The Gospel According to John
– 2018.08.12
The Way and the Message
The
gospel reading for today is replete with theological errors, it could be a case
study in the misapplication of metaphor.
The
reading uses the metaphor suggesting that Jesus is the bread of life, like the
mana that fell from heaven when the Jews wandered in the desert, only Jesus, as
the bread of life, is different. Jesus as the bread of life feeds the spirit,
not the body, and its life giving properties are not of this world but of the
world to come. Jesus as the bread gives eternal life.
In
the final verse the gospel writers link the bread which Jesus represents with
the cult of animal sacrifice, this is a mistake, wherever it occurs. The cult
of animal sacrifice, bloodletting, killing, it has no redemptive value in and
of itself. There is no magic in it, God, the creator of the universe does not
savor the scent of burning flesh.
The
bread that Jesus offers is not his flesh, it is his teaching, the presentation
of the way, a mode of being that leads to a society of justice, one that is
tempered by law, and seeks the good of every individual.
To
eat the bread of life, is to incorporate this teaching into your own life, for
your benefit, and for the benefit of everyone.
When
the gospel writers get bogged down in the vain effort to prove the authority of
Jesus, by appealing to his sonship, instead of the simple authority of his
teaching, they are on the wrong track.
The
authority of Jesus is measured by its truthful commitment to his community, to
compassion and to mercy.
Do
not pay attention to the excuse making the gospel writers often engage in. When
they tell you that no one come to Jesus except by the will of God, they are
making justifying their failure to effectively communicate the real message in
Jesus ministry:
That
God love you, and us, and we, all together, and that to serve God, we must do
the same.
Anyone
Who Eats this Bread Will Live Forever
The
Jews were complaining to each other about Jesus, because he had said, ‘I am the
bread that came down from heaven.’ ‘Surely this is Jesus son of Joseph’ they
said. ‘We know his father and mother. How can he now say, “I have come down
from heaven”?’
Jesus
said in reply, ‘Stop complaining to each other. ‘No one can come to me unless
he is drawn by the Father who sent me, and I will raise him up at the last day.
It is written in the prophets:
They
will all be taught by God, and to hear the teaching of the Father, and learn
from it,
is
to come to me. Not that anybody has seen the Father, except the one who comes
from God: he has seen the Father.
I
tell you most solemnly, everybody who believes has eternal life. ‘I am the
bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the desert and they are dead; but
this is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that a man may eat it and not
die. I am the living bread which has come down from heaven. Anyone who eats
this bread will live for ever; and the bread that I shall give is my flesh, for
the life of the world.’
19th Sunday in
Ordinary Time
