Word to the Wise
Wednesday, April 21, 2021 - 3rd Week of Easter - Wed
[Acts 8:1b-8 and John 6:35-40]"I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst. But I told you that although you have seen me, you do not believe. Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. 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." [John]
The "Bread of Life" discourse continues in today's gospel (with more to come). The characteristic features of above/below, seeing/believing, the one-whom-God-has-sent are on display. The message is still focused on the person of Jesus and faith in him as the one whom God has sent. Two aspects of the message stand out.
The first is that Jesus will not reject anyone who comes to him in faith. He will refer to the disciples later on in the "Farewell Discourse" as "your gift to me." (John 17:24-26) We, as disciples, are both the object and subject of Jesus' mission. I think of my own ministry as a gift (object) but the people I meet with their lives, hopes and dreams and challenges are even more so (subject).
The second aspect might be framed in the question, "When does "eternal life" begin? The Gospel According to John speaks of this as beginning with faith in Jesus, but, also as a "future" thing in relation to "the last day." Death becomes "relativized" as an event in a life that becomes eternal with faith. These ideas are not presented in some systematic fashion in the Gospel According to John, but rather more in a "stream of consciousness" that continues to spiral! That spiral will, on Thursday, introduce a startling idea that we today might take for granted: Jesus as food! Stay tuned! AMEN