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

On Thursday we read that Jesus taught, "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."   Yesterday's reading taught us that after this the leadership quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Then Jesus said to them, "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."  These things He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 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.   The mystical reality of the sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ is indeed a difficult teaching to grasp!  But nevertheless, this is the teaching that we are given.  Even His disciples took it as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more.   Among those who read this blog, there may be many who reject the Mystery of this sacrament.  Over time, there have been attempts to rationally define its nature, or on the other hand to give Jesus' words a purely metaphorical meaning.  But given the repetition and explicit implication of Jesus' teaching throughout this chapter of John, both become remote.  In the witness of the Scriptures there is a different indication, and also the teaching of the Church throughout its history.   From the earliest times of the Church, the Greek word eucharist ("thanks") served as the root which referred both to the Liturgy and sacrament of Communion.   We note also Jesus' repetition of the teaching that "no one can come to Me unless it has been granted to him by My Father."   Father, Son, and Spirit work together within us and in our lives of faith -- and that includes the Mystery of the Eucharist.

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.  This is the great moment of the confession of faith, in which Peter clearly speaks for all the Twelve.   Peter's statement, as Jesus says in Matthew's reporting of this confession, comes via revelation through faith. ("Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven," Matthew 16:17; see also 1 Corinthians 12:3.)  To confess Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God is to affirm His uniqueness as Messiah and Son.  We also note the presence of the one who will betray Him here, whom in John's telling, Jesus openly points out was chosen by Him, and is a devil.  The note of betrayal from within is another sign of the difficulties and struggles for this faith.  By the time of the writing of this Gospel, persecution was fierce.

The mysteries of faith involve deep struggles.  One may find oneself content in the spiritual life, but the events of life come into play and ask for some sort of reconciliation in our own spiritual understanding.  These may be grand, worldly events.  Oftentimes they are personal events and obstacles to the things we thought were good or that we wanted for ourselves or someone else.  But the examples we have of faith are right before us, with perhaps the greatest obstacle and struggles imaginable.  Jesus says, right after Peter's confession of faith as many disciples turn away, "Did I not choose you, the twelve, and one of you is a devil?"  This indication of betrayal, I would imagine, is rather devastating to hear.  How is it possible that the One who knows hearts and minds and thoughts of others has chosen one who will betray Him?  How is it possible that Jesus is truly "the Christ, the Son of the living God" -- and yet will be betrayed?  How is it possible that with God's power, this mission will seemingly not succeed?  All the events of the Passion are yet to come, but clearly there are signs that the authorities are not only skeptical but wary of Jesus.  Considering the expectations of the Messiah, that Messiah would be a worldly king leading Israel into all good things, this is a perplexing and devastating crisis indeed.  But "expectations" are often the key to overcoming crises in our lives, and that goes in particular for spiritual crises.  What is it we base our understanding on?  Are we of limited experience and knowledge when it comes to the things of Mystery?  Quite obviously, we are.  This central mystery of the rejection of Christ becomes the scandal of the early Church:  the "stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles"  (Corinthians 1:23).   But in each crisis there are seeds of growth, new opening and new understanding.  It is we who need to shift and change expectations, to open up to new possibilities that we hadn't understood nor considered.  Later on in John's Gospel, Jesus will teach, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain" (12:24).  There is a reason why expectations fall apart and die.  When we turn to our faith, and particularly to the Mystery that is always going to be present in our faith, we will find answers that only suggest themselves because our own limited understanding has come somehow crashing down.  Life, and particularly the life of faith, is always a journey.  Christ beckons us forward with a struggle, not a simple and easy path that conforms to all our worldly expectations of what life should be about.  He asks of us growth, endurance, persistence, and wakefulness.  That is, eyes wide open to the here and now, remembering that we are to be His good servants, always ready for His knock.  In the life of faith, we are conformed to an image He creates, not the one we make of ourselves.  It is Christ who has the words of eternal life.  Therein is Mystery, and the mystical life.  Let us remember, and continue on the road He sets for us.