This coming Sunday is the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time. Before we undertake our study of vv. 51-58, I would offer O’Day’s [605-7] comments as regards the place our verses have in the overall picture of chap. 6. Here she will argue against all the positions in the previous post – to some degree – and suggest there is intentionality and continuity with these verses within all of John 6:

“First, in order to have a clear vantage point from which to assess the divergent views of 6:51–58, it is important to look again at vv. 51–52 in their full narrative context. The crowd set the topic for Jesus’ dialogue and discourse with its evocation of the manna miracle (6:31). In response, Jesus repeatedly stated that the manna was not the true bread from heaven; he is (6:35, 41, 48, 51a). The true bread from heaven gives life to the world, and as early as 6:35, Jesus suggested that eating the bread was the way to receive its gift of life (see also 6:49–50). In v. 51, then, Jesus takes the replacement of the manna with himself to its ultimate conclusion by equating his flesh with the bread of heaven. The “Jews’ ” protest in v. 52 indicates that they have followed the logic of the discourse, that they understand that Jesus himself now stands in place of the manna their ancestors ate.”

“It appears, then, that v. 51 does not mark a dramatic break from what preceded, but that the language and imagery of v. 51 are consistent with his preceding words and have been carefully prepared for. Readings that insist on a “faith-alone” or “sacrament-alone” outlook disregard the care with which themes and images overlap throughout the discourse of John 6. This is particularly true for vv. 53–58. Key words and themes from 6:25–51 form the heart of this passage. On literary grounds, there is no compelling case for labeling these verses as secondary or even complementary to the “main” discourse of 6:35–51. [O’Day is taking exception to the positions of Bultman and Brown] Rather, the language and style of vv. 53–58 suggest that those verses are an integral part of one continuous discourse.”

“Second, the scholarly debate about vv. 51–58 largely ignores the narrative structure of John  6. Verse 51 does not mark the beginning of a new section; it is the conclusion of the second section of the bread of life discourse and is tightly linked to the “Jews’ ” protest in v. 52. As noted already, the “Jews’ ” protests serve as the pivot for each of the subsections of the discourse (6:35–42, 43–52, 53–59). Each section concludes with a statement by Jesus and the protest that it evokes from the Jews, so that the next section of the discourse builds on both the claim and the protest. John 6:51–58 is no exception. Jesus’ words in v. 51 evoke the “Jews’ ” protest (6:52), and beginning in v. 53 Jesus addresses the heart of their protest. John 6:51–52 thus prepare for the eucharistic language of 6:53–58. When vv. 51–58 are discussed as if they were an independent theological treatise on the eucharist, the narrative integrity of chap. 6 is destroyed, and an interpreter’s sense of what constitutes theological coherence leads to explanations that appeal to independent traditions.”

“Third, there is a circular logic to questioning (or even rejecting) the eucharistic imagery of vv. 53–58 on the grounds that the Fourth Gospel contains no account of the institution of the eucharist comparable to that found in the Synoptics (Matt 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:14–23). It is possible that vv. 53–58 are the “institution text” in John, but presented in Johannine, not synoptic, categories.”

Image credit: The Feeding of the Five Thousand by William Hole (1846-1917) | Edinburgh University Library | PD-US