In reading the passage from John regarding Christ's saying that it is "my flesh and drinks my blood" (Jn. 6:54) creates problems not only for the disciples who follow him but in some ways for us. The issue that wells up in our minds is that initial reaction of "Yeuck, flesh and blood" and I am fairly certain that for the disciples this is the reaction in question. Yet, the Gospel was written long after the life of Christ and when we read it we read it with a long history of interpretive layering that festoons these words. It is not a simple thing to mine John's gospel in particular but all Gospels for something that has meaning for us today. Simple platitudes may work for some but at the end of the day there has to be something greater then the simplicity of "Oh this is just a symbolic gesture which is encompassed in the Eucharist". Firstly, we have to remember that these words are said prior to the institution of any form of symbolic supper. Secondly, they are spoken to some learned, but not that many, and more likely poor, humble people in the setting created by John. So what is the author attempting to convey? This is difficult and really open to the numerous interpretations that one can find but perhaps we need to think very simply in a complex sort of way.
After David's death Solomon takes the throne of Israel in his father's stead (1 Kings 2:12). Solomon interacts with God within a dream in chapter 3 (1 Kings 3:3-14) and it is this interaction that is the basis of Solomon's reign. What is of interest for us is the request that Solomon makes of God (1 Kings 3:8), the rest to a certain extent is superfluous. The ideal of good judgement in terms of justice is esteemed good by God and as such is the thing that we need to display. Again in Paul's letter to the Ephesians (Eph. 5:11-21) the crux of the passage is the notion of walking as wise people not foolish (Eph. 5: 15). If we think of this in terms of the previous passage it is walking in the wisdom and understanding of Solomon who walks in justice not in injustice. This then brings us back once more to the Gospel and Christ talking about flesh and blood. From the reading of the Gospels as we have them today one of the overarching understandings of Christ in scripture is that of a person who embodies the meaning of justice. The person who goes to the lowest of the low and ministers and ensures that they achieve justice within the community. The cured leper, who is outcast; the woman who haemorrhages, an outcast from community; the blindman who was ostracised and brought back into community; etc. All of these stories tell of a person who brings the outcast back into community simply by ensuring that they can once again be accepted.
So what does that mean for the words of John? Up to and during Christ's earthly period sacrifice was common as part of the religious understanding of the time. Part and parcel of this understanding that what was being offered was the life i.e. the blood of the sacrifice along with the flesh to God. Hence the prohibitions against spilling (human) and drinking (animal) blood. Yet, Christ is offering himself, his blood and his bodily flesh, his wholeness and connection to God. In accepting this in faith and following by accepting the wholeness of Christ we are again accepted in wholeness with God. Not just earthly flesh and earthly blood but the whole being of Christ who has embodied righteousness and justice upon the earth. We cannot just pass this by with a flippant "Oh eucharistic" and forget that it implies much more than the symbolic flesh and blood of Christ. It is the actuality of the embodiment of Christ within ourselves that must become important in our faith.
The determinant for us today as we gather for the eucharistic feast is to understand that in reception we are faithfully fulfilling Christ's wish for us to embody Christ in our communities today. This means that all of our actions need to embody justice and love of the other. It is often the case that we neglect some part of our community in some form or another. Just sit back and think about those that you neglect in your daily life. It is a question of really being honest with yourself when answering this question because knowing myself there is a built in avoidance that says "Me! I do not neglect anyone." At the end of the day I am certain that all of us fail to answer this correctly, in some corner of our mind we can name at least one individual or section of the community that we have avoided. The reasons being simple, we dislike them, we had a bad relationship with them, we are prejudiced against them, we have heard stories etc. All of these are excuses for us not to reach out to the other, not to provide justice to the other, not to be as Christ and thus not to truly have eaten and partaken of Christ's body and blood. Is this what you feel happy about when you come into God's presence at the eucharist or should it be that I have given my all even to those who would not have me?
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