“Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? Do we not know his father and mother?”

Imagine that you were among the four hundred people who lived in Nazareth with Joseph, Mary and Jesus.  You have known Jesus since he was a boy learning carpentry and other trades from Joseph and others in the small town, including yourself.  You know that Jesus, like you, had very little education; that he learned the Torah, but had limited, if any, ability to read and write.  Then, the Jesus you know says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever.”  What would you think?  Would you give Jesus the opportunity to explain what he meant?  Would you wait to see what Jesus did to demonstrate that he is “the living bread that down from heaven”?  In all honesty, we would probably have the same questions about Jesus.  But now, we have the testimony of those who did believe in Jesus as “the living bread that came down from heaven,” going back to the Apostles.  Do we learn about Jesus by frequently reading and reflecting on Scripture?  How do we imitate Jesus in our life?