Scripture Speaks: The Lord’s Hard Saying (John 6:60-69 on the Eucharist) [Catholic Caucus]

Catholic Exchange ^ | 8/21/15 | Gayle Somers

[markomalley]

Today, after repeatedly insisting that His disciples must eat His flesh and drink His blood, Jesus asks, “Does this shock you?” Well, yes.

Gospel (Read Jn 6:60-69)

In the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus has been speaking to a mixed crowd. There were “the Jews” who had tracked Him down after the feeding of the five thousand. There were also His “disciples,” people who had already started to follow Him. Among these, of course, were the Twelve. It was common for rabbis in Judah to attract disciples; recall that John the Baptist also had disciples. These were men eager to learn and very probably spiritually hungry. At this particular time in the history of Judah, Messianic expectations were very high. Because of His remarkable and very public miracles, it is not surprising that Jesus had many “disciples.” What is surprising is how hard He made it for them to follow Him.

Our Gospel begins with a question from “many” of Jesus’ disciples: “This is a hard saying; who can accept it?” They are referring to His statements about eating the “true food” of His flesh and drinking the “true drink” of His blood in order to have eternal life. His refusal to explain more fully what on earth He was talking about pushes them to the limit. They call it a “hard saying,” which is a muted way of describing how outrageous it was. They just couldn’t swallow it (pun intended).

Jesus, aware of the “murmuring” about this among the disciples, has a question for them, too: “Does this shock you?”…

[ImaGraftedBranch]

Thanks for this.

[sneakers]

Yes,thank you.