The. xii. chapyter
But nowe shall you here howe Chrystes audyence that came to seke hym, were affeccyonate to thys euerlastynge lyuely brede, whā they had herde hym declare it.
All the whyle that he spake those other wordes before / they were yet in good hope, yt what so euer he ment besyde, he wolde gyue thē some meat for theyr belyes. And as they were groce / so had they at the fyrste went. And so had they leuer that he wolde haue gyuen theym some suche groce brede made of erthely corne for theyr erthely belyes, such as he gaue them and multiplyed for them byfore, than any manna that came downe from ye eyre. But afterwarde whan they herde hym tell them of farre better brede that sholde come from heuyn, than māna was which theyr fathers dyd eate in desert / than were they bet ter a payed / and prayed him that they myght haue of that. But than whan they perceyued in conclusyon, that he ment all of suche brede as shold fede theyr soules, and gaue them no good comfort after theyr groce mindes, of any groce fedynge for theyr groce bo dyes than lyke as some of theyr fore fathers murmured in desert agaynst Moyses for manna, and sayed that1 theyr stomake wambled agaynst that lyght meate, and wyshed theyr olde boundage agayn, of which they were before so wery whyle they were in Egypte / yet thought they now that they were well than, bycause they myght than syt ouer the pottes yt had the sodden fleshe in thē, of such flesh yet some of suche bond slauys hadde happely than but the sauour. whan these had herd hym now speke all of such spyrytuall fode / theyr hartys so fore arose agaynst hym, that theyr af […] were clene fallen from him sodaynly. For a daye before they had hym in hygh estymacyō, & called hym the prophete that shold come and redeme ye world / & wold haue made him kynge, bycause they thought he wold fede them by myracle without theyr labour / where theyr other kinge vsed to pyll them & poll them & kepe them vnder trybute so bare, yt with great labour they could̄ scant fynd thē self meate. And therfore wold̄ they as I saye after that fedynge that he fedde theym so by myracle, so fayne haue made hym hyng, that he was fayne to withdraue hym selfe a syde & fle from them, tyll that mynde of theyrs were gone. And that was not longe as ye se. For now yt after theyr great hope of such another fest for theyr […] dyes, they herde hym turne all to the fedyng of theyr soules / and that for yt fedyng of theyr belyes, he went not about to geue thē so mych as one lofe among thē all to theyr breke fast / they murmured agaynst yt that he had said of hym self, I am the quycke brede yt am descēded frō heuyn. And thā they sayd: Is not thys Iosephes sone? Know not we his father and his mother both? How sayth he than of hym selfe I am dscended from heuyn.
So here they called hym a carpenters sone, and therin they bylyed hym vnware / but farre were they nowe fallen fro the makynge hym a kyng.
Then sayed our sauiour to them: Murmur not amonge your selfe, no man cometh to me, but yf my father drawe hym. As though he wolde say: leue your murmurynge and fall to prayour, and wurke and walke with my father in comyng to me by fayth. Men are so weyke of them selfe in ye walkynge of this way, that there can no man come to me but yf my father not onely come to hym and take hym by the hande and lede hym, but also drawe hym to. And therfore syth he muste do so myche for you or els you can not come / so myche haue you the more nede to leue your murmuryng, and applye your self to pray hym (yf he draw you not) to draw you, and as the prophete saith to pray him strayn2 your iawys with a bytte and a brydle and draw you by the chekys, magry your teth, and make you turne your wylles from your bely ioy, to come to the soule fode with me. For where as your bely meat shall peryshe bely and all / he that thus shall come to my feste, he shall not perysshe. For I shall rayse hym vp agayn in the last day vnto euerlastynge lyfe. And if ye merueyle at this that I saye, that my father muste brynge you & drawe you, that is that he muste besyde all outwarde techynge teche you within by ledynge and drawynge you into ye trewth of fayth, by hys inwarde operacion ioyned with the towardnesse of your wylles preuēted moued and sette a wurke with occasions of his formare grace / yf ye merueyle of this maner of drawynge and of my fathers inward techynge, remembre 3 that your own prophete saye, that all folke shalbe taught of god. And now god techeth you / for I tech you, whiche am as I told you ye brede of lyfe that am descended from heuyn. And surely there shall no man be taught ye fayth but yf god tech hym. Nor euery man is not full taught that hereth it, but he that hereth it and lerneth it / whyche no man can do by any outwarde voyce, without god wurkyng within. And he wyll not wurke, nor4 his wysdome wyll not entre into an euyl wylled harte. And therfore leue your murmurynge, and pray my father to tech you / not onely outwardly as he techeth you nowe by me, but inwardly also, that you maye be lerned by his wurkynge to fayth, wyth you and within you. But why do I tell you so oftē that you can not come to hisgyfte of fayth (wythout which you can not come at me) but yf my fa ther geue it you. Veryly bycause I wolde you sholde praye hym for it.
For though he preuent you and gyue you occasyons toward the gettyng of that gyfte: yet setteth he not so sytell by this great gyfte of lerning & fayth that he lyste to caste it awaye vppon them, that whan it is she wed them set not so myche therby as to desyre it & praye therfore.
And therfore I wolde haue you desyre it of hym that may geue it you And yet ys not that my father onely but my selfe also. Now be it yf I shold byd you aske it of me, and pray me geue you thys grace: you be so farre frome the bylyefe in me that ye wolde not do it.
And therfore not spekynge of myne owne power / I tell you all of the power of the father, yt without hym ye can not come to me / bycause I wold haue you praye to hym, that he wold geue you the grace, that as ye know by faith and knowlege hym all […] for god, so ye maye knowe by fayth and knowlege hym for my father to / and than shal you by the same fayth, knowe and knowlege me also for his sone. And than shall you not murmur at my wordes, but humbly come to me, as to the sone, not of Ioseph but of god / & knowlege me for the quyche brede ye is descended from heuyn. For euery man that hath herd this lesson of my father, and hath not onely herd it but also lerned it / he cometh(as I haue told you) to me. But yet thys wyll I tell you, that neuer man saw my father yet. But he that is of god (that is to wytte my selfe ye. am hys owne sone) he hath sene the father, and so hath no man ellys.
And therfore the lesson that any man hereth and lerneth of my father, he muste here of hym by me, and lerne it by the in ward wurke of my father with whose wurke I wurke also.
And so shall he come to me / thoro we perfyt well wurkynge faith in me. And I tell you very trouth, he that so byleueth in me, and perseuereth at his deth in that perfite bylief, is sure of eternall lyfe. For I am (as I dyuerse tymes now haue told you) the very brede of life. your fathers that murmured as you do now, dyd eate the brede of māna in desert, and they be dede and perysshed. Leue therfore that wronge waye of your fore fathers, leue your grudge & your murmur, and labour to my father that he may brynge you to me by suche faith as ye maye eate this brede that is my selfe. For thys brede is brede descendyng from heuyn for the nonys, that who so maye eate & be fedde of that, shal not peryshe by euerlastyng deth For I tell you yet agayn yt I am the quyche brede that am descēded from heuyn. Who so euer come to me by my fathers bryngyng, so that by perfyt perseueraūce and well wurkyng fayth, he may eate & be fedde of thys brede, that ys to wytte attayne the fruicyon of my gloryouse godhed, with the gloryouse syght wherof the angels are fedde in heuyn: he shalbe sure of euerlastynge lyfe.
Footnotes
Chapter 14 of 70