Live in the Spirit that Gives Life

Imagine, for a moment, that you are a disciple of Jesus back in the day when Jesus lived on this earth.

Imagine that you first heard Jesus speak and saw him healing people somewhere in your home land of Galilee, perhaps somewhere along the shores of the Sea of Galilee.

Imagine you were so captivated and intrigued by what Jesus said and by what he did that you began to follow him wherever he went.

Imagine you were there, with Jesus, when he fed the 5000 men plus women and children with 5 barley loaves of bread and 2 fish on the other side of the Sea of Galilee, in the land of the Gentiles; and there was plenty for everyone at that feast, with 12 baskets of food left over.

Then you go in the boats with the other disciples back across the Sea of Galilee to your home land where you found Jesus, again surrounded by crowds of people and teaching again about the food that endures for eternal life; the bread that comes down from heaven; of which Jesus says “I am the bread of life”.

And you are there with the other disciples and the crowds of people, as Jesus continues to preach that he is the bread of life that comes down from heaven, and that “Whoever eats of this bread will live forever” for the bread that Jesus gives for the life of the world is his flesh.

Perhaps you were one of the Jewish people who complained among themselves, that day in the synagogue in Capernaum, when Jesus said that he gives his flesh to them to eat and that whoever eats this bread – that is, this flesh of Jesus – will live forever.

Then Jesus gets even more specific when he tells the disciples and the people in the synagogue that “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them…whoever eats me will live because of me.”

Perhaps you were one of the disciples who, when you heard these words from Jesus, said “This teaching is difficult; it’s too hard; who can accept it?”.

No doubt if you were one of Jesus’ disciples in the synagogue that day you too would be offended – that is to say, shocked and confused – to hear Jesus say one must eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood to remain in him and live.

No doubt if you were one of Jesus’ disciples in the synagogue that day you too would say “This teaching is difficult; it’s too hard; who can accept it?”.

If you were one of Jesus’ disciples in the synagogue that day you were, of course, Jewish and you surely would know the words of scripture found in the Torah, the law of God that was revealed by God to the prophet Moses, given to instruct the Jewish people on how they are to live in relationship with God. You would know that the Torah prohibits the drinking of blood.

We hear of this prohibition in the book of Leviticus, in these words that the Lord spoke to Moses:“If anyone of the house of Israel or of the aliens who reside among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut that person off from the people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you for making atonement for your lives on the altar, for, as life, it is the blood that makes atonement.” (17:10-11).

And, again, we hear of this prohibition in the book of Deuteronomy, as Moses is instructing the Israelites on the commandments that God has given them to follow, to live in a different way, as they prepare to cross the Jordan into the promised land. Moses says to them “Only be sure that you do not eat the blood, for the blood is the life, and you shall not eat the life with the meat.” (12:23).

For the life is in the blood.

No wonder Jesus’ disciples in the synagogue that day were offended, shocked and confused. Jesus was telling them to do something that was prohibited by the Torah.

Jesus was telling his disciples to live in a new way; to live in a different way than their tradition and scripture and culture had taught them. Jesus was telling them to live in the way of the spirit that gives life through the body and blood and water and Word of God.

No wonder the disciples said “This teaching is difficult; it’s too hard; who can accept it?”

No wonder many of the disciples turned back and no longer followed Jesus wherever he went. Giving up their old ways of living and thinking and believing was just too hard for them.

Those of us who follow Jesus today – those of us who strive to live as his disciples – know how hard it is to follow Jesus’ teaching and live in a new way; to live in a different way than our tradition or culture or social media expect of us. We know how hard it is to live in the way of the spirit that gives us life through the body and blood and water and Word of God.

We know how hard it is to…

• love and trust God above all things
• gather in community with other believers, to worship God with joy and thanksgiving; to hear God’s word and feast at the table and to be sent out into the world to serve others with love
• love and welcome all people, no matter who they love or how they look or how they live as their true selves in their own bodies or what they believe or what they think or what they can/cannot do
• speak well of others, building each other up; without lying or slandering or betraying those with whom we disagree
• willingly share from the abundance we have been given to support others in need

The good news for today is that the life is in the blood of Christ.

The good news for today is that we have received all that we need to live in this new way – this way of the spirit that gives us life – this way that is so different from the expectations of the divisive and noisy world in which we live.

The good news for today is that we can stand firm against all evil in the world and strong in the power we receive through the body and blood of Jesus Christ.

We can choose to serve God with our whole heart and soul and mind.

We can confess with Simon Peter: “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life.”

May you find courage to live in the way of the spirit that gives life through the body and blood and water and Word of God.