Who Doesn't want to live forever?

Body and Blood of Christ

July 14, 2020

John 6, 51-58

Jesus said to the Jewish crowds:
"I am the living bread that came down from heaven;
whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give
is my flesh for the life of the world."

The Jews quarreled among themselves, saying,
"How can this man give us his flesh to eat?"
Jesus said to them,
"Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood,
you do not have life within you.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
has eternal life,
and I will raise him on the last day.
For my flesh is true food,
and my blood is true drink.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood
remains in me and I in him.
Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me
will have life because of me.
This is the bread that came down from heaven.
Unlike your ancestors who ate and still died,
whoever eats this bread will live forever."

Today we celebrate the feast of the Body and Blood of Christ. What a great day to come back to Church, this opportunity that we have to receive the body and blood of Christ after so many months of being away. We may not understand what Jesus is talking about in today’s Gospel, but we believe. We believe what Jesus says. We know that by eating his body and drinking his blood we gain the gift of eternal life.

Today’s Gospel is towards the end of chapter 6, the bread of life discourse. In John’s Gospel at the last supper there is no sharing of bread and wine; instead there is the washing of feet so in order to understand John’s teaching on the Eucharist we need to read this 6^th chapter. As a brief review, the chapter begins with the multiplication of loaves and fish. Jesus feeds 5000 by the Sea of Galilee. The disciples then get into the boat and cross over to the other side without Jesus. Jesus stayed behind to pray and then he walks on the water to catch up to the disciples. The people, seeing these signs run over to other side of the lake and when they get there Jesus seems to chastise them. He says, “You aren’t looking for me, but you want more of the bread that I gave.” Jesus takes the people where they are and helps them to want more.

He then begins his description of the Eucharist, which we are at the end of. He says, and this I know we understand. That He is the bread of life, and if we eat this bread and drink this cup we will live forever. Now, what do you think happened? Jesus has done these great miracles, fed 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish; cured the sick, preached, walked on water and then he offers the bread of life. He says if you believe you will live forever. And what did the people do? It says that they left. This saying was just too hard to take, so they left Jesus.

Now, why do you think that they left Jesus? They were just offered eternal life and they say, “thank you very much, but no thank you and they leave Jesus?” What is so hard about the teaching? Why don’t people want to believe?

Well, at one level we must admit that the language here is a bit strong. “Eat my flesh,” “Drink my blood.” It does sound life the zombie apocalypse.  So maybe what the folks were struggling with was the language of Jesus. Maybe… I would like to suggest that it was something else.

These past few months we’ve not been able to get together to share the Eucharist. Some people have written to me complaining. They are denied the Eucharist! If we can go to a restaurant and get a chicken dinner surely we could do something to give people the Eucharist, why not a drive-thru and contactless delivery? We could do that, we could just give people the Eucharist and there are good things about that but then I think we miss out on the full meaning of the Eucharist.

It is quite clear from Jesus language that he wants to emphasize that his body is real food, his blood real drink. He isn’t talking symbolically, he wants us to share a meal, and he wants to give us his body for us to eat. It is in the celebration of the Eucharist that we encounter Jesus, the word made flesh.  Jesus wants to share a meal with us, but he also wants us to share a meal together.

The second reading is from Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. The community in Corinth had problems. They were a divided community. They had a too individualistic understanding of the Eucharist. For them it was about receiving the Eucharist as a means of gaining personal salvation, but the Eucharist is much more than just personal salvation. When we think of the Eucharist in that way we our emphasizing the vertical meaning of the Eucharist. It is about Jesus coming down and saving me but the Eucharist also has a vertical dimension.  Paul writes that the community's sharing in the Body and Blood of Christ—sharing in the one loaf—makes us one body.  So in the Eucharist the “real” presence of Jesus is there. We receive Jesus body and blood at communion, but we the community we are also the real presence. Jesus is present in all of us gathered here together. “We,” the community that gathers to celebrate the Eucharist become the body of Christ. As the bread is transformed we too are transformed: but not as individuals but rather as a community.

As I said, the community in Corinth had problems. They were a divided community. And maybe the men and women at the Sea of Galilee were a divided community. Maybe they realized what Jesus says and it wasn’t that they thought he was advocating cannibalism; maybe it wasn’t that they had a hard time accepting that Jesus was transformed into the bread of life. Maybe they had a hart time accepting that the community was the body of Christ.

Because if you really believe in the Eucharist. If you truly believe that the bread and wine become the body and blood and your going to sit down and share a meal, while they you have to accept that the other is your brother or sister. Not just someone else who is getting in line to receive a host.

The Corinthians were a divided community, they didn’t understand the Eucharist. If they would have understood, they would have become one, they would have become the body of Christ. The people at the Sea of Galilee were probably also divided, they didn’t understand the Eucharist. If they would have understood, they would have become one, they would have become the body of Christ.

We, Angelino’s, we Americans are also a divided community, because we don’t understand the Eucharist. If we understood, we would become one, we would become the body and blood of Christ.

If you remember I began by saying that we are here to celebrate the Eucharist and I said we probably don’t understand Jesus’ words. What does Jesus mean when he says unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life within you? What does he mean when he says his flesh is the life of the world? I said we don’t have to understand because we believe. Because we believe what Jesus said we share this meal and we become one with Christ and with one another.

What we are doing here this morning is the most important thing that we can do. We want to heal the divisions in our world. We are willing to admit that we have failed in loving our brothers and sisters; we admit that we have sinned but in our hearts we believe that all lives matter and we sit down to share a meal together. We obviously aren’t there yet. We still suffer from racism and prejudices but the thing about believing in the Eucharist; the thing about sharing this meal together is that we are allowing Jesus to transform us, just as the bread and wine are transformed. It is hard work but we accept the challenge.

As I said chapter six ends with the 5000 people leaving Jesus, every last one. Just the 12 remain and Jesus turns to them and says, “Are you going to leave me as well?” And Peter speaking for the 12, Peter speaking for us says, “Lord, to whom shall we go, for we believe that you have the words of everlasting life.”