PROPER 16 (21) – Year B
14th Sunday after Pentecost — August 25, 2024
Gospel Lectionary Text
John 6:56-69
6:56 Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them.
6:57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.
6:58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which the ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever."
6:59 He said these things while he was teaching in a synagogue at Capernaum.
6:60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?"
6:61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you?
6:62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
6:63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
6:64 But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the beginning who were the ones who did not believe and who was the one who would betray him.
6:65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father."
6:66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.
6:67 So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?"
6:68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.
6:69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
CONTEXT
Welcome to the fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost, where we wrap up a series of passages in which Jesus proclaims that he is the bread of life. Our Gospel doesn't shy away from controversy; Jesus invites his followers to “eat my flesh and drink my blood.” These words don't just challenge — they scandalize.
Why does Jesus push so hard? It’s because this whole “eat my body, drink my flesh” stuff gets real, real quick. What’s at stake is not some theological view of communion. What’s at stake are real people, in real places, going to war, feasting on one another in the grotesque meal of death itself. All because we refuse to take a seat at the open table that Jesus sets, where we are invited to dine with One in whom there is no violence and who is in rivalry with nothing, not even death.
This stuff doesn’t become real until we digest it, not as an idea in our head, or a sentiment in our heart, but as a living, breathing reality in our very bodies. Embodiment. En-flesh-ment. En-real-meant. We are what we eat. If we feed on death, we become death-dealing. If we feed on life, we become life-giving. Bon appetit.
Question
In response to being "scandalized" by Jesus' message, the crowd goes away, but the disciples realize they have nowhere else to go. What is our own response to the scandal of the incarnation?
Prayer
Come, Holy Spirit, wild and free. Do as you please. Shine your light on me that I might see things as they are, not as I am. Free me to act in your name with courage, creativity, and compassion. See the complete prayer
Word from Below Reflections
Sustenance
By Valery Vital-Herne |
Food sustains our bodies but also draws our communities and families together. It feeds our needs at many levels. This week's lectionary text, with Jesus addressing a crowd, tackles this truth.
The Stranger, Revealed
By Kris Rocke |
Jesus, like the disciples who were blind to your presence until they dined with you in the Resurrection, we too are blind to your presence until you dine with us. You are the stranger among us, revealed as the loving Host of the meal of our salvation. Open our eyes, Lord, to the stranger among...
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