In this Sunday’s first reading (1 Kings 19:4-8) and gospel (John 6:41-51), we can easily see the common theme of God inviting us to take from him the food that we need to persist in our journey in this world.
In the first reading, Elijah was fleeing from Queen Jezebel who threatened to kill him. Prior to this chapter, he has just won a contest with the prophets of Baal as to who the true God is. The contest was for them to offer a bull and then pray to their respective gods to send fire in order to consume the sacrifice. Baal’s prophets prayed so hard to their god, even slashing themselves with their swords and spears, but no fire came. When it was Elijah’s turn, he asked Baal’s prophets to pour water on his offering and on the wood – if only to make it harder for fire to blaze. He then prayed to God, and God answered him. Fire came down from heaven and the prophet’s water-drenched sacrifice was burned. Following this, the people who witnessed the miracle seized Baal’s prophets. Elijah then brought them down to the river and slaughtered them all.
With this as the background story, Jezebel, the queen-advocate of Baal’s slain prophets, was very angry. She wanted to capture Elijah and put the prophet to death. Desperate and afraid, Elijah ran to the desert and prayed that God ends his life. Faling asleep, the angel of the Lord touched the man of God, and ordered him to get up and eat. After eating a cake and drinking a jug of water, Elijah lied down again, but the angel came back, touched him, and said, “Get up and eat, or else the journey will be too long for you.” In obedience, the prophet got up and ate. Strengthened by that food, he walked for forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mountain of God.
In the gospel, Jesus addressed the people in Capernaum who were having doubts about him when he said that he came down from heaven. They knew his earthly father and mother, so it was very hard for them to believe what Jesus has just told them. But Jesus said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, but they died; this is the bread that comes down from heaven so that one may eat it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
Like Elijah, we sometimes find ourselves running away from our problems. The world’s difficulties, tests, and trials are just too overwhelming, that we turn our backs on them. On certain occasions, some of us even desire to die rather than continue living. And like the people in Capernaum, at times, we find ourselves in the miry state of unbelief. Some look at Jesus only with an earthly eye – limiting the limitless God and setting boundaries to what he can, and cannot do.
In times like these, Jesus reminds us of his invitation to eat the food that will lead us to eternal life. He fed Elijah with earthly food – enough to sustain him in his journey. To the people of Capernaum and to us, Christians of today, however, Jesus offers food that is much better than Elijah’s, and in fact superior to the manna that he rained on the Israelites during their journey in the desert as they fled from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the Promised Land. This food is no other than his very own self – his flesh and blood. Can we believe this? It takes faith to accept this truth, and only God can give us that faith.
Let us then pray that as we take Holy Communion, we recognize that it is the body and blood of our Savior, Jesus Christ, that we are receiving. He is the true food who will accompany us our life’s journey until at last, he brings us home to heaven.