Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 22, 2015 - 3rd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 8:1b-8 and John 6:35-40]"And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life and I shall raise him on the last day."
The "bread of life" discourse continues. The lectionary overlaps today's gospel scripture with yesterday's by repeating the final verse, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." Scripture scholars might refer to this statement as "realized eschatology," which means that faith in Jesus is the realization of eternal life in this life. Everything is in the present tense and not the future tense. However, today's portion expands the meaning to speak of "the last day" which means at the end of time and the final resurrection - a future event. It is this "spiraling" way of discourse that can make the Gospel of John very challenging to read. What may seem repetitive turns out to be different!
What I find most comforting today is the line, "And this is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day." This is the commitment of Jesus to all of us who believe. He does not want to "lose" any of us. We begin with faith in him in this life and continue with him on the last day. What we must do is persevere in faith. As we shall see in the lines ahead of us, this perseverance would turn out to be too difficult for some of the audience. We are in that audience, and our own faith will be challenged as well. AMEN
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