Do This in Remembrance of Me

For the last few Sundays, our Gospel readings have come from the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John. The chapter began with the story of Jesus feeding 5,000 people using the lunch offered by the generosity and naivety of a young boy. The Gospel writer then compares the feeding of the crowd with the feeding of the early Jewish refugees who lived on 'bread from heaven' during their journey from Egypt to their promised land. Jesus then claims he is the bread of life, and those who come to him will never be hungry.1

His claim evokes a critical response from the Jewish authorities since, in their eyes, Jesus was only the son of a carpenter and had no recognised training nor authority to teach. It is also quite understandable that many of the crowd found his teaching confusing and difficult to believe and ceased to follow him. Taken literally, I am sure we also would struggle to understand what Jesus meant when he announced:

“Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them”2

To say he was referring to the Eucharist is an anachronism. Although by the time the Gospels were written, the followers of Jesus met regularly in their homes. Their meetings often included a meal with a simple ritualised remembering of the last supper Jesus shared with his disciples. They took bread, as Jesus had, and said, “This is my body that is for you”. At the end of their meal, they took a cup of wine and said it was “The New Covenant in his blood. Do this as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me”.3 However, the belief that the bread and wine changed into his literal body and blood came later and was not universally accepted.4 It is also pertinent to note, that in Jewish thought, blood was a symbol of life, and all life belonged to God. Hence, the Jews had strict laws against the consumption of blood and protocols on draining all blood from meat before being cooked.5

The second thing to note is that the Gospel of John was written much later than the other three Gospels included in the Bible. The images and metaphors are more those of a 'Jewish Mystic', reflecting a genre closer to that found in the Gnostic gospel of Thomas. Both, for example, invite us to move beyond a literal interpretation of the words and listen to the experience to which they point so that we, in turn, can enter that experience and live it. So that we can learn to become a Christ to the communities in which we live as we feed our minds, hearts and souls on his life and teaching.

The following story offers a lovely illustration of what it means to be Christ to someone else and to share Eucharist with them. It is set in the early days of our country and is about a pioneer seeking his fortune, hunting for gold. One day, as he was making his way up an empty river bed, he noticed something shining amongst the stones. Bending over, he discovered a large nugget of pure gold. Thrilled with his find, he tucked it away carefully in his bag and continued his journey. Shortly afterwards, he met a man staggering down the river bed. He looked thin and exhausted. When they met, the man begged him for some food. While they sat sharing the simple meal, the man poured out his story. He had been in the hills for weeks hunting for gold and found nothing. He was now returning home empty-handed and bankrupt. His life was in ruins.

The man's plight moved the prospector. Reaching into his bag, he handed over the gold nugget. The man was speechless with joy. Now he could return home with his pride intact. The prospector wished him well and continued his journey up the riverbed. A little later in the day, he heard someone hurrying up behind him. It was the same person he had met earlier. When the man reached the prospector, he handed back the gold nugget and pleaded, 'Please take it – for you have a treasure far more precious than this gold nugget. Can you teach me what enabled you to give it away so easily?'

Jesus said... I was hungry and you gave me food,
I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink,
I was a stranger and you welcomed me...
“Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these
who are members of my family, you did it to me.”6

Kia mau te rongo me te pai ki a koe i to haerenga

May you find peace and good will on your journey.

Phil

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1 John 6:35
2 John 6:56
3 1Cor 11:20–26.
4 For example, see Nathan Busenitz https://blog.tms.edu/did-the-early-church-teach-transubstantiation
5 Genesis 9:4
6 Matthew 25:35,40