Lectionary #122
Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Ephesians 5: 21-32
John 6: 60-69
We see in the first reading and the Gospel reading, people being asked to make a choice; to step over the line; to cross the Rubicon; to fish or cut bait…you get the idea. What we have are groups of people being asked to make a life changing decision.
In the Book of Joshua, we see God giving the people of Israel an opportunity to get out of the covenant they first entered into with God at Mount Sinai. God, who freed the Israelites from the Egyptians; who guided and sustained them through the desert; who protected them from their enemies; is giving them a do over. God does not want to coerce a commitment from Israel; he wants them to accept his way freely. They can be like other people in the land of Canaan, trying to control their lives through worshipping little idols. Or, they can be transformed into God’s unique people, with all the glory and challenges that transformation will bring. The people chose to “serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
In today’s Gospel, we are at the end of the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus has announced that he is the bread of life, that his flesh and his blood is true food and true drink. Anyone who feed on him will receive life eternal. His disciples, his followers hear this and do not know what to make of it. Some must have thought that Jesus was a crazy person. Others heard this teaching, and could not understand its meaning. Others must have heard the words, and understood them, but were afraid to accept them. For to accept the meaning of his words, is to be open to a radical transformation. The disciples could not make that choice, so they left Jesus, all but the Twelve. Peter, speaking for them all, has made the decision to continue to follow Jesus, because he has “the words of eternal life.” In making that choice, the lives of the Apostles are forever changed.
Every Sunday, we hear the Word of Lord, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But are we letting ourselves be transformed, are we saying yes to Christ by entering into his life and letting him enter into us. Every day, we make that decision anew to serve the Lord by serving others, to love the Lord by loving others, by being people of hope.
Joshua 24: 1-2a, 15-17, 18b
Ephesians 5: 21-32
John 6: 60-69
We see in the first reading and the Gospel reading, people being asked to make a choice; to step over the line; to cross the Rubicon; to fish or cut bait…you get the idea. What we have are groups of people being asked to make a life changing decision.
In the Book of Joshua, we see God giving the people of Israel an opportunity to get out of the covenant they first entered into with God at Mount Sinai. God, who freed the Israelites from the Egyptians; who guided and sustained them through the desert; who protected them from their enemies; is giving them a do over. God does not want to coerce a commitment from Israel; he wants them to accept his way freely. They can be like other people in the land of Canaan, trying to control their lives through worshipping little idols. Or, they can be transformed into God’s unique people, with all the glory and challenges that transformation will bring. The people chose to “serve the Lord, for he is our God.”
In today’s Gospel, we are at the end of the Bread of Life discourse, Jesus has announced that he is the bread of life, that his flesh and his blood is true food and true drink. Anyone who feed on him will receive life eternal. His disciples, his followers hear this and do not know what to make of it. Some must have thought that Jesus was a crazy person. Others heard this teaching, and could not understand its meaning. Others must have heard the words, and understood them, but were afraid to accept them. For to accept the meaning of his words, is to be open to a radical transformation. The disciples could not make that choice, so they left Jesus, all but the Twelve. Peter, speaking for them all, has made the decision to continue to follow Jesus, because he has “the words of eternal life.” In making that choice, the lives of the Apostles are forever changed.
Every Sunday, we hear the Word of Lord, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and receive the Body and Blood of Christ. But are we letting ourselves be transformed, are we saying yes to Christ by entering into his life and letting him enter into us. Every day, we make that decision anew to serve the Lord by serving others, to love the Lord by loving others, by being people of hope.
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