Believe
in the word of Jesus for Life
1
Kg 19:4-8; Ep 4:30-5:2; Jn 6:41-51 (B 19)
“Surely only love could so dignify your creatures”
On this Sunday, we continue to read from the “Bread of Life
discourse” found in the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel. Recall that we have
been reading this chapter for the past two weeks and will continue to read from
it for another two. Jesus promises that the bread of life will bring eternal
life to those who partake of it, and he tells us that the bread of life will be
his own flesh, given for the life of the world.
Listening to Jesus, the Jews argued with each other. They were so
taken up with their private arguments that it never struck them to refer the
decision to God. The Jews listened, but they did not learn. There are different
kinds of listening. There is the listening of criticism. There is the listening
of resentment. There is the listening of superiority. There is the listening of
indifference. There is the listening of the one who listens only because for
the moment one cannot get the chance to speak. The only listening that is worthwhile
is that which hears and learns. And that is the only way to listen to God.
The Jews resisted the drawing of God. Only those accept Jesus whom
God draws to him. The word which John uses to draw is helkuein. The word
used in the Greek translation of the Hebrew when Jeremiah hears God “With
loving-kindness have I drawn thee” (Jer 31:3). The interesting thing about the
word is that it almost always implies some kind of resistance. It is the word
for drawing a heavily laden net to the shore (Jn 21:6; Jn 21:11). It is used of
Paul and Silas being dragged before the magistrates in Philippi (Acts 16:19).
It is the word for drawing a sword from the belt or from its scabbard (Jn
18:10). Always there is this idea of resistance. God can draw men, but man's
resistance can defeat God's pull.
Jesus is the bread of life which means that he is the essential
for life. Therefore, to refuse the invitation and command of Jesus is to miss
life and to die. The Rabbis had a saying: “The generation in the wilderness
have no part in the life to come.” In the old story in Numbers the people who
cravenly refused to brave the dangers of the promised land after the report of
the scouts, were condemned to wander in the wilderness until they died. Because
they would not accept the guidance of God. They were forever shut out from the
promised land. The Rabbis believed that the fathers who died in the wilderness
not only missed the promised land, but also missed the life to come. To refuse
the offer of Jesus is to miss life in this world and in the world to come,
whereas to accept his offer is to find real life in this world and glory in the
world to come.
We
believe that receiving Jesus in the Eucharist will lead us to eternal life.
Glory to God for this message. Amen
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