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 yesterday's reading, Jesus continues His discourse on the bread of life. He has just told them in the synagogue at Capernaum, "I am the living bread which came down from heaven. 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." They dispute among themselves: "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?" Jesus said, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. 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?" Up until this point in Jesus' ministry, He has been quite successful in some populist sort of sense. Many people - especially from Galilee - follow Him because of the miraculous signs they've seen, such as healings and the feeding of 5,000 men in the wilderness. The opposition has been coming from the leadership. But here the opposition comes from among His followers.

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." The disciples (at least "many of them" John's Gospel tells us) are scandalized, and Jesus understands this about them. He then refers to the sight that the Apostles will see at His Ascension. What will it take for them to believe His words and teachings? In the Greek, the phrase translated "it is the Spirit who gives life," has directly given to the Church the text in the Nicene Creed, in which the Spirit is called the "giver of life" (το ζωοπoιον). So in some sense, it seems that He is contrasting "the flesh" in a worldly sense with the sense in which He is speaking of His flesh as "bread indeed" or "true bread." And finally, it is His very words which are spirit, and are life (note that it is not simply that they have life in them). Again, we have to note the Greek carefully: "words" is translated from a word that implies sayings, or that which is spoken. There are powerful meanings here; it is God who speaks things into existence; and we know already He is God the Word, Logos. So, what He speaks is life -- yet there are some who do not receive, do not believe. Again, we can take this to be a kind of layering of meaning. As His followers, His words spoken in our hearts are still that which give us life. And yet again, we look at the Greek, where to "believe" is a word that is more closely translated to trust, to put one's trust in something. In the Mystery of faith we may be drawn in, we may yet not know and not see, but faith is all about trust, where we place our trust, and in Whom we place that trust.

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." If we understand belief as trust then this statement may come to have yet more meaning for us. We all know what it is to meet someone and have an instant sense of trust, or even mistrust. So imagine what it is to trust in this Teacher, and to follow, and we will have a sense of what it is to believe and have faith. We will also have a sense of what it is about trust that is so close to love. It is the Father who inspires this trust, God who is love.

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. Although many of His disciples leave Him at this point, Simon Peter makes his confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, speaking for all twelve of the Apostles. But of course Jesus knows what is in people's hearts, He is the heart-knower, and He knows who will betray Him, who is turning away.

It's important to consider the idea of trust. Trust is something we do when we put our faith in someone, in something. Here, it is most assuredly someOne. This is why we understand our faith as something linked to love. When we really put our trust in someone, we are on the road to love, we are there in that place where love can take root, and relationship can grow. Without it, this cannot really exist. So trust then becomes the root of the faith, the root of relationship to God. His disciples may not understand all that He is telling them, all that He is saying, but in their faith -- in their trust -- they follow. And that's really what faith and belief are about. They are about a relationship of trust. It's in trusting someone that you begin to believe them, to have faith in them, to form relationship and love. Without trust, love doesn't come into it. So, let's think about Jesus' living words, the words of spirit and life. They lead us somewhere. They lead the disciples somewhere, on a road they know not where, they don't know the end. But they trust. As long as we stay on that road, that road of trust, we don't know where we're going or the final outcome. But we know, we trust the One that leads us there, His Way. All along that route there is the life of love, and there is life itself. This is what He offers, this is how we learn and grow and how life is given to us. Bit by bit, in faith and trust, this is how we become who He calls us to be and to become.