For the fourth week in a row, the lectionary invites us to remain within the portion of the gospel of John which the English Standard Version titles “I Am the Bread of Life.” Last week, we ended at verse 51.
This week we’re invited to ponder John 6:51-58. In these verses, John tells us that “the Jews” disputed among themselves after they had been thrashed verbally by Jesus. The earlier verses are focused on bread. I discussed them last week. Today’s verses are focused on blood.
Those of us who attend church services regularly miss the horror in the words “body” and “blood”. We miss the images these words conjure, the images of mouths dripping with blood.
The horror was not lost on “the Jews,” the people schooled in the college of Moses, the people who knew God’s prohibitions on eating blood.
At that time, there were no chapter and verse numbers in the Hebrew scriptures, which Christians call the Old Testament. If there had been, Jesus’ listeners may have cited to him the bible references for the prohibitions: Genesis 9:3-4; Leviticus 17:12; Deuteronomy 12:23.
Not only that. Why would anyone want to adopt such a distasteful figure of speech? Which media consultant anywhere in the world today would recommend urging an audience to drink blood? Can you imagine what Charlie Hebdo will say if the Pope were to speak of drinking blood?
In case you didn’t know, Charlie Hebdo is a French satirical weekly magazine. In 2011 and 2012 it published cartoons of the Prophet of Islam. This angered Muslims around the world. And prompted an attack on the office of the magazine. 12 people were killed, 11 were injured.
Jesus knew the horror his choice of blood as a figure of speech generated in his audience. But he didn’t change it. He amplified it. He repeatedly spoke of blood. In verses 53-55, we read:
“… Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For my flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him.”
Why did Jesus do that? Why did Jesus insist on using blood as a figure of speech?
Did Jesus fail to anticipate that because of his choice, Christians would be accused of cannibalism? Did he fail to anticipate that the Latin words for “this is my body,” Hoc est corpus meum, would be satirized[1] – long before Charlie Hebdo – into hocus pocus, the label of choice for trickery?
To understand Jesus’ choice, we need to learn the reason God gave for prohibiting the Israelites, or the Jews, from eating blood. It’s the reason all Jewish parents taught their children. The reason is stated explicitly in the Deuteronomy passage I cited earlier. It reads, in part:[2]
“… do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life …”
Because I know that so many cultures eat blood, I’ve often wondered why God prohibited the Israelites from eating blood, which is naturally sterile.
Perhaps the purpose of the prohibition was to firmly establish the idea that life is in the blood; to prepare for the day when Jesus would say that we are dead until we drink his blood and receive his life; to prepare the way for Jesus to establish the Lord’s Supper as proof of life in the church.
If you’re a non-Christian or a young Christian, don’t panic. During the service of the Lord’s Supper, no human or animal blood is used. Bread and wine are used to represent the body and blood of Jesus.
Another thing we see repeated in today’s passage is the phrase “eternal life.” What does it mean? Are we to think of living forever in either heaven or hell, or are we supposed to think of something else?
People are often surprised that the Bible says little about heaven. But it does speak of the cries of the persecuted after they die, and the punishment of persecutors. The main text is Revelation 6:9-11. It reads:
“When [the Lamb] opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried out with a loud voice, “O Sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.”
How do we spot people who drink the blood of Jesus, people with eternal life? The lectionary suggests that the answer lies in another passage, this time in the New Testament. Paul wrote these words to the Ephesians:
“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”[3]
We “have eternal life” when we live the life Paul portrays in the church. I hope our churches are not hocus pocus.
Peace be with you.
[1] For more on this, read Defending the Cannibals, an article on the website of Christian History Institute.
[2] Deuteronomy 12:23.
[3] Ephesians 5:15-20.
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