On hearing it, many of his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?" Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, "Does this offend you? What if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him. He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God." John 6:60-69REFLECTION
Many disciples turned away from Jesus after hearing these words, "I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."
I guess many so called followers had no idea what Jesus was talking about here. Even for us, people living after Christ’s sacrificial death on the cross, it is not so easy to understand these strange sayings. As Jesus was talking in the synagogue, it is likely that this was his contribution to the discussion that traditionally took place after reading a piece of Scripture, in order to establish the right exegesis.
Jesus sees and hears that his followers (not just the 12 disciples) were upset and offended. They probably took his words literally – and thought that they were actually supposed to eat his flesh and drink his blood. Even after Jesus’s explanation that his words are spirit and life – many followers turned their back to him because they believed that his words were offensive and scandalous…
PRAYER
Dear Jesus, it looks like you were selecting your true followers out of the crowd of superficial fans. You didn’t try to gather a mass following and you certainly didn’t want to start a worldly revolution. Your faithful disciples were handpicked by you and for some reason even Judas was included in your inner circle.
You ask us to embrace the cross and to look at you exclusively for our eternal salvation. We now know that you were referring to your death on the cross, but it is still so hard to bring this message of sacrificial atonement and redemption to the people of our time. Many of them turn their backs on you as well, because your teachings are so hard to understand with the human mind. Please help us to tell people that believing starts with surrendering our hearts and minds. Yes, you command us to bring this shocking, unexplainable and scandalous message of the cross – and this is not an easy challenge. But we know that you are with us and we want to be your obedient and committed disciples. We want to follow you – not because your message is easy to explain or understand – but because we love you and we know that you are the truth. No, we don’t want to leave too! With Peter we say, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God!"
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4 comments:
We believe and we know ...
words of assurance even if we don't understand the nitty gritty. That's what God is after the real faith and obedience to follow Him - wherever and whatever.
Amen, Lorna. And the sequence is important too! Just like Augustine said, I BELIEVE IN ORDER TO KNOW
Well written, Paul. I appreciate how you make me think!
I will preface this by saying that no man truly knows the condition of another man’s heart…
In England last week Doug and I had the opportunity to experience several houses of worship. The difference amongst them was striking. The choir singing at Westminster Abbey was lovely and ethereal, and utterly unmoving. The Abbey is about the greatness of the human institutions of government and the church. It is full of monuments to great men, stacked up as if they are in a tag sale. In it one could mouth the pieties of Christendom without ever actually taking them to heart (if one chose). High above the north transept there hangs a crucifix; it was the only reminder of Our Lord beyond the altar itself.
We attended Divine Services at Canterbury Cathedral. That was a personal and moving experience, as it is a local congregation gathered in a small pocket of the Cathedral (the choir stalls). At Canterbury, visitors are expected to pray, and there are chapels and kneelers available for them to so do.
And lastly we visited St. Martin’s church in Canterbury. The original nave of this church was built around 580 AD by the pagan king Ethelbert to accommodate his Christian wife, Bertha, and was expanded by St. Augustine before he built his Abbey nearby. It has been used continuously for worship for 1500 years. However, it isn’t a shrine. When we were there, the choir was practicing, an usher was tidying the prayer books, and a lady of the village was picking up trash. It reminded me powerfully of my own church—humble people serving God humbly.
What does this travelogue of Britain have to do with the subject at hand? Simply this: there is no predicting where the Holy Spirit will appear. On one level, these places all function as museums, but to differing degrees they are also houses of worship inhabited by believers. In that, they are tangible metaphors for our faith. Each of us harbors places where our faith is something of a tradition. (For me, one example is the Book of Common Prayer.) Hopefully the part of us that is “the temple of the living God” is much, much greater.
For those whose faith is a tradition, Jesus’ teaching that Life comes through the Son is completely unpalatable, because it upsets the certitudes that make life so comfortable. That was true of the Pharisees; it is just as true for contemporary members of religions who are upset by religious fervor or fixed certainty.
As you know, I have felt abandoned by my own church as it embraces a policy of divisiveness and spiritual uncertainty. I am left at the same point as the disciples at the end of this passage: Lord, to whom else could I go? You alone are the Holy One of God.
Many blessings to you, Paul, for writing so beautifully and insightfully and for providing this forum for discussion.
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