In today’s Scripture Readings (Acts 7:51-8:1; John 6:30-35), we read and reflect how doing a work of God – work of Jesus - can be not only misinterpreted or misunderstood but result in persecution. We see Stephen’s case in the First Reading (Acts 7:51-8:1), and Jesus’ case in the Gospel Reading (John 6:30-35).
Jesus’ fourth miraculous sign in feeding the crowd
out of five loaves of barely bread and two fish was misinterpreted by them. So,
to help them understand his intent for that sign, Jesus gave the discourse on
the Living Bread of Life, alluding to the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, the
very body and the blood of Christ himself in the species of unleavened bread
and wine.
Stephen’s powerful and eloquent teaching on Christ attracted those who do not believe in Christ to debate with him. Because they could not withstand the wisdom and the Holy Spirit in Stephen’s argument for Jesus, they plotted to kill him according to the Law for falsely accusing him. So, Stephen sharply rebuked them for their sin, as repetition of their ancestors’ sin, before being put to death by the same sinners, who put Jesus to death.
As you explore and reflect today's Scripture readings, I invite you to reflect on this:
Stephen was killed by the same kind of people who put Jesus to death. Jesus had to give the discourse on the living bread of life. What is a common reason for these?
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From today (Tuesday of the Third Week of
Paschaltide) until this Saturday (Saturday of the Third Week of Paschaltie), we
are reading Jesus’ Living Bread of Life discourse and the disciples’ reaction
to it (John 6:30-71) : John 6:30-35(Tuesday), 35-40(Wednesday), 44-41
(Thursday), 52-59 (Friday), 60-69 (Saturday) for daily Gospel Reading.
Jesus spoke of the Living Bread of Life discourse (John
6:30-59) in response to the crowds’ reaction to the fourth sign that Jesus
performed to feed them out of only five loaves of barely bread and two fish.
After being miraculously fed by Jesus’ sign, they kept chasing him, in
anticipation to be fed again. In response to this, Jesus pointed out the crowd
that he did not perform the sign of miraculously multiplying a scanty amount of
bread and fish just to fill their stomachs but to point them to what God
provides. It was meant to teach the crowd about the importance of eternal life,
which can be attained only through Jesus. And through his discourse on the
Living Bread of Life, in contrast to the manna from heaven during Exodus, Jesus
gradually unpacked the Christological truth about him and the salvation by him:
eternal life is possible through the very living bread of life given by him,
because the bread is Jesus himself.
However, the crowd thought what Jesus performed the
sign to feed them as God in heaven brought down manna and quails for the
Israelites during the Exodus for their sustenance.
So, Jesus said to the crowd:
Amen, amen, I say to you, you are looking
for me not because you saw signs but because you ate the loaves and were
filled. Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for
eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him the Father, God,
has set his seal (John 6:26-27).
In order to understand Jesus’ Living Bread of Life
discourse (John 6:30-59), we need to keep the above statement of Jesus, because
this statement sets the tone for the entire discourse, as this statement of
Jesus implicates that the multiplication of bread and fish was meant to point
the crowd’s attention to eternal life through Jesus, who is the living bread of
life.
Jesus’ intent was to have the crowd understand the
food that endures for eternal life (John 6:27), in parallel to the water given
by Jesus to well up for eternal life (John 4:14).
Because Jesus said, “Work for the food that endures for eternal life”(John 6:27), the
crowd asked Jesus, “What can we do to
accomplish the works of God?”(John 6:28). To this, Jesus said:
This
is the work of God, that you believe in the one he sent
(John 6:29).
By the above statement, Jesus reminded the crowd
that they must believe in Jesus if they really want to do the works for God –
to work for the food that endures for eternal life. Believing in Jesus and his teaching is an
absolutely necessary condition to work for what Jesus commands. However, they
responded with their difficulty of believing to this teaching of Jesus on the
importance of believing by asking him:
What
sign can you do, that we may see and believe in you? What can you do?
(John 6:30)
The crowd directly witnessed and benefitted from the
sign of multiplication of bread and fish. Yet, they still ask more sign in
order to believe. This is a red flag to
indicate that they are not likely to believe. And, it is demonstrated in them
walking away from Jesus by rejecting his teaching on the Living Bread of Life
(John 6:60-71).
To see if this skeptical crowd would believe, Jesus
began his discourse on the food that endures for eternal life, first, Jesus
compared the food for eternal life (John 6:27) to the Manna during Exodus
(Exodus 16:4–5; Numbers 11:7–9; Psalm 78:24) in the following words:
Our
ancestors ate manna in the desert, as it is written: ”He gave them bread from
heaven to eat.” Amen, amen, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave the bread
from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of
God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world
(John 6:31-33).
In response, the crowd demanded the bread of God,
the true bread from heaven, for eternal life (John 6:34).
So, Jesus said:
I
am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever
believes in me will never thirst (John 6:35).
Imagine the crowd’s reaction to this statement of
Jesus.
Perhaps, they were imaging that the true bread from
heaven by God for eternal life would still look like ordinary bread. Then,
Jesus is telling that he is this bread. The crowd must be in bewilderment as
they were caught in the gap between what they thought of the bread for eternal
life and what Jesus described as the bread for eternal life.
When you find out that what you imagined, thought,
or believed, turns out to be different from what Jesus describes for what it
is, would you still believe or is your belief is shaken?
Do you see a gap between what they seek and what God
provides through Jesus?
How different or similar are you in comparing
yourself to the crowd?
Now, compare John 6:25-69 to John 4:10-30 and compare the crowd in John
6:25-69 to the Samaritan woman in John 4:10-30, focusing on believing, which is
absolutely necessary for sign to be correctly understood and for work of God to
be done, as we continue reading and reflecting on John 6 for the rest of this
week.
Today’s First Reading (Acts 7:51-8:1) reminds us how
the men of evil, who put Jesus to death, has been progressively attacking the
nascent Church. Through our Paschaltide First Readings, we have already read
from Acts 2 to Acts 7. In this, we notice that how the enemies of Jesus warned
and arrested and flogged Peter and John
for their work of Jesus and teaching of Jesus. Then, Stephen joined in the
pastoral leadership team as a deacon and preached on Jesus with the wisdom and
the Holy Spirit. But, this led the enemies of Jesus, enemies of the Church, to
kill Stephen.
Those who debated with Stephen on his teaching of
Jesus could not withstand the wisdom and the Holy Spirit were not only simply
ignorant but rather vicious to plot against him by setting up false blasphemy
accusation against him, having religious leaders involve in this scheme (Acts
6:8-15), as read in yesterday’s (Monday of the Third Week of Paschaltide) First
Reading. Now, in today’s First Reading (Acts 7:51-8:1), we read and reflect the
conclusion of Stephen’s response to the false accusation against him and its
consequence on him. And what is between
yesterday’s First Reading and today’s (Acts 7:1-50) is the most of
Stephen’s impressive last speech on the
truth toward his accusers, in response to the high priest asking him if all the
charge against him was true (Acts 7:2-53).
The situation of Stephen is very similar to how
Jesus’ work of healing on sabbath, as an extension of the work of God the
Father, resulted in blasphemy accusation
against him, leading further to the mockery trials by the Sanhedrin and by
Pilate with false testimonies (John 5:1-47,7:1-11:57,18:19-19:16; cf. Matthew
26:1-5,57-27:26//Mark 14:1-2, 53-15:15).
Instead of responding
to the high priest’s question: whether the blasphemy charge against him is true
or not, Stephan so convincingly and eloquently confront the sin of his
accusers, implying that their sin for killing Jesus, the righteous one, was
also trying to kill Stephen, righteous servant of Jesus (Acts 7:51-8:1).
We are reminded that as Jesus was persecuted and killed for doing works of the Father, Stephen was put to death for doing works of Jesus, which are, in essence, works of the Father. The ones who killed Jesus and Stephen prided themselves as the works of God, teaching His Word and the Law. As Stephen pointed out to them, they continued to attack the Church of Jesus, after killing him, because they had never learned a lesson from their ancestors’ cycles of sins – killing prophets after prophets in refusing to listen to God and, therefore, refusing to repent.
Through today’s
readings (Acts 7:51-8:1; John 6:30-35), we are once again reminded that the
Resurrection of the Lord has prompted us to subject us to a certain possibility
of persecution and even death, because the three-fold glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ through his death,
resurrection, and ascension leads to our commissioning to be sent out to do
works of Jesus, as Peter, John, Stephen, and other apostles did.
The works of Jesus,
including signs, were not welcomed and correctly recognized for them to
believe. As today’s Gospel Reading reminds, his sign to multiply bread and
fish, were not correctly understood by the crowd. So, Jesus began his discourse
on the Living Bread of Life, hoping that the discourse would help. However, the
reading indicates that the crowd were not really getting Jesus’ intent for
eternal life in the discourse of the Living Bread of Life, the food for eternal
life. Jesus had to work extra hard with the discourse.
And, Stephen was killed
for doing works of Jesus.
When we conclude
Paschaltide, we will be filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. It means
that we are to become and work like Stephen. And, it also means that we may be
persecuted to death for doing works of Jesus.
Does it turn you off
from Jesus, who has died and risen from the dead, to give us eternal life?
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