For four Sundays now, we have been reading from Chapter 6 of John’s gospel, wherein Jesus gives his discourse on the Eucharist. Earlier, Jesus identifies himself as the bread that comes down from heaven and satisfies man’s deepest hunger. Today he becomes more explicit in saying that the bread of life he will give is none other than his flesh.
Naturally, this claim causes a heated discussion among his listeners. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” They become even more disturbed when Jesus adds, “”Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.”
Jesus’ statement is just too much for them to take. It sounds outright cannibalistic. Biblical scholars say that in these verses John does not use the ordinary Greek word for eating but a cruder term which particularly refers to the “munching” or “masticating” of feeding animals.
Moreover, Jesus’ words are not only culturally disgusting but religiously repugnant and unacceptable. The Jews inhibit themselves from eating flesh with blood out of respect for God who is life. For the Jews, blood is sacred as it symbolizes life.
This Sunday’s gospel reading is the highpoint of Jesus discourse on the Bread of Life. It constitutes the foundation of our belief in the real presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. Jesus stands by his word when the Jews question him. He does not take it back, nor mitigate it when many of his disciples, who find his saying hard to accept, abandon him. He even prods his apostles to leave if they do not believe him. (We’ll read of this next Sunday.)
Jesus definitively confirms his claim at the last supper when he takes bread in his hands, blesses it and gives to his disciples saying, “Take it and eat, for this is my body.” Taking a cup and blessing it, he hands it to them saying, “Drink this, all of you, for this is my blood.” Here there is no ambivalence nor ambiguity in his words. He does not speak of the bread and wine as a sign or symbol of his body and blood. These words which are used in the consecration at Mass re-echo what Jesus says in today’s gospel, “My flesh is real food, and my blood is real drink.”
The Jews are scandalized when Jesus offers his flesh to eat. But what is even more mind boggling is the truth behind his provocative offer. The word “flesh” alludes to the mystery of the incarnation. Jesus assumes our flesh and becomes man so that we may share in his divinity. His humanity is the bridge that enables us to cross from this earthly life to eternal life. Indeed, he is the Bread of Life. Thus, he asserts, “Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day.”
Through the Eucharist, we now understand that by offering his flesh to “eat” and his blood to “drink,” Jesus leads us to eternal life. He unites us to himself and makes us participate in the divine life he shares with the Father.
Bishop Francis Nguyen Van Thuan of Saigon spent thirteen years in a communist labor camp, nine of which were in solitary confinement. He went through untold suffering and moments of depression. When asked what kept him alive and faithful to his faith, his unequivocal answer was: the Eucharist.
In his diary, he relates how he would secretly celebrate Mass, using a few smuggled supplies. “At night, when the other prisoners were asleep, lying on the floor of my cell, I celebrated Mass with tears of joy. My altar was my blanket, my prison clothes my vestments. But I felt myself at the heart of humanity and of the whole of creation.”