From the Daily Lectionary for Friday in the Eleventh Week after Pentecost
John 6:27-51
“Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For it is on him that God the Father has set his seal.” Then they said to him, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” So they said to him, “What sign are you going to give us then, so that we may see it and believe you? What work are you performing? Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Then Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” They said to him, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and anyone who comes to me I will never drive away; for I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day.”
Then the Jews began to complain about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven.” They were saying, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not complain among yourselves. No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God; he has seen the Father. Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
John is now moving into his full blown theology. At first, Jesus said he would give to his followers “living water,” and that he would give them the “bread from heaven” which is eternal life. Now he says that he himself is the living bread… and that this bread is his very flesh. These, of course, are jarring words. But Jesus won’t stop there. He will go on to say that the faithful must also “drink his blood.” The thought of eating human flesh and drinking human blood would have been beyond taboo. What is Jesus getting at here?
It is always crucial to note in this Gospel that Jesus is the archetype of all believers. He is the model of our true humanity. His followers, he says are sent into the world as he is sent. Moreover, the implication is that just as Jesus is sent from heaven, so too are the ones who follow him. Therefore the redemption of the world rests on the ministry and action of the movement. He is the embodiment of the church.
Jesus says that he came into the world so that the world would have life, a life of meaning and purpose, a life of well-being and dignity, a life in which our “joy is complete.” The way into this life is to offer our bodies and blood for the world’s nurture. That means that we are “all in,” that our lives are given fully for the life of the world. It is a profound responsibility, to be sure, one that requires all that we have to give.
In that regard, we are living sacraments. That is to say, outward and visible signs of God’s love for the world. God is all in. “Raising the dead” is the language Jesus uses in describing the love of God. God is drawn to those in our world who languish in death, those who are shamed and oppressed, the ones left out of life’s abundance, the outcasts, the disenfranchised. The irony, the alchemy of this theology is that to give our lives for the many, we too find life and life abundant. Such is the way of sacrifice. It is not about loss. It is about shared abundance, what Jesus names as “eternal life.” Sacrifice, perhaps the supreme mystery, is the way in.
This ancient wisdom is a gift given to the church, and it is for us to share in our public lives…. Speaking, acting. We are at an inflection point in our socioeconomic and political culture. Our democracy, our egalitarian means of self-governing, the rule of law, hang in the balance. We must hold our politicians to the truth, that being, it is in raising up the least among us, the victims of injustice, that we create a sustainable and mutual and collaborative society in which all may thrive. That is justice, in short, an equilibrium of well-being and dignity.
Our culture is being called now to a radical empathy. That is so very clear these days. If a candidate lacks empathy, they should not govern. Tell them that. Tell them that their job is to be about raising the dead. If they don’t get the metaphor, explain it to them. Be the flesh. Be the blood. Be all in… because the world thirsts; and the world starves…. And we are sent as food enough.
A Prayer for the Human Family (BCP p. 815)
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Savior. Amen.
