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 to 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 had 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
This week we have been reading chapter 6 of John's Gospel, in which the eucharistic concepts of Christ as the bread of heaven, and also the sacrifice He will make on the Cross have been introduced. Yesterday's text told us that the Jews therefore 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 to 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
had been granted to him by My Father." From that time many of His
disciples went back and walked with Him no more. My study Bible comments here that even His disciples took Christ's teaching on His Body and Blood as a hard saying, and many walked with Him no more. To this day, there are still those who reject Christ's own words concerning this sacramental eating of His Body and drinking His Blood, and so do not walk in His teaching. My study Bible further notes that because of the difficulty of grasping the depth of this Mystery, many attempt to define its nature in a rational way, or to explain away His words completely, giving them simply a metaphorical meaning. But either extreme is dubious. To reject this sacramental teaching is to reject the witness of the Scriptures and the unanimous teaching of the Church through its history.
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. Here is St. Peter's confession that Jesus is the Christ as it appears in John's Gospel, within the context of other disciples turning away because of His hard saying on His Body and Blood (see above). Let us note also the injection here of the note of betrayal, even among Christ's most intimate set of disciples, the twelve.
For the first time in John's Gospel, the note of betrayal to come is mentioned. Here, after a long discourse on Himself as the bread of life, and the bread which came down from heaven, Jesus finally interjects the truth about how His Crucifixion will come about -- the means by which He will give His flesh for the life of the world (see yesterday's reading, above). Perhaps it is most noteworthy that just as other disciples desert Him for his hard saying about His Body and Blood, so it is at this time that Peter's faith is not simply crystalized, but the confession of faith (on behalf of the twelve as well) is made -- that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God. John's emphasis is important and interesting. Not only is Jesus the Son of the living God, with its emphasis on the power of life itself, but Peter's confession is also one about the very words Jesus offers to them and to the world. His are the words of eternal life. In the following chapter of John's Gospel, the temple officers are sent to arrest Jesus, but are unable to do so. When asked by the religious authorities why they have failed, the officers reply, "No man ever spoke like this Man!" As this Gospel begins with the teaching that Jesus is Logos, the Word, so we understand that in His very words is the power of eternal life also. As Jesus says, "For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak" (John 12:49-50). The power in His very words is the power of eternal life, rooted in the Source of all, God the Father. Let us note once again that all things are determined through our response to these words of eternal life: just as other disciples turn away, so Peter makes his confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ. And just as this confession is heard on behalf of the twelve, so Jesus introduces the fact of betrayal among them, calling the one who will betray him a devil, indicating that in that betrayal is the power of the spiritual forces that oppose Him. As we go through Lent, we head toward Holy Week and the story of the Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection of our Lord. As Jesus informs the disciples about the betrayal to come (which they no doubt scarcely can comprehend), let us take into account what we know about that betrayal, that it is through Christ's death that the devil and death itself will be defeated, for all of us. So let us also ponder that no circumstance can keep us from the love of God, nor from God's work in us and in the world. Our present lectionary readings also give us selections from St. Paul's letter to the Romans. Let us read his words: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? . . . Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:35-39). Neither will betrayal by a devil; for with God not only are all things possible, but for God's purposes all things may be used (see Romans 8:28). When we see tribulation in our own times and in our lives, let us remember that God has a place and a way for us with which to meet all things. We can say with St. Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of
eternal life."