What did you think would happen? That you could go on talking like this and people would eat right out of your hand? Oh yeah, that’s right, you wanted them to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” That’s a mind-blower for sure. Right now, we’re thinking you got what you deserve, a fan-base that’s on the way out. Can’t blame them.

And to think Jesus said these things in the synagogue, no less. His disciples even said it was hard to accept. It used to be he had these tussles with the religious rulers. The people weren’t so much turned off by that. Those guys could make life difficult for you. But when his message didn’t sit well with the average Jew, his ratings took a nose dive. Jesus was walking on a slippery path with this one.

To Take Offense

Jesus could sense it wasn’t going over well. He knew they were making those side comments among themselves. He addressed it directly. You think this is hard, offensive, kind of on the sick side? Suppose you saw something more, greater, like my returning to heaven again?

Jesus! What are you turning into here? All we want is for you to make sense, give us something we can relate to. This talk of Bread and eating it is like eating you isn’t on our radar. Now you’re going to go climb some heavenly ladder. Please. Give us something that sits in our heads easier.

Can’t blame them, if you’re honest about it. Some have a sense there is a God, at times go looking for some kind of God, but it’s hard to see if God is there. People want to believe, even have been trying hard to believe, but it’s just not working for them. Maybe it is time to look elsewhere.

Granted, there’s a lot to digest here in more ways than one. That’s the challenge. Ten Ways to Get a Better Life Through God is not the title. “Human effort accomplishes nothing,” he said. Your usual proofs and reasoning are not going to hold up here. What else could you expect? This is not some cognitive-behavioral prescription to cover your tail in the afterlife. Sorry.

What Then?

Jesus tried. “It is the Spirit who gives eternal life.” Break that down for us. Having some kind of death anxiety, want to know when your time is up that it’s not really finished? EL is not a pass to get you to the next level. Eternal life begins with eternal living, a reversal of what you think you need into what God gives. It’s wondrous, adventurous, taking the soul to places not anticipated or even desired. Abundant living is how Jesus later expressed it. (John 10:10) And it begins in the here and now. The Spirit is God’s own self given and known as in the words of Jesus.

Who/What Else?

Characteristically, Jesus watched these followers walk. That’s the way he worked. He wasn’t the kind of preacher that tells people what they want to hear. Take it or leave it may sound harsh, but you have to give him credit for letting people make their own choices. Did it hurt? “Deserted,” is how it’s described. Sure, when the healings were instantaneous, and when the food was free and filling, Jesus had plenty of so-called disciples. But when his message was hard to comprehend, dangerous even, and his asking was too much, they abandoned him.

But not all forsook him. Twelve stuck around. Still, he had to ask. “Are you going to leave, too?” Sounds almost pitiful, doesn’t it? Don’t think this Son of Man was without feelings, who couldn’t be wounded with the realization that his message wasn’t heard, believed, and brought lot of rejection upon himself. Jesus felt it as much as nails hammered into hands. Don’t think God feels any less today.

Jesus’ question likely hung in the air. They also had a choice to make, if they would stay or go. Yet, having seen the repercussions of his message, they courageously didn’t move, held their ground. Peter, yes, the guy who was infamous for putting his foot in his mouth, speaks. He returns the question with another one.

“Lord, to whom would we go? You alone have the words that give eternal life. We believe them, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”

To whom or where else would we go? We’ve seen it, how the culture would have you jump on the latest phase of what’s supposed to make you feel good about yourself. Funny, that’s all it is, a phase, a temporary answer until another philosophy or theory or distraction or toy comes along. We know you offer more than these.

You alone. For all the prophets and wise men and religions who say they have the answer, not one gives the answer you do. They don’t last. You do. Your story keeps being told. Is it an easy one? Does it ask a lot? Does it ever change? No. Still, it’s all you, you alone.

Words you have and words you give. Sure, calling yourself the Bread of Life, talk about eating flesh and drinking blood is a stretch. But that’s what you do; you stretch us into understanding you, knowing you in depths we’d never go otherwise.

Those words do lead to that eternal life beginning now. So we love enemies as our neighbor, turn the other cheek to those who would diminish who we are, relinquish our right to be first, wash each other’s feet, be your voice for the oppressed and forgotten. In the process we become more than we’d ever be otherwise. We abide, remain, become like you. You alone.

John 6: 56-69