John
6:51-58
Jesus said: I am the living bread that came down
from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I
will give for the life of the world is my flesh.
We love hearing these words. They make sense to
us, because we have 2000 years of tradition and teaching about them. In order
for us to understand the impact of Jesus’ words in this section of the Bread of
Life Discourse – which we have been reading for the last several weeks – we
need to consider how offensive it was to many of Jesus’ listeners.
Jesus tells the crowd, which includes some Jewish
leaders, that they must eat his flesh and drink his blood. I can almost hear
the collective gasp as they reacted to this comment.
If we watch TV shows about cultures from around
the world, we see some interesting, and strange things. Some cultures consider
it an honor to slaughter an animal and bite into the warm, fresh heart and
liver. It is a prize food for the designated leader, or the special guest. Some
cultures drain blood from live animals and drink it. In those places, such
traditions may be essential to their health.
The ancient Jews rejected such practices. While
Leviticus requires animal sacrifice, and describes the rituals of pouring the
animal’s blood on the altar, the consumption of that blood by humans is
strictly forbidden. This rejection of drinking blood continues into our culture
today. Most of us consider such practices as taboo.
Scripture tells us why this is taboo. Blood gives
life, and only God gives life, so humans are not to drink blood. Blood is also
holy – because it gives life – and only God can declare holiness. So, from
ancient days the Jewish tradition was to drain all blood from any animal before
they cooked it. They wanted to be sure they never ate any blood.
Many times in John’s gospel, Jesus speaks with
many layers of meaning, but his listeners don’t readily understand it. In this
case, Jesus is referring to himself as the flesh and blood we must eat. He is
speaking in metaphor, but those gathered to hear him – remember this is the end
of the story of the feeding of the 5,000 – don’t know that at first. And, at
this point in the story, even if the people understood that he was speaking in
metaphor, they would not have known he was going to die.
As John tells the story, this is the closest we
get to the Lord’s Supper. In the Synoptic Gospels – Matthew, Mark, and Luke –
there is a meal in which Jesus uses the bread and wine of Passover as symbols
of his body and blood. He gives Passover a new meaning. But in John, Jesus dies
on the day before Passover starts. He dies on Golgotha at the same time as the
Passover lambs are being sacrificed and prepared for cooking.
Jesus is the Lamb who was slain, and when we eat
the bread of Holy Communion, we eat his real flesh. As the lamb’s blood was
drained, we drink his blood when we drink the wine of Holy Communion. Put that
way, we might feel a little squeamish, a little sense of the taboo. Even today,
Jesus’ words can seem radical.
But our text, the end of Jesus’ discourse, doesn’t
allow us to dwell on that. Instead, Jesus moves us on to the benefit of eating
and drinking him. When we eat and drink the bread/body and wine/blood of Jesus,
we have eternal life, we will be raised on the last day, and we will live
forever.
Eternal life in John’s gospel has two meanings –
life in this world in relationship with God, and life in the next world with
God. Our relationship with God does not end with our death, because God has
power over death.
Life in relationship with God in this world is
demonstrated by Jesus throughout the book of John.
It means God wants the best for us, as shown by
the wine made by Jesus at the wedding feast at Cana.
It means having our faith reborn as Nicodemus
learned; sometimes we need that every day.
It means having our thirst for God satisfied, and
discovering that a relationship with God fills us to overflowing, as the unnamed
woman at the well learned.
It means seeing God and the world around us with
new eyes, as the blind man learned. It also means that there are those around
us who will refuse to see.
It means hope that there is life after death,
resurrection, because God has power over death, as proved by Lazarus.
It means having Jesus’ Holy Spirit abiding within
us at all times.
It means being nourished and filled with God’s
grace – undeserved forgiveness – every day.
It means having Jesus’ spirit flow through our
bodies, all the way into our fingers and toes, every time we taste a little
bread and drink a little wine.
... Communion wafers are a convenient way to
receive Jesus’ body, but I really like that we serve real bread most of the
time. I want you all to have enough Jesus that you have to chew a bit, to
really have the sense of taking in the love and forgiveness that Jesus brings
us.
This morning, as you eat and drink the bread and
wine or juice, take the time to feel the textures, taste the flavors, and
imagine the nutrition, love, and forgiveness of Jesus flowing through your
body.
Please pray with me: Bread of Life, fill us with
life, and love, and hope, and faith. Amen
