After reading today’s passage from John’s gospel, we should not be surprised to hear that early Christians were often accused of being cannibals. Three times in the span of three short verses, Jesus proclaims the necessity to eat his flesh and drink his blood. It is one thing for Jesus to speak of himself as the bread of life, as we have heard him do more than once over the last few weeks’ gospel readings, but in today’s passage Jesus takes it to another whole level.
Even to our post-modern ears, which have perhaps become somewhat desensitized to these kinds of words, they are still somewhat shocking at face value. Just imagine what they would have sounded like to Jesus’ first century Jewish audience; not just shocking, but downright repugnant. Especially for those who were strict adherents to the Jewish law, which absolutely forbade the consumption of any blood, much less human blood.
In addition to drawing the accusation of cannibalism, words like these became the basis for a certain medieval theological doctrine regarding Holy Communion. It became the belief of many in the medieval Church that the bread and the wine of Communion were actually transformed into the literal flesh and blood of Christ; a doctrine which came to be known as transubstantiation.
You will probably not be surprised to hear me say that I believe the words spoken by Jesus in this passage are neither a call to cannibalism nor a basis for the doctrine of transubstantiation. These words are ultimately about the reality of the incarnation. That is to say, these words are about God’s immanent presence among us and God’s desire that we fully open ourselves to his presence.
And really Jesus is calling for more than just openness to God’s presence. It’s about more than being with Christ; it’s about being able to actually “consume” Christ. Jesus’ rather shocking words here are not to be taken literally, but they are to be taken seriously. With dramatic language Jesus is making a very important point.
In many ways we, especially we Episcopalians, have been conditioned to think about Christ in a detached, distant and dispassionate way, as if Christ were an abstract idea, rather than a fleshy incarnation of God. The notion of incarnation goes against our natural expectations about what is spiritual and religious. The shocking language of Jesus’ words in this passage is meant to break through these expectations and remind us that he is more than an abstract idea. He is also more than a gifted teacher, compassionate healer and worker of miracles. He is the living bread that came down from heaven and he is the Word of God made flesh. Through the mystery of the incarnation, Jesus has made it possible to do more than just “look upon” and “observe” him in a detached manner. As theologian John Chrysostom so eloquently put it, and in keeping with Jesus’ language, Christ makes it possible for us to “fix (our) teeth in his flesh and to be commingled with him.”
The question then becomes, “how do we move from thinking about Christ to consuming Christ?” We begin to make this shift right here, when we gather together to receive the sacraments of Holy Communion. No, we are not consuming literal flesh and blood when we receive the sacraments, but I believe that we are in a very real sense consuming Christ. As we recall that last Passover meal that Jesus shared with his disciples and then we leave the comfort of our pews and come forward with open, empty hands to receive the sacraments, we are opening ourselves to Christ’s transforming presence. It is not a matter of the bread and wine being transformed into something different, but rather it’s a matter of us being transformed by Christ’s mysterious but very real presence.
Consuming Christ begins here, but it does not end here. Christ’s presence is by no means limited to the sacraments of Holy Communion. This is the great beauty of the incarnation. We can partake of the living bread come down from heaven at all times and in all places. And just as our bodies function better having physical sustenance on a daily basis, so too do our spiritual selves need daily sustenance in order to thrive. Partaking of Holy Communion every Sunday provides a significant part of that sustenance, but fortunately there is more.
Every day there are opportunities to consume this living bread that Christ offers us. When we wake up each morning and greet a new day, we can offer a prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of that new day, remembering that each day is truly a gift from God. We can then take some time, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a long time, to devote ourselves to the consumption of Christ’s loving presence, through the reading of Scripture or other devotional materials and through prayerful reflection. At the end of each day, we can take some time to pray and to think about where Christ was present to us in that day, thanking God for the blessings of that presence.
Many days there are opportunities for us, if we’re paying to attention, to see Christ’s presence in the faces of others and in our interactions with others; whether it’s something that gives us a sense of joy and peace, or it’s something that challenges us to think our act differently, more in keeping with God’s purposes. The more we take advantage of these opportunities, the more we will find that we are able to truly consume the living bread of Christ and Christ’s love. And the more we consume this living bread through Holy Communion and these daily disciplines, the more we will share in the abundant life Christ offers; an abundant life that Jesus promises will be ours forever.
