Sunday 16 August 2009

Background

This passage comes towards the end of a section about 'The Breadof Heaven' and comes soon after Jesus feeds 5000 people from 5barley loaves and 2 fish. In verse 52 we see people wondering ifthey should take Jesus literally, and ask whether they are reallysupposed to become 'cannibals' and eat Jesus. That confusioncontinued with people sometimes accusing the early Church ofcannibalism when they celebrated Holy Communion. This literalunderstanding is still followed by many Christians who believe thatin Holy Communion the bread is the flesh of Jesus and the wine isthe blood of Christ - a belief called transubstantiation.

In the following verses Jesus does not directly contradict thosewho take him literally. Instead he challenges people to think. Thelate Ray Anderson, an American theologian and pastor, commentedthat 'What do you think?' was a favourite gambit of Jesus.

But since theReformation (in the 16th and 17th centuries) that thinkinghas led to more 'spiritual' interpretations of the eating of thebread that is Jesus, still relating it to Holy Communion butbelieving that Jesus meets and feeds us spiritually, with the breadand wine as symbols rather than as his physical flesh andblood.

An alternative interpretation is to recognise that Jesus isspeaking about the whole of life, rather than religious ritual. Sonot so much about Holy Communion, but instead Jesus speakingthrough metaphor about lifestyle, rather than religious observanceof a sacrament (such as Holy Communion).

This understanding twists the catchphrase 'you are what you eat'into 'you are who you imitate'. Jesus exhorts his followers toemulate, copy and mimic his life; to become like him, like hisbody, just as if they had eaten it.

By this reading, which seems to fit with the the early Christians'understanding, Jesus is promising eternal life to those who followin his footsteps, becoming like him through imitation.Transformation comes through being taken over by Jesus as peoplebecome what they 'eat'.

To Ponder

How do you understand what happens at HolyCommunion? How has that understanding changed or developed overtime?

In what ways do you imitate Jesus in yourlife?

In which parts of your life do you need the mosttransformation to be like Jesus? What are you going to do aboutit?