By Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v53Jesus said to them, “I am telling you the truth: if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves. v54Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them to life on the last day. v55For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink. v56Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them. v57The living Father sent me, and because of him I live also. In the same way whoever eats me will live because of me. v58This, then, is the bread that came down from heaven; it is not like the bread that your ancestors ate, but then later died. Those who eat this bread will live forever.” – John 6:53-58
This is now the third Sunday in a row that our topic is based on Jesus’ discourse from the 6th chapter of the gospel of Saint John. This is following the Lectionary or pattern of readings for Sunday worship used by most mainstream churches. To refresh our memories, it helps to recall this discourse follows Jesus’ feeding 5,000 people as the time for the Passover approaches. With that central Jewish feast in mind, Jesus referring to the bread that comes down from heaven makes more sense. Jesus is reinterpreting the story of the Passover and the Exodus through his own life and ministry.
Jesus has given them physical food but uses that to teach that he can give them spiritual food as well. He said, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.” He wants those who are listening to him to not just eat some bread and fish and then go home to hunger again. He wants them to develop a spiritual hunger and thirst that he and only he can fill. And to teach this, Jesus uses the Passover story, which was about moving from slavery to freedom, to show how faith in him also moves his followers from death to life.
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Jesus’ graphic imagery about eating His flesh and drinking His blood is indeed puzzling if not absurd if taken literally. This is why in the first century Christians were so misunderstood and one of the misunderstandings is that they were cannibals. Some people also thought they didn’t have a god because they didn’t have statues, they couldn’t see it. Some people thought they were incestuous because they had love feasts when they called each other brother and sister, and some people thought they were cannibals because they talked about eating the flesh and the blood of their god.
When Jesus said we must “eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood” (John 6:53), He spoke, as He often did, in parabolic terms. We must receive Him by faith (John 1:12). “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled” (Matthew 5:6). We understand that we need physical food and drink; Jesus wants us to understand that we also need spiritual food and drink—and that is what His sacrifice provides.
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Every living being eats. Eating is a very important biological activity in life in order to live. One cannot live without eating. In our gospel reading, Jesus had made a very intriguing remark which provoked the Jews to react. There was confusion that led to a quarrel among the Jews especially those who heard Jesus’ exhortation about himself. The image of the living bread from heaven is absurd for them. And whoever would eat the bread will live forever as the bread would sustain that person till the end of time.
In today’s Gospel, Christ says that eternal life is neither a thing to be pursued or acquired nor is it a place that we go after we die. It is instead a person; eternal life is Jesus Christ. He says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them.”
We are given mortal life through mortal food and drink: we are kept alive, day by day, by carbohydrates, protein and other organic and non-organic food nutrients. These mortal foods bring dying life to our bodies. When we eat the flesh of Christ, drink the blood of Christ, we are not consuming death to live another day, but are fed the Nutrients of Life himself. We are being changed by the body of Christ, transformed by the body of Christ, to become the body of Christ through his flesh and blood.
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One famous theologian and preacher, author of many books on the Christian faith, was making a tour of Palestine and other countries of the Near and Middle East. He was invited to give address at the American University of Beirut in Lebanon, where the student body comprised citizens of many countries and representative from sixteen different religions. What could one say that would be relevant or of interest to so mixed and varied group? This is how the theologian-preacher-author began: “I do not ask anyone to change his religion; but I do ask all of you to face up this question: What is your religion doing to your character?”
This was a call to consider one of the great issues of human belief: religion and life, Christianity and character, word and spirit. It is once said, “What you are speaks so loudly I cannot hear a word you say.” Jesus’ discourse in this whole sixth chapter of the Gospel of John had two foci – spirit and life. “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” By this he meant that those who appropriated his spirit, i.e., fed upon him as the bread of life, would find, thereby, a fulfillment and satisfaction no other means could give. Hence, the saying “you are what you eat” will apply to answer the earlier question. If we eat the body and drink His blood, then we shall be like him. As such, all Christian believers should be or strive to be Christ-like by living out His statutes.
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The gospel reminds us of the Eucharist, the memorial celebration of Jesus’ offering of his body and blood so we may live. The Lord Jesus had instituted the first Eucharist (mass) during the last supper in the upper room when he asked his disciples to remember him every time they come and dine and break the bread. Jesus had offered himself as a living sacrifice so they may live in him. Jesus offered himself as the bread and wine which became his body and blood that is shed to save and to restore the broken relationship between God and the people. During the communion in the Eucharist, everyone is invited to receive Jesus in the sacred host and be transformed in him.
Every time there is a Eucharistic celebration, the Body of Christ is made accessible and available to us if we go to celebrate the Eucharist as a community of faith, hope and love.
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The Holy Mass is not just a memorial celebration but an experience of God’s love, a sacrament (living sign) on how “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son to save the world.”
The Eucharist is a celebration of God’s immense love for us who gave us the bread from heaven. Let us then receive Jesus in our lives; in our families, circle of friends; in the workplaces, groups and communities where we are, for only then that we all live forever as Jesus himself becomes our very life.
Let us pray, reflect and ask ourselves: Do I believe that Jesus is the living bread from heaven?
Am I only a Sunday mass goer/ spectator/ attendee only, or a real Sunday mass celebrant?
Do I celebrate my faith in community worship like the Eucharist which is the highest form of prayer?
Does the holy communion make me a better person and believer?
Do I believe that God had saved me that is why I am living in His grace?
Do I firmly believe in the resurrection of the body and everlasting life?
Let us pray.
Almighty and Ever-living God, your love for us is immeasurable and unfathomable. You sent your only son to save us and restored us to life. And everyday, we receive Jesus in the communion and in your Word. May we be worthy homes of Jesus’ body and blood and share Jesus with those who are hungry and thirsty for God. May we become like Jesus every time we receive Him in the Eucharistic communion. This we as ask through Christ our Lord who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. (interaksyon.philstar.com)
Almighty God, you have given your only Son to be for us a sacrifice for sin, and also an example of godly life: Give us grace to receive thankfully the fruits of his redeeming work, and to follow daily in the blessed steps of his most holy life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen. (Collect, Proper 15)
