John 6:52-59

The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, ‘How can this man give us his flesh to eat?’ So Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for 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. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.’ He said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.

Here we have Jesus continuing his discussion with the Jews and we are told that this happened in the synagogue in Capernaum. For those who have been brought up with Christian imagery and language, the words of this passage are familiar and evoke for us the words of the Eucharist or communion or even the opening words of John’s Gospel, “The Word became flesh.” For the devout Jews in the synagogue Jesus’ language is offensive and blasphemous. According to the prescriptions of Leviticus (Leviticus 17:10-14), a Jew must never drink blood. The complex kosher butchering rules are there to ensure that no blood remains in any animal whose flesh is to be eaten.

This language of eating and drinking is not just metaphorical or spiritualized language. As with Paul in 1 Corinthians 10 and 11 the language is crudely physical – the words used for eat could as well be translated ‘chew’ or ‘munch’. Perhaps that vocabulary gives us an insight into how uncomfortable these words were for the hearers.

For us, with the benefit of hindsight, the use of the word ‘flesh’ brings the crucifixion to mind and the understanding that eternal life is not without a death. We can sympathize with the ‘Jews’ as they try to make sense of what Jesus is saying.

Blessings as we ponder this difficult passage this morning.  Be safe!  Be well!  The Spirit has come!

 To Ponder:

• There is still a vigorous debate over what John means in this passage – do they have a Eucharistic flavor or are we reading back into the passage? Some ask whether these words replace the words of institution for communion which are found in other Gospels? What are your thoughts about that?
• Some critics over the centuries have accused Christians of cannibalism as they celebrate communion. How would you counter this criticism?