August 25, 2024 at Saint Peter the Apostle Church in Naples, FL
Joshua 24: 1-2 15-17, 18 + Psalm 34 + Ephesians 5: 21-32 + John 6: 63-68
Now comes the final piece of John’s sixth chapter, and a crisis of faith is unavoidable and unmistakable. Some find this a hard saying, difficult to accept. It is not clear what they find difficult; eating flesh, bread from heaven, or that Jesus says he came down from heaven. It is most likely that he came down from heaven since Jesus seems to address that directly by asking what if they were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before. He seems to say: “If you have difficulty accepting my claim to have come down from heaven, how much more difficult will it be for you when I return there.” Of course, that will be by way of the cross.
God is being revealed here. This is a God that has come down from heaven, taken human flesh, given that flesh through death on a cross for the sake of giving those who believe a share in divine life which is eternal life. That’s what is at stake here. The only way to grasp this is through the Holy Spirit. That is where the faith to accept this comes from.
In that Capernaum synagogue, Jesus is addressing the fundamental longing of every human heart, eternal life. We do not want to die. We want life. He is teaching us how to quiet that longing and how live forever. Eat this bread that is my flesh, and abide in me. Just as food and water are essential for physical life, so his flesh and blood are essential for eternal life. Without his flesh and blood for food, we shall not live.
When they start to murmur among themselves, they have ended the conversation with the one who can lead them to truth. Broken then is the very relationship necessary for them to “abide” in Jesus. It must not be so for us. When we do not understand, murmuring among ourselves will only lead us away from the one who has come to dwell with us. We must stay in the relationship unafraid of what we do not understand and willing to live by faith, listening and exploring the Word of God while relying on the Holy Spirit to reveal to us what God’s will for us may be.
There is only one reason for John’s Gospel, and that is to confirm who Jesus is. Communion with Jesus is really a participation in the intimate communion that exists between the Father and the Son. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke record the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, John explains what the Eucharist does for those who believe and come to eat his flesh and drink his blood that has been poured out for us.