Commentary
The
Words of Eternal Life
For
five weeks now we have listened to almost the whole Chapter 6 from
the Gospel According to John.
The
disciples have been present since the beginning of this chapter.
Each of them must have had his own beginning in his following of
Jesus. Nevertheless, they all have witnessed the power of Jesus as
he multiplied the five loaves and two fish to feed the five thousand
people. They also saw him walking on the sea (though we did not
listen to this portion of Chapter 6).
Many
may have followed Jesus because they have seen the signs he
performed. But in John's understanding, the faith based on seeing
signs is weak and superficial.
Earlier
in this chapter, it was the crowd, then “the Jews” (referring to
those Jews who opposed Jesus) who had a hard time accepting Jesus'
words.
Now,
it is some of the disciples who find Jesus' saying “hard,” and
they no longer accompany him.
Peter
and the Twelve, on the contrary, recognize Jesus' words are “the
words of eternal life.”
These
opposite reactions to Jesus' words bring us back to the words in the
Prologue of John's Gospel, “to those who did accept him he gave
power to become children of God, to those who believe in his name.”
(1:12)
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