Will You Also Go Away?

"After hearing this, many of JESUS' followers said, 'This language is very hard!  Who can accept it?'

JESUS was aware that HIS disciples were murmuring about this, and so HE said to them, 'Does this offend you?  Then how will you react when you see the Son of Man ascending to where HE was before?  It is the spirit that gives life, not the flesh.  The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.  But among you there are some who do not believe.'

From the beginning, JESUS knew who would betray HIM.  So, HE added, 'As I have told you, no one can come to ME unless it is granted by the FATHER.'

After this many disciples withdrew and no longer followed HIM.  JESUS asked the Twelve, 'Will you also go away?'  Peter answered HIM, 'LORD, to whom shall we go?  YOU have the words of eternal life.  We now believe and know that YOU are the Holy One of GOD.'" - John 6:60-69  

(This language is very hard.  How could JESUS' listeners believe that HE, the "Son of Joseph,"  had come from GOD?  And today how can we believe that we need the Eucharist?  JESUS tells us why HE came: The Son of GOD came down to us, so that later HE would ascend to where HE was before.  HE came from GOD to communicate to us the very life of GOD and then to bring us to the bosom of GOD [John 14:12].

The truth is that by CHRIST's resurrection, our world has already started its renewal.  For when the Son of Man entered the glory of HIS FATHER, HE carried on HIS shoulders the whole of creation that HE wanted to renew and consecrate.  Clothed in our humanity, the Son of GOD has ascended to where HE was before: the first of our race has achieved full union with GOD.

Although, to all appearances, life goes on as before, we believe that the renewed world has been activated.  The Spirit is at work within gigantic disturbances that continually agitate and shake the whole of humanity.  CHRIST is invincibly consecrating this world.  HE enables humanity to arrive at maturity by means of innumerable crises and deaths that prepare for a resurrection.

JESUS' listeners could not understand the mystery of the Son of GOD and HIS humiliations.  JESUS wanted to dispossess HIMSELF of HIS divine glory by becoming human and dying like a slave [see John 1:14 and Philippians 2:6], so that later the FATHER would enable HIM to ascend to where HE came from.  It is likewise a test of our faith to believe that GOD continually works among us in our world.  In spite of our unresponsiveness, GOD still loves us; the Church is so unworthy, yet GOD uses it to fulfill HIS plan; history is so destructive, yet it is preparing us for the fulness of the kingdom.

It is the spirit that gives life, not the flesh.  JESUS spoke of giving us HIS flesh, but this should not be understood as a continuation of the Jewish religion, in which the meat of sacrificed animals was eaten.  In Hebrew culture, flesh and blood denote "the world below," where humankind moves and where one has no access to communication with GOD.  The Eucharist is different.  This is the body, or flesh, of the risen CHRIST transformed by the Spirit, which acts in us spiritually and brings us into communion with GOD.

LORD, to whom shall we go?  Many of JESUS' followers left but, in the name of those who remained, Peter pledged his fidelity [see Matthew 16:13].)

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'How Can This Man Give Us HIS Flesh To Eat?'

"The Jews were arguing among themselves, 'How can this man give us HIS flesh to eat?'  So, JESUS replied, 'Truly, I say to you, if you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink HIS blood, you have no life in you.   The one who eats MY flesh and drinks MY blood lives eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

MY flesh is really food, and MY blood is truly drink.  Those who eat MY flesh and drink MY blood, live in ME, and I in them.  Just as the FATHER, who is life, sent ME, and I have life from the FATHER, so whoever eats ME will have life from ME.  This is the bread from heaven; not like that of your ancestors, who ate and later died.  Those who eat this bread will live forever.'

JESUS spoke in this way in Capernaum when HE taught them in the synagogue." - John 6:52-59  

(JESUS becomes our bread when we eat HIS body in the sacrament of the Eucharist.

How can this man give us flesh to eat?  Thus spoke the Israelites who distrusted GOD in the desert [Numbers 11:4 and 18].  John plays on the same words and gives them a different meaning here: why would a messenger from heaven give flesh to the world, when what we need is something spiritual?  JESUS answers in verse 63: this flesh to eat may sound like food for bodily sustenance, but it is really a sharing in the life of the risen CHRIST transformed by the Spirit.  For that reason, it gives life [verse 63].

Through material means the believer participates in a heavenly reality and enters into communion with the risen CHRIST.  The Church defines sacrament as something material that symbolizes and brings about a spiritual reality.  When we faithfully participate in a sacrament, we encounter the living CHRIST in person renewing our lives.  In the Supper of the LORD, that is, in the Eucharist, we really receive the body and blood of CHRIST, in what appears to be only bread and wine.  The risen CHRIST becomes for us the food of eternal life.

JESUS acts as living bread in us.  When we eat ordinary bread our body digests and assimilates it, but when we eat living bread [the body of CHRIST], this bread actively changes us.  CHRIST transforms us; gives HIS life to us and unites us with HIMSELF: Whoever eats ME will have life in ME.

Flesh and blood.  In Hebrew culture flesh and blood denotes the human being in his mortal condition.  JESUS wants us to make our own HIS entire human being in its humble and mortal condition and communicates to us HIS divinity.)

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Communion--The Sacraments

"'No one can come to ME unless he is drawn by the FATHER who sent ME; and I will raise him up on the last day.  It has been written in the Prophets: They shall all be taught by GOD.  So whoever listens and learns from the FATHER comes to ME.

For no one has seen the FATHER except the One who comes from GOD; HE has seen the FATHER.  Truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. 

I AM the bread of life.  Though your ancestors ate the manna in the desert, they died.  But here you have the bread from heaven, so that you may eat of it, and not die.

I AM the living bread from heaven; whoever eats of this bread will live forever.  The bread I shall give is MY flesh, and I will give it for the life of the world.'" - John 6:44-51  

(JESUS becomes our bread when we eat HIS body in the sacrament of the Eucharist.) 

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All Those Whom The FATHER Gives ME Will Come To ME

"JESUS said to them, 'I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to ME shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in ME shall never be thirsty.  Nevertheless, as I said, you refuse to believe, even when you have seen.  Yet all those whom the FATHER gives ME will come to ME, and whoever comes to ME, I shall not turn away.  For I have come from heaven, not to do MY own will, but the will of the One who sent ME. 

And the will of HIM who sent ME is that I lose nothing of what HE has given ME, but instead that I raise it up on the last day.  This the will of the FATHER, that whoever sees the Son and believes in HIM shall live eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.'" - John 6:35-40   

(All those whom the FATHER gives ME will come to ME.  Not all those who take pride in belonging to the true religion come to CHRIST, but only those whom the FATHER knows.  Though the church embraces many people of all descriptions, only those to whom the FATHER has given this grace will find their way to the controversial and humble CHRIST.  While acknowledging the value of the sacraments and good works, we should not forget what JESUS taught: none of our own efforts can substitute for the grace of being chosen by the FATHER who calls us to know HIS Son in truth.)

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The Bread Of Life; To Believe In The Son Of GOD

"They then said, 'Show us miraculous signs, that we may see and believe YOU.  What sign do YOU perform?  Our ancestors ate manna in the desert; as Scripture says: They were given bread from heaven to eat.'

JESUS then said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven.  MY FATHER gives you the true bread from heaven.  The bread GOD gives is the One who comes from heaven and gives life to the world.'  And they said to HIM, 'Give us this bread always.'

JESUS said to them, 'I AM the bread of life; whoever comes to ME shall never be hungry, and whoever believes in ME shall never be thirsty.'" - John 6:30-35  

(Here begins the first part of the discourse: JESUS becomes our bread when we believe in HIM.

In the past, when the Israelites wandered in the desert and lacked everything, GOD gave them a provisional meal, the manna.  They had to give thanks to HIM for HIS gifts.  But if GOD is only our benefactor and we go to HIM seeking favors, we end up concerned only for what GOD gives us; we will hardly thank HIM and later will continue to ask and complain.

This was what happened with the Israelites who, after receiving the manna, rebelled against GOD and died in the desert.  Material things, although they may come from heaven, do not make us better nor do they give us true life.

For this reason, GOD now proposes something new.  The bread that comes down from heaven is not something, but someone, and that is CHRIST.  That true bread communicates eternal life to us, but to receive it, it is necessary to take a step, that is, to believe in CHRIST and to make a personal commitment to HIM.)

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The Story Of Stephen

"Stephen, full of grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people.  Some persons then came forward, who belonged to the so-called Synagogue of Freedmen from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia and Asia.  They argued with Stephen, but they could not match the wisdom and the spirit with which he spoke.  As they were unable to face the truth, they bribed some men to say, 'We heard him speak against Moses and against GOD.' 

So, they stirred up the people, the elders and the teachers of the Law; they took him by surprise, seized him and brought him before the Council.  Then they produced false witnesses who said, 'This man never stops speaking against our Holy Place and the Law.  We even heard him say that JESUS the Nazarean will destroy our Holy Place and change the customs which Moses handed down to us.'  And all who sat in the Council fixed their eyes on him, and his face appeared to them like the face of an angel." - Acts 6:8-15 

(Being a Hellenist, Stephen did not share the blind faith of the Jewish people in their Temple and its rituals.  He understood that the Church had to become free from the patterns of the past and move away from the Jews, if they refused to believe.

Stephen's long discourse before the Sanhedrin [the Great Council] is an outstanding summary of the Old Testament.  It emphasizes the increasing initiatives of GOD who calls, gives, promises, corrects and saves.  Confronting this untiring love is the permanent rebellion of Israel who despises GOD and rejects those HE sends.  The prophet Hosea, eight centuries before CHRIST, already expressed the drama of the rejected love of GOD by HIS people [Hosea 11:1-4].  Stephen proclaims it again: this drama reached its culmination when JESUS, the Son-of-GOD-made-man, was nailed to the cross [Acts 2:23; 3:15; 4:10].

Stephen dies as CHRIST did.  He becomes the first martyr [martyr means witness].  He is a witness to CHRIST because he proclaims HIM, but even more so because he does as CHRIST did, he forgives his murderers.

Like Peter, after Pentecost, Stephen still hopes for a conversion of the Jewish people: a minority at least will be converted.  This hope will fade in time with the persecutions raised against the Church.  The murder of Stephen would be the first sign leading the converted Jews to understand that apostolic work must be undertaken beyond the frontiers of the Jewish fortress.

Later, when it becomes clear that the Jewish community has rejected the Gospel, Paul will strive to build among pagan nations a network of communities, a new people of GOD.  Then Paul and the other apostles will search for all those who, in any nation, have been predestined by GOD.  They see the Church as a people of "saints."

However, it again appears that many in the Church are not converted.  As soon as the community grows and organizes itself, all the defects JESUS denounced in the Jewish Synagogue take place among the Christians and in the structures of the Church.)

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The Appearance Of JESUS By The Lake

"After this, JESUS revealed HIMSELF to the disciples by the Lake of Tiberias.  HE appeared to them in this way: Simon Peter, Thomas who was called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee and two other disciples were together; and Simon Peter said to them, 'I'm going fishing.'  They replied, 'We will come with you.'  And they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

When the sun came up, JESUS was standing on the shore, but the disciples did not know that it was JESUS.  JESUS called out, 'Friends, have you anything to eat?'  They answered, 'Nothing.'  Then HE said to them, 'Throw the net on the right side of the boat and you will find something.'  When they had lowered the net, they were not able to pull it in because of the great number of fish.

Then the disciple JESUS loved said to Peter, 'It's the LORD!'  At these words, 'It's the LORD!' Simon Peter put on his clothes, for he was stripped for work, and jumped into the water.  The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish; they were not far from land, about a hundred meters.

When they landed, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it, and some bread.  JESUS said to them, 'Bring some of the fish you've just caught.'  So, Simon Peter climbed into the boat and pulled the net to shore.  It was full of big fish--one hundred and fifty-three--but, in spite of this, the net was not torn.

JESUS said to them, 'Come and have breakfast.'  And not one of the disciples dared to ask HIM, 'Who are YOU?'  for they knew it was the LORD.  JESUS came and took the bread and gave it to them, and HE did the same with the fish.

This was the third time that JESUS revealed HIMSELF to HIS disciples after rising from the dead." - John 21:1-14  

(JESUS appears this time near Lake Tiberias.  This delightful event is filled with divine presence as CHRIST stands on the lonely lake shore in the light of dawn.  The apostles see a stranger but John, the prophet, recognizes CHRIST,

The Apostles pulled in a net full of 153 big fish.  This number had a symbolic value; it expressed plentitude and universality.  Such will be the apostolic work: all nations of the earth will be brought to CHRIST.)

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Resurrection Is A Fact

"Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the Good News that I preached to you and which you received and on which you stand firm.  By that Gospel you are saved, provided that you hold to it as I preached it.  Otherwise, you will have believed in vain.

In the first place, I have passed on to you what I myself received: that CHRIST died for our sins, as Scripture says; that HE was buried; that HE was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures; that HE appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve.  Afterwards HE appeared to more than five hundred brothers and sisters together; most of them are still alive, although some have already gone to rest.  Then HE appeared to James and after that to all the apostles.  And last of all, HE appeared to the most despicable of them, this is to me." - 1 Corinthians 15:1-8  

(Have we here the response to a last question of the Corinthians?  Many Greeks thought that at death the immortal soul leaves the body and remains alone.  Was it admitted to the paradise of souls?  Did it come to the great reservoir of souls already gone or who were to return, forgetting all the past lived on earth?  Others held [as do a good number of Christians today], that all ends with death: see 1 Thessalonians 5:13.  Paul will therefore remind the Corinthians that faith in the resurrection is at the heart of the Christian message.

I remind you of the gospel.  Here certainly we may speak of Good News, for death as something unknown is and always has been the great burden of human life [Sirach 40:1].

I have passed onto you.  Paul will not recall a tale, or a "myth," these stories full of wisdom that abounded with the Greeks.  They bared an order in the world, a meaning of life, but were only stories.  Today certain people speak of the resurrection in the same way.  They say: "It matters little what took place, the gospels are not directly interested in what happened to JESUS, for them it was important that strange events would give courage to the disciples and the hope of another life."  Paul says precisely the contrary: the resurrection of JESUS is a fact.)

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If Their Project Or Activity Is Of Human Origin, It Will Destroy Itself

"But one of them, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law highly respected by the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin.  He ordered the men to be taken outside for a few minutes and then he spoke to the assembly.

'Fellow Israelites, consider, well, what you intend to do to these men.  For some time ago, Theudas came forward, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him.  But he was killed and all his followers were dispersed or disappeared.  After him, Judas, the Galilean, appeared, at the time of the census and persuaded many people to follow him.  But he, too, perished; and his whole following was scattered.  So, in this present case, I advise you to have nothing to do with these men.  Leave them alone.  If their project or activity is of human origin, it will destroy itself.  If, on the other hand, it is from GOD, you will not be able to destroy it; and you might indeed, find yourselves fighting against GOD.'

The Council let themselves be persuaded.  They called in the apostles and had them whipped; and ordered them not to speak again of JESUS, the Savior.  Then they set them free.

The apostles went out from the Council, rejoicing that they were considered worthy to suffer disgrace for the sake of the Name.  Day after day, both in the temple and in people's homes, they continued to teach, and to proclaim, that JESUS was the Messiah." - Acts 5:34-42  

(Gamaliel was one of the most renowned among the masters of the law.  Here we see the open mind of this old Jewish teacher who knows that GOD's ways are not always the ways of humans.

JESUS had said something similar [Matthew 15:13].  Yet that does not seem evident.  Are we not aware of many false doctrines that last?  If they have lasted for centuries, perhaps it is due to the fact that in spite of the error and the evil they sow, they contain useful or necessary principles for a given time, or for certain human groups.  Perhaps they make very important statements that the Church should proclaim but cannot or does not want to do.  Experience shows that the majority of humans are not ready to embrace the Christian faith: must GOD abandon them because of that?  Can we, who have CHRIST, say with certitude that such and such a one is not "the prophet."  Maybe GOD's will is that HE be the prophet of a certain group and help them in their searching for GOD [Acts 17:27].

Gamaliel was Paul's teacher in Jerusalem for doubtless three or four years, a little after these events [Acts 22:3].  Paul's conversion will be providentially prepared through contact with this open and sincere man, and equally so through the death of Stephen [7:54-60].)

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Always Faces The Justice Of GOD

"'HE who comes from above is above all; he who comes from the earth belongs to the earth and his words, too, are earthly.  The One who comes from heaven speaks of the things HE has seen and heard; HE bears witness to this, but no one accepts HIS testimony.  Whoever does receive HIS testimony acknowledges the truthfulness of GOD.

The one sent by GOD speaks GOD's words and gives the Spirit without measure.  For the FATHER loves the Son and has entrusted everything into HIS hands.  Whoever believes in the Son lives with eternal life, but he who will not believe in the Son will never know life and always faces the justice of GOD.'" - John 3:31-36  

(Always faces the justice of GOD.  Those who do not recognize the Son of God remain in the situation humanity was in when expelled from Paradise.  If they are not able to receive the witness of "GOD the Son who is one with the FATHER," they will never solve the contradictions in their lives or in the world in which they live; and they cannot but mistrust GOD.)

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