:53–57)

The meaning of this teaching on the Eucharist by Jesus is unambiguous. We do not partake of a "symbolic" body and blood of the Lord. In the Eucharist, we eat his body and drink his blood—they are "true food and…true drink." It is only by this deep and perfect communion and union with Christ that we come to abide in him: "whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me." Furthermore, the Lord explains (as we have tried to do in the preceding), that this Eucharistic communion replicates the giving of life from the Father to the Son within the Trinity: "Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me."

Conclusion

In this essay we have pondered Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist in John 6 with specific reference to how the Eucharist is to be understood in the light of the Father and His love. The usual perspective of Catholics in thinking about the Eucharist is to focus on what Jesus said and did to institute this precious Sacrament. This is an obvious and natural perspective from which to begin pondering the greatness of the Holy Eucharist. But the Sacrament is so rich a mystery that we must also consider it in the light of the Father and His plan of love for mankind. Jesus himself points us in this direction in John 6.

As we see the Eucharist in the perspective of the Father, we are brought into the depths of the inner life of the Trinity and we begin to grasp that this wonderful Sacrament of love plunges us into the same relationship of love that exists between the Father and the Son. This is a necessary truth to believe and grasp if we desire to open our hearts to the fullness of blessings that Jesus gives us in the Eucharist. It is not enough to see the Eucharist simply in relation to Jesus' own words and deeds that culminated in the awesome sacrifice of his life on Calvary. We must also see the Eucharist in the perspective of the eternal plan of God the Father for humanity. In the Eucharist, we are given, not simply the forgiveness of our sins, but also access to the tree of life in the Garden of God. As we eat the flesh of our Savior, in him and with him we are plunged into the eternal life that the Father continually pours out upon the Son within the Holy Trinity.

— Father Gerard Beigel is a professor at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver, Colorado, and writes regularly for The California Mission.