2

Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough for them, for each to receive a little. Therefore, as one thicker in understanding and somewhat slower than was necessary for one approaching the comprehension of more divine things, he puts forth the question, training the disciple in faith; for this is what "testing" means in this context, even as the blessed evangelist affirmed; for he himself knew what he was about to do. 27Jo 6, 9 Similarly to Philip, he is rebuked for having imagined nothing great nor thought anything worthy of the teacher through what he added: But what are these for so many? 31 Jo 6, 33-35 Since we were all dead in sin, or because after the resurrection he gives eternal and incorruptible life to those who believe, when there will be no perceptible food or drink, and for this reason he shall not hunger. For the manna nourished for a short time the body of those who partook of it in the desert, but to the soul it contributed nothing toward virtue and good life; for all of them, with few exceptions, were found to have acted impiously, but the living bread, having restored the souls of the faithful with words of life, has procured true life for the world. 32Jo 6, 35 32 The body, being perceptible and nourished by perceptible bread, is by no means satisfied with a single partaking; for having been filled, immediately again, on account of its nature, after a short interval has passed, it begins to hunger again. But the intellectual and incorporeal soul, having partaken of the living words of the Lord and having been spiritually nourished by the heavenly bread, is constituted to remain without need for all time to come. Therefore he said with truth: I am the bread of life, and what follows. 33Jo 6, 35 What the bread from the earth is accustomed to do, giving life to the weak nature of the flesh, this he himself also does through the energy of the Spirit, quickening the spirit and also preserving the body for incorruption, giving it incorruptible after the resurrection to those who believe in him. Or, he will here call his own flesh the bread of life, as it is eaten in the mysteries. 35Jo 6, 46 And he seems to allude again to Moses himself; for they foolishly supposed that because he entered into the darkness, he had seen the ineffable nature of God with the eyes of the body, which is according to nature. But lest by saying this clearly he might seem somehow to incite them to their usual audacity, he has put it indefinitely with respect to all. But if the Son alone sees the Father, he is outside of all things and above all things and over all things. 37Jo 6, 53 It is possible, I think, to understand what is said in another way and according to a deeper contemplation; for those who have sincerely accepted his incarnate economy and, by the reasoning of the soul, through assent, as if having tasted the dogma, rationally eat the flesh and partake of the blood through faith, inheriting eternal life from the things aforesaid. 38Jo 6, 54-55 Therefore he says: He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. But it is possible to demonstrate the spiritual partaking of these things in another way as well; for the teaching of the evangelical proclamation and the reading of the text, being easy to survey for all who encounter it, is understood like flesh seen by all, but the meaning of what is signified, being incomprehensible to the many, is hidden like blood in flesh in the word of the disciples. Wishing us to partake of this spiritually, he used such words; for just as in the case of the body the flesh is manifest, being seen by all, but the blood, being dispersed in the suffering, is for the time being invisible, unless it should be shed when the body is wounded, in the same way the Son of God also calls the text of his teaching, heard alike by all, flesh, but the contemplations and the inner meaning, being difficult to contemplate and incomprehensible to the many, he enigmatically termed blood. Therefore he added, saying: For my flesh is true food. And the addition of "true" indicates the distinct and excellent nature of this food and its manner, through which those who rationally eat and drink are mixed together

2

διακοσίων δηναρίων ἄρτοι οὐκ ἀρκοῦσιν αὐτοῖς, ἵνα ἕκαστος βραχύ τι λάβῃ ὡς παχύτερος οὖν τὴν νόησιν καὶ βραδύτερός πως, ἤπερ ἐχρῆν πρὸς τὴν τῶν θειοτέρων ἰόντι κατάληψιν προτείνει τὴν πεῦσιν γυμνάζων εἰς πίστιν τὸν μαθητήν· τοῦτο γὰρ σημαίνει τὸ πειράζων ἐν τούτοις, εἰ καὶ καθάπερ ὁ μακάριος εὐαγγελιστὴς διισχυρίσατο· αὐτὸς γὰρ ᾔδει τί ἔμελλεν ποιεῖν. 27Jo 6, 9 Ὁμοίως τῷ Φιλίππῳ ἐλέγχεται μηδὲν μέγα φαντασθεὶς μηδὲ ἐπάξιον τοῦ διδασκάλου φρονήσας δι' ὧν ἐπήγαγεν· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα τί ἐστιν εἰς τοJoύτους; 31 Jo 6, 33-35 Ἐπειδὴ πάντες ἦμεν νενεκρωμένοι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἢ ἐπειδὴ μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν τὴν ἀΐδιον καὶ ἄφθαρτον δίδωσι ζωὴν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν, ἡνίκα οὐκ ἔσται βρῶσις οὐδὲ πόσις αἰσθητὴ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐ μὴ πεινάσῃ. τὸ μὲν μάννα τῶν μετα σχόντων ἐν τῇ ἐρήμῳ πρὸς ὀλίγον διέθρεψε τὸ σῶμα, τῇ δὲ ψυχῇ οὐδὲν πρὸς ἀρετὴν καὶ εὐζωΐαν συνεβάλλετο· πάντες γὰρ ἐκεῖνοι δίχα ὀλίγων ἀσεβήσαντες ἐφωράθησαν, ὁ δὲ ζῶν ἄρτος ῥήμασι ζωῆς τὰς ψυχὰς τῶν πιστευόντων ἀνα κτησάμενος ζωὴν τὴν ἀληθινὴν περιεποίησε τῷ κόσμῳ. 32Jo 6, 35 32 Τὸ μὲν σῶμα αἰσθητὸν ὑπάρχον καὶ αἰσθητῷ τρεφόμενον ἄρτῳ οὐδαμῶς ἀρκεῖται τῇ πρὸς ἅπαξ μεταλήψει· ἐμφορηθὲν γὰρ εὐθὺς πάλιν διὰ τὴν φύσιν ὀλίγου παρελθόντος διαστήματος αὖθις ἄρχεται πεινῆν. ἡ δέ γε νοερὰ καὶ ἀσώματος ψυχὴ ζώντων λόγων τῶν τοῦ κυρίου μεταλαβοῦσα καὶ τῷ ἐπουρανίῳ ἄρτῳ πνευματικῶς τραφεῖσα πρὸς πάντα τὸν ἐφεξῆς χρόνον ἀνενδεὴς διαμένειν πέφυκεν. ὅθεν σὺν ἀληθείᾳ ἔλεγεν· ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς. 33Jo 6, 35 Ὅπερ ὁ ἐκ τῆς γῆς ἄρτος εἴωθε ποιεῖν τὴν ἀσθενῆ φύσιν τῆς σαρκὸς ζωογονῶν , τοῦτο καὶ αὐτὸς διὰ τῆς τοῦ πνεύματος ἐνεργείας ποιεῖ τὸ πνεῦμα ζωοποιῶν καὶ αὐτὸ τὸ σῶμα συνέχων εἰς ἀφθαρσίαν ἄφθαρτον μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν διδοὺς τοῖς πιστεύουσιν εἰς αὐτόν. ἤτοι ἄρτον ζωῆς ἐνταῦθα τὴν ἑαυτοῦ σάρκα ἐρεῖ ὡς ἐσθιομένην ἐν τοῖς μυστηρίοις. 35Jo 6, 46 ἔοικε δὲ καὶ αὐτὸν πάλιν αἰνίττεσθαι Μωυσέα· ᾤοντο γὰρ ἀνοήτως διὰ τὸ εἰσελθεῖν εἰς τὸν γνόφον αὐτὸν τεθεᾶσθαι τὴν ἄρρητον τοῦ θεοῦ φύσιν τοῖς τοῦ σώματος ὀφθαλμοῖς, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κατὰ φύσιν. ἀλλ' ἵνα μὴ σαφῶς τοῦτο εἰπὼν δοκῇ πως αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸ σύνηθες παροτρύνειν θρά Joς , ἀορίστως αὐτὸ τέθεικε κατὰ πάντων. εἰ δὲ μόνος ὁ υἱὸς ὁρᾷ τὸν πατέρα, ἔξω τῶν πάντων ἐστὶ καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντα καὶ ἐπάνω πάντων. 37Jo 6, 53 Ἔστιν, οἶμαι, καὶ καθ' ἕτερον τρόπον καὶ βαθυτέραν θεωρίαν τὰ λεγόμενα ἐκλαμβάνειν· οἱ γὰρ εἰλικρινῶς τὴν ἔνσαρκον αὐτοῦ οἰκονομίαν παραδεξάμενοι καὶ τῷ τῆς ψυχῆς λογισμῷ διὰ τῆς συγκαταθέσεως ὥσπερ ἀπογευσάμενοι τοῦ δόγματος λογικῶς ἐσθίουσι τὴν σάρκα καὶ μεταλαμβάνουσι διὰ τῆς πίστεως τοῦ αἵματος ἐκ τῶν προειρημένων τὴν αἰώνιον κληρονομοῦντες ζωήν. 38Jo 6, 54-55 ∆ιό φησιν· ὁ τρώγων μου τὴν σάρκα καὶ πίνων μου τὸ αἷμα ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον. ἐγχωρεῖ δὲ τούτων καὶ ἄλλως τὴν μετάληψιν πνευματικὴν ἐπιδεῖξαι· τοῦ γὰρ εὐαγγελικοῦ κηρύγματος ἡ διδασκαλία καὶ ἡ τῆς λέξεως ἀνάγνωσις εὐσύνοπτος πᾶσι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσιν ὥσπερ σὰρξ ὁρωμένη ὑπὸ πάντων καταλαμβάνεται, ἡ δὲ τῶν δηλουμένων διάνοια ἀκατάληπτος οὖσα τοῖς πολλοῖς ὥσπερ αἷμα ἐν σαρκὶ ἐν τῷ μαθητῶν λόγῳ ἀποκέκρυπται. ὅπερ πνευ ματικῶς μεταλαμβάνειν ἡμᾶς βουλόμενος τοιούτοις ἐχρήσατο ῥήμασιν· ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῦ σώματος ἡ μὲν σὰρξ πρόδηλός ἐστιν ὁρωμένη ὑπὸ πάντων, τὸ δὲ αἷμα ἐν τῷ πάθει διεσπαρμένον τέως ἀόρατον ὑπάρχει, εἰ μὴ τρωθέντος τοῦ σώματος προχυθείη, τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ ὁ υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν μὲν λέξιν τῆς διδασκαλίας αὐτοῦ ὑπὸ πάντων ὁμοίως ἀκουομένην σάρκα ὀνομάζει, τὰς δὲ θεωρίας καὶ τὸν ἐγκείμενον νοῦν δυσθεώρητον ὄντα καὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἀκατάληπτον αἰνιγματωδῶς αἷμα προσηγόρευσεν. ὅθεν ἐπήγαγε λέγων· ἡ γὰρ σάρξ μου ἀληθής ἐστιν βρῶσις. ἡ δὲ τοῦ ἀληθοῦς προσθήκη τὸ παρηλλαγμένον καὶ ἐξαίρετον τῆς βρώσεως καὶ τοῦ τρόπου αὐτῆς παρίστησιν, δι' οὗπερ οἱ λογικῶς ἐσθίοντες καὶ πίνοντες ἀνακίρνανται