The Holy Priest-Martyr Simeon, Relative of the Lord; Our Venerable Father Stephen, Bishop of Volodymyr in Volhynia (1094)
Acts 8:26-39; John 6:40-44.
Read John 6:40-44
Christ is risen! Truly, He is risen!
In his commentary on today’s Gospel passage, St. John Chrysostom draws our attention to the reaction of the crowds to Jesus’ discourse on the bread of life. In particular, Chrysostom notes the contrast between this reaction and the reaction of the crowd to the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. When He gave them bread and filled their bellies, they said that He was a Prophet and sought to make Him a King. But when He taught them concerning spiritual food, concerning eternal life, when He led them away from objects of sense and spoke to them of a resurrection and raised their thoughts to higher matters, when they ought to have admired the most, they murmured and started away (St. John Chrysostom, Homily 46 on the Gospel of John).
This reaction reveals something significant about the spiritual disposition of those who hear the words of Jesus. They murmur at him because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” In doing so, they subject the words of Christ to their own will and interpret them according to their own understanding of what they think Jesus should be and what they think he should do for them. If we are honest with ourselves, we can see that we often find ourselves in the same position as the crowd, wanting Jesus to conform to our expectations rather than the other way around.
It’s curious that this Gospel includes the last verse of the previous pericope (verse 40) before recounting the reaction of the crowd to Jesus’ discourse. What is the Church trying to tell us by doing this? Perhaps, in placing these passages together, the Church is trying to draw our attention to the contrast between the fickleness and inconstancy of the crowds on the one hand and the faithfulness of God on the other.
“For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” No matter what our reaction to Him is, God is always faithful.
St. Paul reminds us that “this is the will of God, your sanctification (1 Thess 4:3)”. There is a double significance to St. Paul’s words here: from God’s perspective, He constantly wills our sanctification, but from our perspective, the will of God is our sanctification. This means that our sanctification, our theosis, is accomplished by struggling to conform ourselves to the will of God. In doing so, we will decrease, and Christ, the wisdom and power of God, will increase in us so that it is “…no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20)”.
So, let us not be like the crowds in today’s Gospel. Rather, let us follow the example of Christ our God, wholly submitted to the will of God in going to his voluntary passion, for only through the cross have joy and sanctification come unto the world!