8-21-18 - Too Much to Swallow

(You can listen to this reflection here.)

Not much got past Jesus. He was keenly aware of discord and disunity among his followers and often called them on it. So it is in this week’s story, when some are grumbling about his teaching on consuming his flesh and blood.

When many of his disciples heard it, they said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” But Jesus, being aware that his disciples were complaining about it, said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?”

Instead of arguing about the thing that offends them – in this case, the flesh-eating, blood-drinking thing, which sounds like a direct violation of the Law as well as disgusting – he takes the whole argument up a notch, intensifying his claims to divinity. Maybe he was saying, “Look, that’s the least of your worries. Wait till you see me through my mission, my passion, cross, resurrection and ascending into heaven. Let that offend you!”

So much about Jesus can be too much for some to swallow. So people pick and choose the parts of the picture they find palatable. They love the teacher but not the savior; they focus on the Good Samaritan but ignore the miracles. By comparing himself to bread, and saying we have to eat his flesh and drink his blood, he is in effect saying, “You have to swallow me.” All of it. The healer and the table-over-turner. The story-teller and the lover of outcasts. The one who can walk on water yet lets himself be nailed to a cross.

When you think about Jesus, what do you find yourself drawn to? 

What do you turn away from?
Do you find some of what he said and did hard to swallow? 

Have you had a conversation with him in prayer about that?

A true Christ-follower is one who recognizes Jesus as the risen and ascended Lord, and has made a choice to accept all of who Christ is revealed to be, both in the Scriptures, and in our lives today. 

A lot to swallow can also leave us fully fed. 

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