What does Jesus mean when he says, “Your fathers died,” but those who eat the bread that came down from heaven will live forever?

Good morning, Father,

I have a doubt: What does Jesus mean when he says, “Your fathers died,” but those who eat the bread that came down from heaven will live forever?

Our fathers preceded the coming of Christ. How could they eat it?

Will those who died before His coming not have eternal life?

The priest’s answer

Dearest,

1. These are the exact words spoken by the Lord: “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.” (Jn 6:49-50).

And: “This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live forever.” (Jn 6:59).

2. Jesus had multiplied the loaves of bread and fed five thousand people.

It was certainly a great miracle. But the Jews wanted a greater miracle because Moses had fed with the manna a people of six hundred thousand for forty years.

Jesus replied by pointing out first that it was not Moses who had given them that bread, but the Father in Heaven.

3. He also reminds them that, while the manna was a miraculous bread, it was not enough to free the Jews from physical death.

Jesus, on the other hand, promises bread that ensures eternal life.

Even though the Manna came down from Heaven, it was still a material object and, as such, corruptible.

The bread that Jesus promises is “He who comes down from heaven,” that is, God himself.

Jesus therefore is not just any bread, but the bread that gives life.

He possesses life in fullness and can give men a life that does not die and cannot die, the life of grace and glory.

He gives it to those who eat Him in the Eucharist.

4. When the Lord says that those who have eaten manna have died, but those who eat the food that he gives will not die, we must ask ourselves what kind of death he is talking about. Because even those who take the Eucharist, die physically.

We must therefore say that the death experienced by those who ate the manna was a physical death. Whereas the death that does not affect those who properly eat the bread of life that comes down from heaven is a spiritual death.

5. It should be clarified that, among those who ate the manna, some pleased God, including Moses and many others. Therefore, they did not die spiritually, while many of those who did not please God, those St. Paul talks about, died spiritually (1 Cor 10:5). These also died spiritually.

6. Moses, however, was not spared spiritual death because he ate the manna. It was his faith in God.

On the other hand, the food given by Jesus, which is Jesus Himself, communicates the life of grace and the life of glory.

It therefore preserves us in the life of grace and glory.

And precisely because it also communicates the life of glory, it sows in those who eat it a seed of resurrection of life for the body as well.

7. This is the answer to your final question: the fathers who came before Christ could get the life of grace and glory not by virtue of the manna, but by virtue of their faith in Christ, while we can have the life of grace and glory not only by virtue of faith, but also by virtue of this food which, if properly received, gives strength and provides a shield that makes it more difficult to die spiritually.

With the hope that all this may also be true for you, I bless you and remember you in my prayers. 

Father Angelo

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