Cutting to the chase
by Maria Rudolph
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Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me (John 6:57).
Read John 6:56–69
There is no substitute for Jesus. There are not a thousand different paths to God. As followers of Jesus, our Lord and Master is clear when he says, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life’ (John 14:6).
To some, this may seem narrow-minded and restrictive. As I live my daily life with Jesus, I feel an immense sense of belonging – relief even! It is exhausting to keep rethinking an ‘idea of God’ to soothe my restless heart.
To be honest, most of the time, I wouldn’t even think about God when the daily grind consumes me. It would probably only be during really hard times that I would start thinking about a higher power or God. And if it were in these moments of high anxiety, emotions, and perhaps deep pain that I would have to come up with what path I need to take to connect with God, nothing good would come of it. In lean times, we need to live off our reserves. We need to draw on the fat we deposited when times were good.
When Jesus addresses the crowd in Capernaum, that is exactly what he means: ‘Draw from me. I am the Bread of Life. I am the Living Water.’ Jesus cuts to the chase and reveals the utter core of the gospel: himself. Jesus is irreplaceable. He is life. We thrive only through him. By knowing that the only thing needful is to follow Jesus, we are relieved of looking in hundreds of other places needlessly. Need hope? Jesus. Need life? Jesus. Need assurance? Jesus. Need strength? Jesus. Some guidance? Jesus. Your pastor is right; the answer is always Jesus for a reason!
This teaching of Jesus was too much to take for his followers then, and it is often too much for the people of today too. Even the term ‘feeding on Jesus’ repels many. No wonder some early Christian groups were accused of being cannibals when they merely met to celebrate holy communion. It is hard to explain this with logic. The best we can do is to invite others to ‘taste and see that the Lord is good’ (Psalm 34:8), and they may just get the filling of their lifetime.
Jesus, where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life. Your word is sweet for us like honeycomb, delicious to the taste and filling for the soul. Keep filling us with yourself and bring us together at your table, at your font, around your word. Amen.
Maria loves serving God through the LCANZ and currently does this at St John’s Perth as a pastoral associate and volunteers at Concordia Duncraig in Western Australia. She enjoys being part of a Way Forward Working Group and tackling current theological issues on the Commission on Theology and Inter-Church Relations. Her three kids and pastor husband keep her very happy and busy.
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