and saves the crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
Kiev, Ukraine skyline photo by Sergiy Galyonkin
John 6:56-69
56 "Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever eats me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever." 59 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the synagogue at Capernaum.
60 When many of his disciples heard it, they said, "This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" 61 But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, "Does this offend you? 62 Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? 63 It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.
64 But among you there are some who do not believe." For Jesus knew from the first who were the ones that did not believe, and who was the one that would betray him. 65 And he said, "For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted by the Father." 66 Because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him.
67 So Jesus asked the twelve, "Do you also wish to go away?' 68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
Bread of Life, Week 5
We've reached the last of five weeks of John chapter 6 presented alongside Old Testament scriptures related to food and bodily nourishment, with Psalms that remind us of God's physical provision. A Twitter user serendipitously refers to this long stretch as Breadtide!
Today we move from Jesus' "I am" declarations (that equate him with Yahweh's "I am" revelation to Moses) to the disciples "You are / Thou art" the Holy One of God.
Interpreting Scripture
The historical question of the original setting in time and place (and purpose, to the extent we can figure it out) of a passage always is our first question when we read scripture, before we apply or discern the passage as God's word to us and for us. As historians we need to read the present through the past (presentism) and not interpret the past through events we now know about and attitudes that have changed (historicism).
However, we often do theology backwards, but theology is a different endeavor from history. Though we can't erase the Sacrament of Bread and Cup from our awareness, it's still important to remember feeding 5,000+ people and Jesus' Bread of Life declarations happened before Maundy Thursday, before Resurrection Sunday.
When Jesus announced he was the Bread of Life, no one would have heard those words in terms of the Last Supper/Lord's Supper or related to a post-resurrection Eucharist/Holy Communion with the risen Christ.
Jesus' disciples later would be with him in the upper room on the Thursday he broke bread and told them it was his body, when he poured wine and declared it the cup of the new covenant, but that hadn't happened yet. Jesus' followers also had not experienced the risen Christ hosting a post-resurrection Eucharist/Holy Communion.
We sometimes do theology backwards, and during distribution of the sacrament, the contemporary church often sings Sister Suzanne Toolan's "I am the Bread of Life" that's based on John 6.
Words in the Greek
A translation of any text in any language always is also an interpretation.
In 6:60 "When many of his disciples heard it, they said, 'This teaching [logos] is difficult; who can accept it?'" The word translated "teaching" is logos in Greek. You probably remember John's gospel brings us a new creation and opens with, "In the beginning was the Word [logos], and the Word [logos] was with God, and the Word [logos} was God." John 1:1 "And the Word [logos] became flesh and tabernacled among us." John 1:14a
"Difficult" is the root of our word sclerosis for physical hardening of body parts and organs, so it would be a hard to wrap our heads around concept, and not necessarily something intellectually or academically tough.
John 6:68 "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words [declaration, statement] of eternal life.'" I find it surprising this "word of eternal life" isn't logos again—but it's rhema, the other Greek term that translates into English as "word." You may have sung this as the gospel acclamation in some settings of the liturgy.
We call Jesus "Lord." In Saxon England, the Lord provided the loaf, the bread, to help sustain the community.
No comments:
Post a Comment