As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who feeds on Me will live because of Me

 

 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 drinks 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.  

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

Yesterday we read that the religious leaders Jews complained about Jesus in response to His discourse, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  It is written in the prophets, 'And they shall all be taught by God.'  Therefore everyone who has heard and learned form the Father comes to Me.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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."

 

  The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Once again we observe that in St. John's Gospel misunderstandings are frequent.  Here we go once again from "earthly language" heard in an earthly way, to this question posed to Christ who will answer with the voice of the mystical reality He brings into the world, and what exactly this means.  

 

Then Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drinks 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."  My study Bible notes that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  We receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, we eat Christ's flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and we in Him.  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers on this passage:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the relaity of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."  

 

 "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.  In a straightforward manner, Christ teaches about Communion, giving this a eucharistic significance , but also speaks of the mystical reality of Himself as the bread which came down from heaven, and gives eternal life.  

 

In today's reading we get perhaps the most stark reminder of the double meanings of words encountered in St. John's Gospel.  Jesus' words, as we will see, will inflame and upset quite a few people.  But nonetheless, despite the misunderstanding, He still doesn't mince words.  This is because He's telling the truth.  People might not understand it in its true sense, that He is speaking of mystical realities -- and the mystical realities present in the Mystical Supper, the Eucharist -- but nonetheless He speaks directly the words of truth about who He is, about His sacrifice, about His flesh being food for the life of the world.  In yesterday's reading and commentary, we pondered on the meanings of "life" in Christ's language.  That is, we wondered about what it means that He preaches regarding eternal life, everlasting life, life in abundance.  What does it mean to live forever?    These concepts all focus on a central theme of life that belongs to the age to come; that is life that exceeds what we know, and is lived in this time and place in which He reigns and all things are reconciled under Him.  This could have a plethora of ramifications and meanings in terms of what it truly means for us, and the picture of that life we don't truly know.  What we do know is that this "life of the ages" isn't simply about the future as we understand time to imply, for the life of the Kingdom -- the eternal reality of Christ -- isn't defined by time as our lives are in an earthly sense.  So today we're invited to wonder about His even more perplexing and even troubling words.  What does it really mean to eat His flesh and drink His blood?  This is the language, moreover, of sacrifice.  He will give His life for many, for the life of the world.  He seems even possibly to be speaking about human sacrifice!  But all of this is to be reconciled in the meanings and values He brings into the world, and in our understanding of the purpose of His mission and ministry as Incarnate Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man.  All of this language needs its own way of being understood and taken in by us.  Jesus says, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him."  This speaks to a kind of depth of communion possibly no one can understand to whom He speaks directly at this time in His ministry.  And yet, now it speaks to all of us, for we have the Eucharist, we know of His sacrifice for us, and of the reality of communion.  How many of us can say that we have experienced that reality of that depth -- and are beckoned forward more deeply in to the mystery of life of Christ and how it calls to us to deeper places within ourselves?  How many can say that they are called into this communion, to become more "like Him" -- or perhaps more closely becoming the person He calls us to be in His name?  This is the reality of salvation itself -- of the sacrifice He will make of His flesh as He bears all in this world so that we may encounter His and come to dwell with Him in that abundance of life He promises.  Don't be put off by language one cannot understand, or may find offensive.  For until we know what someone is really saying, who's to know if even God is speaking to us?

 

 

 

 

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

 

 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. 

 

- John 6:52–59 

 

On Saturday, we read that the religious leaders in Capernaum then complained about Jesus, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  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.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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."

 

 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.  Here, Jesus' words continue to convey the eucharistic understanding of the bread which came down from heaven.  The hearers of this Gospel, written near the end of the first century, would already be familiar with the Eucharist, and so understand the meaning.  My study Bible comments that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  It notes that we receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, in the tradition from the beginning of the Church, we truly eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this grants to the faithful eternal life (verse 54), with Christ abiding in us and us in Him (verse 56).  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us." 

 

 In the Orthodox Church, the presence of Christ's body and blood is considered to be in the Eucharist.  While there are varieties of understanding of this presence among many denominations of the Church, for most Christ is considered to be truly present in some sense, although the theological language varies.  As my study Bible notes, Christ's sacrificial offering -- a once and for all time sacrifice, partaken and shared among the faithful -- makes it possible for us, also, to be raised up in a glorified state as He was (Luke 24:51; Acts 1:1-9).  In the Orthodox Church, how this happens is a mystery; but we accept His word that He is present to us, and that we may partake of His sacrifice for us, thus making it possible, by faith, for us to be "in Christ and Christ in us."   This subject may be quite difficult for modern people to grasp, but we first must begin with the Incarnation itself to start with the presumption that the human and the divine can be united, that what we call or think of as purely material matter can be imbued with the presence of the divine, with what "comes down from heaven" and is truly spiritually present.   From the Incarnation, we derive this sense that makes it possible, for example, to understand the conferring of the Holy Spirit through the oil of chrismation at Holy Baptism.  The gifts and charisms taken on by saints in the Church become a part of the character of a person, yet they are gifts of the Spirit.  Christ has left us with a Mystical Supper, that we may partake of what He is, so that He lives in us, and we live in Him -- and are promised through faith that we may ultimately become a part of His everlasting life.  In St. Luke's Gospel, we read His teaching that "the kingdom of God is within you" (meaning both among and within us); see Luke 17:20-21. In the Eucharist, we are given more than a memorial, we are given a "living bread" that enables us to live the life with Him that He offers, with the quality of the eternal or "everlasting" that may dwell in us and prepare us, even helping us to grow into the fullness of that life with Him that He promises.  This is the living bread for the eternal day of the Lord, for the life in us He wants for us, for the kingdom of God dwelling within us.  Let us consider these mystical words, so seemingly out of place --as the response and consternation of His hearers among the religious leaders indicates.  But Christ's words have particular meanings, elevated and understood as He gives them to us, imbued with the divine reality that may also live in us, so that we might participate in the life of God's kingdom even in this world.  In Saturday's reading (above), Jesus spoke of how the Father draws us to Him, giving us faith, and helping us to grow in understanding ("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 will make His sacrifice so that we may dwell in Him and He in us; let us cherish this mystical gift with thanks, as the name Eucharist indicates (from εὐχαριστέω/eucharisteo, to give thanks).  In this article, Fr. Stephen Freeman describes the making of a sacrament as God taking up an ordinary action and making it a means of grace.   In today's reading, Jesus speaks of His gift of life, not as the world gives, but as only God can give to us. 

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him

 

 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.

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

Over the course of chapter 6, we have been reading of events concerning Christ teaching that He is the bread of heaven.  On Monday, we were given the reading which told of the feeding of the five thousand men (and more women and children) in the wilderness.  From there, the people pursued Jesus to forcibly make Him king, but He evaded them -- and walked on the water to His disciples in boats crossing the sea.  The people followed Him to Capernaum, where He has been teaching them about faith (the work of God), and the bread that He will give.  In yesterday's reading, the religious leaders in the synagogue began to complain about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  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.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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."

 

 The Jews therefore quarreled among themselves, saying, "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  The text tells us that Jesus is speaking in the synagogue at Capernaum.  In John's Gospel, reference to the Jews most frequently indicates the religious leaders, and not the Jewish people (all in the story are Jews, including Jesus and His disciples).  Here, the leaders continue to dispute among themselves about Jesus and His teachings.

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."  My study Bible comments that Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  It says that we receive the grace of Christ's sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, it says, we truly eat His flesh and drink His blood, as mystically present, thus forging a communion with Him that is of a depth we cannot know, granting the faithful eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him.  Let us note, also, as does my study Bible, that the eucharistic significance of today's reading is very clear.  His declaration in yesterday's reading that He is the living bread which came down from heaven, and gives life to the world (see above) is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  It says that John does not report the details of the Last Supper, such as the "words of institution" recorded by Luke (Luke 22:19-20).  But here, instead, Jesus reveals the significance and truth of these events (which would already have been known to John's hearers) by reporting Christ's words here about them.  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ in us."

"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.   Once again, Jesus goes back to His inseparable union with the Father -- but He is extending that union to us, and the sacrament of that union and that life of living in Him is the Eucharist.  He promises that He is the bread which came down from heaven, and he who eats this bread will live forever.

So these are tremendous words we read in today's text, and the source of disputes throughout the centuries since.  We might ask the same questions the religious leaders do:  "How can this Man give us His flesh to eat?"  Some answer this question with theories about how this literally happens.  Others answer in the negative, that what we're given in the Eucharist is only a memorial of some kind, or even a symbol without substance.  In the Orthodox tradition, and the tradition of the Church throughout its first millennium and beyond, the sacrament of the Eucharist is considered just that, a true sacrament, a mystery, and St. Hilary's words still remain true.  That is, Christ's words -- made so explicit to us in this text -- are taken as true, but accepted as mystically true, without effort to explain how this is so or how God makes it so.  It is akin to trying to find an explanation for the many "signs" reported in the Gospel.  How does water turn to wine?  How could Christ have walked in the water?  We may well ask ourselves those same questions, and come to the same conclusions.  Either we conclude they didn't happen, or we can find a sort of rational explanation, or we can accept that these are signs of one who has "come down from heaven" and so include a mystical reality we can't fully explain, of which we don't have intimate hands-on knowledge of its workings.  We don't participate in it in the same level as the Son who has seen the Father and who is sent by the Father.  However, in today's reading, He quite solemnly assures us that we also may be included in this communion, through faith (as He has said here in chapter 6) and through the mystery of the Eucharist.  He solemnly affirms for us that this is given for us, that His sacrifice is the ultimate and final sacrifice, which feeds us and creates communion with us.  For myself, only a mystical explanation will do, for how else are we to understand this?  We recall Jesus' words to Nicodemus, the believing Pharisee, here in John's Gospel, in chapter 3, as Jesus taught him about Holy Baptism, another sacrament of mystery.  Nicodemus asked about rebirth in the Spirit, "How can these things be?"  Jesus replied, "Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things? Most assuredly, I say to you, We speak what We know and testify what We have seen, and you do not receive Our witness. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?"  In today's reading, we are given one of these "earthly things" by Jesus, the teaching regarding His body and blood, prefiguring the Eucharist, and indirectly foretelling of His Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection.  These are things given to us here on earth, "earthly things," and tell of the sacrament of the Eucharist.  But how exactly this happens we aren't given, except that it is also, like Baptism, and like Christ's birth as the human Jesus to the human Mary, made possible through the participation of the Spirit, as well as Father and Son.  Of the "heavenly things" we don't know, it is wise (again, in my estimation) to offer the answer that we don't know.  In the fullness of time, as all things become fully a part of the communion of which Christ speaks, perhaps we will know.  St. Paul writes, "Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all" (1 Corinthians 15:28); and also, "For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12.  Let us remember that all of Christ's teachings in our recent readings began with His encouragement to the people, "Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him."  When they asked what they should do to work the works of God, He began speaking about faith, belief in Him, as work.  The sacraments we understand through faith, through a kind of perception that isn't simply about intellectual perceptions nor physical perceptions, but is experienced in a different way -- however, that also incorporates all that we are and our experience even of our earthly lives.  Sacrament works in this place, where we are "all" involved, but also including a different type of perception.  It is rooted in trust, but accepting of mystery.  To participate in sacrament, in prayer, in worship, even in faith, with a mind open to this experience of faith and its mystical reality, is how we walk with Him, how we can come to know what He teaches.  It is a journey of mystical communion that begins "in a mirror, dimly," with its fullness "face to face," and He asks us to take that journey throughout our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 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 sayings He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

Yesterday we read that, as Jesus taught in the synagogue in Capernaum, some then complained about Him, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  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.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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."  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."

 

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 sayings He said in the synagogue as He taught in Capernaum.  My study Bible comments here that the eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable.  Christ's declaration that He is Himself the living bread that gives life reveals the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  My study Bible also explains for us that John does not report the details of the Last Supper (such as the "words of institution" recorded in Luke 22:19-20), but instead, John's Gospel reveals the significance and truth of these events -- events which were already known to the hearers of the Gospel -- by reporting Christ's own words.  It invites us to consider that, as Christ was crucified in the flesh, and His blood shed on the Cross, and on the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  So we receive the grace of this sacrificial offering by Christ by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and by receiving Holy Communion in faith.  If we understand His explicit teaching, in Communion we eat His flesh and drink His blood which are mystically present, feeding us for eternal life, with Christ abiding in us and us in Him.  My study Bible quotes St. Hilary of Poitiers on this passage:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."

Let us consider Christ's words earlier to Nicodemus:  "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:13-15).  Our early Christian ancestors understood this to mean that, as Christ became fully human, and ascended with His humanity to heaven, so human nature is capable of this deification, of being nurtured not only for earthly life but also for an eternal life.  In today's passage, Jesus' words teach us this more clearly -- that the mystical presence of Christ in the Eucharist feeds us more than bread and wine, more than food and drink, but even His Body and Blood.  In the Orthodox Church, there was never developed a doctrine of transubstantiation, a literal understanding as a physical explanation, but rather the acceptance that Christ's presence is mystically true, in accordance with His word and teaching.  St. Irenaeus writes on Christ's words in today's passage:  "For we offer to him his own, announcing consistently the fellowship and union of the flesh and Spirit. For as the bread that is produced from the earth, when it receives the invocation of God, is no longer common bread but the Eucharist, consisting of two realities, earthly and heavenly, so also our bodies when they receive the Eucharist are no longer corruptible, having the hope of the resurrection to eternity" (Against Heresies 4.18.5).  For our modern ears and understanding, we seem capable of understanding things only as either literally true in some earthly physical sense, or as mere symbol.  But these words offer to us a mystical reality, and the whole of Christ's life speaks of a mystical reality that is present to us even if we do not perceive it with physical human senses of eyes, ears, nose, touch, etc.  What we call a "sign" (such as the seven signs reported in John's Gospel) is a rare physical manifestation of what is always mystically present, the Kingdom of which Christ speaks to us.  Christ Himself is always mystically present to us, as is the Holy Spirit who "brings to your remembrance all things that I said to you" (see John 14:26).  St. Paul tells us that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), even angels and saints, and these, too, are part of the Kingdom present with us in worship and prayer.  Exactly how this happens is not our purview, but part of the Mystery of God, the "heavenly things" about which Christ speaks to Nicodemus (John 3:12).  To be mystically present does not require the perception of physical senses (nor some sort of "proof") in order to be real and true.  But this asks of us faith, what Jesus calls "the work of God" (John 6:27-29), the grace of the love of the Father that reaches toward us and within us to draw us to Christ (John 6:43-45).  Let us consider His words, and what they teach to us.

 

 

He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him

 

 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.

 

- John 6:52-59 

 

Yesterday we read that the leaders in the synagogue complained about Jesus, because He said, "I am the bread which came down from heaven."  And they said, "Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?  How is it then that He says, 'I have come down from heaven'?"  Jesus therefore answered and said to them, "Do not murmur among yourselves.  No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.  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.  Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God; He has seen the Father.  Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and are dead.  This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die.  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 in My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." 

 

 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. Let us first remind ourselves that the term the Jews in John's Gospel is most frequently used to depict the religious leadership, as if we are talking of political parties.  Jesus, we're told, is teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum, so these are the rulers in the synagogue who repeatedly question Him for His teaching.  They clearly have no idea what He is talking about, as once again John's Gospel takes us from earthly understanding of things from daily life, to the meanings that Christ gives them.  My study bible comments on the entire passage in today's reading that the eucharistic significance of this passage is indisputable.  It says that Christ's declaration that He Himself is the living bread that gives life is a revelation of the Mystical Supper of the New Testament Church.  John's Gospel does not give to us the details of the Last Supper which Luke records (see Luke 22:19-20, which contains the "words of institution").  But John gives to us the significance and truth of these events, by giving to us Christ's own words.  We should keep in mind that the original hearers of these Gospels already knew of the events themselves.  Christ was crucified in the flesh and His blood was shed on the Cross.  On the third day He was raised in a glorified state.  My study bible further comments here that we receive the grace of His sacrificial offering by coming to Him in faith (verse 35) and receiving Holy Communion in faith.  In Communion, we mystically eat His flesh and drink His blood, and this grants the faithful eternal life, as Christ abides in us and us in Him.  St. Hilary of Poitiers comments here:  "There is no room left for any doubt about the reality of His flesh and blood, because we have both the witness of His words and our own faith.  Thus when we eat and drink these elements, we are in Christ and Christ is in us."

For many people, it seems, the meaning of "mystical" is lost in a modern social construct.  But the notion of the mystical is key to all of our apprehension of what faith is, and to the very existence of God.  While we cannot understand God as God understands God (in other words, we cannot know God as an equal or as a being of the same order), we are capable of apprehending that the qualities of God as Being as far beyond us, and yet also exist with us and within us.  God is of such dimensional reality that permeates all existence, has created all of existence that we know, and dwells also far beyond our comprehension and understanding.  These are the things we are capable of grasping.  But where God and the worldly intersect is by its very nature mystical, and the Church from her earliest beginnings accepted the presence in the Eucharist of the Body and Blood of Christ.  This is not, in the eyes of the Eastern Church, something explicable on worldly terms.  It is a given that it is true because we have the words of Christ, the Gospels, the witness of the earliest Church, and all the experience of the faithful since.  Our whole faith really makes sense through this understanding of the mystical, the reality of God's presence in our lives although we don't see God as God sees God.  We can sometimes sense God's presence, and we always must return to Christ's words regarding the Spirit, who together with the Father and the Son is worshiped and gloried (as we say in the Creed), also God:  "The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit" (John 3:8, in which Jesus teaches Nicodemus by night about holy baptism).  In the words of Christ, and to paraphrase, we cannot tell where God comes from or where God goes, but we can know the mystical reality of God in our lives and the evidence of God's interactions with us.  We can know through faith what God has done and is doing within us.  We know when our souls are filled, or when they are longing for something more that the world can't give us.  All of these things are part of what is mystical, the hidden reality of God which is, nevertheless, present with us.  Another term for sacrament is "holy mystery."  To quote from an OrthodoxWiki page, which explains succinctly much better than I do, "The holy mysteries or sacraments in the Orthodox Church are vessels of the mystical participation in divine grace of mankind."  The bread and wine of the Eucharist, as instituted at the Last Supper, and affirmed in the words of Christ in today's reading, are those vessels through which we partake of the mystical presence of Christ's Body and Blood.  We don't know how this happens; we take it on faith that it does.  For the Eastern Church, this mystery is left simply there, until such a time at which we no longer look through a glass darkly but know as we are known.   As St. Paul writes, "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known" (1 Corinthians 13:12).  We accept Christ's words which are truly indisputable, affirmed in so many ways in the Gospels, and forming a coherent whole with His life and ministry and repeatedly stated purpose of His ministry, mission, and Passion.  Let us for a moment retrieve the sense of true Mystery that belongs to our faith, and dwell where He goes and takes us with Him, even as we dwell in the world, for this is where we have been called.