The true bread which has come down from heaven
The Jews said: “Our ancestors ate manna in the wilderness”. Our Savior might have replied: “But I have wrought far greater wonders than Moses, requiring no rod, having no need of prayer (cf. Ex 9:23; 17:9f), but doing everything by my own authority. And if you are remembering the manna, see, have I not given you bread in abundance?” However, this was not the time for such speeches. The one thing Jesus earnestly desired was to draw them to himself so that they would ask him for a spiritual food… “It was not Moses who gave the bread from heaven; my Father gives you the true bread from heaven”…
Jesus called the bread that the Father gives “the true bread”, not because the miracle of the manna was false but because it was the type of a greater and more wonderful bread…: “The bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Not just to the Jews but to all the world, not just bread but life, another and completely different life: this bread gives the true life… Jesus is himself this bread because he is the Word, just as here and now in our churches he becomes heavenly bread through the descent of the Holy Spirit.
Saint Louis de Montfort