Gospel of 27 April 2023
John 6:44-51
Jesus said to the crowd:
'No one can come to me unless he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn from it, is to come to me. Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes from God: he has seen the Father. I tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life.
'I am the bread of life.
Your fathers ate the manna in the desert
and they are dead;
but this is the bread that comes down from heaven,
so that a man may eat it and not die.
I am the living bread which has come down from heaven.
Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever;
and the bread that I shall give is my flesh,
for the life of the world.'
Reflection on the painting
Henrick de Clerck was a Flemish painter active in Brussels, Belgium, during the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He developed his own 'Mannerist' style. Mannerism was a reaction against painters such as Leonardo da Vinci or Michelangelo who sought elegance, proportion, naturalism, ideal beauty and perfect balance in their works. Mannerists exaggerated these ideals, which resulted often in highly idealised images, unnaturally elegant. The word "Mannerism" derives from the Italian maniera, meaning "style" or "manner".
In the top left corner we see the manna falling from heaven and being caught. Other manna is being collected by some further figures and being distributed. Then we see Christ standing to the right, watching it all. So this painting combines the Old Testament readings about the manna (which was the food prepared in heaven for the Israelites) and the New Testament reading of today, where Christ is confirmed to be the true manna: 'Anyone who eats this bread will live for ever'. Note how the manna depicted here looks close in size and shape to the wafers used at the eucharist today.
Jesus makes a very striking statement: 'Everybody who believes in me has eternal life'. He does not say, 'will have eternal life', but he says, 'has eternal life'. We would tend to think of eternal life as something that will start after our earthly life is completed. But the Gospel reading states clearly that eternal life is somehow accessible to us here and now, during our earthly life. And that eternal life is accessible through a life of communion with Jesus and being nourished by his daily bread.
LINKS
Gospel in Art: https://christian.art/
Today's reflection: https://christian.art/daily-gospel-reading/john-6-44-51-2023/
Tags: Christian Art, Patrick van der Vorst, Hendrick de Clerck
Israelites gathering the Manna from Heaven, Hendrick de Clerck, 1620's, © National Museum of Warsaw, Poland