Does This Shock You?

Then many of his disciples who were listening said, “This saying is hard; who can accept it?” Since Jesus knew that his disciples were murmuring about this, he said to them, “Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the spirit that gives life, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus knew from the beginning the ones who would not believe and the one who would betray him. And he said, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.”

As a result of this, many of his disciples returned to their former way of life and no longer accompanied him. Jesus then said to the Twelve, “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answered him, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

John 6:60-69

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Crunching Christ

Sometimes “eating” is metaphorical: “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” sings David (Psalm 119:103). The prophet Ezekiel, eating the Lord’s scroll, finds it “sweet as honey” (Ezekiel 3:3).

Is Jesus speaking metaphorically about eating his flesh? His disciples argue, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat (phago)?” (John 6:52) The Greek verb phago (eat) can be used literally or figuratively. 

Jesus responds, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat (phago) the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats (trógó) my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day” (John 6:53-54).

Reading his disciples’ disbelief, Jesus shifts from the generic verb for eating (phago) to the more graphic verb for gnawing, munching, and crunching (trógó). As strange as it sounds, Jesus offers himself as “true food” and “true drink” (John 6:55). 

Contrasting himself with the manna in the desert, which the Israelites “ate (phago) and died,” Jesus declares, “Whoever eats (trógó) this bread will live forever” (John 6:58).

To Believe or Not to Believe

“Does this shock you?” Jesus asks. He challenges them with the image of the Son of Man ascending to his heavenly Father. The earthly-minded “flesh” cannot perceive spiritual realities. “It is the spirit that gives life,” Jesus says. “No one can come to me unless it is granted him by my Father.” 

As many desert Jesus, Peter, whom the Father illuminated about Jesus’ divine sonship (Matthew 16:16-17), declares, “Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God.”

Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived;
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God’s Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth himself speaks truly or there’s nothing true.

St. Thomas Aquinas, Adoro te devote

Traditional Chinese Translation

《這嚇到你了嗎？》
“生命之糧” 難以下嚥（信）嗎？
除非阿爸天父（吸引），誰能來跟隨(信）呢？