The explanation of the readings
The readings of the second Sunday tell us about the Son;the bread of life for all nations.
Psalms
So the psalms demonstrate how God presents us His works,mercies and salvation for our life,so we see
· The revelation of the Son’s works and His will in Vespers psalm “The works of the Lord are great, Studied by all who have pleasure in them.” .(Psalm 111:3-4)
· The manifestation of His divine mercies in Matins psalm, “His work is honorable and glorious, And His righteousness endures forever. He has made His wonderful works to be remembered; The Lord is gracious and full of compassion.”(Psalm 111:3-4)
· The glory of His salvation and His holy covenant in the nations in the liturgy psalm, “He has sent redemption to His people; He has commanded His covenant forever: ” (Psalm 111:9)
Vespers gospel
In Vespers gospel,it demonstrates the Son’s authority over the water and the wind and that He gives peace to His sons. “Then the sea arose because a great wind was blowing. , they saw
Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near the boat; and they were afraid. But He said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.”( John 6:18-20)
Matins gospel
In Matins gospel,it tells us about the Father’s gifts to the humanity since the creation of the world and the revelation of the eternal life in the fullness of the time in His Son.”Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” (John 6:32-33)
Pauline Epistle
In Pauline Epistle,it tells us about
· The Son is the rock of the church, “having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,”
· The revelation of the Father’s richness to the whole world in the fullness of the time in Christ”By which, when you read, you may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ, which in other ages was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed by the Spirit to His
holy apostles and prophets: that the Gentiles should be fellow heirs, of the same body, and partakers of His promise in Christ through the gospel,” (Ephesians 3:4-6)
· The responsibility of the church to declare to the humanity the Father’s richness in Christ, “To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ; to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church” (Ephesians 3:8-10)
Catholic Epistle
In Catholic Epistle, it tells us about the Father’s gifts which were revealed in Christ.”That you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
“And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” (1 John 5:13-18)
“And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; ” (1 John 5:20)
The Son has given His life and through Him the Father listens to all our petitions and prayers.We are preserved from the authority of the sin through our second birth and we have insight to know the truth.
Praxis
As for Praxis,it tells us about the richness and the glory of the eternal life in the church through the word and the Holy Communion”Now on the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul, ready to depart the next day, spoke to them and continued his message until midnight. And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down, fell on him, Now when he had come up, had broken bread and eaten, and talked a long while, even till daybreak, And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.” (Acts 20:7-12)
The liturgy gospel
In the liturgy gospel,it tells us about the Son who is the source of life and the unity of the divine economy of the Father and the Son for the sake of the world “And Jesus said
to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst. This is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day. And this is the will of Him who sent Me,” (John 6:35-40)
The summary of the explanation
The Son is the bread of life for all nations
· The Son’s works and His will,the revelation of His justice and mercy and the revelation of His salvation and His holy covenant in the nations.(the psalms of Vespers,Matins and liturgy)
· The Son’s authority over the universe(Vespers gospel)
· The Father’s gifts to the wrld since the creation,in the fullness of the time the revelation of the eternal life in the Christ.(Matins gospel)
· The Son is the rock of the church(Pauline Epistle)
· The faith is the same one in the two covenants.(Catholc Epistle)
· The Father’s richness and His inheritance for the world in the Christ(Pauline Epistle)..being built together”(Ephesians2:20-21)
· The eternal life and responding to the petitions , the second birth which is liberated from the authority of the sin,the insight to know the truth are the Father’s gifts to us in the Christ. (Catholc Epistle)
· The church’s testimony to the eternal life through the word and the Holy Communion.(Praxis)
· The Son is the source of life and the unity of the divine economy of the Father and the Son for the sake of the life of the world.
Sermon from John Chrysostom & Cyril of Alexandria on parts of John 6:35-45
6:35 Jesus is the bread of life
The bread is a reference to the Godhead.
CHRYSOSTOM: Now he proceed to commit to them mysteries. First, he speaks of his Godhead, saying, “I am the bread of life.” For this is not spoken of his body since he says toward the end, “And the bread that I shall give is my flesh.” At present, [bread of life] refers to his Godhead, which is “bread” through God the Word, just as this bread [of the sacrament] through the Spirit descending on it, is made heavenly bread. Here he does not use witnesses as in his former address, for he had the miracle of the loaves to witness to him and also had the Jews themselves for a while pretending to believe him. In the former case the opposed and accused him. This is the reason why here he declares himself. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.2.
The bread of life gives power over death.
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: In effect, Jesus is saying, “I am the bread of life,” not bodily bread, which merely eliminates the physical suffering brought on by hunger, but rather that bread that refashions the entire living being to eternal life. The human being, who had been created for eternal life, is now given power over death. COMMENTARY OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.6.
The benefits of frequent communion
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: What then does Christ promise? Nothing corruptible, but rather that blessing in the participation of his holy flesh and blood that restores humanity wholly to incorruption so that it should need none of the things that normally drive off the death of flesh, for example, food and drink. … The holy body of Christ gives life to those who have it within themselves, and by holding them together, [it] grants incorruption, inasmuch as it is commingled with our bodies. … Since these things are so, let those who have been baptized and tasted the divine grace understand this: if they are sluggish or reluctant about going to church and for long periods of time keep away from the eucharistic gift through Christ, feigning a pernicious reverence by not partaking of him sacramentally, they exclude themselves from eternal life inasmuch as they decline to be enlivened. Thus, their refusal [to partake of the Eucharist] though seeming to be an expression of reverence, is turned into a snare and an offense. COMMENTARY OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 3.6.
6:36 Seeing and not believing
They saw the miracles and Scripture
CHRYSOSTOM: When he says, “You have seen me and yet have not believed,” he alludes partly to his miracles, partly to the testimony from the Scriptures. “For they,” he says, “testify of me.” (John 5:39) HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.2.
6:37 All that the Father gives me
Neither faith nor unbelief is an accident
CHRYSOSTOM: When he says. “All that the Father gives me shall come to me,” he touches on their unbelief, showing that whoever does not believe on him transgresses the will of the Father. He covertly shows that unbelievers are not only at variance with him but also with the Father. For if this is [the Son’s] will, and if this is the reason he came, that is, that he might save the entire world, then those who do not believe transgress his will. When, therefore, he says, the Father guides someone, there is nothing that hinders that person from coming to [Jesus]. … And Paul says that [the Son] delivers them up to the Father. (1 Cor. 15:24) Now just as the Father, when he gives, does not take
from himself, so neither does the Son take from himself when he gives up. The Son is said to give up to the Father because we are brought to the Father by him. And at the same time, we read that it was the Father “by whom you were called to the fellowship of his Son,” (1 Cor. 1:9) that is, by the will of the Father. … Faith in me, he intimates here, is no ordinary thing or one that comes from human reason, but [it] needs a revelation from above. And this he establishes throughout his discourse, showing that this faith requires a noble sort of soul, and one drawn on by God. …
The expression “that the Father gives me” shows that it is no accident whether a person believes or not. It shows that belief is not the work of human reasoning but requires a revelation from on high and mind devout enough to receive the revelation. “Whoever then,” our Lord says, “comes to me, shall be saved,” meaning they shall be greatly cared for. For to save such as these I took up flesh and the form of a servant. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.2-3.
6:40 The will of the Father
Will in concert
CHRYSOSTOM: But what do you mean? Do you have one will and he has another? No, certainly. Look at what he says afterwards: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him should have everlasting life.” Is not then this your will too? … For the Son quickens whom he will. (John 5:21) … He says then, I came to do nothing but what the Father wills, for I have no will distinct from my Father’s. All things that the Father has are mine. But he does not say that here. He reserves these higher truths for the end of his ministry. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.3.
The Resurrection fulfills the prayer “Thy Kingdom come”
CHRYSOSTOM: No one who has lived correctly disbelieves the resurrection, but every day they pray and repeat that holy sentence, “thy kingdom come.” Who then are the ones who disbelieve the resurrection? Those who have unholy ways and an unclean life. As the prophet says, “His ways are profane at all times. Your judgments are removed from before him.” (Psalm 9:26) For one cannot possibly live a pure life without believing in the resurrection, since they who are conscious of no iniquity both speak of wish for and believe in it, that they may receive their reward. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 45.3.
The operation of the Holy Trinity
CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA: The Father then brings to the Son, by knowledge and God-befitting contemplation, those to whom he decreed the divine grace. The Son receives and revives them, and engrafting his own good into those who are of their own nature apt to decay and shedding on them as a spark of fire the life-giving power of the Spirit, re-forms them throughout unto immortality. But when you hear that the Father brings them and that the Son gives the power of renewed living to those that run to him, do not go off into absurd fancies, as though each were supposed to do individually and severally what belongs appropriately by nature to each. The Father is co-worker with the Son, and likewise the Son with the Father, and our salvation and recuperation from death to life is the work, so to say, of the whole Holy Trinity. COMMENTARY OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 4.1.
6:41 The Jews murmured
The carnal question
CHRYSOSTOM: His meaning is, “You must hear spiritually what relates to me, for he who hears carnally neither profits nor gathers ant advantage.” It was carnal to question how Jesus came down from heaven, to consider him as the son of Joseph, to ask, “How can he gives us his flesh to eat?” All
this was carnal when, instead, they ought to have understood the matter in a mystical and spiritual sense. “But,” says someone, “how could they understand what ‘eating flesh’ might mean?” Then it was their duty to wait for the proper time and enquire, and not to abandon him. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 47.2.
6:42 Is this not Jesus, the Son of Joseph?
Ignorance of Jesus’ miraculous birth
CHRYSOSTOM: It is evident that they did not yet know of his miraculous birth, for they call him the son of Joseph. Nor are they blamed for this. Our Lord does not reply, “I am not the son of Joseph,” not because he was his son but because the miracle of his birth would have overpowered them. And if the birth according to the flesh were above their belief, how much more that higher and ineffable birth? HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.1
6:45 All shall be taught by God
Faith can be learned only from God
CHRYSOSTOM: He then shows the way in which the Father draws. “It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught of God.’” (Is 54:13) You see the excellence of faith: that it cannot be learned from people or by the teaching of people but only from God himself. … If then all shall be taught by God, how is it that some shall not believe? Because all here only means in general. Besides, the prophecy does not mean absolutely everyone but all who have the desire. For the Teacher sits ready to impart what he has to everyone and dispenses his truth to all. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN 46.1
Source
Oden, T.C. & Elowsky, J.C. (2006). John 1-10 (The Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament part IVa). Illinois (U.S.A): InterVarsity Press. Pages 226-228, 229, 230, 231, 233-234.