Bible Text: John 6:60-71 | Preacher: Rev. Jenn Geddes
In the early western church when the only western church was the Roman Catholic church the entire service was shared in Latin. This is in part because as the church expanded under the Roman Empire and subsequent colonization, the Latin missionaries wanted to have one uniform language for the church, so that no matter where you went or how far you travelled, you could always find a church that spoke the same language. They wanted the church to have a universal language, and what better language than a romantic language. The problem, of course, was that many of those worldwide communities did not speak Latin and soon enough the only modern day place you could hear Latin was in church. This is not a criticism on the Roman Catholic church because we have to remember that it is as much part of our history as it is for that denomination, a sister church in our faith. The issue, however, is that for a long time people attended worship services that were shared in a language they did not speak or read or understand. Perhaps it was a true Pentecost moment that people continued to come to church and worshipped God regardless the language barrier- meaning that the Spirit was truly amongst them, interpreting these Latin words into words that spoke to their heart. Nevertheless, there was a lot of misunderstanding as well. For example, during the liturgy of the Eucharist, each Sunday as the priest would lift the bread he would say, “Hoc est corpus meum,” meaning, “this is my body” and those observing the Mass understood that something magical had transformed the bread into the body of Christ. What they heard was hoc est corpus and then magic happened, do you hear it? Hoc est corpus-hocus pocus. And thus those two magic words were born out of a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the sacrament of the Lord’s supper.
Even once the services were provided in the local language and regardless of whether it was a reformed church or an orthodox church or the Roman Catholic church, there has always been some, confusion or concern, certainly debate, about the Eucharist. It is in fact, the biggest thing that separates denominations despite that we learned last week that it really doesn’t matter how we do it, or what we believe happens, or even whether we ask for it or not. Unfortunately this week we discover that things were no different for Jesus, because after his lengthy discussion still the disciples are confused, find his words difficult, and people choose to leave him over this issue. Sometimes following Jesus is hard- so hard we may want to walk away, so hard we just don’t understand.
In this closing section of John 6 (and I know some of you who have been here week after week and are ready to move on) the disciples finally speak up. The disciples say what everyone else is thinking, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” We have to remember that while Jesus’ words about flesh and blood, are easily understood by us as a reference to the Lord’s Supper, the disciples have yet to have that experience. They are still stuck on a literal interpretation and find it rather uncomfortable. Most scholars agree that John’s Gospel was written in the 1st century common era, about 95 AD, meaning it could have been written about 70 years after the crucifixion. As a result, the author is really trying to press upon us a foreshadowing of events, such as the Lord’s Supper, as well as the disciples confusion and inability to truly understand what Jesus is saying. John is giving us a foretaste of the fear and confusion that will overwhelm the disciples following the crucifixion. If they think the teaching is hard- just wait until they have to experience it.
John describes the disciples’ reaction, they complained or rather they grumbled. It is actually a reflection of the complaining the Israelites had in the wilderness when they grumbled against Moses. It reflects again that story of Manna during the Exodus and how Jesus is trying to get them to look not into the past but look at the present. Like the Israelites they have experienced an amazing miracle that came directly from God- in which they need to trust that God will provide- but the crowd, as with the Israelites, are unable to trust that God will continue to provide for them in their wilderness wanderings.
Jesus’ response to their grumbling is direct, “Does this offend you? There are still some among you who don’t believe?” While our translation says “offend” the actual word in Greek is skandalizo the word in which we get scandalize. Jesus says, “Does this scandalize you?” What Jesus is saying is causing a scandal. It is causing outrage. Jesus’ words hit a few people hard and they walk away. We often sentimentalize Jesus, with pictures of Jesus with children on his knee, or a lamp upon his shoulders, or even a with a big heart vibrating from his chest, but in this passage we do not see that gentle Jesus. Instead we find a Jesus who is tired, vulnerable, and ready to walk along a painful path. But in order for him to do that he needs to have disciples who trust and believe him and therefore he has to turn those who are not yet ready- away.
Jesus says, “some of you do not believe.” The Greek word that John uses is pisteuo and it is often found throughout this Gospel. While it is usually translated as “believe” a more accurate meaning is “to trust” or “to rely upon someone”. What Jesus is struggling with is not just the cognitive act of believing but the lack of trust that these disciples have. Throughout this entire chapter what Jesus has been trying to say, “Just trust me.” Because in that trust they have the potential to abide, to dwell, to be present with Jesus in their relationship with Jesus, which comes by faith given by God.
Thankfully, twelve disciples remain, although Jesus knows one of them has not and will not buy into or trust what he is saying. However, these twelve recognize that if they listen, really hear, Jesus’ life giving words, they will find the abiding Spirit, they will dwell in the presence of God, they will know Jesus as friend.
Sometimes the Bible is full of passages and stories, words and commitments that we don’t like. Sometimes they are confusing, sometimes they are hard, sometimes we are just not in a place where we want to hear them. Sometimes being a church together is hard work. Sometimes we know something needs to change but we don’t want to put out the effort. Sometimes we are tired. But for those who remain, for those who are willing to stick it out, for those who do not walk away but rather turn to trust, there is great reward. We need to find the strength and commitment to stay the course. Because if Jesus had given up, if Jesus had said this is too hard and walked away, we wouldn’t be here today. Come, even when its hard to understand, and hear Jesus’ words, trust them, and abide in them. Amen