I am beginning to wonder what Jesus was really up to here. If we take him literally we have images of Hannibal the Cannibal and Dracula. It's interesting that anti-Christian propoganda (from the Roman empire to atheistic communism to Muslim extremism) has accused us of cannibalism (eating bodies and drinking blood)and drowning of children (baptism). Is Jesus just mainly talking about the "Lord's Supper" here or is it more?
It is more. It is about a depth of relationship that has already been communicated to us (being born again, living water that we drink, living bread that we eat) and will be further through images like the shepherd and the sheep and the vine and the branches. Jesus is offending the ears of people to awaken their souls. What we eat and drink as nutrition affects how we are able to live. Jesus says, "The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life." Jesus is offering us spiritual nutrition that leads us to eternal life. We eat, drink, and sleep the kingdom of God life of Jesus. Jesus says, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him" (same as the "abide in the vine" discussion in John 15). Jesus says, "Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me" (similar to John 14:19 and the discussion of the Holy Spirit - "because I live, you shall live also"). These words that are odd and even gross in a literal sense are quite intimate and life-giving in a spiritual sense.
Following these words of Jesus, many "disciples" chose no longer to follow him. Jesus is discouraged and even asks the twelve if they were going to leave him, too. It is Peter who says, "We have nowhere else to go. Your words give us eternal life. You are the Holy One of God." It is here that Jesus tells them that even one of their own will fall away. We will want to watch as John gives his angle on Judas Iscariot. The disciples are at a crossroads. Jesus will become more controversial as his ministry continues. The way of eternal life has some difficult experiences ahead. Jesus is inviting them to a deeper relationship, as he does with each of us. Will we step to the sidelines and admire the Christ from a distance or will we keep following?
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