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Jesus gets nitty-grittyFriday, April 23, 1999
John 6:55-56 Lots of them left. This was too confusing, too outrageous, too disgusting, too....something! Jesus must be insane, irrational, dangerous, to give himself up like this. And even so, how could they "take him up" on his offer of eternal food; how could they eat a man? Although it's sarcastically been called the Donner Party Scripture, it isn't. If we're going to understand what Jesus means we'd better stop seeing it through our own hungry, earthbound eyes and see it from God's point of view. Of course we can only do that if he shows us. Jesus drives off the unfaithful, the ones who were waiting only for what made sense to them, their own personal miracles. He won't show them anything. Those who are left have to take Jesus on his own terms. Pretty good terms, as it turns out. His words become wholly meaningful as events unfold. As Larry Bell says, Jesus intended their lives (and ours) to be lives of sacrifice, endurance and trust; his words bring the disciples quickly to the point. And their lives blossom, growing larger and larger as the Spirit of God fills them up. Lord, your words draw me in. I want to know you and be filled up by you. Whatever that means, Lord, let me accept it. |
If John the disciple was writing things down as he heard Jesus say them, his pen must have stopped in mid-air on this one! In my Bible (NIV) the next section is headed, "Many Disciples Desert Jesus." In The Merchant of Venice when Shylock demands a pound of flesh from his debtor Antonio, the Venetians are aghast. Here Jesus offers his flesh to those around him. What are they to do?