They were saying, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, “I have come down from heaven”?’”
John 6:35, 41-44
As far as the people in the crowd were concerned Jesus had human origins–they knew his father and mother. For him to say that he had come down from heaven was too much to swallow–even if he did claim to be the bread of life. We shouldn’t be too hard on them–we have a tough time with Jesus’ divinity too! And for some that step of faith is just too difficult. They’d rather understand him solely as a teacher and prophet, a good man, but no more than that. A part of our difficulty comes from our inability to imagine divinity in a person. Is it contained in the humanity or is it a supplement? Was Jesus like a superhero, able to transcend the laws of physics and switch between human and divine as needed? People of faith know that they’ll never be able to understand the mystery–and most have come to the point where they don’t need to. They gladly affirm Jesus’ humanity, but they also know that in him we catch a glimpse of the divine. It’s a blessed reminder that there’s more to this world than meets the eye. And best of all they have found that as they walk with him they will experience life in its fullness–he really is the bread that feeds our souls!
Thought for the Day: How do I understand Jesus’ divinity?
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