Consuming the Flesh and Blood of Jesus? —Lectionary Reflection for Pentecost 13B (John 6)

 

John 6:51-58  New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

⁵¹ 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.”

⁵² The Jews then disputed among themselves, saying, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” ⁵³ 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. ⁵⁴ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day, ⁵⁵ for my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. ⁵⁶ Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them. ⁵⁷ Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. ⁵⁸ This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever.”

                *************************** 

                We continue our journey through John 6, a conversation that began with Jesus feeding the 5000 and continued after the crowd caught up with Jesus on the other side of the lake, seeking more bread. Jesus responded by offering himself to them as the bread of life. In the reading for this week, the conversation takes what many will find to be a strange turn. The words John’s Jesus shares with the crowd is one of the reasons why early Christians were accused of cannibalism. So, what does Jesus mean when he speaks of eating his flesh and drinking his blood? Surely, he doesn’t encourage us to engage in cannibalism. In this reflection, I am going to steer clear of the Roman Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation, for I don’t think John had that in mind when writing this account.  Nevertheless, Barbara Lundblad is correct that the question of the meaning of Jesus’ words connecting the bread with his flesh has been at the center of discussion for many centuries, even to this day.  She asks a good question for us to consider as we ponder the meaning of Jesus’ words: “The very physicality of eating and drinking is important. If we neglect these embodied acts in Communion or devalue the body by stressing only the symbolic, we diminish the reality of Jesus’ presence in ordinary things and ordinary actions” [Connections, p. 244].

                We begin with Jesus’ declaration that he is the “living bread that came down from heaven” (Jn. 6:51), a verse that concluded the previous week’s reading. When he makes that claim there is an allusion to the manna God provided the Israelites as they wandered in the wilderness. He had already contrasted the bread of heaven he offered with that which God provided the people in the wilderness, noting that they ate the manna but still died (Jn. 6:48-50). That is true in this case. That is, because: “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”

                When the crowd (John speaks here of Jews, which we must acknowledge again as being a major problem) hears this they begin to ask themselves how Jesus could give them his flesh to eat. Jesus responded by telling them “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.” Then he goes further and tells them that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will have eternal life. If they do this then Jesus will raise them on the Last Day.  That is because he tells the crowd his “flesh is true food” and his “blood is true drink.” This is about as realistic as a text could be. You can only imagine the crowd getting rather uncomfortable. For one thing, Jews don’t consume blood of any type, let alone human blood.

                Having made these statements, Jesus then tells the crowd that those who eat his flesh and drink his blood will abide in him, and he will abide in them (Jn 6:56). So, is this to be taken literally or metaphorically? To this point in the discussion, we can’t be sure. As we ponder the possibilities it’s worth pausing to consider what it means to abide in Christ, and he in us. Later in John’s Gospel, on the night before his death on the cross, Jesus tells his disciples after their final meal:

⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶ Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷ If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. ⁹ As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.  (John 15:4-10).

How might this word in John 15 about abiding in Christ help us decipher what is said in John 6? He doesn’t say anything about eating flesh or drinking blood, but he does speak of abiding, such that they might experience life and produce fruit.

                The message here whether we take it literally or metaphorically (my preference) is that to abide in Christ through eating and drinking his flesh and blood (or their symbols), leads to life. Once again, Jesus points to himself as being the bread of heaven, but not the same bread from heaven as their ancestors ate (manna in the wilderness) because to eat (abide) his flesh is to live forever. Then we have a description of the context and location of this statement. Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.

                As I’ve noted in previous reflections, John 6 is often interpreted in eucharistic terms. Because John’s version of the Last Supper as found in John 13 doesn’t include an account of Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper, but instead offers an example of servanthood by washing the feet of his disciples, this is often seen as John’s version of a eucharistic narrative. Therefore, it provides theological grounding for the church’s understanding of the Eucharist. Whether taken in a realistic (note I do not use the word “literal”) manner or a symbolic one, the assumption, if read eucharistically, is that the elements of bread and wine, when ingested, express the participation of the one who consumes the elements in the life of Christ. As a means of grace, participating in this sacrament communicates to the participant eternal life.

                As we attend to the words of John 6, we are reminded that as important as material food and drink are to sustaining life itself, they are not sufficient.  We do inhabit a physical realm, but there is more than what meets the eye. Jesus is pointing us to that other, spiritual, realm, suggesting that he is the one who provides spiritual sustenance as we abide in him and he in us. The word abide appears in the New Revised Standard updated edition translation in 1 John sixteen times, so to better understand what it means to abide in Christ that is a good place to go. I will point simply to this message about abiding in Christ and him abiding in us: 

“By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. ¹⁶ So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them” (1 Jn. 4:13-16). 

The Eucharist is at times referred to as the agape meal, so the connection of abiding in Christ with the love of God seems appropriate.

                As we ponder these at times off-putting words about eating and drinking Christ’s flesh and blood, as well as the word about abiding in Christ, we are reminded that Jesus is speaking here of the experience of eternal life. In John 6 the conversation about him being the bread from heaven is that he brings to those who eat of this bread eternal life. That word is accompanied by an earlier word in John 4, where Jesus offers the Samaritan woman the water of life that brings eternal life (Jn. 4:14). Thus, Jesus points us forward to the Last Day when everyone will experience the resurrection.

                The words Jesus shares with the crowd unsettles the crowd, such that in verse 61, a verse that sets up the next stage of the conversation, Jesus asks his disciples, his followers, who find what he is saying difficult to comprehend, “Does this offend you?” So, does it? Might we ponder that question as we move to the final phase of this conversation?

                As we consider what Jesus says to the crowd and his disciples about eating his flesh and drinking his blood, thinking eucharistically, I offer this word from Barbara Lundblad as a fitting closure to the current conversation.

The Eucharist is a moral and mystical meal, a subversive and sustaining presence. Jesus longed for his followers to know that he would abide with them forever. He would become part of them as surely as the bread they ate and the wine they drank. How that was possible Jesus never explained, but the promise to abide was as real as the taste of bread in their mouths.  [Connections, p. 245]

Amen!