Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?" What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve.

- John 6:60-71

In recent readings, we began with the sign of the feeding of five thousand men on the mountaintop. After this, the crowd wishes to make Him king, so He eluded them and went back up on the mountaintop. His disciples set sail across the Sea of Galilee for Capernaum. In the night, the wind blew fiercely and the sea was so rough the disciples feared they would drown. He came to them walking on the water, saying, "It is I; do not be afraid." Later at Capernaum, the crowds wondered how He arrived there. He told them they wished to make Him king not because they saw a sign, but because they were filled. He told them, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life." This work of God is faith; He told them: "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent." They asked for a sign, and spoke of the manna given by Moses to their ancestors. Jesus said, "My Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world." He said, "I am the bread of life." He was criticized by those who knew His father and mother. He told them, "It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.' Therefore everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to Me . . . he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life." He told them, "If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." In yesterday's reading, we read that many argued over these sayings. Jesus taught, "For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed. He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me. This is the bread which came down from heaven -- not as your fathers ate the manna, and are dead. He who eats this bread will live forever."

Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, "This is a hard saying; who can understand it?" When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples complained about this, He said to them, "Does this offend you?" What then if you should see the Son of Man ascend where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you who do not believe." John's Gospel teaches us, importantly, that this saying was so hard that many of His disciples could not accept it. Jesus refers them to His Ascension -- and we get a mention of the Spirit, completing reference to the Trinity in these teachings. What is essential is this perspective that He teaches. Where does life come from? What gives us "life in abundance" and "life everlasting?" As we have pointed out from an earlier note in these passages, it is necessary that we perceive His words here not from a worldly perspective, but a spiritual one. His words point us to mystical presence, mystical reality. His own words, He says, are spirit and life. It is this "ingredient" -- added to our worldly life of the flesh -- that enlivens, that gives us this life in its true abundance.

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who would betray Him. And He said, "Therefore I have said to you that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father." From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. Again, the Gospel tells us that Jesus is the knower-of-hearts. He knows who will fall away from Him, who will betray Him. Repeatedly, in these passages especially, He has referred to the Father as the One who brings all to Him, whoever is His and should not be lost. The inference is that these who fall away are not a part of this mystical relationship.

Then Jesus said to the twelve, "Do you also want to go away?" But Simon Peter answered Him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God." Here is Peter's confession of faith as it is reported to us in this Gospel. Peter speaks for all of the Apostles in his response to Jesus: "To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." In these words, Peter tells us that he has truly heard; the spirit in him responds to the spirit and truth of the words, the life in them. My study bible says, "This confession of faith is a pivotal moment in the life of Peter and the disciples on behalf of whom he spoke."

Jesus answered them, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?" He spoke of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, for it was he who would betray Him, being one of the twelve. It's a powerful moment, in this Gospel, to realize just how pivotal this moment is, as my study bible indicates. There are those disciples, "many" of them, we are told, who fall away upon this "hard" saying of the eating of flesh and blood. Yet, Peter's confession, made on behalf of the Twelve, crystalizes the loyalty of the Apostles. And, at the same time, this note: one of them "is a devil." Christ's truth is working as a sword; those who cannot accept fall away, while those who can and do accept go further and deeper into this "work" of faith. And there is one, He knows, who will also betray -- who cannot go the full distance that will be asked of His closest followers.

Let us focus on Jesus' "knowing" of these people in the Gospel story. We can ask ourselves, "how" does He know? But this will not profit us much. It's a mystery, and belongs to that realm of mystery of the reality of spirit. The mystery of the Divine Beings, the Trinity, is really not ours to know; as Jesus says earlier in this chapter, "Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father." This is part of the heavenly reality He also spoke of to Nicodemus. But yet, Jesus has told us many times in these recent passages, as well as in today's, no one comes to Him except it is given from the Father. Therefore, while we cannot understand the heavenly reality, we do have Father, Son and Spirit which are a part of us, which are at work in us, in whom we abide, and who abide in us. Jesus' "knowing" of His disciples and His apostles comes from this mystery, and we must never forget this depth of connection. The entire discourse on the "bread of life" -- the Eucharistic significance of Jesus' "hard saying" here -- leads us toward a deeper and deeper recognition of the fullness of this relationship, of this mutual "abiding." Even as we are in this world, we, too, have a spiritual reality that dwells in and lives in us, as it is also present to us in His word. The Spirit gives life, He tells us in today's passage. It gives life to us, life in abundance, in so many ways. It gives us the power to perceive the life in these words, to hear and to understand, to live them in our lives, and to continually unfold that life, meaning and truth to us. Let us remember that this work of faith and grace may also separate us from some things and even people in our lives. But we may all come to abide in Him, in the fullness of the Holy Trinity, even among a great cloud of witnesses. In His "knowing" He also may link us all together, and bring us life in so many ways. He will certainly bring us choices.