We are journeying through the sixth chapter of John's gospel, a conversation between Jesus and a shifting cast of respondents. To put today's lesson in context here's a recap of what's happened so far. Three Sundays ago Jesus fed a hungry crowd of 5,000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish supplied by a young boy. Once the crowd eats their fill they want to make Jesus king. So Jesus sends the disciples off in a boat to the other side of the lake and he hightails it up the mountain alone. Later that night, Jesus walks out on the water where the disciples are rowing against the wind. They are terrified and Jesus reassures them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” And immediately they reach their destination. Meanwhile the crowd finally wises up to the fact Jesus is gone but to where? They know he didn't leave in the boat. So they go looking for him, and when they find him they are full of questions: When/how did you get over here? What must we do to do God's works? What sign can you perform to prove you speak for God? Will you give us the bread of eternal life, and give it to us always?

Then at verse 41 this crowd suddenly becomes “the Jews” and their questions in response to Jesus' answers reveal skepticism, doubt and confusion. I can't stress enough that the term “the Jews” in John's gospel is a literary device, a character created to represent the naysayers, the skeptics and the doubters who do not believe Jesus. Since everyone in chapter 6 is Jewish, including Jesus and the disciples, the term “the Jews” in John's gospel cannot have been intended to be a universal condemnation of all Jews.

These naysayers dispute with Jesus about delivering on his claim of being the source of eternal life. So in today's gospel Jesus not only repeats the claim that got him into trouble in the first place, he strengthens and reinforces it--

"...I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh."

The naysayers are incredulous and perhaps even grossed out. "How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" We hearers of this conversation today must remember that it's not that the naysayers back then were ignorant ancient people and we modern enlightened people now know better then they. Their question is still our question. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?”

So Jesus ratchets up his proclamation even further and here's the unvarnished literal Greek translation, and if any of your stomachs are feeling a little queasy this morning you may want to cover your ears. Here's what Jesus says: "Very truly, I tell you, unless you gnaw on, chew, the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.”

Then as now, eating the flesh of another human being is sacrilege. Human blood is likewise sacred to God and ingesting blood in any form is forbidden by the Torah, Jewish law.

So today's gospel reading could qualify as the mother of all of Jesus' hard sayings. There are so many times in the gospel Jesus demands hard things of his disciples, “Go, sell all you have and give it to the poor.” Or, “if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.” Or, “be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect.” But Jesus words this morning are so weird and frankly off-putting.

Now we can soften these words of Jesus in at least two ways. One, we can buy into the results of the Jesus seminar where the naysayer's of today conclude Jesus never said these words, so let's just forget about them. Another way to soften them is to rationalize that Jesus is really referring here to the sacrament of Holy Communion. This is the interpretation of the Roman Catholic church according to paragraph 1,384 of the Catholic Catechism which I'm quoting:

The Lord addresses an invitation to us, urging us to receive him in the sacrament of the Eucharist: “truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink his blood you have no life in you.”

Because Roman Catholic and Orthodox understanding of Holy Communion is the bread and wine are actually and truly the body and blood of Christ, these denominations practice closed communion. Inviting only like believers to partake of the sacrament. Moravians on the other hand, we practice open communion believing in the words of our provincial archivist Daniel Crews, that Jesus is present with us in the sacrament---- like the 300 pound canary—meaning that he's present with us Holy Communion any way Jesus wants to be. We don't specify how Jesus is present only that he is, and he made up the guest list of who comes to the table.

Personally though I'm very grateful for the Roman Catholic interpretation of Jesus words here, because otherwise, according to my mother—and she of all people would know—I, Margaret, number 5 of 6 children, wouldn't be here today but for her need to live these words of Jesus—to eat his flesh and drink his blood. My mother would not go against the catholic church's teachings on family planning and be denied the sacrament of Holy Communion.

So for me, on a very personal and literal level—these words of Jesus were, are, very truly the words of life itself. I would have no life but for these words and their interpretation by my parents' church.

But the problem with thinking, well, of course Jesus must have been talking about Holy Communion here, and you know later on, at the last supper, when Jesus took bread and wine and after having given thanks, he broke the bread, gave it to his disciples and said this is my body broken for you. This is my blood shed for you. Take eat. Take drink—do this in memory of me? The problem is--- in this gospel's account of the last supper, Jesus doesn't refer to the bread or wine as his body and blood. And the all knowing, ever present narrator in John's gospel isn't here whispering in our ear today, “Jesus said this, to foretell what he would do in the upper room.”

So where does that leave us today? What meaning can these words of Jesus:

Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me.

What do these words mean for us today?

In most of Jesus' hard sayings, he is demanding something of us—go—sell—pluck your eye out—be perfect. But today's hard saying, rather than making demands, Jesus makes promises. He tells us he is the bread of life. That he is the food and drink that will fill us. Jesus promises us that he is the answer to our deepest longings that if we feed on him and be filled, he is the source of nourishment for our very lives.

Jesus' claim is another way of promising us the very same thing Paul tells us in his first letter to church in Corinth —that while the Holy Spirit gives certain gifts to certain members, the one gift the promised to everyone, and in some sense required of everyone, is… love. Love is promised to all because the very nature of God is love. Love is not just an attribute of God, but God's very essence is love. So we have eternal life, now, here in the present, when we feast on love. When we are nourished by love. When we accept and use the gift of embodying, doing love we claim Jesus' promise that he the bread of life. The source of eternal life now.

When love is talked about in scripture love means something different than what the powers of this world say about love. Remember Paul's great hymn of love we so often hear at weddings about if I have every talent and power on earth but do not have love, I am nothing? If I give away everything I own and condition my body to be the temple of the Holy Spirit, but have not love, I gain nothing? And then Paul tells us what love looks like? Love is patient, love is kind…love bears all things, Love believes all things, Love hopes all things and love endures all things. Never once does Paul speak of love as an emotion. Instead love is described as a way of being and acting, that is not mushy or sentimental or weak, but life enhancing, life flourishing. Freely giving itself, as Jesus gives himself for us.

As we feast on love as the bread of life, we claim Jesus' promise of what happens when we ingest love into our very being. We become more patient, more forgiving, less judgmental and critical, more generous, treating others as we would like to be treated. Our eyes and ears and mouths, our very beings are nourished in ways where we can more and more embrace the reality of God's immense and overwhelming love for us, and then reach out with love to others, changing both our lives and their lives.

Love is patient. Love is kind.

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