Faith in Jesus orders our life and our vision

21st Sunday of Ordinary Time (B)
 
This Sunday we come to the conclusion of the Bread of Life Discourse in St. John’s Gospel (Chapter 6). For the last month we have been considering Jesus’ revelations that the “Bread of Life,” the nourishment which leads to eternal joy in heaven, subsists in both his teaching and in his Eucharistic Body and Blood. Having heard Jesus say that he was the only true pathway to eternal life, his disciples in ancient Palestine had now to wrestle with the decision of whether to continue to follow him, or to turn away. Their varied reactions provide a great opportunity for us to examine our faith in Jesus and his message. In this Sunday’s reading, we are faced with the choice that must eventually confront all Jesus’ followers – do we really believe in him? Will we follow him?
 
As Jesus finished his teaching, even some disciples began to ask, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” (John 6:60). St. John records opposition to Jesus’ message earlier in this discourse as well, but that was from members of the crowd who were either unattached or opposed to Jesus. Now the controversy was fomenting within the nascent Christian community itself. Jesus responds to the criticism, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before . . .?” (John 6:61b-62). Since these disciples have trouble believing that Jesus came down from heaven, what will they think when they see him go back up? Especially, how badly will their faith be shaken when they see that Jesus’ route back to heaven is through his passion and death, and only then, his Resurrection.
 
Again Jesus exhorts his followers to broaden their focus beyond the purely material. He pleads with them to recognize that, “It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail” (John 6:63a). Here flesh refers to the purely material world, a world riddled with corruption. The material world is the haven of evil and the opponent of Jesus. Jesus encourages his followers to open themselves to the spiritual, that is, to the promptings of his Father calling out to them. The words Jesus has spoken represent the clearest calls toward such a life animated by the Spirit of God; a life lived in accord with these words is both a foretaste of and a necessary prelude to eternal life in heaven. Such a life must be based upon faith, a gift of the Father.
 
St. John then recalls that many of Jesus’ followers turned away from him at that moment. They were unable to set aside their prior beliefs and worldly concerns. They realized the incongruity of a life lived according to the values of the world and a life lived according to the teachings of Jesus; faced with such dissonance, they opted to ignore the promptings of the Spirit reaching out to them through Jesus’ words and the Father’s bidding.
 
Seeing this reaction by so many of his disciples, Jesus turned to the very core of his followers, the 12 apostles. He asked them, “Do you also want to leave?” (John 6:67). Peter, the spokesman of the group as always, responded to Jesus, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life . . . [we] are convinced that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:68-69). Though many along the periphery of the community had fallen away, Peter’s confession of faith here proves that Jesus’ teaching was having its intended effect among those who were closest to him. Among the core of Jesus’ followers were men and women who were completely dedicated to him and his mission. They had attuned themselves to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and were ready to follow Jesus wherever he led. By calling Jesus God’s holy one, Peter revealed their conviction that Jesus was most especially consecrated to the Father.
 
There is always a choice of whether to believe in Jesus or not. During this Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus has presented himself as the fullest revelation of the Father, as the path of life, and as the essential nourishment on our journey toward eternal life. Choosing to believe in Jesus, then, means allowing him to determine our way of seeing the world, living our life, and ordering our priorities. This Gospel text gives each of us the opportunity to examine our faith in Jesus; at those moments when believing in Jesus requires courage and conviction, do we find ourselves moaning with the crowd, “This sort of talk is hard to endure,” or staunchly re-committing ourselves to God as did Joshua in our first reading, “as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord!” (Joshua 24:2).
 
Msgr. Fell is a Scripture scholar and director, diocesan Office for Priest Personnel.