The Way to the Father, the Truth of True God, and the Life from the Source of Life: Jesus the Father's Begotten Son - Friday of the Fourth Week of Paschaltide

After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet to demonstrate a way of practicing his new commandment to love one another as he did (John 13:1-17, 34-35), foretelling his betrayal by one of the twelve, Judas (John 13:18-30), Jesus began speaking of his physical departure, first by speaking of his impending glorification (John 13:31-33).  It was in this context that Jesus gave the new commandment to love each other as his followers (John 13:34-35) and foretold Peter’s denial (John 13:36-38).

In today’s Gospel Reading (John 14:1-6) follows Jesus’ announcement of his departure through his glorification (John 13:31-33), to console them (John 14:1-14) and to assure with his presence even after hid departure through another Parakletos, the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-31).

Jesus wanted to make sure that his disciples understand that he was not physically departing from them for his own interest but rather for their benefits. Thus, he explained that his departure is to prepare a place for them in the Father’s heavenly house (John 14:2-3). So, he encouraged them not to let anxiety trouble their hearts by keeping faith in God and in him (John 14:1). Jesus once again reminded that faith, which is unconditional trust, in God the Father is also faith in him, is the best antidote to anxiety (cf. Matthew 6:25-34)

Jesus thought that they already knew the way to the place where Jesus is going by then (John 14:4), not only as they had spent about 3 years together with him during his public ministry but they must have hear Jesus saying of his departure (John 12:32; cf. John 3:14; 12:34). Apparently, the disciples did not understand what Jesus meant by “lifted up from the earth”(John 12:32). It points not only to him being lifted up on the Cross, as the serpent in the desert was listed up by Moses on his pole (John 3:14; Numbers 21:8-9) but also from the dead or tomb and from the earth through ascension.  This is why the disciples’ hearts were troubled with anticipatory grief when Jesus reminded of his impending departure to where they could not come after washing the disciples’ feet (John 13:33).

Hoping the disciples already knew, Jesus said that they know the way to the place where he is going (John 14:4). But, because the they had no idea about what Jesus was saying, Thomas said that how they can know the way since they don’t know where they are going (John 14:5). In other words, the disciples still did not know that Jesus was going back to the Father, who sent him.

So, Jesus said:

I am the way and the truth and the life. No one come to the Father except through me (John 14:6).

In other words, Jesus is the only way to the Father, as he is the only gateway to the pen of the Father’s sheep (John 10:7). Jesus is the truth, because the Word is the truth (John 17:17; Psalm 119:160), and he is the Word incarnate (John 1:1,14). Jesus is the life, sent by the Father, to give us life, because of His love (John 3:16). The Father is the source of life (i.e. Genesis 2:7) and has sent His only begotten Son, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6), (John 3:16), as the Living Bread of Life for us to have eternal life (John 6:51) and as the Good Shepherd for us to have life in abundance (John 10:10-11), eternal life (John 10:28).

Later on that night, Jesus prayed while the disciples were with him:

Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ (John 17:1-3).

Jesus was sent to us to give us eternal life, with which we should know the Father, who sent the way, the truth, and life for eternal life.

Though the disciples did not know, now we know where Jesus is going upon his departure from this world without leaving us like orphans. He is returning to the Father, who sent him, to make the place for us to be with the Father and him in His house in heaven. Therefore, in the fullness of time, we shall follow him.

So, it is written in “Imitation of Christ” by Thomas à Kempis:

MY CHILD, the more you depart from yourself, the more you will be able to enter into Me. As the giving up of exterior things brings interior peace, so the forsaking of self unites you to God. I will have you learn perfect surrender to My will, without contradiction or complaint.

Follow Me. I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Without the Way, there is no going. Without the Truth, there is no knowing. Without the Life, there is no living. I am the Way which you must follow, the Truth which you must believe, the Life for which you must hope. I am the inviolable Way, the infallible Truth, the unending Life. I am the Way that is straight, the supreme Truth, the Life that is true, the blessed, the uncreated Life. If you abide in My Way you shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free, and you shall attain life everlasting.  Chapter 56

On the night before his death, Jesus, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) was reminding the disciples that he is returning to the Father, who sent him, through the three-fold glorification of his death, resurrection, and ascension, to make the way for us to follow him to the Father. Otherwise, we would not have any way to the Father.  As the way, the truth, and the life, Jesus is the only mediator to the Father (1 Timothy 2:5) of His new covenant with us (Hebrews 9:15).

Later on that night, Jesus prayed while the disciples were with him:

Father, the hour has come. Give glory to your son, so that your son may glorify you, just as you gave him authority over all people, so that he may give eternal life to all you gave him. Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ (John 17:1-3).

Now, being reminded that Jesus’s physical departure is to return to the one who sent him, the Father in heaven, through his death, resurrection, and ascension, is for us – for our place in the Father’s house in heaven, as our mediator: the way, the life, and the truth, with Him, do we need to feel anxious? If we truly believe this, keeping faith in him, in the Father, we have no reason to have our hearts be troubled at all. And, his physical departure does not mean that we would be abandoned like orphans (John 14:18), because the Father will send another Parakletos (John 14:16), as Jesus himself is the Parakletos (1 John 2:1), as the Spirit of the Truth (John 14:17), while Jesus is the truth (John 14:6). And, unless he returns to the Father, another Parakletos would not come (John 16:7).

Yes, Jesus loves us forever, as Parakletos to us (1John 2:1) – as the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6)!

While he is preparing the place for us in the house of the Father in heaven after his ascension, Jesus makes sure that his work, which is the Father’s work (John 5:17), continues on. That is why he arranged with the Father to pour down the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

Though Paul (Saul) was not with Peter and the other eleven, on Pentecost, he, too, received the Holy Spirit to fill him and to drive him on his mission.

So, we have been reading from apostle Paul’s great sermon in Pisidia of Antioch, Asia Minor (Acts 13:13-41) on his first mission with Barnabas, since yesterday for the First Reading. Today, we read from Acts 13:26-33.

In today’s portion, Paul was trying to wake his Jewish audience in the synagogue up to the truth of Jesus, the one, who had him killed by the Romans, out of their ignorance. He rebuked them for not recognizing him as the Messiah, though they have read both the Torah and the Prophets every Sabbath as they gathered in the synagogue. So, he made it clear that Jesus is the one mentioned in Psalm 2:7, the begotten Son of God the Father (Acts 13:33).

Jesus is the begotten Son of God the Father, sent by Him, as our mediator with him, as the way to Him so that we may be saved by him and redeemed to Him.

Paul delivered his sermon on Jesus, with an indication of the way leading to his coming as the Messiah, from the time of Moses up to John the Baptist, to his fellow Jews. 

Do they believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the way, the truth, and the life?

Do you believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the way, the truth, and life?

If you do, can you go and speak of Jesus as Paul did - though you may be persecuted? 

Receiving Apostles of Jesus, Receiving Jesus, Receiving the Father: Becoming Servant Leaders to be Sent - Thursday of the Fourth Week of Paschaltide

Today’s Gospel Reading (John 13:16-20) is drawn from what Jesus spoke to the disciples, having washed the disciples’ feet (John 13:3-11) at the Lord’s Supper on the night before his death.

It may sounds odd to read a Gospel narrative from the Last Supper during Paschaltide. However, it is about who Jesus is in his relation to the Father and also to his disciples (and us). In today's Gospel Reading (John 13:16-20), we realize that receiving apostles of Jesus is a way to receive the Father, who sent Jesus, His Son, who sent them. And, what is common between the one whom the Father sent and ones whom Jesus sent is the servant leadership.

                                                                *****

Though he is the Lord, Jesus is also the servant, not only to the Father, but also to his disciples. And by saying, “Amen, amen, I say to you, no slave is greater than his master nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you understand this, blessed are you if you do it “(John 13:16-17), Jesus was reminding his disciples that he is always the Lord to them, while he is the servant of the one who sent him, namely, the Father in heaven.

To understand this fully, we must also read what precedes the above statement:

Do you realize what I have done for you? You call me “teacher” and “master,” and rightly so, for indeed I am. If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash one another’s feet. I have given you a model to follow, so that as I have done for you, you should also do (John 13:12b-15).

Jesus was asking the disciples if they realize why Jesus had just served them like a slave by washing their feet, though he is the Lord – though they acknowledge him as their “teacher”(rabbi), as well as “master”. It was a task usually done by a slave or servant for his or her master.

Jesus wanted the disciple to learn and practice the same servant leadership, which Jesus, their master had demonstrated to them, to one another, and this is a model of his new commandment,” Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another (John 13:34).

What Jesus said in John 13:12b-17 is an expression of his desire for the disciples to serve one another and people of all nations (Matthew 28:19). And, this is servant leadership, symbolized with the foot washing performed by Jesus, the Lord, teacher, for his disciples, students, to prepare them for their commissioning to be sent out as the apostles. In other words, Jesus was pointing to how they will be sent out by the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.

And the disciples who serve one another and people of all nations as Jesus did to them with understanding will be blessed (John 13:13). This beatitude can be integrated to the eight beatitudes that Jesus had spoken to start the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:3-12).

Blessed are you, who are servant leader, serving as Jesus did.

Then, Jesus began to speak of him as the greatest servant, in fact, the suffering servant prophesized by Isaiah (Isaiah 52:13-53:12), betrayed by one of his close disciples (Judas Iscariot), as David reflected that his servant, whom he shared his food with, raising his heel against him, in Psalm 41:10:

I am not speaking of all of you. I know those whom I have chosen. But so that the scripture might be fulfilled, “The one who ate my food has raised his heel against me. From now on I am telling you before it happens, so that when it happens you may believe that I AM” (John 13:18-19).

Ultimately, the reason for Jesus to have been sent to the world by the Father is to die on the Cross so that we may be saved – as the Good Shepherd laying down his life to save his sheep as in the Father’s will (John 10:11-18). For this, Jesus wanted the disciples to know beforehand that he would be put to death because one of the twelve disciples would “raise his heel against him”, namely, betray him. So, Jesus expressed his hope that the disciples would know that he is the Lord, who is one with Yahweh (I AM) (John 10:30, 38; Exodus 3:14) – he is in hypostatic union with the one who sent him.

Then, in order to further address who he really is in regard to his oneness with the Father, who sent him – his hypostatic union – his homoousios – with the Father, who sent him, Jesus said:

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever receives the one I send receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me (John 13:20).

By this Jesus reminded that those who receive the apostles, whom he sent also receive him, and likewise, those who receive him also receive the Father, who sent him. This echoes what Jesus said in John 12:44-45:

Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me, and whoever sees me sees the one who sent me.

Obviously, Jesus was alluding that his disciples, except for the one who betrays, would be sent out as his apostles by him, empowered by the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. At the same time, he also implicated that he is one with “I AM” (Yahweh), while implying his desire to be in such closeness to his disciples. 

The First Reading today (Acts 13:13-25) describes that Paul, accompanied with Barnabas and John Mark, has begun his first mission. However, John Mark “dropped out”, though it is not written why he left Paul and Barnabas. Perhaps, John Mark (Mark) was not spiritually mature enough to endure the mission journey far from home.

Without John Mark, Paul and Barnabas reached Antioch in Pisidia (not to be  confused with Antioch in Syria). It locates in the Roman province of Asia Minor.

There, Paul delivered his sermon on Jesus with extensive Old Testament background, first, to the Jews (Acts 13:15-41). Then on the following Sabbath, Paul and Barnabas spoke boldly of Jesus to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46-47).

In today’s portion of Paul’s sermon (Acts 13:15-25), Paul described how God had cared for the Israelites as His chosen, from their time in Egypt into Exodus, from the age of the judges to the age of kings, with focus on David. This is to remind that Jesus draws the Davidic line. Then, Paul also addressed how John the Baptist prepared the way for Jesus’ public ministry to launch.

We will read Paul’s sermon further in tomorrow’s First Reading (Acts 13:26-33).

Paul (Saul) was not one of the twelve, when Jesus spoke the words in today’s Gospel Reading (John 13:16-20). In fact, Paul was persecuting and killing those who followed the way of Jesus, like the thief to attack and destroy his sheep (John 10:10a) (Acts 8:1;9:1-2;22:20). However, it was Jesus, who converted the heart of Paul and transformed him into one of his disciples and made him an apostle (Acts 9:3-30;11:27-30; 12:25-13:12).

The question is: Do Paul’s audience accept him or reject him? In other words, do they accept Jesus, who sent Paul?

Remember, the Father in heaven sent His only begotten Son in the human flesh of Jesus, not only to save us, but also to make us servant leaders, exemplified by him, to be sent out as his apostles. That is why we are his one holy catholic (universal) apostolic Church.

Jesus Speaks What the Father Speaks: Function of the Father-Son Hypostatic Union - Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Paschaltide

Having read the Living Bread of Life Discourse (John 6:22-59) last week (Third Week of Paschaltide) and the Good Shepherd Discourse (John 10:1-18) from Sunday to Tuesday this week (Fourth Week of Paschaltide), we read John 12:44-50 on today, Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Paschaltide.

After reading and reflecting on various accounts on how the disciples reacted and came to terms with the Resurrection, the Paschaltide Gospel Readings bear Christological theme. In means that Paschaltide which goes from Resurrection Sunday to Pentecost Sunday is to reflect not only on the mystery of the Resurrection but who Christ really is. This is how we prepare to receive the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, as Christ, who had died and risen, is the Parakletos, the Advocate, (1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit is another Parakletos, another Advocate, (John 14:16). So, this is time to reflect on our Parakletos, the Advocate, who has died and risen, to prepare to receive another Parakletos, another Advocate.

It is also important to note that Jesus always speaks not only of the Father but also of us when he speaks of himself. In the Living Bread of Life Discourse, Jesus implicated that he is the Living Bread of Life to feed us with real food so that we may be resurrected and have eternal life, as willed by the Father. In the Good Shepherd Discourse, it is in the Father’s will that Jesus cares for us as the Good Shepherd even it means to lay down his life so that we may have life in abundance and our path to eternal life is not compromised. Again, this is all because of the Father’s will. It is, indeed, the Father, who sent Jesus, His begotten and beloved Son, as the incarnated Word in the human flesh of Jesus, to be with us as our Living Bread of Life to live within us and as our Good Shepherd to protect us and feed us not with grass but the Living Bread of Life, which is, in essence, both the Word and the Holy Spirit (John 6:63) for eternal life. This way, as in the Father’s will, Jesus the Son wants to live within us as we in him, just as the Father in him and he in Him.  The Father, who sent Jesus, is in him, as he is in the Father, as the Father and Jesus are one (John 10:30). And, the Father sent Jesus the Christ to us to extend this the Father-Son oneness to us. This is Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God, who has died and risen – who has been lifted up to save us for eternal life, according to the will of the Father.

With this in mind, we continue to read and reflect the rest of the Paschaltide Gospel Readings, including today’s.

Today’s Gospel Reading (John 12:44-50) is drawn from Jesus’ dialogue with those who stubbornly refused to believe, following Jesus’ public dialogue with crowd, shortly after he made the triumphal entry into Jerusalem, on his death and resurrection and ascension (John 12:20-36). In Jerusalem, the tension between Jesus and those who refused to believe grew more and more intense and become intensely hostile to him, resulting in the Crucifixion.

Jesus knew that people would not believe without signs (John 4:48). So, he performed seven great signs, according to John, and these are from John 2 to 11, known as the Book of Signs. However, even after performing these seven signs, there were people who did not believe and refused to believe (John 12:37), as prophesized in Isaiah 6:9-10.

So, Jesus cried out:

Whoever believes in me believes not only in me but also in the one who sent me (John 12:44).

It means that refusing to recognize Jesus as the Messiah (in Hebrew) (Christ in Greek) is also refusing to believe in God the Father. It is because the Father and Jesus are one (John 10:30; cf. 10:38).

And Jesus added:

..whoever sees me sees the one who sent me (John 12:45).

By the nature of the hypostatic union between the Father and the Son, the sender and the one sent (John 10:30), even God the Father is not visible to human eyes, believing in Jesus as His Son, the Messiah, enables us to see Him. Believing means seeing in the eyes of faith.

Here, Jesus uses “blindness” as a metaphoric figure of speech to imply disbelief or inability to see, as he did in John 9:39 to rebuke the Pharisees, who attacked the man, whose inherent blindness was cured by Jesus, because of his testimony to Jesus. This is why Jesus also cited Isaiah 6:9-10 in John 12:40.

Then, Jesus used the sense of hearing to further reiterate his message to those who do not believe:

And if anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day (John 12:47-48).

With this statement, Jesus reminds us that the Father did not send him to condemn the world – to condemn us (John 3:17), because God so loved the World, us (John 3:16) and is kind and rich in mercy (Psalm 103:8). Because of this, even if you do not keep the words of Jesus, you are not necessarily condemned, as long as you do not reject or refuse his words. It suggests that Jesus remains hopeful for conversion of such people as his words may prompt them to believe, as long as they hear (i.e. 2 Peter 3:9).

And, Jesus concluded his last public statement directly addressed to those who refused to believe with these words:

Because I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. So what I say, I say as the Father told me (John 12:49-50).

This statement reflects a very important Christological aspect of Jesus in his relation to the Father, which is hypostatic union (John 10:30; cf. 10:38). And it is that Jesus is all about the Father, who sent him. All Jesus speaks and does are not out of his own will but of the Father, who sent him to us. This includes laying down his life for us (John 10:17-18) on the Cross (Matthew 26:39//Mark 14:36//Luke 22:42).

In fact, Jesus’ words in John 12:47-50 reflect what he said during the Living Bread of Life Discourse:

Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me (John 6:37-38).

We are celebrating the Resurrection of the Son of God, sent by God the Father, who is in the hypostatic union with him, until Pentecost Sunday. He died as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us (John 10:11,14) , as well as the grain of wheat to fall in order to yield abundant harvest (John 12:24). And, he has risen – not only being lifted up on the Cross to die but also being lifted up from his tomb – listed up from the dead to draw us to him (John 12:32-33) so that we may be one body with Christ (1 Corinthians 12-28), one flock with one shepherd (John 10:16b). Being one with Jesus as one body, one flock, also means to be one with the Father (John 17:21), as he and the Father, who sent him, are one (John 10:30), as He in him and he in Him (John 10:38).

Upon Pentecost, we are to be sent out, filled with and empowered by the Holy Spirit. Because the Holy Spirit is another Parakletos (John 14:16), it means that we Jesus, the Parakletos (1 John 2:1), is in us and drives us from within so that we can expand the work of Jesus (John 14:12), which is the work of the Father in the world (John 5:17).

In today’s First Reading (Acts 12:24-13:5a), we see how the work of Jesus grew greater and greater, as the Church’s pastoral ministry, was about to be carried out on mission by Saul (Paul) and his partner, Barnabas, with his cousin, Mark, filled and driven by the Holy Spirit. This way, Christ the light (John 8:12; 12:46a), can shine on another sheep to be brought into one flock of the Good Shepherd (John 10:16).

It is to extend the Good News of the salvation further into the world, which has been plagued with the darkness of sin ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, with the hope that more people will listen to and learn from God to be drawn to Christ (John 6:45), and it also means to be drawn to the Father (John 6:44).

Do you listen to the Good Shepherd’s words everyday? He speaks to us daily through the Gospel Reading of the day, and more.  And, as we go on our mission, we help others listen and understand the Word of God in the Sacred Scripture, as Philip did to the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8:26-40).

The Good Shepherd and His Father are One - The Pastoral Benefits of the Good Shepherd Reaching Out to the Gentiles Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Paschaltide

 We have been reading from the Good Shepherd Discourse and its sequence this week: Sunday (John 10:11-18), Monday (John 10:1-10), and Tuesday (John 10:22-30), as this is the Week of Good Shepherd Sunday (Fourth Week of Paschaltide). Today’s Gospel Reading (John 10:22-30) is not from the Good Shepherd Discourse (John 10:1-18), as it is a description of another debate between Jesus and those who stubbornly refuse to believe. And it was during the eight-day feast of the Dedication (John 10:22), also known as Chanukah, which celebrate the rededication of the Temple, upon redeeming its spiritual properness from desecration committed by the Greeks.

Just as how some pious people accused Jesus for blasphemy and became hostile to him in response to his sign of healing a paralyzed man (John 5:1-47), the Pharisees called Jesus “sinner”, when a man who had been blind since his birth testified how Jesus made him see, after Jesus healed his blindness (John 9:1-24). And this man was castigated and labeled as “born in sin” and cast out of the faith community by the Pharisees for his testimony to Jesus (John 9:25-34).

 Then, Jesus found him as asked if he believes in the Son of Man, and he said “Yes” and began to worship (John 9:35-38). Upon this, Jesus said:

I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind (John 9:39).

This is to indicate that those who were blind but gain sight by Jesus are his sheep, while those who think to have sight but are actually blind are not, with an implication that the former are the sheep, while the latter are the goats, to be sorted at the judgement of eschaton (Matthew 25:31-33).

Those who see Jesus as the Christ, believing in him, and follow his way are his sheep. But, those who do not are the goats. The sheep that Jesus shepherds used to be blind and lived in sin. Upon their encounter with him, they converted and came to believe in him and began following his way as their eyes have been made open by him.

The Pharisees who called Jesus a sinner stubbornly refused to believe that Jesus was from God, just because he healed the blind on Sabbath.

This is what prompted Jesus to speak further the Christological truth about him so that those who were blind can be made to see the truth. And, he did it with a figure of speech (John 10:6), known as the Good Shepherd Discourse (John 10:1-18) to reveal who he is and to rebuke those who attack believers (sheep under Jesus’ care) because of their disbelief (blindness). In this discourse, Jesus also addressed his relationship with the believers as the relationship between the Good Shepherd and the sheep, who listen to and follow him. Jesus also described how he, as the sheep gate, and as the Good Shepherd, care for the sheep.

At first, Jesus identified himself as the sheep gate (John 10:7) to make sure only his sheep can come in and go out of his sheep pen. Then, Jesus identified himself as the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep (John 10:11, 14) to protect and ensure of their wellbeing.

In this discourse, Jesus also touched on false shepherds, as the hired hand”(John 10:12-13), in contrast to the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14). Jesus implied “hired hands”, as false shepherds, to the Pharisees for their hypocrisy. They are not good for the sheep. On the other hand, Jesus, the Good Shepherd maintains a good relationship with the sheep under his care, as he knows them and they know him, as intimately, as the Father knows him and he knows the Father (John 10:14-15).

And, Jesus also mentioned that he is going to make more disciples, saying that he has another sheep to bring into his sheep pen, and they will be in one Church with the Christ in her head, as well as the Cornerstone, as one flock with one shepherd (John 10:16).

Jesus being the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep is in the Father’s will, and for this reason the Father loves him (John 10:17). So, Jesus has the authority, given the Father, over his life and to lay it down, but nobody can take his life (John 10:18).

In response to this discourse of Jesus on the Good Shepherd, those who listened became divided (John 10:19) between those who do not believe and accuse Jesus as possessed by demon and insane  (John 10:20) and those who do not see Jesus as possessed because a man possessed by demon would not open blind man’s eyes (John 10:21).

Then, it was during the feast of the Dedication (Chanukah), Jesus encountered the those who refused to believe him. They gathered around him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly”(John 10:24).

Keeping the unbelievers in suspense?

What is the problem here?

It is their refusal to believe. The man whose blindness was healed by Jesus did not feel kept in suspense.  Those who came to believe did not.  And Jesus reminded them that he had already explained (John 10:25), including through the Good Shepherd Discourse (John 10:1-18), but they just do not believe. When Jesus reminded that he had already explained (John 10:25), he probably meant not only the Good Shepherd Discourse (John 10:1-10) but also when they confronted his work of healing a paralyzed man (John 5:10-47), and through debating with them (John 7:14-31,40-52; 8:12-59).

So, once again, Jesus reminded, again, that his work (sign that he performs) is conducted in the Father’s name to bear witness (John 10:25b), reflecting John 10:17-18, and they were unable to believe because they are not the sheep of Jesus (John 10:26; cf. 10:6).  Jesus had reminded that he healed the paralyzed man as work of the Father (John 5:17-47)  and that he works as the ambassador of the Father (John 8:31-59).

Basically, Jesus has been saying that his work – sign that he performs – is not out of his will but the Father’s, because he was sent by the Father to do his work on us as His ambassador.

So, Jesus reminded that he is the Good Shepherd sent by the Father and spoke of his sheep and how he takes care of them, again:

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand (John 10:27-28).

In this, Jesus reiterates what he said in John 10:3, 9-11,14-15.

Jesus came to give his sheep life in abundance (John 10:10), and it means that he gives them eternal life (John 10:28). Given he said of himself in John 6:51, Jesus the Good Shepherd can feed his sheep with the Living Bread of Life so that they may have eternal life.  Of course, by saying that he will make his  sheep imperishable for eternal life (John 10:28), Jesus is referencing it to the resurrection of them (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:42, 53).

Upon speaking of himself and his sheep (John 10:27-28), then, Jesus spoke of himself and the Father:

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father’s hand. The Father and I are one  (John 10:29-30).

Remember, Jesus came to the world, because the Father sent him out of His love for us (John 3:16). Because of this, he did works in His name.

Because Jesus and the Father are one (John 10:30), the sheep of the Father are also his sheep. Because they are the Father’s sheep, Jesus makes sure that nobody can take them out of the Father’s hand as the sheep gate (John 10:7), as well as the Good Shepherd, who lays down his life to save them as in the Father’s will (John 10:11, 14-15, 17-18).

We are the Father’s sheep, as well as the sheep of the Good Shepherd, Jesus. And, our Good Shepherd leads us to eternal life all in the Father’s name and will. Furthermore, our Good Shepherd and the Father are one, meaning that he is consubstantial with the Father – he is in hypostatic union with the Father in the Trinitarian context. So, we can see where we are to the Trinity.

God is so good to us to lead us to Him through the Good Shepherd!

Peter had taken up the role of the Good Shepherd, on behalf of Jesus (cf. Matthew 16:16-20; John 21:15-19) upon Pentecost, filled and empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit so that work of the Father carried out by Jesus continues on to bring another sheep (John 10:16). And God instructed Peter to bring more of another sheep among the Gentiles, not just the Jews in his dream (Acts 10:9-16). So, Peter reached out to Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and his family, and baptized them as another sheep to be brought in (Acts 10:24-49). This was also the beginning of the Church to reach out to the Gentiles. Though giving the Good Shepherd’s benefits to the Gentiles was questioned by some Jewish followers of Jesus, Peter explained its reason as God’s will (Acts 11:1-18).

In today’s First Reading (Acts 11:19-26), we can see how more and more Gentiles were brought into the sheep pen of the Good Shepherds by apostles, associates of the representative of the Good Shepherd. So, Barnabas, filled with the Holy Spirit, shepherded the Gentile sheep in Antioch, upon Cypriots and Cyrenians set the stage by their evangelization to the Gentiles there. Barnabas also brought Saul (Paul), who died to the sin of persecuting Christians and to live to Christ (cf. Romans 6:11), to Antioch.

This is just one aspect to see how the nascent Church, which was the growing sheep pen of Jesus, by bringing the Gentiles, another sheep to be one with those who had already been in.  

Sheep Gate, Good Shepherd, and Sheep Pen for Gentiles

Jesus the Good Shepherd, the Sheep Gate, is not just for the Jews. As God commanded Peter, it was time for the Church, as the sheep pen of the Good Shepherd, to let its sheep gate open for what Jesus called "another sheep"(John 10:16) to be brought in. So, Peter, the first representative of the Good Shepherd, reached out to Cornelius, a Roman centurion with kind heart and sense of justice, to bring Gentile sheep in.

                                                                        *****

Today’s Gospel Reading (John 10:1-10) is the narrative precedes the Gospel Reading of yesterday, Fourth Sunday of Paschaltide, also known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Because this is on Cycle B, the reading was drawn from John 10:11-18.

From the Sunday Gospel Reading (John 10:11-18), we know that Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who willingly lays down his life for the sheep under his care – to protect. He explained that this is in the will of the Father. And, He loves him as he is obedient to this will of the Father to lay down his life for the sheep. Jesus refers “laying down his life for his sheep” to his death on the Cross for our redemption and salvation. And this is the will of the Father (Matthew 26:39// Mark 14:36//Luke 22:42).

Basically, in John 10:11-18, Jesus tells that he is sent by the Father to care for His sheep and serves as the protecting shield for the sheep through self-sacrifice.  This is what Jesus meant by saying, “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”(John 10:11), in case thieves and robbers breaking in the sheep pen to attack or snatch the sheep for not listening to the Good Shepherd (John 10:1, 8). Given Exodus 12:3-7,12-13, the Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, shedding his blood, along with water, (John 19:34), as the Pesach (Passover) Korban (Sacrifice), to protect those who listen to God through Moses, while God’s wrath passes over. Thus, Jesus the Good Shepherd lays down his life on the Cross, as Pesach Korban, and Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)(John 1:29; cf. Revelation 7:14).

Through the blood of the Good Shepherd, as lays down his life, his sheep are shielded. Therefore, it is the blood of Pesach Korban (Exodus 12:3-7, 12-13) as well as, the blood of the Lamb to save (Revelation 7:14). This is why Jesus is our Parakletos (Advocate)(1 John 2:1), and the Holy Spirit is another Parakletos (another Advocate) (John 14:16). And, the Holy Spirit is an integral part of the armor of God to protect us (Ephesians 6:10-18). And, the Good Shepherd is, after all, the Divine Mercy, as the way he protects us by laying down his life, shedding his blood, along with water (John 19:34), reflects these words of Jesus the Divine Mercy:

The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls...

These two rays issued forth from the very depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.

These rays shield souls from the wrath of My Father. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him. I desire that the first Sunday after Easter be the Feast of Mercy.   Diary of St. Maria Faustina, #299

In today’s Gospel Reading (John 10:1-10), Jesus identifies himself as the sheep gate (John 10:7).

Jesus also said that he is the Good Shepherd (John 10:11, 14).

So, what is Jesus, the sheep gate or the Good Shepherd?

Actually, there is no need to debate on this, because Jesus is the sheep gate as he needs to be so. Likewise, he is the Good Shepherd as he needs to be so.  In terms of the Christological truth of Jesus, there is no place for dualism – “either-or” thinking.

An important question is what it means that Jesus is the sheep gate – what did Jesus mean by saying:

I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved, and will come in and go out and find pasture (John 10:9).

By being the gate, Jesus is the entrance to his sheep pen. As the gate, Jesus controls opening and closing so that only his sheep can come and go through it. Those do not belong to his sheep pen are shut out. That is why Jesus has the keys to the Kingdom, as the sheep pen points to the Kingdom. When Peter identified Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of Living God, Jesus gave the keys of the gate to him (Matthew 16:16-19).

As the sheep gate, Jesus let only his sheep in and out with his keys. But, if the sheep are attacked upon being deceived or tempted by thieves or robbers, because they did not listen to him, Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, defends them and brings snatched ones back. For this, he has already laid down his life.  And, now he has been risen. Thus, nobody and nothing can take his life away, and he now has the authority, given by the Father, to lay it down again, if it is in the Father’s will.

As the sheep gate, and as the Good Shepherd, Jesus is all about defending us and saving us, besides nurturing us with the Living Bread of Life (John 6:51), which is also the Word and the Holy Spirit (John 6:63). That is why Jesus is Parakletos (Adovocate) (1 John 2:1) and, as so said to St. Faustina, he is the Divine Mercy, as well.

To nurture us, Jesus came to let us have life in abundance (John 10:10), feeding us with himself, the Living Bread of Life, so that we may have eternal life (John 6:51).

Let us also keep in mind that this sheep gate (John 10:7) is rather narrow and small (Matthew 7:13-14). The path that leads to the small gate of the Kingdom is narrow (Matthew 7:14). And this path itself is also Jesus, as well (John 14:6).

The First Reading today (Acts 11:1-18) describes Peter explaining to Jews who became followers of Jesus why he and six other disciples were mingling with the Gentiles in the house of a Roman centurion, as they found it unbelievable that Peter did such a thing. It sounded as if violating Deuteronomy 14:21.

In juxtaposing Acts 11:4-17 to Acts 10:9-48, you see that Peter entered the house of Cornelius, a Roman centurion, and even baptized him and his family, not out of his whim but because of God’s command.

God commanded to go beyond what was understood about the Torah restriction in their association with the Gentiles, as well as, the dietary issues. The Jews considered that many of foods of the Gentiles were not kosher. But, if God tells it is OK to eat as the Gentiles eat, then, what can you do?

So, Peter did not protest God’s command to reach out to the Gentiles, Cornelius and his family, as well as his Roman friends and so forth, in his house. And God wanted Peter to eat with them what they eat and minister to them.

This is a new breakthrough to the nascent Church.  God commanded Peter to open up the Church also to faithful Gentiles, without any discrimination, as Gentiles like Cornelius are, after all, what Jesus called another sheep to be brought into his sheep pen (John 10:16). And, God had already directed Peter, who was commissioned by Jesus to do the Good Shepherd’s work (John 21:15-19), to shepherd the qualified Gentiles. God let the sheep gate open to Gentiles like Cornelius through Peter.

The Sheep Cared by the Good Shepherd Are the Beloved Children of God: Fourth Sunday of Paschaltide – Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle B

 In today’s Scripture Readings (Acts 4:8-12; Psalm 118:1, 8-9, 21-23, 26, 28, 29; 1 John 3:1-2; John 10:11-18), it is important to see how Jesus the Good Shepherd cares for his sheep in his sheep pen, and how the sheep in his original sheep pen has been protected by the Good Shepherd and his appointed successor, Peter, in the context of the nascent Church’s growth. Also, it is important to see Jesus not only as the Good Shepherd to his flock of sheep but also the Cornerstone of the Church.

Upon Pentecost, the sheep in Jesus’ sheep pen have become the Church, pastored by Peter. We see this in the Acts of the Apostles. And, the sheep under the care of the Good Shepherd and his appointed successor, are beloved children of God, those who make up the Church.

                                                   *****

Today, Fourth Sunday of Paschaltide, is known as Good Shepherd Sunday. Having read Jesus’ discourse of the Living Bread of Life and what the discourse entailed  (John 6:22-69) from Monday through Saturday of the previous week, the Third Week of Paschaltie, we read from Jesus’ Good Shepherd Discourse and Jesus’ response to unbelievers on the Fourth Sunday (John 10:1-10 on Cycle A; John 10:11-18 on Cycle B; John 10:27-30 on Cycle C) and continue to read from the Good Shepherd Discourse on Monday (John 10:11-18) and Tuesday (John 10:22-30) of this week.

Besides Jesus, whom we continue to celebrate his glorious Resurrection through Paschaltide, is the Living Bread of Life for our resurrection and eternal life (John 6:51) but also the Good Shepherd for us (John 10:11, 14).

First, we need to understand why Jesus gave the discourse on the Good Shepherd, in which he made his Christological identification as the Good Shepherd.

This discourse is a response to unbelievers, who were blind to the salvific truth in Jesus’ sixth sing, healing a man born blind (John 9:1-7), and accused Jesus for performing this sign (John 9:13-41). Basically, it is to give a lesson to those who do not believe because of their blindness to the truth in Jesus that they are not the kind of sheep in his fold of sheep because they refuse to listen to him. So, there is a parallel between being blind to the truth in Jesus and being deaf to the truth in Jesus’ spoken words.

Remember what Jesus said in his Living Bread of Life discourse, citing Isaiah 54:13?

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draw him (to me), and I will raise him on the last day. It is written in the prophets: They shall all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to my Father and learns from him comes to me (John 6:44-45).

And Jesus implicated that this is how those whose receive the Law not on the stone tablets but in their hearts open to God’s teaching (Jeremiah 31:33-34).

Those whose eyes are bling and those whose ears are deaf to the truth in Jesus and in his Christological teaching, such as in his Living Bread of Life discourse and Good Shepherd Discourse, are the kind of sheep that reject the Good Shepherd, who is Jesus, as they are not really sent by the Father to him.

In response to the sixth sign in healing a man born blind (John 9:1-8), those who failed to believe in Jesus were implicated as truly bling by Jesus (John 9:35-41). Then, Jesus went on to start his discourse on the Good Shepherd and his flock (John 10:1-21). In the first part, which is read on Good Shepherd Sunday, Cycle A, John 10:1-10, Jesus first identifies as the sheep gate through which the sheep that he saves enter so that they may have life in full (John 10:7-10). And Jesus also said thieves and robbers do not enter the sheep pen though the sheep gate, while the shepherd enters by the gate (John 10:1-2), indicating that those religious leaders, the Pharisees, who reject Jesus and his teaching in his sign and words (John 9:13-41) are equivalent to the thieves and robbers, reflecting false shepherds (i.e. Jeremiah 23:1-4; Zechariah 11:17;13: 7-9).

So, Jesus proclaims that he is the true shepherd, unlike false shepherds who do more harm to God’s sheep. In fact, the man born blind, who was healed by Jesus, was denigrated by these false shepherd, the Pharisees, for giving a testimony of Jesus, believing that Jesus is a prophet (John 9:17) from God (John 9:33) (John 9:34). They are not only equivalent to thieves and robbers who do not enter through the gate (John 10:1) but also those of  hired hand, who does not care for the sheep (John 10:12). In contrast, Jesus is the Good Shepherd, who truly cares the sheep under his care, to the point of laying down his life for them (John 10:11, 14-15, 18). And, the sheep under Jesus’ pastoral care are those who have been brought to him by God for listening to and learning from Him (John 6:44-45; cf. John 10:29).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, also knows the sheep under his care, and they also know him (John 10:14), as the Father knows him, and he knows the Father, so that he will lay down his life for them (John 10:15), as so commanded by the Father, to make sure that none of his sheep will be taken away from him (John 10:18). This reflects Jesus’ statement to express the Father’s will that everyone who is not blind to Jesus, those who can see Jesus and believes in him as the Son of God will have eternal life and raised on the last day, for eating the Bread of Life in John 6:40. This is also why Jesus said that he have come so that his sheep may have life in abundance, as they are protected from those who break in and try to destroy or snatch sheep (John 10:10). For this, he lays down his life (John 10:11, 15, 1, 18).

The sheep brought to Jesus, the Good Shepherd who lays down life for them, by the Father (John 10:29a), are already in his fold. This means that they are those who believe in him and know him (John 10:14) and listen to and follow him (John 10:27), as they are in essence, those who have been drawn to Jesus, listening to and learning from God (John 6:44-45; cf. John 10:29a). For them, Jesus lays down his life – offers himself as the salvific sacrifice. And this also validates the Living Bread of Life, as his living flesh with blood, to be consumed for resurrection and eternal life (John 6:29-59). This way, the sheep under the Good Shepherd’s care receive eternal life from him (John 10:28). The sheep under Jesus’ care are fed with the Living Bread of Life, which is, in essence, the Holy Spirit, as well as the Word of God, the life from God (John 6:63).

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, also said that he has other sheep that are not yet in his pen to be brought in (John 10:16). They are like Nicodemus, who came to Jesus to learn the truth (John 3:1-21), the Samaritan woman by the Jacob’s well (John 4:1-26,39-42), the Roman centurion, who exclaimed Jesus on the Cross as the Son of God (Matthew 27:54), the thief crucified next Jesus, asking him to remember him in the Kingdom (Luke 23:40-43).  They can be even like Paul, who used to be more like a false shepherd and robber, but converted directly by God’s power and brought in the Good Shepherd’s pen to serve (Acts 9:1-20). Or, they can be like a pagan woman, who impressed Jesus for her faith (Matthew 15:21-28). This set of sheep are those who do not know Jesus yet but to know him as Jesus continues to teach with his Word of Life (John 6:63) and as the apostles are sent out to make disciples in all nations (Matthew 28:19). In fact, his sheep pen – sheep fold points to the Church, for which Jesus is the cornerstone (Psalm 118:22).

Today’s Second Reading (1 John 3:1-2) describes that the sheep of God, under the pastoral care of Jesus, the Son, the Good Shepherd, are, indeed, the beloved children of God. And, there are more to be revealed about this truth, as well as the truth in our Good Shepherd, as well as, the Living Bread of Life, Jesus.

We know Jesus through our faith, because we can see him in his Christological truth, as our Good Shepherd, and he knows each of us, just as he knows the Father, and the Father knows him as His beloved Son (John 10:14, 17a; cf. Matthew 3:17; 17:5). And this reflection of intimacy between Jesus and his sheep, those who believe in and see, listen to, and follow him, is comparable to the intimacy between the Father and the Son, implicates the union in Jesus’ desire (John 14:20). And with other sheep being brought in, the growing one flock (John 10:16) will become one Church of unity, envisioned in John 17:21.

In today’s First Reading (Acts 4:8-12), Peter, who was commissioned to represent Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 21:15-19; cf. Matthew 16:17-19), defends the truth of the Good Shepherd and his pastoral ministry against the thieves and robbers, who attack Jesus’ sheep in his pen, the Church.  And, it was enabled by the Holy Spirit, filling and empowering Peter. This way, even Jesus, the Good Shepherd, has ascended, the sheep are kept safe and more of other sheep are brought in, as the Church continues to grow.

Jesus is now the eternal Good Shepherd, upon having laid down his life to save us on the Cross and having risen and having ascended. And nobody can take his life away, but he is willing to lay it down (John 10:18) through the shepherd, to whom he gave the keys of the Kingdom, and his successors and associates. 

Jesus’ Discourse of the Living Bread of Life is Not About Cannibalism but About Eternal Life, Having Jesus Living in Us – Saturday of the Third Week of Paschaltide

Today’s Gospel Reading (John 6:60-69) describes how the audience of Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread of Life (John 6:22-59) reacted. And it was not good, indicating their inability to accept the Christological and soteriological truth in the discourse.

We have been reading the Living of Bread Discourse since this Monday on to attain resurrection and eternal life, to have Jesus living in us.

In his Living Bread of Life discourse (John 6:22-59), Jesus takes his audience progressively deeper in his Christological truth pertinent to the salvific benefits of resurrection and eternal life, describing himself as the Living Bread of Life from heaven, sent by the Father in heaven. And, Jesus implicates that eating this Living Bread of Life means eating the living flesh (σάρξ /sarx) of him. An emphasis should be on “living”.

Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς  (John 6:35, 48).

Ἐγώ εἰμι ὁ ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν (John 6:51).

An action adjective, ζῶν (zon), living (v. 51), is more powerful than this form of possessive noun, τῆς ζωῆς (tes zoes) of life (v. 35, 48). First, Jesus introduced himself as ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς  (atros tes zoes), bread of life, in John 6:35, 48. Then, he emphasized that this bread of life is living by describing ἄρτος τῆς ζωῆς  (atros tes zoes) further as ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν(atros ho zon), living bread (of life) in John 6:51. So, Jesus is not just baked bread from heaven but the only living bread that gives us eternal life as it leads to our resurrection, if you are drawn to Jesus through listening to and learning from God. That is why God has said, as cited by Jesus, that we cannot live with bread alone as we do need what comes out of His mouth, including His Living Word of Life in teaching (Deuteronomy 8:13; Matthew 4:4//Luke 4:4).

Therefore, to take what he said and taught from John 6:31-51 further deeper, as he made it clear that the Living Bread of Life is, in essence, his own flesh to be eaten to have eternal life (John 6:51), Jesus said:

Amen, amen, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my flesh is true flood, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me (John 6:53-57).

And, Jesus distinguished how his Living Bread of Life, which he is, is from the manna, though both of them are from heaven (John 6:58), reiterating what he said in John 6:31-33.

Today’s Gospel Reading (John 6:60-69) describes and reflect how the audience of Jesus’ discourse on the Living Bread of Life (John 6:29-59) reacted, after showing some doubts (John 6:41-42, 52).

So, John writes that even many of Jesus’ disciples found their master’s teaching on the Living Bread of Life is too hard to accept (skleros) (John 6:60). Knowing this, Jesus confronted them with these words:

Does this shock you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? (John 6:61-62)

Jesus is so blunt to challenge his audience’s inability to appreciate and accept his teaching on the Christological truth, leading to the Sacrament of the Eucharist, as the above statement is like telling, “If this teaching on resurrection and eternal life through the Living Bread of Life, my flesh to be eaten, bothers you, then, how can you see me in glory of ascension? Get over it!”. Jesus is sending a powerful message – it’s either you accept it and get it over with discomfort or never enjoy eternal life! Jesus was not naïve to say, “Oh, I’m sorry to have made you so uncomfortable. Yes, it was disgusting that I said ‘eat my flesh’”.

Jesus does not “sugarcoat” the truth in his teaching. It is up to the audience whether to accept it or reject it. This way, Jesus only keeps those whose hearts are genuinely for him and the truth in him. This is how Jesus challenges and tests those who follow him. Jesus only keeps the best. Remember, how this discourse on the Living Bread of Life started. It was to confront the motive of the crowd that kept chasing him after being fed by his fourth sign by multiplying five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15, 26). He gave this discourse on how the Living Bread of Life leads to resurrection and eternal life to test if the crowd can accept the true food that endures for eternal life or only want to fill their stomach with perishable food (John 6:27). So, Jesus was testing also his own disciples if their motive is more carnal or spiritual to follow him.

Thus, Jesus said:

It is the Spirit that gives lie, while the flesh is of no avail. The words I have spoken to you are Spirit and life (John 6:63).

This is the bottom line of Jesus’ Living Bread of Life discourse for resurrection and eternal life (John 6:29-59). Jesus wants us to focus on the Holy Spirit, the essence of life for eternal life in him, in his living flesh (σάρξ /sarx) (John 6:51, 52, 53, 54, 63), which is in the species of the Living Bread of Life (ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν/ atros ho zon)(John 6:51). In John 6:63, σάρξ /sarx, is used not of Jesus to be eaten but of ours.

Jesus’ statement in John 6:63 echoes Deuteronomy 8:3. Therefore, it is like saying that we cannot live a life according to what our flesh dictates as we cannot live with bread (ἄρτος /artos - mere complex carbohydrates) alone, because we need what comes out of the mouth of God, including the kerygma, words spoken by Jesus, as these are, in essence, the Holy Spirit, the life-giving breath of life (Genesis 2:7; John 20:22). And, we can receive the Holy Spirit for eternal life by eating ἄρτος ὁ ζῶν(atros ho zon), the Living Bread of Life (John 6:51), which is, in essence, eating the σάρξ /sarx, the living flesh of Jesus (John 6:51, 52, 53, 54), not κρέας/kreas, slaughtered dead meat/flesh. This is the Christological and salvific truth in him that Jesus wanted his audience, including his own disciples, to accept through this discourse (John 6:29-59). And, for them to accept, it is by their own typical human motive of flesh but only by God’s guidance upon listening to and learning from Him, that they come to and follow Jesus (John 6:64-65), reflecting what he said in John 6:36-40, 44-45.

Did Jesus’ audience accept the truth in his discourse, upon more explanation and testing of their motive?

No, except for Peter and the rest of the twelve original disciples, as Peter responded with these words:

Master, to whom shall we do? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God (John 6:69).

The above statement of Peter seems on target, as it indicates his acceptance of the hard-to-accept truth in his discourse.

However, the rest of the audience, including other disciples of Jesus and the crowd benefitted by Jesus’ fourth sign no longer followed him as they abandoned him because the truth in his teaching of “eat my flesh”(John 6:51,53, 54, 55, 56) was too hard to accept and disgusting. They failed to accept, and therefore, departed themselves salvation, because they could not think beyond what flesh dictates – because they could not think of Jesus outside the cognitive box that their human minds crafted.

                                                             *****

The problem with his audience, including his disciples and the crowd that chased Jesus out of their expectation to be fed again with bread after being fed through his fourth sign of multiplying five loaves and two fish (John 6:1-15, 26), was that they misinterpreted and misunderstood what Jesus meant by “eat my flesh”(John 6:51,53, 54, 55, 56). They thought that Jesus was promoting cannibalism, resulting in violation of the prohibition of eating meat containing blood (Deuteronomy 12:23). But, does Jesus’ teaching to eat his living flesh, which is with his blood, as blood signifies life (Leviticus 17:11; Deuteronomy 12:23), violate the Torah in Deuteronomy 12:23? Jesus also taught to drink his blood (John 6:53-56). Does this violate Deuteronomy 12:24, which prohibits to consume blood?

Perhaps, those who abandoned Jesus after his Bread of Life discourse had thought so.

What about you?

If you approach what Jesus teaches, his words, according to what your own flesh dictates and according to how your human minds recognizes, then, you would agree with those who left Jesus. But, if you always listen to God and learn from Him, in your practice of faith, you are naturally drawn to Jesus, not because of what your flesh craves or and what your human mind thinks as good (John 6:45). Then, you can accept the truth in Jesus’ teaching of “eat my flesh” and “drink my blood”, not as violation of Deuteronomy 12:23-24.

If you want to defend Jesus’ teaching of “eat my flesh” against the accusation of cannibalism, I invite you to focus on Jesus’ desire to be in us, and us in him, explicitly expressed in  John 6:56 (cf. John 14:20; 15:4, 7; 17:21). Jesus invites us to eat his flesh and drink his blood, which is a physical form of his eternal life, a species of the Holy Spirit (John 6:63), all in the Living Bread of Life that he is (John 6:51), so that he can enter innermost part of us and live deep within us, as we are in him. Given John 14:20; 15:4, 7; 17:21 in his Last Supper farewell discourse, this is Jesus’ desire to be one with us. Remember, we are eating the flesh of Jesus as the source of real life, which is eternal life. Therefore, Jesus’s flesh must remain living (sarx), never dead meat (kreas). In cannibalism, even you eat a piece of sarx, living flesh, it cannot remain alive as it is bitten into pieces by your teeth and goes through your digestive system. This is physiology, a thinking of flesh, a paradigm of human mind. But, Jesus teaches us that he continues to live within us even after his living flesh is eaten by us. If we have “dead Jesus” in us, it would not sustain us to resurrection and eternal life. Jesus will never will never die again because he has conquered death as he already died and was raised from the dead and ascended, so that the Holy Spirit is readily available for his living flesh and blood for us to have eternal life, in the species of the Living Bread of Life, which is further leading to Corporis et Sanguinis Christi (the Body and the Blood of Christ), namely the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. 

Therefore, we can reject the accusation that Jesus taught cannibalism, in violation of Deuteronomy 12:23-24.

Hang on to this Christological truth from Jesus’ Living Bread of Life Discourse that we have been reading since Monday of the Third Week of Paschaltide for the rest of your life. And, you will revisit this truth and reflect on it again on Corpus Christi Sunday, which comes after Trinity Sunday, which follows Pentecost Sunday.

Now, as to today’s First Reading (Acts 9:31-42).

When Saul (Paul) went through conversion and was baptized, the Church had already grown out of Jerusalem and founded in all over Judea, Samaria, and Galilee. With Paul brought into the Church as God’s instrument, specifically to reach out to the Gentiles, the Church was expected grow further throughout the Greco-Roman world.

The growing Church walked in fear of the Lord but not in fear of her persecutors. The Church enjoyed inner peace, though the world around her was hostile to her, as it was so to Jesus. She was able to maintain inner peace and continue to grow because the Holy Spirit provided her with consolation.

Peter’s amazing healing act for Aeneas in Lydda and astonishing act of raising Tabitha from the dead in Joppa brought more people to the Church.

Works of Jesus by the apostles and deacons continue to draw more and more people to Jesus and to his Church.

This is all because Jesus remains living within Peter and the rest of the apostles and deacons, like Philip. Yes, he also remains living in Stephen, who was killed, as he is ready to be resurrected. Jesus continued to live within them as they are filled with the Holy Spirit, enabled to continue to build the Church by doing works of Jesus, teaching on him and his truth in the Word and healing the sick and even raising the dead. This is a proof that the apostles and the deacons have Jesus living within because they eat his flesh and drink his blood constantly so that the Holy Spirit continues to be poured in, beyond Pentecost, given Jesus’ Living Bread of Life discourse (John 6:29-59) and his supplementary explanation (John 6:61-65).