Sermon: Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost, John 6:51-58

August 18, 2024 

“Eating Flesh? Drinking Blood? Are You Kidding Me?”

Faith-La Fe Lutheran Church, Pastor Jonathan Linman

Be honest with yourselves and with me – hearing today’s gospel passage about eating flesh and drinking blood, did you have the reaction of “oooh, yuck! How gross! Are you kidding me?” It’s quite a graphic reading if you let the words soak in.

In this brief passage, we hear a version of the phrase “eat me flesh” six times. And “drink my blood” appears four times. These words, therefore, weigh heavily in this reading. We cannot escape them. Jesus said, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life… for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me and I in them… Whoever eats me will live because of me.” (John 6:54-57) It’s hard to hear the lovely promises of life contained in these words when the language is so very explicit.

And to make things all the more graphic, the biblical Greek word used most of the time in this passage that’s translated “eat” actually may be better translated as chew or masticate. As if Jesus is really saying, “chew or gnaw on my flesh….” 

You may be squirming in your seats by now. For this sounds like cannibalism, doesn’t it? And cannibalism, humans eating other humans’ flesh, is generally a taboo, even though forms of cannibalism have been practiced in various cultures around the world for most of human history. But generally, cannibalism is a taboo, a no, no. 

During the persecution of Christians in the very early years of the church, one of the charges brought by authorities in the Roman Empire was that Christians were cannibals. This was perhaps an understandable misunderstanding because Christians devoted so much of their time in worship to sharing in the Lord’s Supper, following Jesus’ command, “take and eat, this is my body given for you.” “Take and drink, this is my blood shed for you.” 

And it’s interesting and important to note that some early Christian theologians did not vigorously deny the charge of cannibalism…. Rather, they doubled down on preaching and teaching about the literal, fleshly nature of receiving Christ’s body and blood in the Eucharist.

The charge of cannibalism doesn’t ultimately stick, though, for cannibals eat the flesh of those who have died. But we confess and believe that Christ died and rose again, so ours is a sharing in Christ’s living body. Thus, it’s not true cannibalism. 

But it’s painfully close enough still to cause us to squirm a bit. Another point to consider – one that may take the edge off the cannibalism charge – is that Holy Communion is basically a vegetarian feast in terms of our direct and usual experience. We eat bread made from plants, from grains. And we drink the fruit of the vine, again, a vegetarian offering. We might ask why early Christians didn’t eat cubes of grilled lamb, Jesus being the Lamb of God, right? 

Even so, Catholic, Orthodox, Lutheran and other Christians assert that in this meal of bread and the fruit of the vine, we nonetheless receive the real presence of Christ’s body and blood. And this still puts us perhaps uncomfortably close to cannibalistic kinds of themes. Thus, we do well to go a bit deeper with taking on cannibalism.

I did some research this week on cannibalism – more of which I’ll share during today’s forum conversations between services, a plug to come to C-time! In short, there are various forms of cannibalism that have been practiced in human cultures. And one of those is called “endocannibalism,” when members of a community consume the flesh of members of the same community who have recently died. Strange and startling as it is to our sensibilities, this form of cannibalism is seen as an act of affection, an important part of the grieving process. And it’s understood by some as a way of guiding the souls of the dead into the bodies of living descendants so that the beloved dead can continue an existence through their descendants. 

Well, now that’s interesting, because that’s essentially a major feature of what we believe is happening in Holy Communion: namely, we receive the presence of Christ who died, but who also lives again, into our very bodies through the gifts of bread and wine. Through these physical means, we also receive the power of Christ, his Spirit, who lives on in us. That sounds rather endocannibalistic!

And quite importantly, and in keeping with this theme, we become what we eat! And that’s where this whole reality transcends just metaphorical or poetic language, for in the physical acts of eating and drinking and receiving Christ’s real presence, we literally become Christ’s living body as church to be broken for the world in our mission of extending Christ’s presence by doing justice, loving kindness and walking humbly with God. Again, you are what you eat, in our case, Christ’s living body as living members of the church. God’s work; our hands, and feet, eyes, ears and more.

Even with these explanations, Jesus exhorting us to eat his flesh and drink his blood is a lot – too much, maybe – to take in given our mortal limitations of understanding. It confounds human logic. And eating flesh, drinking blood also inevitably takes us to the cross, where Jesus the fleshly divine one bled and died, only to be raised again on the third day – central Christian realities that can also cause our heads to explode.

But remember the words of the apostle Paul: “For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’ Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? …For Judeans demand signs and Greeks desire wisdom, but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Judeans and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are the called, both Judeans and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25)

So how do we settle down our exploding minds to receive this foolish-to-us wisdom from God about Christ Jesus, him dead, him raised, whose flesh we eat and whose blood we drink? 

Today’s first reading from Proverbs gives us our answer. We heard that Wisdom has prepared a feast. “She has slaughtered her animals; she has mixed the wine; she has also set her table.” (Proverbs 9:2) And Wisdom – whom we confess is Christ – makes the invitation: “Come, eat of my bread and drink of the wine that I have mixed. Lay aside immaturity and live, and walk in the way of insight.” (Proverbs 9:5-6) In short, we gain the wisdom of God, which passes all human understanding, by eating and drinking at the feast – this feast, this table. 

And in the feasting, in the eating and drinking, we receive the gift of faith alongside God’s wisdom. By partaking of this meal, we grow to trust Jesus, the one who is the way, the truth, and the life, the bread of life which came down from heaven. Again, faith and wisdom come from the eating and the drinking – and not so much from the thinking! Another way of putting it is this: we primarily gain faith in the divine wisdom at the altar table and not so much in the classroom!

Which is why our Sunday worshiping assemblies are so central. The author of the letter to the Ephesians makes this clear in today’s second reading. We’re exhorted to live “not as unwise people but as wise.” And how do we live as wise ones? According to the author of Ephesians, we live as wise people when in our gatherings we are “filled with the Spirit, as [we] sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to one another, singing and making melody to the Lord in [our] hearts, giving thanks to God, the Father, at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (cf. Ephesians 5:18b-20) The author is describing worship. In short, we live as the wise ones during liturgy. Sunday worship imparts to us the way of God’s wisdom in Christ.

And not only do we receive God’s wisdom here, but we also get everything that Jesus promises in John’s gospel: true food and true drink, the privilege of abiding in and with Christ, eternal life even now, being raised from the dead on the last day, thus, living forever. 

It’s too much for the human mind to take in. But in faith, we take it all in just the same. We take it in as food in bread and the fruit of the vine, incorporating Christ’s body and blood into our bodies and circulatory systems to be given the wisdom and strength to do the work that God entrusts to us. 

And that work is to go back out into the world as Wisdom did in Proverbs to make the invitation to others, the same invitation we received: “You who are simple, turn in here! To those without sense [we say], come and eat of the bread of life, and drink of the wine” that quenches our thirst and offers the gift of eternity. (cf. Proverbs 9:4-5)

And as always, what a gift this is for a world full of disputing, bickering and fighting, a world full of hunger and thirst, a world that yearns for true food and true drink, a world longing for life and eternity. Thanks be to God.

Enough for now about eating Christ’s flesh and drinking his blood. But join us for the forum to go still deeper with these themes. Next week, we conclude this series of five sermons working with this title: “Difficult, Offensive Even, But Words of Eternal Life.” 

For now, though, once again, come and eat Jesus’ flesh and drink his blood; receive Christ’s wisdom and power to become his body to be given for the sake of the world. Amen.