In John 6:56-69, the followers of Jesus have heard words they do not understand. They are repelled! It simply is impossible to believe that Jesus is inviting them to eat his flesh and drink his blood…so, many of those who had followed Jesus up to this point now walk away. They have reached an obstacle which they cannot overcome.
It is not difficult to imagine his sadness as Jesus watched them leave…He feared that he was going to be completely abandoned. So, he turns to the twelve apostles and asks them what they are going to do...Peter speaks for us when he responds “Lord to whom can we go?”
We do all that we can in life to avoid being placed in position of vulnerability, yet in this Gospel we have the twelve surrendering control and choosing complete dependency on Jesus. That dependency reveals an ultimate statement of faith: Lord, we have no options. We have no choice but to keep following you.
Faith is deepened in situations where self-reliance is no longer possible, where it is difficult to rely on our intellect, reason or abilities.
The process of being attracted by something in Jesus - listening to what the Word says - and then asking: “am I going to leave or stay?” is part of our spiritual journey. For most of us, it can happen many times in a lifetime. We are faced with a choice: do I accept this, or do I acknowledge that I have to grow into its meaning? And what do I do? To whom do I turn while I am growing into understanding? These are the steps we take to be totally dependent, reliant, and available to Jesus.
This is the challenge of the Gospel and in the end our response has to be personal…to walk away…or to stay and walk further into the Mystery.
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