Twelfth Sunday in Pentecost
Joshua 24:1-2a, 14-18
Psalm 34:15-22
Ephesians 6:10-20
John 6:59-69
Finally, be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of his might.
Five weeks ago we began a journey with Jesus, a journey that lasted a very brief moment in time for Him and those who were walking with Him. At the beginning we were amazed by the miraculous feeding of the five thousand, but each week He has become progressively offense not only to His contemporaries but to those of us living in the modern age. In the end, Jesus says to His listeners, "Bite me" and we are left with a choice.
Of course, the phrase "bite me" is recognized by our modern ears as offensive and distasteful. I suppose the nicest way to describe the meaning of this phrase is "back off" but it generally has a far more graphic understanding among those who would use it. I don't think we can assume Jesus' immediate motivations for the graphic nature of His conversation with the people, but perhaps we can see it in the sense that He wants the people to back off.
At the miraculous supper, Jesus fed five thousand or more people, and they followed Him from that moment. They did not follow Him because of what He said or even because of what He did, but instead they followed Him because their tummies were full. It was never Jesus' intention to continue to feed the crowds. For one brief moment He performed a miraculous sign that would point the people to something bigger and deeper than their stomachs. He used the opportunity to teach them about God's amazing grace, to foretell of a marvelous gift that would come from His body – real life, eternal life. All along they had their minds, and their hearts, set on the flesh.
Jesus taught them all that He could, and then it was time to let them go. Yet, they were not yet ready to leave. They were still thinking of their stomachs, of their flesh. They still saw Him as one who would meet their needs and fulfill their desires. That was not what He was sent to do. He was sent to teach them about the kingdom of God and then to die to make it possible for them to become heirs to the promise. If He continued to serve their flesh, they would never look toward the Spirit. So, when it was time to finish this teaching, He made it too hard for them to continue to follow. His words were too much for them to take. They did not have faith. They could not do the work God called them to do – believe. They could not believe in the One whom God sent.
We are shocked and disappointed that the disciples following Jesus through this story turn and walk away. Yet, we are looking at this story through post-resurrection glasses. We know what He means by His statements. We know that His body and blood are given to us at the Eucharistic meal and we receive this gift through faith. We have the faith that He has promised because we live after Pentecost and the Spirit has become part of our life and the world. The Father has drawn us to Jesus, so we can hear His words with the faith necessary to believe. When Jesus says "Bite me," we hear it differently. We hear Him calling us to eat His words, to chew on the Gospel, to make it a part of our entire beings. He is telling us to get into the scriptures, to make it such a deeply rooted part of our life that we won't be distracted and turn away from God. He is laying before us a choice. Do we bite? Or are we offended?
Joshua gave Israel a choice. As God's mouthpiece, Joshua said, "Choose this day whom you will serve." They were about to entire into the Promised Land, into a land where other gods ruled. It was common custom in that time to accept and take the local gods as part of the belief system. However, the God of Israel is a jealous God, He expects His people to look only to Him. The people were about to enter into a land of great temptations where their neighbors would convince them that it is good and right to worship all the gods, for the sake of the land and all the people.
Joshua did not give them the choice based on what would be, but rather what has been. He reminded the people of the works of God, of His deliverance. He told them the story, a story they knew well because it was a story of which they were part. Their father Abraham was taken from the land in which he lived and led through Canaan. Abraham had many descendents, of whom Moses and Aaron were the greatest. Moses led the people out of slavery and guided them through the Red Sea, to the foot of Mount Sinai and then into the desert. All this was the hand of God and not by the power of men or false gods. Then Joshua led them in the land which God had promised and gave them victory over all their enemies. Then Joshua said, "Now therefore fear Jehovah, and serve him in sincerity and in truth." Yet Joshua does not make this the command. The command is to choose. "Choose this day whom you will serve."
Joshua stands as an example to the people. "As for me and my household, we will serve Jehovah." The people reject the idea that they would forsake God and they confess their commitment to Him. "Jehovah is our God." They repeat the story of deliverance and affirm their choice. "Therefore we will also serve Jehovah; for he is our God." We know the story of Israel, and we know that they did not always live according to God's Word. As a matter of fact, they often turned to the gods of their neighbors, forsaking God for the sake of their physical well-being. They suffered the consequences of their forgetfulness. They were brought down by those with whom they made alliances, the people of those foreign gods. They were oppressed by the ones they deemed their 'saviors.'
Yet, whenever the people were reminded of the words of God, they turned their faces back to Him and repented of their sin. In 2 Kings 22, King Josiah tore his clothes in grief at their disobedience and sought to know the God of his fathers. The Lord intended to bring disaster on the people who turned to idols, but because Josiah humbled himself and wept before God, He heard the cry of the king and had mercy. This is just one example of the wrath of God being extinguished by the humble heart of a righteous man.
The psalmist writes, "The eyes of Jehovah are toward the righteous, and his ears are open unto their cry." What is it that made Josiah turn to God? What was it that made Joshua and the Israelites commit to a life of serving the Lord? God's Word is what brought them to Him. The story of God and His people, the covenant He made with them and the promises that came with the relationship. His Word drew them to Him, if even for the briefest of moments. They often failed, but when they were reminded of God's Word, they turned their faces back to Him.
In our Gospel passages for the past few weeks, Jesus has spoken about bread – food for the body. However, Jesus was referring also to a different kind of bread. He was talking about food that would fill more than a stomach, it was bread that would fill the soul. He was trying to take the people in the crowd away from thinking about the flesh, deeper into the relationship they could have with God – a relationship of Spirit. He hinted toward the covenant that was to come, and planted seeds of something more than the miraculous powers He held in His hands.
When He finally said, "Eat me" or "Bite me" it was too much for them to take at this time, for they had not the faith necessary to believe His words. They did not yet possess the gift that would make it possible for them to truly believe and inherit the eternal life He promised. His work wasn't done. We often look at these people with incredulity because we can not understand how they would not receive the words of Jesus wholeheartedly. It was not yet time. They could not believe because the Father had not yet drawn them to Jesus. We do not know, however, how many of those very people who'd been present at the feeding eventually came to believe. How many of them heard the words "This is my body given for you" or "This is the new covenant in my blood" and the seeds that were planted that day were finally set free to grow. If only one believed, it would be a miracle. We can hope that many more came to believe.
The same is true of those whom we know today who do not yet have faith. Are there seeds planted that might grow into belief? Perhaps. Or perhaps we are the ones to plant the seeds. We can live in the hope that the Father will draw them unto Himself, that His words will draw them into a relationship with Jesus. While there is no way we can give them the faith that we have, for it is a gift from God, we are called to speak God's word into their lives that they might believe and be saved.
That Word is not always easy to speak. Could we tell them this particular story of Jesus? Probably not. "Bite me" is more like a dare they would rather not take. They would turn and walk away. We might be tempted to try whatever is necessary to get them to believe. We might try to feed their stomachs in the hope that it will keep them coming. We might try to provide them with things that meet their physical needs and desires. We might fall for the temptation of living in the ways of our neighbors, honoring the gods of the land in which we live.
It is so easy to become distracted. There are entities in this world that constantly seek to keep us from dwelling in God's presence. We are tempted by our physical needs and desires. Our flesh leads us to seek after all the wrong things – stuff – chasing after the perishable rather than looking toward the imperishable. Our busy schedules keep us from studying God's word or spending time in prayer, building up the relationship we have with Christ. This is why Paul writes that we are to wear the armor of God. Six things will keep us looking at the One who offers us life – truth, righteousness, readiness to proclaim the Gospel, faith, salvation and the Spirit. These are all gifts of God, the gifts He has given us through Jesus Christ.
Many of the disciples following Jesus after the feeding of the five thousand turned away. Jesus asked His closest friends and disciples, "Would ye also go away?" Peter answered, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and know that thou art the Holy One of God." For a brief moment, Peter saw everything clearly. All this talk of bread was pointing to the Living Bread who is Christ. This command to eat Jesus' flesh, while it would point to the Eucharistic meal, also points us to the Word of God which is incarnate in the body of Christ. Jesus says, "Bite me." He says, "Eat me and live." He means, "Chew on my word. Remember it. Hold it. Keep it close to you. Take it inside your heart and your head. Then take it to the world and share it with others." It is given to us to know all that God has done, and in knowing we can make the choice. Do we stay or do we go? Do we choose this day the Lord, or do we choose other gods. It is a choice made possible only by that which God has done already – in, with and through our Lord Jesus Christ. As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. Thanks be to God.
A WORD FOR TODAY
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