Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
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| Br. Josép Martínez-Cubero, OHC |
“Come to me, you who desire me, and eat your fill of my fruits. For the memory of me is sweeter than honey, and the possession of me sweeter than the honeycomb. Those who eat of me will hunger for more, and those who drink of me will thirst for more.”(NRSV)
So in the light of the gospel passage, this wisdom teaching tells us that those who come to know Jesus will never have too much wisdom and will always desire more, and they will never hunger or thirst for anything other than Jesus’ revelation and teaching, referred to in the gospel as the Bread of Life. This means that he is the revealer of the truth, the divine teacher who has come to nourish people with wisdom. In claiming to personify divine revelation, Jesus says that those who believe in him shall never be hungry or thirsty. With these metaphors of bread, water, and life, Jesus reveals a reality which once possessed, makes one understand physical hunger, thirst, and death as insignificant.
The second way in which the author of John’s gospel has Jesus relate his teaching concerns the Eucharist as it was promoted and practiced within the Johannine community. Jesus promises eternal life to those who eat his flesh and drink his blood. Eternal life is the fourth gospel's way of speaking about what the synoptic gospels call the "Kingdom of God." It is presented in both, the present tense and the future tense. Eternal life is both present now, and a promise for the future. The Greek word used for "life" is not about physical life, although physical life certainly flows from it, but is connected to the very source of all life, the Life Principle itself. For the author of John’s gospel, through the Eucharist, our consciousness is expanded beyond the earthy and the physical toward the true source of all life.
When the disciples heard him, their reaction was: “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” There are different opinions as to what it was that the disciples found difficult to accept. Some say it was Jesus’ claim to have come down from heaven. And then, there is the whole business of eating his flesh and drinking his blood. I have pondered about who I would have been in that particular instance among Jesus’ disciples. And I can think of my righteous indignation flaring up, taking Jesus aside, or perhaps waiting until an appropriate moment to tell him: “Jesus, I support you, and I want to cooperate, but I really think you need to find a better way of relating whatever it is you are trying to tell us, in a way that it can be heard.” As wrong as it may sound, sometimes it's easier for me to identify with the crowds who misunderstood and questioned Jesus. It’s tempting to write off those who gave up on Jesus as people too stupid or unfaithful to believe. But note that the author of John’s gospel calls these people not simply "the crowds," as in earlier passages, but "disciples." They had been following him and trying to figure out what he was talking about, and they just couldn’t get it.
It’s tempting to think that the disciples who stayed with Jesus were the ones who understood who he was, so they stayed with him because of their deep understanding whereas those who walked away didn’t have that depth of understanding. Well, that’s just not true… The disciples who stayed with Jesus had no deeper understanding about him than anyone else. Time and time again we read in the gospels that the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus was talking about half of the time. They misinterpreted his parables or were completely puzzled by them. They didn’t get why he was healing people, and they tried to prevent him from going to Jerusalem where he would be crucified, so it’s not as if they understood what he was going to achieve by dying on the cross.
Peter says: “You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.” Where did Peter and the other eleven get their faith? What makes them different from all those who gave up on Jesus and went away? It is clear from all four gospels that the twelve were also plagued by doubt and fear. They suffered at times from an overabundance of pride or a lack of courage. They, too, eventually deserted Jesus at the very time he needed them the most. So, what is it that sets them apart?
“Lord to whom can we go?” Peter’s admission of having no alternative becomes an expression of faith and commitment. These young people, the twelve, went all in. Part of going all in is letting go of the idolatry of security, and taking your foot out of whatever other doors you’ve been trying to keep open. So here they are. In John’s Gospel, this is how the twelve immerge. Some of the disenchanted go away. The twelve go deeper into their commitment, their curiosity, their struggle, and their faith. And it was that faith and commitment that completely change the course of humanity. Later on in this gospel, Jesus will say that whenever he is lifted up he will draw all people to himself. The twelve having come into being, Jesus then prepares to go once again to Jerusalem. There, in time, he will be the seed that goes into the ground that becomes the grain that is made into bread that we being gathered together in unity by the Holy Spirit eat in continual remembrance that Jesus gave himself fully in love, that we may have life, and have it abundantly. Que así sea en el nombre del Padre, del Hijo y del Espíritu Santo. ~Amen+
References:
- Ravi Ravindra, The Gospel of John in the Light of Indian Mysticism (Inner Traditions, 2004)
- Raymond E. Brown, An Introduction to the New Testament (Doubleday, 1997)
- Br. Roy Parker, OHC, Sermon for Proper 16, Year B- Holy Cross Monastery, August 26, 2012
