When I teach John 6, I always give the juxtaposition of St. Peter and the crowd. Essentially, this is our response to the mystery of the Eucharist: Either we say it is too hard and leave or we affirm our faith in Christ knowing that there is no other place to go.
I don't think Peter or the other apostles knew exactly what Christ was going to do with bread and wine not too long after this. They knew Christ and had faith in Him. So they believed that when He said He would give them His flesh and blood, He would do it. What great faith.
Exactly! We love to have everything tied up in neat little boxes and God is so much bigger. Peter is convinced based on what he has seen so far that Jesus is God. He does not know the details and I think he figures that he does not need to. When God says he will do it, it is done.
During the discourse, Jesus was speaking of literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and not of bread and wine. The Last Supper occurred after the discourse. When Jesus explains it to His disciples, He tells them that the flesh profits nothing and that the spirit gives life. Many of His disciples left Him anyway. The others who remained did not fully understand His explanation in verses 62 and 63, but gave Him the benefit of the doubt because He, at least, was not speaking of literal flesh and blood. I believe that the discourse can also refer to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That is when eternal life became available to humanity by our receiving of Christ’s Spirit within us.
The twelve give Jesus the benefit of the doubt not because they did not believe that Jesus was speaking about the literal eating of His flesh and drinking His blood. Clearly the other disciples felt that is exactly what Jesus meant and left. Jesus did not correct their interpretation. They had it right but refused to believe. The twelve gave Jesus the benefit of their faith because, as Peter says... they "have come to believe. and are convinced" that He is the Holy One of God. How has he come to believe and to be convinced except through his witnessing miracle after miracle which demonstrates that Jesus is God. That is why St John's Gospel builds through one supra-natural miracle after another to Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist. How the Eucharist will be confected was and remains a mystery. We believe what Jesus tells us for to whom shall we go? He has the Words of eternal life.
When I teach John 6, I always give the juxtaposition of St. Peter and the crowd. Essentially, this is our response to the mystery of the Eucharist: Either we say it is too hard and leave or we affirm our faith in Christ knowing that there is no other place to go.
I don't think Peter or the other apostles knew exactly what Christ was going to do with bread and wine not too long after this. They knew Christ and had faith in Him. So they believed that when He said He would give them His flesh and blood, He would do it. What great faith.
Exactly! We love to have everything tied up in neat little boxes and God is so much bigger. Peter is convinced based on what he has seen so far that Jesus is God. He does not know the details and I think he figures that he does not need to. When God says he will do it, it is done.
During the discourse, Jesus was speaking of literally eating His flesh and drinking His blood, and not of bread and wine. The Last Supper occurred after the discourse. When Jesus explains it to His disciples, He tells them that the flesh profits nothing and that the spirit gives life. Many of His disciples left Him anyway. The others who remained did not fully understand His explanation in verses 62 and 63, but gave Him the benefit of the doubt because He, at least, was not speaking of literal flesh and blood. I believe that the discourse can also refer to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. That is when eternal life became available to humanity by our receiving of Christ’s Spirit within us.
The twelve give Jesus the benefit of the doubt not because they did not believe that Jesus was speaking about the literal eating of His flesh and drinking His blood. Clearly the other disciples felt that is exactly what Jesus meant and left. Jesus did not correct their interpretation. They had it right but refused to believe. The twelve gave Jesus the benefit of their faith because, as Peter says... they "have come to believe. and are convinced" that He is the Holy One of God. How has he come to believe and to be convinced except through his witnessing miracle after miracle which demonstrates that Jesus is God. That is why St John's Gospel builds through one supra-natural miracle after another to Jesus' teaching on the Eucharist. How the Eucharist will be confected was and remains a mystery. We believe what Jesus tells us for to whom shall we go? He has the Words of eternal life.