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BREAKTHROUGH
(Open-ended, Life-centred Explorations of the Sunday Gospels for Home Groups)
JN 6: 51-58...11th S. after Pentecost '06

NOTES: 1] The idea of eating 'flesh' (with the blood in it) or drinking blood would have been shocking to Jewish people with their dietary laws, & maybe to anyone not understanding what he's on about. 2]  Jesus is of course referring back to the manna from heaven & forward  to the Eucharist. 3]

WARMING UP:  What are our favourite breads & meats (if we're carnivores!)?

TREASURES OLD & NEW: Identify God at work in anything this week?

ENTERING INTO THE STORY:

51-52       How readily does Jesus' imagery of eating him as the 'bread of heaven' lend itself to the way we think today? If those of us not of Jewish descent don't readily connect with the Hebrews wandering in the wilderness & being fed on manna, does that mean we have more work to do before we can understand Jesus & what he's saying here? How vital is it that we do understand it?

             Do we really want to live 'forever'? What does that mean - in ordinary language, & in Christian 'in-house' language? What about all the quarreling the language of eating Jesus' body & drinking his blood has caused among various groups of Christians let alone the Jews of that day?

53-58       How seriously do we take what Jesus says here about us 'not having life in us' if we don't 'eat his flesh & drink his blood' in the Eucharist? What about the connection he makes between life & eternal life in his very next sentence? Isn't eternal life simply life with God both now & in the hereafter? Where does it leave those who fail to act on what Jesus says, i.e. don't partake of him in the Eucharist? Is he leaving anyone any room to manoeuvre? Have we become too used to giving ourselves 'room to manoeuvre' when it comes to the things of God?
            
             How would we explain to someone else what Jesus means by 'true / real food' & 'true / real drink'? What does it mean that Jesus is 'part of us' & we 'part of him'? Can we turn that into everyday language, or is that too hard? Do we just have to live with the fact that part of being a Christian is learning 'in-house language' & learning to live with it as well as 'normal talk'? If Jesus is actually saying that all true life comes from God, what are the implications of that for daily life? Is it obvious enough to an observer that our life comes from God in actuality, as distinct from in theory?   

 

For more on this passage visit: www.angelfire.com/journal2/marginallymark