Are Christians cannibals? The image of eating flesh and
blood – so grotesque and graphic in today’s Gospel speech – needs some
explanation. Preachers with visitors who are curious about the church
but reluctant to dive into a community that is, as so many say, “organized,”
might be the most in need of learning how to hear this speech from Jesus. What is John trying to convey about Jesus here?
It is tempting to talk about the Eucharist, the meal of
bread and wine, the body and blood of our Lord on this day. In 2009
in Homily Service, however, David Tripp expressed an even
broader and deeper meaning than the Eucharist itself. Read on.
John 6:51-58
The passages from John for the next
two Sundays share a common context. After Jesus has declared his unity with the
Father in the giving of life (ch 5), and has fed the starving crowd in close
association with the Passover, after which some of his followers have in error
sought to make him a political figure (ch 6:1–21), Jesus challenges the hearers
to seek the true life-giving bread from heaven, which transcends the bread of
the desert Passover, and to receive the universal mercy that Jesus offers in
obedience to his Father (6:22–40). Now (6:41–71), Jesus declares himself to be,
in person, the bread of life: the one who chews. . . Jesus' flesh and drinks
his blood will abide in Jesus, and Jesus in that person, and thus that person
will have life, because Jesus has life from the living Father. . . .
John's time-line differs from that
of the three other gospels, and appears to be John's way of interpreting the
priorities of Jesus' ministry, rather than simple chronology. Thus the
cleansing of the temple comes near the start of the story, and the theme of
feeding on Jesus is another early theme, suggesting that Jesus' cleansing power
and his nourishing are found in his entire life and acts, not simply in Holy
Week and Maundy Thursday. Such power and feeding are to be throughout the
believer's relationships, not only in sacramental moments.
The key word in John 6 may be abide
(v 56): the image is of a continuing, developing and consistent relationship.
Throughout this entire part of the Fourth Gospel, the priority of the Father's
sovereign grace is emphasized. The relationship between Jesus and the Father is
the basis of the relationship that becomes possible between believers and
Jesus.
– David Tripp
Proverbs 9:1-6
Eating together is a hallmark of
wanting to move closer in communion. In her invitation, Wisdom includes anyone
who desires to enter into the mystery at the heart of life more deeply. By
eating of her food and drink, all people may come to a more profound
understanding of Wisdom, which, so the author says elsewhere, is the first step
toward knowledge of God. In the invitation, Wisdom speaks a great truth. We
must make wisdom and knowledge and understanding of God as fully a part of us
as the food we eat and the wine we drink. It seems like such a human thing to
do; it is also the divine thing to do. – Mary Katharine Deeley
Ephesians 5:15-20
“Be careful how you live… be filled with the Spirit…” A
strong link exists between this admonition to the church and Jesus’ statements
found in John’s Gospel about abiding in him.
Paul's version of “Carpe Diem” is
not about winning medals or trophies or living the exuberance of youth and all
its adventures. It is about getting drunk on the Holy Spirit in such a way that
it results in singing and playing with all the heart for God. It is about
allowing ourselves to be so filled with knowledge and wisdom in the ways of God
that we cannot help but live lives that are grace-filled and joyful. – Mary
Katharine Deeley
Where and how is the Holy Spirit engaging and filling the life of the
congregation you serve?
David Tripp, a United Methodist minister, served
Salem United Methodist Church in Indiana, served in the British Methodist
ministry for twenty-eight years, and wrote in liturgics and related subjects.
Mary Katharine Deeley is the director of Christ the Teacher Institute of the
Sheil Catholic Center, the Roman Catholic campus ministry at Northwestern
University, Evanston, Illinois. She is the author of many books, a frequent
speaker on diverse topics, and a pastoral advisor.
Homily Service 39, no. 9 (2009): 27-33.
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